My name is Matthew Hutchinson.  I was born in September 1971, and I'm a Customer Service Rep for a credit card bank.
 
Growing up in the 80s, my favorite musical genres were Pop Rock and New Wave with a strong emphasis on keyboard-driven Electronic music. My favorite bands were Information Society, Depeche Mode, Erasure, and New Order.
 
I recently started learning how to play the piano and would like to share my progress with friends and family. I can't afford a teacher, so I'm teaching myself with the JoyTunes piano instruction app for the iPad. My long-term goal is to learn how to compose down-tempo Electronic music and become a recording artist.
 
I'm using a Yamaha EZ-220 connected to my home-built PC with a Host to USB cable, and I bought a copy of SONAR Artist this evening.
 
I've read through the first few sections of the SONAR manual and watched a few YouTube tutorials on how to get set up and start recording.  Unfortunately, I've hit a wall trying to figure out how to save my test recording to an MP3.  I've also learned you can't export MIDI straight to MP3.  It has to be converted to an audio track, first.
 
If I understand correctly, I have to set up an audio track to record my MIDI track during playback.  The problem is, the audio input menu only lists None and my 220 as options, and keeps reverting back to None when I try selecting my 220.  I don't think I'm supposed to choose that anyway, but I don't know what else to do.
 
EDIT: Uh... please move this to the SONAR forum.  I just realized I posted in the wrong place.  Sorry...

Hey Matthew, welcome to the forum ! 
I think you're on the right track with the statement "If I understand correctly, I have to set up an audio track to record my MIDI track during playback." . . . but I'm wondering what you're using for an audio interface ?
Are you just using the onboard audio that came with your computer, or do you have something else you've installed ?
Also, it would be helpful to know which driver mode you're using eg. ASIO, MME, WASAPI. This can be found in Sonar Preferences - Audio - Playback and Recording.
 
Once you've converted / recorded your MIDI to an audio track, you'll need to "Select All" tracks and do a "File-Export-Audio", then select MP3 as the Audio format.
 

Thanks for the warm welcome.  :)
 
I'm using my PC's onboard audio, by RealTek, and the WASAPI mode.

Welcome Matt!

Welcome!
 
I would offer to help but I don't know enough about Artist to give any reliable info.

You've come to the right place, Matthew. Good on you for being resourceful and taking the time to learn to play an instrument - nowadays that would seem to have become an optional step. (Psst. Please don't anyone tell Matthew about loops and arpeggiators!)
 
Matthew, you have a pretty good piano in SONAR called the TTS-1. Rather than recording your performance as audio, just capture the MIDI data and then route it to the TTS-1. Then you can have fun tweaking the MIDI, correcting any flubbed notes, inserting bits that are too complicated to play in real time, experimenting with song structure, effects and alternate voices. Because the TTS-1 is multi-timbral, you can make a whole song with it including drums, bass, strings and so on. It's a great way to get your feet wet.
 
Two pieces of advice:
1. Hold off as long as you can before falling into the black hole of third-party instruments and effects, as it can put a serious dent in your wallet as well as distract you from the creative process. You don't need anything else beyond what came with Artist to make a record, despite what anyone tells you.
2. When you get frustrated, remember it's supposed to be fun. Every dead end you hit is has been encountered by others who are more than happy to guide you around it.
 
 

In downloads for EZ-220 you can find "MIDI Basics" pdf (may be you have it in paper). That will explain you EZ <-> computer communications. Important that EZ-220 can not send audio to computer, it can send/receive MIDI only.
 
So the simplest way is what bitflipper writes, use soft synth (TTS-1).
 
Once you can play on 220 and get the sound from TTS-1 (throw computer speakers), you can record/edit MIDI and export audio (including mp3). But there can be some problems till you get so far, in Sonar preferences:
* check that 220 is enabled as MIDI input
* check that something is selected as audio output in Sonar (your buid-in interface)
* you can get "double" and event "tripple" sound... Once from Computer, another from Yamaha directly and under some conditions yet duplication on Yamaha from Sonar. To simplify things at the beginning, DISABLE MIDI Output to Yamaha in Sonar and turn "Local Off" on Yamaha (see the user manual for 220).
* you can get quite big delay between you press a key and get the sound. That is a separate huge topic, related to the audio driver and settings (WDM vs ASIO, buffer length in Sonar preference, use as "key words" to google for more info). In short, try to reduce the buffer in Sonar settings till you get some "glitches/pops" and then increase one-two steps above that. You probably still will have the delay, but it should be "playable" (you can try install and use Realtek ASIO driver, but please do not expect it solves the delay problem completely, these chips was not designed for "low latency").
 
 

Welcome to the forum! This place is an incredibly helpful resource with many kind and experienced recording musicians ready and willing to offer their help and advice. I've always heard that using the computer's on-board audio is a big mistake, resulting in bad latency, strange (or no) sound, or just general gremlins. Hopefully someone will chime in if I'm mistaken, but my understanding is, EVEN IF ALL YOU USE IS MIDI, you still want to invest in an audio interface that allows you to use ASIO. I use the Focusrite 2i2, which is in the mid $100s. I can count on one finger the times I've had any audio issues, and I predominantly record MIDI data and then bounce to audio. You would of course need to make sure your audio interface is selected in the Preferences->Audio menu. I believe Cakewalk's YouTube channel has a video on properly setting up and using an audio interface. Good luck!

Welcome to the forum! This place is an incredibly helpful resource with many kind and experienced recording musicians ready and willing to offer their help and advice. I've always heard that using the computer's on-board audio is a big mistake, resulting in bad latency, strange (or no) sound, or just general gremlins. Hopefully someone will chime in if I'm mistaken, but my understanding is, EVEN IF ALL YOU USE IS MIDI, you still want to invest in an audio interface that allows you to use ASIO. I use the Focusrite 2i2, which is in the mid $100s. I can count on one finger the times I've had any audio issues, and I predominantly record MIDI data and then bounce to audio. You would of course need to make sure your audio interface is selected in the Preferences->Audio menu. I believe Cakewalk's YouTube channel has a video on properly setting up and using an audio interface. Good luck!

Sorry for the double post...