old keyboard and garageband

[sleyeu]

will the yamaha psr 275 ( kind of old... but really good!) connect through a MiDi to usb/firewire cable into my mac? i want to play around with it in garageband.

also can someone point out a cheap usb/firewire midi cable so i can connect the two?




and can i also ask, where can i get free garageband loops and plug ins?
i would really like to make my garageband better (it would be quite cool to play a software drum and other instruments, fairy ocarina anyone?)
edit: i have been playing around with some of the instruments and making my own loops with the synth and i have noticed there is a substancial bit of lag even though on a brand new imac i5... is there something wrong?



and one more thing
how can i go about connecting an electro acoustic (not sure what its called but its acoustic and has a place to put in the really thick cable) i connect it to my amp and play blah blah blah but i want to have a digital copy of it and make it sound like an electric guitar!



i hope you can understand what i mean...

 

[sleyeu]

will the yamaha psr 275 ( kind of old... but really good!) connect through a MiDi to usb/firewire cable into my mac? i want to play around with it in garageband.

also can someone point out a cheap usb/firewire midi cable so i can connect the two?




and can i also ask, where can i get free garageband loops and plug ins?
i would really like to make my garageband better (it would be quite cool to play a software drum and other instruments, fairy ocarina anyone?)
edit: i have been playing around with some of the instruments and making my own loops with the synth and i have noticed there is a substancial bit of lag even though on a brand new imac i5... is there something wrong?



and one more thing
how can i go about connecting an electro acoustic (not sure what its called but its acoustic and has a place to put in the really thick cable) i connect it to my amp and play blah blah blah but i want to have a digital copy of it and make it sound like an electric guitar!



i hope you can understand what i mean...

edit: may i also add in, how do i record an acoustic guitar cleanly (like in songs) i get this horrible recording... ( i am using the isight mic though... but i do have a good mic on this windows webcam i have, but i dont know how to get the mac to use the microphone )


ooops i somehow managed to quote the message...

 

[Comma]

1) Yes, you can use the old keyboard. Search ebay for MIDI Interface for a few ones.

2) I never used extra plug-ins for Garage, but a quick google should yield a few for you to try if it's possible
Latency can be a problem. Try reducing the sample size in the options menu. However, Macs are generally quite good at reducing Audio Latency by themselves due to Core Audio. Otherwise the only thing I can think of (If it's just the synth) is your Attack time on the ADSR Envelope section is set high.

3) On recording your acoustic. A small diaphragm condenser microphone (or two) is generally the accepted way of doing acoustics, however if you're on a budget and want to use the built in you're probably going to have to strum very quietly. Experiment with different placings of the microphone relative to you for the best effect.

Recording the Amped up Electric-Acoustic. You can either a) Take an instrument level line out of the Guitar into a Hi-Z input (Audio Interface ~$150-200) -OR- use a microphone to record the speaker (Microphone => Audio Interface or into your Line-In). Hope that helps.

I think you could probably just pick up a cheap Audio Interface and a Shure SM57 Microphone for basic recording of most things.

 

[ChrisA]

The m-audio "Uno" is a decent MIDI <-> USB cable. Works with any MIDI device. cost about $45

The best source of added content for garage band are the Apple "Jam Packs". Start with the "jam pack #1". I've seen them sold on-line for $40. That's cheap for an entire DVD full of data.

Your electro-acoustic guitar can be plugged directly into the Mac's line-in jack. Get a cable with correct ends. no adaptors, they add noise

To record an acoustic guitar on a budget just buy a simple SM58 or other basic vocal mic. Place it close (within a foot) to the sound hole and record in the bigest room in the house and far from the noisy computer using a long mic cable. Plug the mic into a decent USB audio interface. Budget $100 for the mic, $40 for the mic stand, $30 for the cable and $150 for the USB audio interface. Use same setup for vocals but put the mic even closer for that. If you can aford it replace the SM58 with a pait of condensor mics. But "everyone" should own an SM58