Recording keys: MIDI vs. direct

I'm going to be recording some piano and strings sounds off of a Yamaho P120 (88 wieghted keys) for a pop-rock demo. I have hardly any experience with MIDI, and I'm concerned that I won't be able to make a nice, wide stereo spread with it. I don't have anything with which to treat the MIDI, except my plug-ins. Alternatively, I could record the keyboard direct and in stereo through my stereo preamp. Is this adviseable? Also, are there any good software synths for free? Thanks, Naagzh

Remember that you don't actually record any sound when recording a MIDI track, - only the midi data. So your ? about midi vs. direct makes no difference on the stereo spread on your AUDIO input/recording. The real and only difference, and advantage, in recording through midi and not direct, is that you can edit your performance in all aspects(timing, velocity, tempo, notes etc.) before actually recording it to an audio track. The editing options in an audio track are very limited in comparison. You can record your P120 in stereo through your stereo preamps allright. It is either that or through some sort of microphone setup. But you'll probably get a cleaner recording direct from your P120 into a stereo input. You can do a lot of things to it after with plugs, like EQ, verb etc. There are loads of softsynths for free around. Depends on what platform you are on. Good luck!

To your last ? - try out . It has good basic sounds, and it works directly in PTLE, without VST-wrapper and all that. By the way the VSTwrapper from FXpansion is recommended a lot around here. I'll wait and see if Albee answers to your setup ? , otherwise I'll be happy to take you through it, it's quite simple really. PTLE is a breeze to work with compared to many other DAWS I think. Cheers!

G-string: What, praytell, is the VST wrapper? What does VST stand for (must be "virtual synth..."). Is it free? And yes, please, take me through what Albee was talking about.

The process described by albee is the one I use too, and I can tell it works. Once you have recorded and edited your midi track to yours heart's content (and you can change many subtleties, including velocity, try that), you can play it back and record it either through your keyboard's synth (feed midi back to it and record audio from the phoe or line out), or through a soft synth, or through a sampler. It's great to be able to try the possibilities. The only qualification I would add would be about midi editing and aligning with existing audio. To edit your midi, you will want to use tempo and the grid, but if you change the tempo or place bars after having recorded midi to a track, you will alter the existing midi notes' durations! (see recent thread about midi tempo). The only solution I found to work with tempo and the grid and preserve midi placement relative to audio is to do all the audio stuff first, identify beats there with certainty, and then record my midi and edit it. Don't try to record midi and the place bar markers... Best, Jan

Thanks so much for all the tips! I'm sure I'll be referring back to this post.