I have very good experiences with recording and saving old vinyl records from a Lenco USB turntable.
But is it also possible to record and save live-played music on a piano keyboard??? Of course it is via the microphone but I 'd like to do it via a cable / interface. So: from the OUT port on the pianokeyboard, the Casio CDP-100, via the cable to an USB- or an other entrance.
And if it is possible: What cable and what ports?
Who has the knowledge to give the answer? Thanks anyway.
Frans
NOT into the USB port (except in a couple of very specific cases).
Electronic keyboards these days often have a USB connection for sending MIDI data to a computer - MIDI is not “audio” and cannot be recorded in Audacity.
To record an electronic keyboard in Audacity you need to use a suitable audio cable that will plug into the “Line In” of your sound card.
Here’s where it gets difficult - does your keyboard have a “Line Out” socket (or pair of Line Out sockets), and does your computer have a Line In socket?
I’ve just had a look at the CDP-100 manual and it does not have a Line Out socket, but it does have a headphone socket - this is not ideal, but it can be made to work. You will need a “headphone splitter” cable so that you can connect your headphones to the piano and a “stereo audio lead” (for connecting to the computer) to the same headphone socket. (the internal speakers switch off when you plug something into the headphone socket).
Most full size computers and Mac computers have a stereo line in socket. Many PC laptops only have a microphone socket (which is not suitable) and not a Line In socket. Some PC laptops have a combined Mic/Line in socket. For laptop computers you may need to check the manual to know if it has a Line in socket or not.
If you are using a PC laptop without a Line In socket, you can use an external sound card such as a Behringer UCA 202 (reviewed here https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/sound-card-reviews/8375/1 ) or similar device.
Thanks for the thorough reply. I realised that I had’nt send you the complete information. I tried to make a connection between the computer (USB port) and the OUT-socket of the Casio CDP-100. (There is indeed such a socket but difficult to find on internet. In my printed piece of the manual and of course on the frame of the keyboard is an OUT-socket to find.)
The cable connection, I discovered in the music shop, is the “MD1003 USB-MIDI interface” of Seiwin. (On internet: http://www.seiwin.com)
The seller told me: it should work immediately, but not with my computer. That’s why I think I miss some extra software or I need to buy a soundcard. Thanks for the idea about an external sound card.
I 'm going on struggling with piano and computer, although I sometimes think: I throw the whole stock and barrel out of the window. But now I will be busy in two directions: with your advise about the headsetconnection and the external card. But possibly I have to change the cable too.
By the way: in the meantime I was also muddling with other software, i.e. Quartz AudioMaster Freeware 460E. The same negative result. So I must change my hardware configuration.
Thanks for your reply; all the best,
Yours, Frans Goudswaard.
Having an OUT socket doesn’t mean you can connect it to any IN socket… You need to know what exactly does it output through that socket…
As Steve mentioned:
That OUT socket can be a MIDI data output, which is not suitable for audacity… You’ll need other kind of software to record that…
reviews indicate this thing has midi i/o and headphone output
connect the headphone output into the line input on the pc
like you did with the vinyl lp preamp outputs
and record the same way
you really dont want to mess with midi for this effort
connecting via the headphone out is the best solution for you
A MIDI connection goes from the computer to the keyboard. The computer, using a MIDI sequencer program, tells the keyboard which key to press, when and how hard. That’s all it does. If you’re listening to the keyboard on headphones, you get to hear the note. The computer is the performer, the keyboard is the instrument, and you are the audience.
If you need to record the keyboard, that happens on different cables. Those are actually sound cables. I use an adapter from the keyboard headphone out to two RCAs (left and right sound) and I plug that into my crusher sound system – or, if I need to record something, into my computer. That’s how I created piano2.wav from here (it’s very short)…
http://www.kozco.com/tech/soundtests.html
That was performed on a Large Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard by me and my fingers. It was recorded on a Mac PowerBook.
My Mac has stereo inputs that work well with this. I could have used any of my large, deskside PCs because they all have large sound cards that feature Stereo Line-In.
Most PC Laptops don’t have stereo connections. The Mic-In on a Laptop is mono and easily damaged.
Koz
i didnt see that capability in the reviews
but that doesnt mean it cant - just dont see it claimed
this thing can work stand alone or can send midi to the pc but
it is unclear that it can take midi from the pc and create sound
but what the OP wanted was to record the sound from the “piano”
not mess around with midi/synth type things for replay
if he recorded vinyl he would appear to have stereo inputs
if not then he still could record a mono device (PIANO) into a single input channel like he did the LPs
else get an external interface - which is always a good idea
<<>>
Given the software support, MIDI can go backwards. You can press the keys on the keyboard an have the MIDI interpreter inside the computer make and play the notes. I’ve had systems that could do both.
Koz
of course there are synth type keyboards that can do both
but i still read his question as recording the music not midi
so he can put it on a cd and play it
admittedly it was not 100% clear but that is my reading of his query
I think we all agree that wassmer6 is wanting to record the sound (ie “audio”) from his keyboard, and I think that we all agree that he cannot record the sound using the USB connector on his keyboard. The Casio CDP-100 manual states that the USB port on the keyboard is for MIDI data.
wassmer6 could certainly use the USB connection with a MIDI sequencer program, but to record audio he will need to take the output from the headphone socket as (according to the owners manual) the headphone socket is the only audio output on the keyboard (other than the built in speakers).
@wassmer6 - if you’re unsure what all this talk about MIDI is about, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_Instrument_Digital_Interface
Dear friends, 
Amazing, that great number of replies on my questions about the Casio keyboard. Especially the efforts of everybody to make me clear what 's going with this sort of things. I realised that I knew to little about this subject before I wrote the first memo.
In the meantime, after having studied your reactions and a lot of mails and websites, I managed to record the music, played on the keyboard.
The positive result came out a configuration of:
- a normal midicable between the keyboard and the 15-pins connector of the soundcard (=Sound Blaster); a computer with Windows XP!!
- installation of Quartz Audiomaster software;
- resetting / changing of the data in the Audio page of the Config.screen;
- Following the instructions of the Casio Europe webpages about Connecting your Casio keyboard to a computer. See these pages via the link: http://music.casio.com/e/data_ex2/connect.html .
By the way: you can discover that I did not use the before mentioned interface “MD1003 USB-MIDI”. This interface should be used with a more modern computer (Vista or Windows7).
Thanks you all for the support. Frans
Thanks for the feedback frans and very pleased that you have a satisfactory solution.
In case other users read this topic and are unclear why Quartz Audiomaster software works with the Casio CDP-100, it is because Quartz Audiomaster (freeware) supports MIDI (which Audacity currently does not).