Piano or Keyboard? Part II

Though digital keyboards are not identical, they follow the same basic recording guidelines.  To begin, let's first explain that modern keyboards have several ways of transferring digital data out of the keyboard and into various recording and live applications.  The most common outputs include:

• USB--which allows connection to a computer or computer interface
• MIDI--which allows the transfer of data to external sequencers and other various MIDI compatible devices 
• 1/4" Instrument Cable--which allows the instrument to be connected to an amplifier and/or a mixer (live or studio) 

Output connections are available on the back of most keyboards.  Higher end keyboards will  have both a left and a right output for 1/4" cables, so that you can record in stereo if you wish.  My setup, for this example is in mono, has a 1/4" cable running from the output of my Motif 8 to the 1/4" input of my Roland VS 1880 studio recorder.



 

 I have an orange output cable running from my Motif 8.  Notice that since I'm only using one cable it is in the L (left)/Mono jack.  If I was running two cables one would be in the R (right) output and the other in the L (left)/Mono output jack.

 This is the back of my Roland VS-1880 mixer.  The orange cable with the blue tape on it is the input from my keyboard (above) into the mixer.  Be advised that the longer the distance the signal has to travel from the keyboard to the mixer, the more likely that the signal strength will be compromised.  The rule of thumb is to always use the shortest cable possible to limit the distance the signal has to travel which will maximize signal strength.  

Once you determine what type of connection you need to connect to your recording gear, then it's time to connect and power up.

The next obstacle is to set the appropriate recording level for you keyboard.  Setting the recording level occurs both on the keyboard and on the studio mixer.  The volume on the keyboard must be at least 3/4 of the way up, otherwise, the signal strength will be too weak to properly record.  One might think that simply compensating on the studio mixer itself would suffice; however, even if the studio's mixer input volume is all the way up, the signal will still be too weak and make for a less than desirable recording.

In the above photo, the slider on the left is the Master Volume on my keyboard.  The four additional sliders are basically assignable; however, I frequently use them for individual volume controls when I play layered sounds on my keyboard.  Basically, if I play four sounds at one time, I can individually control the volume of each sound by using these sliders.  If that were the case, then all volumes would need to be at least 3/4 of the way up in order to maximize signal strength. 


Next, I simply select track #4, which is the track I always use to record the keyboard part, and then adjust the volume (line input knob and slider) to the highest possible recording level without red-lining.  More so than with tape (reel-to-reel) recording, digital recording is sensitive to signal limits.  Often with an analog recording you can exceed the input limits and playback is not distorted; however, if your red light clips on a digital recording then it's necessary to back off the volume or the final playback will be distorted.  Analog music records the actual continuation of the sound wave, which is often referred to as capturing a softer and warmer sound.  Digital music is an accumulation of snapshots from the sound wave that is then combined to create a jagged picture of that sound wave.  The 1993 MTV You-Tube video below, does a great job explaining the difference between an analog signal and a digital signal. 

 


Digital inputs for recording purposes includes the absences of part of the music; however, it also requires that digital music is quite stringent in that every error does seem to be captured in its exact format.  Similar to the views of Dave Mustaine (from Megadeath) in the above video, musicians that don't like digital "suck--can't play" rather I feel that it points to the exactness of digital recording which captures the errors in the recordings without softening the edges like in analog recordings.  Digital leaves a singer and/or musician naked at least until effects are added.   

To correct the input levels in order to avoid distortion, reduce the input volume by trimming small amounts with the mixer's fader/slider, larger amounts by the mixer's line input knob (similar to a gain knob), and finally minimally adjust the volume on the keyboard itself, only if the signal is still red-lining.

In the LCD window the two bars on the upper left are the input levels of a recording.  If you look closely you can see the number 12 is bold and highlighted that is because this is the minimum acceptable signal strength for a recording.  The VS-1880 has a clip light located on each track next to the line input knob--not visible in this photo.  


In a matter of a few minutes, you can connect a keyboard to a recording device and start producing your music.  The quality of the sound of the instrument is dependant upon the quality of your equipment.  As we discussed in Piano or keyboard? Part I it is possible to record a "real" piano, though the expectations to record a quality sound are the same for both instruments, the keyboard eliminates many frustrating obstacles for the home studio engineer.