Setting the Instrument Sound for Recording |
Before you start recording notes into a staff, you should set the instrument sound for that staff. Follow the procedure described in Changing the Instrument Sound of a Staff. NOTE: In choosing the instrument sound, it is important that you choose a MIDI output device that does not have a playback delay. Many MIDI output devices that are software synthesizers have playback delays of 100 milliseconds (1/10th of a second) or more. If you use one of these devices, then as you play on your music keyboard, there will be a delay from the time you press a key to the time you hear its sound. This delay will make it impractical for you to record a performance. Instead, you should temporarily assign to the staff a MIDI output device that has no delay.
If you find that the staff that you want to record into has a playback delay, then follow the next procedure. To work around the problem that a staff uses a MIDI output device with a playback delay:
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Before you start recording, you might want to improvise some musical ideas on your keyboard before you attempt to commit them in a recording. If so, then you will want to select the instrument sound of the staff which you are about to record. To assign the instrument sound of a staff to your music keyboard, and play notes on the keyboard using that sound before you start recording:
Composer indicates that this staff has been selected for recording by drawing a red arrow right before the beginning of the first staff shown in the window for this staff:
At this point you have set up the staff as though you were about to practice the part with your music keyboard. If you were to start playback by pressing the playback button, or by hitting the SPACE key, Composer would mute (silence) the selected staff. Any notes that you play at your music keyboard would be assigned the instrument sound of the selected staff.
Composer will remove the red arrow next to the staff, and will change the solo button from play-along to no solo . The instrument sound for the staff will continue to serve as the sound for notes that you play on your music keyboard prior to recording. It is necessary to change the solo option for the staff from play-along to no solo , so that when Composer later plays the song, the notes in this staff will be heard rather than muted. |