Roland PC-200 mkII & cabels

[doeffy]

hi im a new mac user, i love it and everything seem fine but...

i would really like to plug a keyboard (for playing music) to my mac, so i looked in the celler and found this old keybord "Roland PC-200 mkII".. as i expectet there was no maching cables for my MacBook (OS X), so i startet looking for somone else having the same problem at some forum... i just cant seem to find the post im looking for...

so here is my question:
how do i know which cable to use (and if anyone know please just tell med), so i can buy a cable transformer.

i know this is an old keyboard, so there might not be any solutions...
and please remember you were new once, too ...

thanks

 

[CanadaRAM]

IIRC, this keyboard is a MIDI keyboard controller and does not have USB ports on it. You see the large round jacks that say MIDI Out?
You need to buy a MIDI interface for your computer so you can use MIDI signalling with the keyboard.

Go to the Digital Audio sub forum and read the sticky threads there for more information on interfaces.

There are Audio interfaces and MIDI interfaces (Most audio interfaces also include a MIDI interface). The cheapest way to use the keyboard would be with a simple MIDI / USB interface from Edirol or M-Audio

You would then use the MIDI note on and note off signals from the keyboard to command GarageBand software or virtual synthesizer / sample playback software on your Mac.

 

[doeffy]

thanks for answering so fast ...

i cant really seem to find a place to buy this, but ill just go to the music store...

thanks a lot

 

[305Powder]

doeffy,

I have this keyboard. It has Midi out. All you need is a midi cable and midi to usb adaptor. I purchased one from M-Audio and it works perfectly.

Basically, it allows you to plug the midi cable to your keyboard. Then you plug the other end of the cable to the adaptor. Then you plug the end of the usb adaptor into your usb port.

Then...you start playing!

email me if you have any questions.

 

[TerribleToll]

Hi

Long time since this thread was posted, but I have a related issue.

I have a working Roland PC200 mkII linked in to a Terratec Hubble 2/2 MIDI/USB hub. This has a USB control link which I have plugged into my Mac. The Mac sees the Hubble interface and I can link it all up in the Audio MIDI setup panel, but nothing works. I can't get the keyboard to feed through any signal to Garageband and control any of the instruments there.

I have checked the system prefs and Garagaband prefs, but can find nothing there that is relevant.

Any ideas?

Many thanks - Anatole
OSX 10.10

 

[keysofanxiety]

Hi

Long time since this thread was posted, but I have a related issue.

I have a working Roland PC200 mkII linked in to a Terratec Hubble 2/2 MIDI/USB hub. This has a USB control link which I have plugged into my Mac. The Mac sees the Hubble interface and I can link it all up in the Audio MIDI setup panel, but nothing works. I can't get the keyboard to feed through any signal to Garageband and control any of the instruments there.

I have checked the system prefs and Garagaband prefs, but can find nothing there that is relevant.

Any ideas?

Many thanks - Anatole
OSX 10.10

Have you set up the instrument as a software instrument rather than audio? When you unplug the USB link and you're in Garageband, do you get a notification to say a MIDI device has been unplugged?