I have a MIDI enabled piano (a Suzuki HP-8), and i'm interested in recording to my computer. All i need are the MIDI cables, a MIDI PCI card, and a software or hardware sequencer, correct? What are sequencers for and do you recommend hardware or software? The notes go through the sequencer and the sequencer sends the notes back to the piano, and then the note sounds – correct? Also, the manual for the piano talks of selecting individual and split channels for the input and output. What does this mean?
And what kind of hardware/software is used for "effects", or changing the way the piano notes sound?
To get into MIDI Keyboarding, I recommend the following:
1. A MIDI keyboard by M-Audio
http://www.homerecorder.com/products.php?cid=21
2. Ableton Live 6 LE (The most versatile program out!)
http://www.homerecorder.com/product.php?pid=542
If you want to go for the big stuff, get:
Ableton Live 7 or Live 7 Suite
http://www.homerecorder.com/product.php?pid=66
http://www.homerecorder.com/product.php?pid=651
All you really need is your keyboard, software and a USB cable, yes MIDI can now be transmitted via USB.
I recommend software over hardware (when starting out) because it's user friendly and editing MIDI is easy when you can see it your computer screen.
Basically how it works is:
You load up an instrument into a sequencer track.
Play that instrument with your MIDI keyboard.
When you're ready to record, press record and record your MIDI performance.
Once you've recorded the MIDI information, you can freely change the initial instrument sound to whatever you want, while maintaining the original performance you just recorded.
If you're using a software sequencer, you can drag, drop, cut, paste, edit etc. your performance anyway you choose. If you missed a note, you can simply draw it in. Or you can draw in an entire performance if you'd like. The possibilities are endless.
See for yourself, why I recommend Ableton Live
http://www.ableton.com/movies
This is a great place to start.
Hope this helps!