Composer and the Yamaha DSR 2000

[Crochetty]

I have connected my Yamaha DSR 2000 keyboard to my Vista laptop using a Logilink MIDI cable (which has itsa own driver) and, after a frustrating afternoon of trying to make the system work I feel that I am very close but
cannot figure what it is that I am doing wrong.
Very briefly this afternoon I managed to compose a few notes of rather unharmonious music but then lost it - but at least it indicated that it was possible.
The present situation is as follows:
In the "quick MIDI device setup" the playback device that has been recognised automatically is described as "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth". I guess that this refers to the soundcard in the computer, and it does play the "Test Playback" notes through the computer's speakers but not through the keyboard's speakers.
Under "Detect MIDI recording device" the USB MIDI cable is detected and the bright red light flashes when I play notes on the keyboard (and so does the bright green light above).
All of this seems to suggest that I am close to making the system work - but...
1/ While I am able (again) to record on the computer the notes that I play on the keyboard, this process starts with a long and rather unpleasant stuttering noise (a bit like random Morse code but much harsher) and I would like to know how to get rid of it.
2/ I am still unable to play MIDIs from the computer on the keyboard.

Vista's Control Panel folders do not offer some of the options suggested as possible solutions in your Help files but I have studied and tried to follow the relevant help pages as best I can to solve the problems. Have you any further suggestions please?

Regards,

Crochetty.

[Sherry C]

Howdy,


The present situation is as follows:
In the "quick MIDI device setup" the playback device that has been recognised automatically is described as "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth". I guess that this refers to the soundcard in the computer, and it does play the "Test Playback" notes through the computer's speakers but not through the keyboard's speakers.

You should also be able to use that drop list and select your USB MIDI cable (or whatever it's named) as your playback device. That's what you'll need to do in order to hear files played back through your keyboard.


1/ While I am able (again) to record on the computer the notes that I play on the keyboard, this process starts with a long and rather unpleasant stuttering noise (a bit like random Morse code but much harsher) and I would like to know how to get rid of it. This is most likely an issue with having the GS Wavetable set as the Playback Device. See if this problem persists after selecting your USB MIDI cable as the Playback device. If you still hear unpleasant noise, or a strange echo or chorus-like effect when you're recording, review the section in Help/Users Guide and use the Index to look up "echo".


2/ I am still unable to play MIDIs from the computer on the keyboard.
You can use the Setup/Quick MIDI dialog to select the USB MIDI cable as your default playback device.

ttfn,
Sherry

[Crochetty]

Hi Sherry
Thank you for your quick reply. I continued playing with the setup last night and eventually it worked, which was a relief.
However, I seem to have another problem: Having played a MIDI file through the keyboard I find that it is no longer possible to play it through the laptop's speakers (or extension speakers) - and in the latest example of this it will not play again through the keyboard either.
It seems that the act of playing the MIDI file through the keyboard creates some sort of change in the file so that it will not play through the computer (orm perhaps either) subsequently. If I close the file, however, without saving changes, it will play through the computer when re-opened. So it would be useful to know what is being changed when the file is played through the keyboard and whether it can be prevented.

Regards,

Crochetty

[Sherry C]

Thank you for your quick reply. I continued playing with the setup last night and eventually it worked, which was a relief.
Great :)

However, I seem to have another problem: To use a programmer's joke: "It's not a problem, it's a feature!" (and actually it is - read below.)

Having played a MIDI file through the keyboard I find that it is no longer possible to play it through the laptop's speakers (or extension speakers) - and in the latest example of this it will not play again through the keyboard either. Actually it is possible. This is where selecting the MIDI Playback Device comes in. You can use various playback devices, depending on what you want to hear and where you want to hear it.

To do these settings all in one location, you can click Staff/Setup, ahd you'll see a big dialog box come up, which shows you all the staves you have in your score. If you want to have all of them play through your keyboard, you can click the "Device" heading, and select which MIDI Device you want to use for all the staves (eg. GS Wavetable, USB MIDI cable, or whatever). Then select which Bank (if applicable) and click OK. You can switch back and forth between devices easily this way, to compare how files sound using different devices.

If you decide you like the violin in one device better than the violin in a second device, but you prefer all the other instruments playing from the second device, you can set the violin to play from the first device. You do this by clicking it's staff number, and then look down toward the bottom of the dialog and find the Device drop list (just above the Channel droplist). Click the droplist button, and select the first device from the list. Now when you play the file, you'll hear the violin from Device 1, and all the other instruments from Device 2.

ttfn,
Sherry

[Crochetty]

Thanks Sherry. This Composer is one **** of a programme and the learning curve is steeper than I expected. It's fun though! I suspect that to get the best results I had better buy a decent modern keyboard. At 20+ years old the DSR 2000 is a lovely instrument but perhaps not up to the performance needed (memory, speed etc.) in conjunction with today's much more advanced computers and software. To think that it cost me £1200 all those years ago and I could probably buy today's equivalent for a tenth of that price.

Regards,

Crochetty.

[Sherry C]

Howdy,

I suspect that to get the best results I had better buy a decent modern keyboard. At 20+ years old the DSR 2000 is a lovely instrument but perhaps not up to the performance needed (memory, speed etc.) in conjunction with today's much more advanced computers and software. Perhaps, but not necessarily ;) Memory shouldn't be an issue at all. The biggest problem might be latency - how long between when you press a key (if you're playing into Composer) and you hear the note sound. If the latency is too long, then yes it may well affect how you play.

If you use it for playback of files, you can adjust for the latency by
1. clicking Setup/MIDI Configuration, and
2. right-click the device ("USB MIDI cable", which you can also rename so it's easier to remember).
3. select "Properties"
4. in the "Anticipate playback delay" box, enter your best guess (most of us can tell if something is more than 50 msecs off) unless you have an established value (a quick Google didn't reveal anything to me, but you may have better info).
5. Click "Ok", and try it out. You can fiddle around with that setting til you get it right.

This won't help for recording into Composer, but it will help if you're using the DSR 2000 as a playback device in conjunction with other devices, or if the latency is so long that the notes are highlighting too far ahead of the actual sound.


To think that it cost me £1200 all those years ago and I could probably buy today's equivalent for a tenth of that price. Technology is a funny animal. From what little I've read, the DSR 2000 has some very cool features for varying sounds, which could quickly make things very interesting. You could do your own Mannheim Steamroller imitations :)


ttfn,
Sherry

[Crochetty]

Thanks for that information Sherry. Perhaps I had better become more familiar with the laptop and DSR 2000 before I start getting more ambitious. Composer already gives me far more scope than I had been expecting, so I am very happy with the setup and simply need to spend time learning to make better use of it. Even so, it is good to have technocal aspects explained and I am grateful for that.

Regards,

Crochetty.