A shortcut to becoming a professional! Record and listen to your electronic piano or keyboard performance

By recording the piano, you can listen to the songs you have played. By listening carefully to your performance, you will notice small mistakes such as a sense of discomfort in the touch and a discrepancy in the tempo. This is better than receiving feedback from others, including piano instructors.Not only will it help you to motivate yourself, but it also helps you train your earsThis can also be a result of this, and in the end it will encourage you to grow as a pianist. But how do I record my performance? The easiest way is to record the sound you hear from the speaker using a smartphone or voice recorder. However, this makes it easy to get noise and you won't notice any small differences in touch. This time, we will introduce the most effective way to record an electronic piano (keyboard).  

How to record

Here's an overview of how to easily record performances from an electronic piano or keyboard. Connect the cord from the audio output jack to the appropriate audio input jack from the electronic piano or keyboard. After that, data is transferred to playback devices such as computers, tablets such as iPads, and smartphones, and listen using headphones and studio monitors. It's very simple! Now, we will explain in detail in detail in detail.    

Step 1: Check the terminal where the sound is output

Many electronic pianos, keyboards or synthesizers come with speakers. However, in order to record, you will need a terminal that outputs sound separately from this speaker. Please check your instruction manual. If it is labeled "Aux Out" or "Line Out", that is the desired terminal. or,Headphone jacks are fine too。    

Step 2: Prepare the device for playback

Decide which device to actually play the recorded songs. For example, a computer, smartphone such as an iPhone, or tablet such as an iPad. Incidentally, the next step is to decide which device to record. This is selected in this stepDepending on the device you are playing, it may not be necessary.. For example, if you want to record on a computer with a microphone terminal and play it straight from the computer. Read Step 3 and choose recording and playback together.    

Step 3: Prepare your recording equipment

To successfully record an electronic piano or keyboard, you need some kind of recording device. If it is of good quality, it may cost tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of yen. But thisVery important elementsis. The minimum requirement for this device is that it has an audio input terminal or a microphone terminal. This terminal is generally labeled "Aux In" or "Line in", "microphone logo" or "MIC". *The description will be different for cases where the left and right mono terminals are separate.   If you simply listen to sounds on your own, the most efficient way is to use a computer as a recording device.That's probably true. If you want to publish a recorded piece online, please clickAudio InterfaceWe recommend preparing something called ". Audio interfaces are often referred to as "sound entrances and exits." This is responsible for recording sound, relaying it to a recording medium such as a computer, and then relaying it to a playback device. This function is standard on a computer, allowing you to record and play directly. However, this functionality that computers have is not of a high level. Therefore, even if the sound comes in high quality, it will be output in low quality. Conversely, using an audio interface will convert the audio in high quality, allowing you to record with clearer sounds. To put it in a way, it's television. Young people may not understand, but when the TV changed to digital high definition (digital terrestrial television), even if I forced it to be displayed with a tuner on a CRT TV that wasn't compatible, the image quality was not good. It's a similar phenomenon to this one. A diagram showing the flow to playback is as follows: The thickness of the arrow indicates good sound quality.   The recommended audio interface is Yamaha's "AG03." This is an audio interface that is often used online for "singing" and "game commentary." It is designed to be easy for beginners to use, and by recording using this, you can easily perform a "one-person repetition".     If you don't plan on purchasing a computer or audio interface, you can also record on your tablet or smartphone.

Just plug in the adapter that converts your smartphone's USB to microphone terminal. You can also connect a microphone from the earphone terminal.

   

Step 4: Connect with the correct cable

Once you have checked the input and output terminals, you will need to prepare a corresponding cable. Make sure you look carefully at the types of terminals and cables and avoid making mistakes in making purchases. The length of the cable is also important. Especially with electronic pianos, it cannot be easily moved, so consider the layout of the room when recording and prepare a cable that is long enough. However, the longer the cable, the more noise it becomes. If you buy it with the ease of thinking, "I think I should just buy a longer one," you may end up regretting it later. Decide the optimum length for your piano to your recording equipment and choose a cable that is the length that suits it. There are many types of audio cables and terminals, but this time we will explain two typical ones.

mini cable

This is the terminal cable used in earphones and headphones. It also supports stereo with one hole, and this cable can be used for items with labels "Line out(in)" or "AUX out(in)". One thing to note is that even the same mini cable can only communicate in mono. The difference is the number of black lines attached to the terminal. One line corresponds to "mono" and one line corresponds to "stereo" and one line corresponds to "2 lines".  

Phone cable (shielded)

This is a cable that is commonly used in audio equipment around the world. The feature is that the terminals are a little thicker than mini cables. It is also said that noise is less likely to be generated. The YAMAHA electronic piano I own also has this terminal. In addition to cables, many conversion plugs are also available, so you can buy them together with the mini plug.      

Step 5: Prepare the software

Next, you will need software to record. This is honestlyIt's not very important. What's important about sound quality is harder than software. No need to purchase expensive commercially available recording software. Perhaps those who have prepared an audio interface will come with software that can be used for recording. There are also many free or inexpensive apps for recording using a computer. Personally, I use a software called "Audacity." This allows you to record for free, remove noise from recorded files and play multiple files simultaneously (one-person rounds). If you're interested, try searching. However, instructions are generally mainly in English. If you are using a Mac or iPhone, you can also record and edit it using the Apple app called "Garageband." Personally, I stopped using it because I found it difficult to use, but improvements are progressing gradually, so I look forward to the future. If it's just simple recording, the software on the computer is fine. For example, in Windows, software such as a "voice recorder" or "sound recorder" comes standard. On Macs, you can record using "QuickTime Player." You can record on Android and iPhone by using the free voice recorder app.    

Step 6: Actual recording and playback

When recording using an audio interface, you can usually hear what you recorded through the interface. The exception is if you are using a recording interface that does not have output. If you record it on a computer or smartphone, simply play it as is. Connect headphones or similar if necessary.  

(Step 7 Find areas for improvement)

If your goal is to practice piano, listen to your performance objectively and see if you don't feel any discomfort. For example, please be aware of the following:  

• Tempo : Is the tempo of sounds especially using the pinky finger disrupted?
• Loudness : Is there any unintended variation in the loudness depending on your fingers or the location of the keyboard?
• Connection of sounds : Are you releasing the keys too early and the sounds are interrupted, or are you releasing the keys too late and the sounds are overlapping?

  These three are often not possible, especially for beginners. Even if you think it's okay yourself, if you listen objectively, you may notice surprisingly weaknesses in your performance. If you feel any discomfort, it's your chance to further improve your piano skills. Repeat practice → record → play to achieve a satisfying performance.