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Connecting Piano (keyboard) to garage band

I'm new to GarageBand. How do I connect a keyboard to my Mac? I have a MIDI>USB cable but that didn't work.

It is a Suzuki FP-S Spinet Digital Piano

Message was edited by: Lethal Penguin

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Nov 12, 2007 6:57 PM

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17 replies

Nov 14, 2007 4:31 PM in response to Lethal Penguin

Hard to say as long as you don't tell us what kind of an interface you're using ...

I looked up your piano. It has a Midi out and a USB out. So:

• If you connect the piano to the computer with a USB to USB cable, you (probably) need a driver for the piano. I didn't find any through google, but maybe your manual can tell you more.

• If you connect a Midi to USB interface to the piano's Midi out, you need a driver for that interface. Again: You have to tell us what it's called, and maybe you have a manual or CD for that too.

Nov 15, 2007 1:19 AM in response to Lethal Penguin

Midi driver for what? Read my last post to understand the difference between the two possible connections!

To say it another way: The midi data that your keyboard produces is a stream of events, like "key C1 down", "sustain pedal released", etc. In order to get these into the USB port of your computer, the data have to be packaged according to the USB standards (don't ask me for details). This is either done inside the keyboard - then you need just a simple USB to USB cable to get it to your computer. Or it is done by a separate device called an interface that you connect to the round midi socket in your piano. This might just look like a simple cable with a bulging part in the middle, but it is a separate device that changes the datastream.

This is not an academic difference when it comes to drivers: In case 1 you need a driver for the keyboard (Suzuki), in case 2 you need a driver for the interface which could come from a lot of manufacturers. That's why I have been trying for a while to get you to tell us what that thing is that's between your keyboard and your computer.

Connecting Piano (keyboard) to garage band

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