Hello fedifriends, i found a keyboard in my basement it has a midi port and i would love to start producing music. I do not know where to start. Which Programm would you recommend, which way to connect the keyboard do my linux laptop? What do i need to think about before buying anything? Thanks a lot for every idea!
For Linux I recommend Reaper or Bitwig
I also recommend Reaper, that indefinite free trial got me to buy a license. It’s able to do pretty much anything any other Digital Audio Workstation can and has great VST support.
For hooking up a MIDI instrument to a computer you have a few cheap options. Assuming there’s no USB-out for that keyboard there’s either MIDI->USB adapters (cheap but iffy) or interfaces (more expensive but reliable, I used a MIDI box for a while). Ideally you’d get a full fledged audio interface, but that can be pricey for just messing around.
As for making sounds you have a lot of options! Lots of free virtual instruments out there, though it’s nice to have an all-in-one VST like Xpand!2. The hard part is just learning how to set up connections and plug-ins in whatever DAW you choose, but it’s not that bad.
koala sampler supports midi input from the keyboard. $5 on android or ipad.
if you really want to get into the linux audio stack i wish you luck. there’s a ton of synths that support midi OOB. ardour is the only DAW still being updated.
What model is the keyboard?
Yamaha EZ-200. In the comments i was recommended reaper and it looks pretty good. Will try that first and if i don’t like it i’ll look info ardour.
You’ll want a MIDI adapter for your DAW.
Try Bitwig too! It’s kind of laid out like Ableton. It’s paid but there are rent to own options.
I have also been meaning to get into this with an old MIDI-keyboard. What are people’s opinion of Ardour and LLMS for this purpose? I also have a DI-box (Scarlett Solo) to record guitar and vocals I would want to use in the same setup.
