Recording Church Music for Performance playback

Hello: We would like to be able to create a Master List or Library
         < where would you get the music from >?

StarTekh


Hello: We would like to be able to create a Master List or Library
        < where would you get the music from >?

We would be using a basic Yamaha keyboard or Roland Piano for the input or if there are other more sophisticated voices available through Cakewalk, then use them as well.

There are also a lot of resources for midi music available for hymns on the Internet. (At least, there used to be.)

Mod Bod

StarTekh


Hello: We would like to be able to create a Master List or Library
       < where would you get the music from >?

We would be using a basic Yamaha keyboard or Roland Piano for the input or if there are other more sophisticated voices available through Cakewalk, then use them as well.

There are also a lot of resources for midi music available for hymns on the Internet. (At least, there used to be.)

> Thanks was multytasking ..again ..

In answering you, Mike, I am responding as well to all the other guys who kindly offered suggestions. 

HP Pentium R Dual Core CPU   T4200@2.00 GHz, ten year old Roland Digital spinet piano, midi out and in.  floppy disk.  LOL, still sounds reasonably good but ancient in tech terms.

I do not play keyboard.


Star:

We will probably not import hymns but create the files from direct recording from the Digital Piano.  We may import. Having both options is good.


Dave:

We know we are buying much more creative capacity than we need and would buy a product more suited to solve our problem than X1 if we could find one.  What  we have now is essentially a numerical keypad with additional keys programmed for set functions.  Problem is that playback is very inconsistent in tempo and a beast to work with when recording. Support from the manufacturer is virtually non-existent.  It is called Synthia..cute, huh?

Ed:

Synthia has midi out and midi in...I do not know what other hardware we would need to make this idea function.



Mike:


As far as the Master List/set list issue, in creating the set list we want to be able to cut and paste from one to the other so we can make substitutions.  As Dave mentioned we may find ourselves with experience using more of the software than we had intended.

We have no experience working with this kind of gear.  We are a bunch of old farts  who just think we have the chops to get it done.  I didn't get much help from Cakewalk sales....they didn't think I was a real buyer, but I have always found knowledgeable people hang out in forums who generally try to give the best info they have and I have rarely been burned. 


I hope this additional information will help in presenting a clearer pic.

Many thanks for your responses.


Centexn








 

Centexn
This is one of my main focuses as a producer of music for use in church worship services.  I use SONAR to produce the resulting MIDI files and actually use VanBasco's MIDi player when I am leading live worship.  I am currently doing this at a church using a Roland Juno Di (this pic features my trusty XP-50) that is connected to a Lenovo S10 netbook running VanBasco.




The benefit of doing this is that I have the songs in a folder and can set up playlists for the particular service.  The player displays the lyrics (as they are embedded in my MIDi files) so you can follow along with the melody.  You also have the freedom to pause or reorder the list as you go in case the order of service were to change dynamically for some reason.


I also work with another music minister who runs the full blown Sonar live during the worship service combining not only using MIDI tracks but recorded background vocals and such along with VST instruments as well. 


He has all of the songs open at once and has them sort of "tiled" beneath one another with the "time line " displayed with markers denoting the various sections of the song as it goes along.  I will see if I can get a screenshot of this.
I think at one time Cakewalk actually had some sort of "setlist" functionality where you could set up a playlist.


Synthia looks interesting but limited in itself.  If it is General MIDI compatible which I suspect it is then you can use the Computer or Netbook if you will to play back either the SONAR project files and/ or MIDI files and use the Synthia as just a sound source.  It also looks as if you can move MIDI files directly into the Synthia without using a computer so it would be more self contained but the power comes when you pair it up with the outboard computer as it gives you much more control over things.


Hope that helps some.  Please feel free to Private message me and by all means check out our website if you needed any further help or suggestions.

Sorry about forgetting that.

With the XP-50 setup I use an E-MU 1x1 USB MIDI interface ( you can see it sitting off the left side of the Netbook)

The Juno Di has a built in USB To-Host MIDI interface.

Both of these solutions are very functional and so transparent (I forgot to mention them ) ;<) 

OOPS Sorry I missed the post on your MIDI info-disreguard my ignorance on that part below. LOL
 
Lots of good info to consider above.  One thing I noticed you mention that the budget doesnt seem to be to much of an issue for you what you are trying to put together. I am not much of a midi type person and dont claim to know to much about that side. As Cactus stated and very important just getting it together, find the interface to run everything into and see what that leads you to. 
As far as I can tell from what you are looking to do, I would put my money into the HP DV7 laptop, an external hardrive (300 hyms will take a little space) and for any currnet software out there at this point the computer will save you alot of hassel. Try to find an Interface to fit your needs on the amount of acoustical/midi inputs/outputs you need.  How are you intending on hooking up to play back through the PA System or what is your particular setup for sound?

What I was trying to say above and invisioned that you are asking is-You want to play the songs back from the laptop and play and sing along with as they play? Wave or MP3 files (your hyms saved in a folder) can be dragged and dropped into X1 allowing you to create the sets you want. Save each "set" that you create as a project that you know what it is and can find easily.  Once you open the set for the service, all the tracks with the individual hyms will be right in front and in the order you created. You can Mute all hyms int that set then as time calls for it, Solo the one you want playing and click PLAY.  Pause and play as needed.

There are a few different options with Sonar to go with but for the money and what you could get into and leave room to grow-you cant beat Producer but I would atleast go with Studio. If you choose not to upgrade your computer, I would find an interface that will work good with the laptop you have now and stay with the 32bit version for a DAW.
Thats about the extent of my knowledge on it. Hope you get it all sorted out.  Time and research is the biggest part and you are in the right place to ask.

Best of Luck to you