MIDI sound instruments

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

i am trying to get my Keith 12 Step MIDI floor pedal (Bass/keyboard)
working through my Laptop sound card using Audacity 2.4.2. I have an ACER
laptop with Intel chip, & windows 10.

  1. do I need a MIDI expander to get this to work?
  2. Does Audacity have virtual instruments (i.e. bass guitar sounds that my 12step
    can access to play?

if this does not work i would have to download instrument sounds somehow.

I am a one man band and would like to not only record with my feet playing
the bass with the peddle but play live. I play the guitar. use electronic
drums, and would use my foot pedal to play the bass

thank you
AP

2

Audacity is primarily an audio editor. Support for MIDI is very limited - basically you can play MIDI files, but not much else.

3

How are you listening to the songs? You should be able to point to a demarcation point. The connection to your speaker system or headphones is a good one. Instead of sending the sound to your headphones, send it to a sound recorder or second computer for recording in Audacity.

That connection is the demarcation point where the show stops being MIDI data and starts being Sound. Audacity is on much firmer ground then.

Koz

4

Although Audacity can play MIDI files, it is not currently capable of directly connecting to a MIDI device. :frowning: You will need some other animal in between. I know, it is confusing. :confused:

Do an internet search for MIDI software. Some of these programs will work for you. For some ideas, look here: https://musicianshq.com/best-free-midi-keyboard-software-for-windows-mac-and-android/ :smiley:

Audacity, can help out later in the process. :smiley: For example, if one of these programs can save to a midi/wav/mp3 file, then Audacity can usually import this midi/wav/mp3 file. Also if the program can play through your PC’s speakers, Audacity can usually record from a loopback of your PC’s output. :smiley:

No, a MIDI expander has nothing to do with this issue. :neutral_face:

Audacity makes use of the operating system to render MIDI sounds. :smiley: There are such things as virtual instrument plug-ins, but these are not currently supported. See: https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/VST_Plug-ins and here: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/effect_menu_vst.html :frowning:

I hope this helps. :smiley: