By Malcolm Owen
Thursday, August 09, 2018, 07:18 am PT (10:18 am ET)
Want to add elements to a GarageBand composition by playing a piano, but don't have access to a MIDI keyboard? Save money on buying a new instrument by taking advantage of the built-in Musical Typing feature to turn your Mac's keyboard into an alternative keyboard. Thursday, August 09, 2018, 07:18 am PT (10:18 am ET)
Novation Launchkey 25-Key Mini USB MIDI Controller Keyboard for iPad, Mac and PC A compact mini-key instrument/controller, Launchkey Mini features 16 velocity-sensitive, three-color illuminated launch pads, which can be used to launch loops, sounds, effects, transport controls, and more. Connect the USB cable from the keyboard to your computer. Connect the MIDI Out port to a MIDI In port on a MIDI interface, and connect the MIDI In port on the keyboard to a MIDI Out port on the MIDI interface using MIDI cables. Connect the MIDI interface to your computer. Today we are looking at the best MIDI keyboards for Mac in 2019. After detailing our favorites a couple years back, it’s now time to reassess the MIDI keyboard situation for Mac users. Jul 25, 2019 Your complete quick guide to connecting your keyboard to: PC or Mac; Laptop or Desktop; Tablet or Smartphone. If you are just starting out with your home recording studio set-up, the first thing you may wish to do is find out how to connect a MIDI keyboard or digital piano up.
The best MIDI keyboard 2019: PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone keyboards for beginners and pros. By MusicRadar 2019-06-12T13:15:09Z Tech. UPDATED: Find the perfect MIDI keyboard for your music production setup. If you want to make music on a computer or iOS device, you'll probably decide that a MIDI keyboard is one of the first things you need. This turns your Mac sounds into a simple line in, and you can raise or lower levels on the mixer. Just a little 4 channel one is all you need. Also, your volume knob on your keyboard will turn your piano, or whatever sound you are running from your keyboard up down or obviously, off if you want it or are working in Logic, garage band, whichever.
For those getting started in music creation, GarageBand is a great tool to produce tracks, with a plethora of samples and ways to mould a composition to what you want. It is also quite flexible, capable of recording audio from microphones and plugged-in instruments, and accepting MIDI input from keyboards that can be used with the software's musical instruments.
While it is possible to select when notes should be played in a track with a mouse, some people prefer performing the musical element on a MIDI keyboard, with the notes recorded for later fine tuning. This is desirable, but since it requires a separate keyboard, this could be impractical for some users, such as those who cannot afford the extra equipment, or simply do not have the room for another peripheral.
As a solution, Apple included Musical Typing, which allows users to use their Mac's keyboard as a makeshift musical keyboard, assigning different keys to notes. This guide will explain how to get started with the feature.
Getting Started
Open GarageBand on your Mac. Either open an existing project or create a new project, which can be done by selecting New Project in the top left of the Choose a Project window, then Empty Project, then Choose.
If it is not already displayed, open up the Choose a Track Type window by clicking the small plus symbol above the track list. Select Software Instrument then Create.
This will create a new blank track in your project.
Once the track is created, select Window in the menu bar, then Show Musical Typing. You can also bring it up with the keyboard shortcut Command-K.
At this point, you may also wish to change the instrument the keyboard will play. This can be done by selecting the
Midi Keyboard Mac Setup
instrument from the library on the left-hand side of GarageBand.Using Musical Typing
The Musical Typing window shows a simplified and compact keyboard, with letters assigned to notes on a keyboard. The middle row of the keyboard (starting ASDF) corresponds to white keys, while the top letter row (starting QWERTY) relates to sharp and flat black keys.
Pressing a key will play the note for the duration the key is held down for, ending once the key is released. Pressing Tab will sustain the note, holding it while Tab is pressed, even if the relevant key for that note is released.
Other keys on the keyboard perform other actions and effects. For a start, pressing 1 or 2 while holding a note will alter the pitch up and down. Numbers 3 through to 8 alter the modulation of the note.
Best Midi Keyboard For Mac
The C and V keys will alter the velocity of typed notes, namely how hard each note of the virtual instrument is being played. The higher the velocity, the louder and stronger the note.
The X and Z keys change the octave of the keyboard, making the available notes higher or lower. The on-screen keyboard shows which region of the full-size keyboard is being used, with users also able to change where they are playing by dragging the highlighted area left and right.
Any notes played while GarageBand is recording is saved to the project, and can be tweaked later, just like a MIDI keyboard's input.
Another Option
There is a second software keyboard available to use in GarageBand. In the Musical Typing window, select the piano icon in the top-left corner to switch to a representation of a piano keyboard. You can select the icon to the right to switch back to Musical Typing.
This second keyboard can be used to play with the mouse, by clicking individual notes. This may be useful for musicians who need to visualize a note's position on a piano keyboard, or to have a wider array of notes available to use.
There is a tradeoff with this mode, in that it doesn't actually use the Mac's keyboard to play notes, instead relying on single note clicking. By contrast, the Musical Typing allows for multiple notes to be played simultaneously, making it better for those used to playing chords.
Further Notes
While Musical Typing does disable many of the single-press keyboard shortcuts in GarageBand (such as selecting tracks and automation visibility), the R key is still usable. The R key can be used to start and stop recording, making it useful if you want to play notes right away.
MIDI keyboards allow musicians to play thousands of different digital instruments on their computers. Unlike many computers, the Mac Book Pro will automatically recognize almost any MIDI keyboard connected to it. This saves users from manually creating a MIDI software connection within their operating systems. You can connect a MIDI keyboard to your laptop using just a few MIDI cables and an audio interface.
Insert the MIDI cable into the 'MIDI OUT' jack on your keyboard. Check your keyboard's user guide for the exact location of the jack. The MIDI cable should have five prongs that match up with holes inside the output jack. Guide these prongs into their matching holes. Wiggle the cable after inserting it to make sure it sits securely.
Insert the other end of the cable into the 'MIDI IN' jack on the MIDI interface device. Check the interface's user manual for the exact location of the MIDI input jack. The jack will have 5 holes to match up with the 5 prongs on the MIDI cable.
Connect the MIDI interface to the Mac Book Pro with a MIDI to USB cable. Insert the MIDI end of the cable into the 'MIDI Out' jack on the interface. Insert the other end into an open USB slot on your laptop.
Turn on the MIDI keyboard and Mac Book Pro. Plug the MIDI keyboard's power cord into an electrical outlet. Press and hold the circular button to the right of the Mac Book Pro's keyboard. Wait for the laptop to power up.
Open the Garageband music application and wait for the program to recognize the keyboard. Open the Garageband application on your computer and let it start up completely. Gamepad for mac. A window will appear stating you have a new MIDI device available for use.
