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Complete newbie to BIAB requires help with midi! #884098 04/11/26 09:40 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2015 Posts: 1 M musicdonna OP Newbie
OP musicdonna Newbie M Joined: May 2015 Posts: 1	Hi, Donna here. I am used to using Score-Cloud and have used Sibelius in the past for songwriting. Can I write to a melody line in BIAB using a midi cable from my piano keyboard? And if so, how? In simple language, please. I have BIAB 2026 and have upgraded from a 2015 version. It's a bit different! Last edited by musicdonna; 04/11/26 09:42 AM. Reason: I wanted to give a bit more info.

Re: Complete newbie to BIAB requires help with midi! musicdonna #884106 04/11/26 11:13 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,947 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 12,947 Wauconda	Yes, you can write (play and record) a melody using an external keyboard, but you say "midi cable from piano to keyboard"?? Is that right? Cause I don't know any simple way of connecting a midi CABLE to a modern PC without more cables. Or are you using a Mac? Does your keyboard have USB out? The bottom line is that what you want to do can be done but before I give you "simple details on how" you need to confirm for me that you can actually connect and play you keyboard in BIAB? If you can connect keyboard to the PC, then look to verify if BIAB sees the Keyboard (see picture for connection of my SL88 Keyboard (which by the way connects directly from Keyboard USB my PC USB cable)? Spoiler: If you have your keboard set up in the picture the only thing you may still need is "Ctnl-R". This brings up the Midi-Record screen. Just follow the instructions and start playing and recording. Last edited by DrDan; 04/11/26 03:36 PM. Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud Preview My Current Project .

Re: Complete newbie to BIAB requires help with midi! DrDan #884110 04/11/26 11:52 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,088 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,088 Melbourne, Australia	Quote ...Yes, you can write (play and record) a melody using an external keyboard, but you say "midi cable from piano to keyboard"?? ... With a MIDI to USB adapter this is possible, e.g. the Roland UM-ONE, however, the O/P might be meaning MIDI data over a USB connection, in which case no separate adapter would be necessary. BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.

Re: Complete newbie to BIAB requires help with midi! musicdonna #884111 04/11/26 11:54 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,088 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,088 Melbourne, Australia	Originally Posted by musicdonna Hi, Donna here. I am used to using Score-Cloud and have used Sibelius in the past for songwriting. Can I write to a melody line in BIAB using a midi cable from my piano keyboard? And if so, how? In simple language, please. I have BIAB 2026 and have upgraded from a 2015 version. It's a bit different! Tell us more about your piano keyboard, exactly what brand, model, and what connections it has, etc. Also, welcome to the neighborhood. BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.

Re: Complete newbie to BIAB requires help with midi! musicdonna #884119 04/11/26 01:09 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jan 2015 Posts: 2,662 Hampshire, UK Gordon Scott Veteran
Gordon Scott Veteran Joined: Jan 2015 Posts: 2,662 Hampshire, UK	This is an answer to a different question, but may be useful to know. BiaB can import both MIDI and MusicXML, to if you have those from elsewhere, like from Score Cloud or Sibelius, you may well save yourself siome time. There's a bit of learning to get bars aligned and sometimes to route channels to tracks, but it's a useful feature. Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful. AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11 BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software. Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts .

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