Advice needed on initial midi setup

Two of my lifelong hobbies are music (I'm a pianist and singer), and computers. Strangely, I have never gotten around to putting the two together in the same way as I have with photography and video. I actually have a need to rectify that now, but I'm not entirely sure where to start as this is not an area I have ever really explored.There is obviously a huge amount of information about this subject out on the web, but I'm having some trouble picking my way through it and I need to get up to speed fairly quickly. So I'm hoping to draw on the collective experience here for some pointers through the maze.

I have a high spec PC (although it's currently only using the integrated Realtek sound on the motherboard) and a new Yamaha digital piano that I want to construct the system around without incurring too much additional cost. THe only slight problem is that the piano and computer cannot be located close to one another, so I plan to use an old laptop to capture from the piano, and then move the files to the main computer for further work.

Because of my training, and because old habits die hard, I need to be able to start by seeing what comes out of the piano as musical notation. From there I want to be able to arrange, orchestrate and print. I also want to be able to generate realistic orchestral sounds so that I can create CDs and backing tracks. It looks to me as though Sibelius 5 does everything that I need but it is horribly expensive.

So the questions I have are:

1.  Is there a good cheaper alternative to Sibelius that will do a similar job?

2.  What would be a sensible sound card to buy, assuming that it is not realistic to continue with the integrated motherboard sound?

3.  Do I need anything further in order to have decent orchestral instrumental sounds available?

4.  Is working with a laptop as a bridge between my piano and main computer a sensible approach or would I be better off buying a portable midi keybaord? If the latter, what are some good reasonably priced options?

5.  I am assuming that I can use a direct USB-to-USB connection between keyboard and computer, and don't need MIDI cables. Am I correct?

Please bear in mind that I am not looking for a professional standard solution. Just something that will provide acceptable quality for events like amateur concerts and vocal competitions.

Any and all advice gratefully received.

Steve S.

A few thoughts...

If your keyboard has a USB connector then you probably don't need MIDI cables.

How are you planning to play back your MIDI sequences? If you want the sound of the piano then you'll have to hook your computer up to the piano for playback. The other possibility is to record the sound of the piano at the same time as you record the MIDI from the piano.

If you want decent orchestral sounds then you will probably need to buy some kind of orchestral sample set. The good ones aren't particularly cheap and, if you think Sibelius is expensive, they are probably out of your price range. If you are working on a budget then I would look at orchestral sound fonts available free on the internet (which were originally designed to be used with the Creative Labs range of sound cards) with a sound font player like SFZ. SFZ requires a VSTi host like Audition3, Cubase, Reaper or a whole range of others.

If you like the feel of your piano you won't be happy with a cheap keyboard - you will need weighted keys and keyboards with weighted keys tend to be more expensive and larger than the cheap keyboards.

I'm not that well up on the current market for budget soundcards - I've used an M-Audio Mobile Pre which has been fine and most of the M-Audio range seem to be OK. I would steer clear of Creative Labs branded cards for music making but their EMU branded cards are fine. It may be best to decide on the software you want to use and then see what owners of that software recommend.

I hope this helps,

James.

How are you planning to play back your MIDI sequences? If you want the sound of the piano then you'll have to hook your computer up to the piano for playback. The other possibility is to record the sound of the piano at the same time as you record the MIDI from the piano.

I had assumed that I could just use the piano to get the music into whatever software I end up using, and from there I would be able to assign whatever instrument sounds I wanted, which may or may not be piano. Sounds as though I might have been wrong!

Steve S.

Although Sibelius is expensive it really is the best. The latest version does come with a cut down set of Garritan Personal Orchestra samples for replaying orchestral sounds. It is the only music software (apart from perhaps Finale) that will allow you to print out scores properly. Cubase and other MIDI sequencer software will do a certain level of score printing but it is not very musical or easy to read in it's interpretation of musical performances.

I use Finale and among music professionals I know, most consider it the best.  And it also comes with Garritan.

Just thought I'd muddy the waters for you!

I had assumed that I could just use the piano to get the music into whatever software I end up using, and from there I would be able to assign whatever instrument sounds I wanted, which may or may not be piano. Sounds as though I might have been wrong!

You're OK - it will work like that if you want it to. I was just making sure that you were aware of the difference between audio and MIDI signals as many people assume that a MIDI sequence will play back the sound that they heard when they were recording the sequence - no matter where that sound came from!

Cheers

James.