Back after 10 years and need to compose!

Hi everyone.

Okay, this is the story: Dug out my Ibanez and Peavey Bandit 112 from the attic.

I want to play and compose, and I've lost contact with my band members from over 10 years ago... So I've no one to play with...

I guess I need somekind of keyboard (with capabilities of percussion, bass and various melodies, etc) with which to compose on and link to my PC to actually create some tunes.

Looks like the computer world's taken over with reference to this MIDI thing. What's this and is this what I need? I'm pretty computer literate, however I've never used anything like this with which to create my music.

Also, do I need anything else with which to plug my amp into, in order to link that to my PC? My Bandit doesn't have a USB socket!

Any advice would be much appreciated, cheers guys.

Hi,

An easy way forward would be to get a good PC USB audio card for your PC that either takes a guitar input directly or the line output from your amp or a MIC input for the MIC you place before the amp. You could acquire a small 8-12 channel mixer to put before that as well. Then, depending on the extent of other instruments you would like to add you could try to find a second hand music workstation that has a variety of sounds for you to add. I personally use an old Roland XP50 for that. It does only have a 66 unweighted keyboard but this could be enough, depending on your needs. With respect to the audio card, you might want to check if it comes with MIDI. Also check out the bundled software. This can be very neat. It is always a plus if it comes with some multitrack recording software but make sure it is a full license! There is also some freeware out there that can help you.

Take care!

Serge

After all, you'll find new band, but my problem was a inspiration,... try Lvbsx (virtual music composer),... don't pay, demo(free) is OK...