ú Mark Love to All
ú d:26 Jun 97  13:47:53 s:Newbie id:
 ML> I have little knowledge of midi music on computers so if anyone could
 ML> help me out with a few questions then that would be great.
no problem.
 ML> Im thinking of getting a Midi Keyboard to connect to my pc.
 ML> I have seen adverts for Master keyboards that do not have
 ML> any sounds but are used to input midi information into a 
 ML> sequencer.   If you are writing a tune are you limited to 
 ML> the sounds that are built into your soundcard or can you
 ML> load in sounds ?
 ML> Can you play wav files from pressing keys on the keyboard ?
 ML> Would I be advised to buy a wavtable souncard ?
 ML> If anyone can advise me on getting started then I would really
 ML> appreciate it.
ok, it all depends on how much you're willing to spend, and what you
want to do with your computer and sound, and software.  if you want to
work exclusively with sample-based sequencing, i'd recommend getting the
cheapest velocity sensitive midi keyboard (or controller) with a midi
out, along with any wavetable soundcard.
wavetable basically means that the soundcard has a number of channels,
and it's own RAM bank that you load with samples.  your sequencer
software, midi keyboard, or anything else that uses midi just triggers
the samples at different pitches and times (and sometimes modulation) on
one of the soundcard's channels.
a non-wavetable sound card will usually have a midi synth that uses
low-quality fm synthesis sounds.. you can play a wav through it, but
it's not made for much more than sound effects.
if you want a high end system.  look for any synthesizer, sound module,
or keyboard that supports the general midi standard, and use it with
virtually any cheap sound card that has a midi out.  (you'll have to buy
an adapter for $25+ though.)
you shouldn't need to bother with professional quality sound cards
unless you want to do multitrack recording/editing..  which is like
having a 4track on your computer that sounds better than a cd.
hopefully that'll help a bit.
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