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Introduction
I'm taking the Electric Funkatron to a show-and-tell event that will be outside with limited power outlets. My setup is usually the Funkatron, which triggers notes on an Alesis QS7 keyboard, which is amplified by a big, heavy guitar amp -- i.e., two power outlets (not to mention some heavy lugging) required. This Instructable shows how to use a laptop as a basic MIDI tone generator and amplifer (since it has built-in speakers) in one. When I started this, I assumed it would be straight-forward since Windows has had a built-in General MIDI synthesizer for years. It still does, but getting an external device to play it can be difficult.
Be warned: this is not a pro-sounding setup. In particular, the laptop speaker's sound is pretty awful. I also find it can have difficulty handling lots of notes at once. But if you need something portable and cheap (as little as $5) this works.
What you can do with this
Most electronic instruments use the MIDI communications protocol to talk to each other. One thing this allows is to have one device (a keyboard, drum controller, sequencer, etc.) act as a controller -- meaning it generates note events -- and another device to act as the tone generator -- which means it actually generates the sound in response to events it receives from the controller. Sometimes both the controller and tone generator are the same physical device, as with keyboard synthesizers. This Instructable assumes you have a MIDI controller, such as a keyboard controller or some crazy cool homebrew controller , but need a tone generator.
I'm taking the Electric Funkatron to a show-and-tell event that will be outside with limited power outlets. My setup is usually the Funkatron, which triggers notes on an Alesis QS7 keyboard, which is amplified by a big, heavy guitar amp -- i.e., two power outlets (not to mention some heavy lugging) required. This Instructable shows how to use a laptop as a basic MIDI tone generator and amplifer (since it has built-in speakers) in one. When I started this, I assumed it would be straight-forward since Windows has had a built-in General MIDI synthesizer for years. It still does, but getting an external device to play it can be difficult.
Be warned: this is not a pro-sounding setup. In particular, the laptop speaker's sound is pretty awful. I also find it can have difficulty handling lots of notes at once. But if you need something portable and cheap (as little as $5) this works.
What you can do with this
Most electronic instruments use the MIDI communications protocol to talk to each other. One thing this allows is to have one device (a keyboard, drum controller, sequencer, etc.) act as a controller -- meaning it generates note events -- and another device to act as the tone generator -- which means it actually generates the sound in response to events it receives from the controller. Sometimes both the controller and tone generator are the same physical device, as with keyboard synthesizers. This Instructable assumes you have a MIDI controller, such as a keyboard controller or some crazy cool homebrew controller , but need a tone generator.
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Hardware
Windows-based computer, preferably a laptop with integrated speakers. For cost purposes I will assume you already have one!
USB-to-MIDI cable (a search on Amazon shows these can be purchased for as little as $5)
Software
ASIO4ALL driver
SyFonOne MIDI port player
Both of these are free to download and install.
Windows-based computer, preferably a laptop with integrated speakers. For cost purposes I will assume you already have one!
USB-to-MIDI cable (a search on Amazon shows these can be purchased for as little as $5)
Software
ASIO4ALL driver
SyFonOne MIDI port player
Both of these are free to download and install.
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