Practice sound with laptop

I want to play the internal sounds of my laptop using a USB connected midi keyboard. No styles don't need fancy sounds. Just the ability to have notes come out of the laptop speakers from input of midi keyboard. BIAB or OMB would do it but are both way overkill for what I need.

There are lots of free programs out there. Any recommendations are welcomed. Laptop runs Vista.

Robert I recently purchased a Emu X board 61 controller..It came with a soft synth Proteus X..This is a standalone that does not need a host program..Exactly what you are asking for..

Also Native Instruments has made available free...Kore..a stand alone with several free sounds included[other sound packages available from NI)..

There are other soft synths at very reasonable prices ..but you need host programs to set up...

If you like I can loan you my copy of Proteus X...Give it a try...

Next time I run into at Friendly's..

Email me..

Hi Robert
Plenty of Free VST instruments and suitable Hosts here http://www.kvraudio.com/ (A lot of them will also run standalone)
Try the SGM180 if you want a General purpose sound module
Hope this helps

Bill

I recently had the same problem, my solution was I bought One Man Band software which included it's own synth.
The software was inexpensive and is also a host if you want to get into that. It also allows you to play Yamaha styles on your computer.
I bought OMB because it was so simple to setup the price was well worth the time it saved me in trying to figure out drivers and soft synths and all that stuff I didn't want to learn.
Doesn't the keyboard come with some sort of software? Mine came with cakewalk le but I ditched in favor of the above simple method.

P.S. the soft synths and hosts and vsti's required way more time than I wanted to invest, I wanted to plug in and play. The lazy way out.

[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 04-10-2008).]

Fran: Thanks for the offer. Every time I'm on RT 1 I'm on the lookout for ya. I have the EMU X 61 too along with the Proteus X. I was looking for something lighter weight.


Bill: Wow. kvraudio is a great resource. I didn't know about it but I will certainly dig into it. Lots of great stuff there.


Mike: I'm lazy right along with ya. OMB will absolutely do the job and is a great value at $50, but in this case I don't need styles and all the stuff that OMB does, just the ability to play the GM sounds off the sound card. This can be done for $0.

Robert, lighter than the 10 pound EMU ?

Here's an idea...
Creative Prodikeys

Without a quality interface and good drivers, you are all going to bump into the latency issue. Simply put, your playing will be delayed by however long it takes for the computer to process your playing, and spit out the sound.

This can range from barely perceivable (with good gear) to barely usable. You need to get reported latency down to about 2ms to have the same 'feel' as hardware. Not easily achieved without the right gear...

The lower the latency the better, however a lot of hardware boards don’t get down to 2ms (Although they are hardware the sound still has to be processed)
“WARNING” AVOID VISTA if at all possible, as it is a TOTAL DISASTER for Music
Regards

Bill

I meant lighter weight as far as the software requirements were concerned. Not the physical keyboard. The Emu is physically plenty light.