How to record music on Audacity with your keyboard?

Hello again, cyberfriends! 

This post is going to explain the process I've used earlier to transfer recorded music on your keyboard to your computer (or record "live" if you prefer that as well). I no longer use this process in my music production, because I have acquired a DAW (digital audio workstation) - Cubase 7 - in addition to virtual instruments (VST libraries) from EastWest's product called Goliath. The main difference is that I now operate in MIDI (you transfer information as well - not just only the sound), instead of only audio. The process I am going to elaborate more on will give you high-quality recordings (well, in my opinion at least) which gives you a good sound if you're for instance going to upload it to Youtube (better sound than with a normal camera). The keyboard I use is a Yamaha DGX-630. Just to give you a clue of the quality and sound, here’s a recording I’ve done with this technique:

Okay, let's get started, shall we? First, here's is the equipment I have used for my videos which you need if you're going to do it as I did:

1.     A normal audio cable. This is not a rare product and you probably have one already, for instance if you have speakers with your computer. In other words: you can a get a cable like this everywhere. This is the one I've been using: 

2. The audio cable will probably not fit the headphones output on your keyboard, so you will probably need a little adapter to make it fit. It may be that you don't need this or that it was included when you bought the keyboard. Check if you can plug in a normal headset with a standard audio cable into the input (and that it fits). If this works, you don't need an adapter. I had to buy one by myself. This is the one I've been using: 

    Let's dive into the process and see how you can get your recordings as a MP3-file on your computer (or WAW by all means - actually you should export everything in WAW in order to maintain the best quality you can get...MP3 compresses the sound to lessen the file size). Here are the steps:

1. Plug in the little adapter in the headphones-output on the keyboard.

2. Plug the audio cable into the "Microphone"-input on the computer and the headphones-output on the keyboard (into the adapter if you used one). 

3. Plug the audio cable into the adapter. 

4. Turn your keyboard on.

5. Open the freeware Audacity (click on the name for a download link).

6. To be able to hear the recording while you're recording, do as following: 

• - Edit --> Preferences --> Check the box called "Software playthrough" 

• Start to record on Audacity. 

• Click play on the song on your keyboard (if you don't have the recording-option on the keyboard, you have to play it live while you're recording on Audacity).

• Export the file in your desired file-format (File-->Export). If you want to export it in mp3, you need the LAME MP3 encoder (click on link and follow the instructions on Audacity's website in order to download it).

Hope this helps. Please 1+ this if you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, you can ask them in the comment section. Thank you for your attention!

Best wishes,

Peder

How do you record your songs and compositions? Any tips you want to share?