Dear everyone,
 
I'd appreciate tips on how to access my Alesis Nanopiano sounds in Sonar Cakewalk Home Studio 4 XL. I currently have one midi lead connected from my Alesis module to my Behringer soundcard, which enables my master piano keyboard in the DAW, but I don't know how to call up the Alesis to use its superior sounds (should I refer to it as a soft synth, or maybe a plugin?)
 
Any help appreciated,
 
Jim
 
 

You'll have to plug the Alesis's audio outputs into your sound card's audio inputs and record the sounds that way.
You MIDI track will play through the Alesis with whatever patch you select on the Alesis, and that sound will then be recorded into SONAR on an audio track.
 
If SHS 4 supports Instrument Definitions and if you can find an ID for the Nanopiano and load it into SONAR, you will then be able to select the patches in SONAR.

Hi Greg,
 
Thanks for your advice. I'm not sure if you statement 'Alesis's audio outputs into your sound card's audio inputs' refers to the jack/mic inputs and outputs; this suggests a live recording of the Alesis sounds. Or am I talking out of my end?
 
I'll attempt to find an ID for the Nanopiano online as suggested. I'll let you kow how it goes.
 
Cheers
 
Jim

Hi,

I've managed to download an Instrument Definition and assign it to an output, designate a track but now I can't hear anything in that track (previously an Edirol piano recording). I'm assuming I can use it like a DXi, but I'm not sure what combination of channel and midi options I should take. I've tried lots to no avail. Any further help here would be much appreciated.

Jim 

funnyjim


Hi Greg,
 
Thanks for your advice. I'm not sure if you statement 'Alesis's audio outputs into your sound card's audio inputs' refers to the jack/mic inputs and outputs; this suggests a live recording of the Alesis sounds. Or am I talking out of my end?
 
I'll attempt to find an ID for the Nanopiano online as suggested. I'll let you kow how it goes.
 
Cheers
 
Jim

No, you're not talking out of your end . If you want to use the nanopiano's sounds, they'll have to be recorded live while the MIDI plays through it.
Hopefully, your SHS 4 isn't too different from my SHS 6. Let me take a look at how to get an ID entered. It's been a long time since I've done it...

Okay. Open SONAR.
Click Options>Instruments.
Click the Define button.
Click the Import button.
Navigate to the location of the Alesis ID on the hard drive and double-click it.
You'll then get a window to select the ID from a list.
Once that's done, select the channel(s) you want to associate the ID to in Options>Instruments.
Hope that works.

It looks like Greg made some headway on the ID side of things.
Let's look at your signal routing.
I have found precious little information on the Cheetah, but I assume it has a standard MIDI DIN output.
You will need two MIDI cables.
The first will go from the MIDI OUT of the Cheetah to the MIDI IN of the B-Control.
The second will go from MIDI OUT A of the B-Control to the MIDI IN of the Nanopiano.

In SHS4, go to Options>MIDI Devices, and make sure all of the B-Control MIDI I/O ports are selected.
Also in Options>Audio select the B-Control Line In as an Input.
I'm not entirely sure how these will appear in the menu, but they should be fairly obvious.

You will also need two 1/4" T/S cables(ie. instrument cables).
Connect the Left/Right Outputs of the Nano to the Line In L/R of the B-Control.

In SHS4, insert an Audio track, and a MIDI track.
In the MIDI track:
Set the Input to the B-Control MIDI IN port.
Select OMNI or the channel the Cheetah is transmitting on.
Set the Output to MIDI OUT A.
Match the output channel to the channel the Nanopiano is set to receive on.
In the Audio track:
Set the Input to the B-Control Line In
Set the Output to your soundcard, or preferably your Master Bus.
To hear what you are playing, turn on Input Echo.
To record the nanopiano audio output, arm the track, and hit Record.

Here's the good part.
You record your actual performance to the MIDI track, just as you would with a soft synth.
You can edit this track at will.
Once you are satisfied with it, you can record the nanopiano output to audio.
Softsynths do exactly the same thing, but because the connections are virtual, and inside the program, they may be less apparent.
I hope that all makes sense.
It's really just a matter of completing the signal path.

Hi RobertB and Greg,
Thanks so much for your help with this. I've entered the ID and worked through the routing, and I believe I've assigned input and output correctly. I can hear the nanopiano sounds when I assign them to a previously recorded midi track - Hurrah! - but I can also hear piano simultaneously under the sounds I've chosen, i.e. strings or organ for example. Boo! The same problem occurs when I record a new midi performance track and then record the nanopiano output to audio.

I also have a return of latency problems. I overcame this in the past by routing my master keyboard audio output (jack leads) into an amp and simply turning it up sufficient to drown out the latent midi reproduction of my performance; I can't do this now as I've used all the audio outputs in connecting the nanopiano to the B-control. One solution would be to return all cabling to my original set up, record the track and then re route them again to access the nanopiano, but this seems very manual.

Any further help with these issues would be most excellent.

Regards,

Jim

I can also hear piano simultaneously under the sounds I've chosen,

 
Make sure each track that's playing through the NP are using different channels. Piano is the default patch.
Also, you may have the 'Always Echo Current MIDI Track' box checked under Options>Global.
 
I usually don't have the piano plugged into the interface. I have a small mixer it's connected to, the interface outputs too, so I can hear the MIDI and everything else while recording. If I decide to use my keyboard's sounds instead of a soft synth, I'll plug it into the interface to record it's audio.
 
Check your Behringer's control panel/preferences to see if you can lower the latency.

Hi Greg and Robert
Please forgive my ignorance and palpably low IQ. I’m having difficulty matching your terminology with what I see in the dialogue boxes in Sonar HS4. Here’s what I’ve done so far
Re MIDI
‘OUTPUT to MIDI OUT A’ – I’ve assumed that this refers to B- Control 1 (I’m given two options, B- Control 1 and B- Control 2)
‘Match the output channel to the channel the Nanopiano is set to receive on’ - I don’t understand this. Is the ‘output channel’ simply the MIDI Channel, i.e. termed ‘1: nanopiano’ in Sonar HS4?
I assume that now I assign preferences for Bank (i.e. Bank 1: sounds 0-127 in the Nanopiano and Bank 2: sounds 128 - 256 in the Nanopiano) and Patch (the specific sound within these Banks).
Re AUDIO
‘Set the Input to the B-Control Line In’ – I’m offered one option: B - Control ASIO (4in, 4out) and I opt for stereo B-Control 1.
‘Set the Output to your soundcard, or preferably your Master Bus.’ – I’ve opted for Master.
‘turn on Input Echo. To record the Nanopiano audio output, arm the track, and hit Record.’ – I’ve done this.
OPTIONS
‘In SHS4, go to Options>MIDI Devices and make sure all of the B-Control MIDI I/O ports are selected’ – in INPUTS I have one B-Control device selected, in OUTPUTS, two B-Control devices (1 and 2)
‘Also in Options>Audio select the B-Control Line In as an Input.’ In AUDIO OPTIONS – ASIO > DRIVERS I have selected all available B-Control INPUT and OUTPUT drivers (4 in each).
OPTIONS > ASSIGN INSTRUMENTS
OUTPUT/CHANNEL
‘Make sure each track that's playing through the NP are using different channels’ - In this category I’m offered ‘OUTPUT 1:B-Control/ Ch 1 to Ch 16’ and ‘OUTPUT 2:B-Control Ch 1 to Ch16’. -  Should I hightlight ‘OUTPUT 1:B-Control/ Ch 1 or more or all 16 channels?
‘USES INSTRUMENT’
I’m offered a selection, including NanoPiano. I obviously choose NanoPiano.
GENERAL
‘you may have the 'Always Echo Current MIDI Track' box checked under Options>Global.’ – I have unchecked this box.
I hope this isn’t too longwinded and annoying. I’d be grateful if you guys could possibly tell me where I’m going wrong.
Regards,
Jim