Karaoke to Midi Adapter
By Robbie Rhodes
A co-worker, Mike, asked me where to find an adapter to connect his kid's little keyboard synth to the computer. "My little girl loves to play the keyboard, and I'm going to give her a piano instruction program which will run on her PC. It requires an external keyboard, so I need an adapter to connect the headphone output from her keyboard to the 'Midi In' port on the PC."
"Does her keyboard already have the little 5-pin DIN connectors for 'Midi In' and 'Midi Out,'" I asked. He replied, "No, it's several years old and has only a headphone jack; that's why I need an adapter."
I explained that the computer program needs Midi signals because it responds to key commands, like a player piano responds to the music roll, and that Midi signals are simply on-off commands. The headphone jack puts out music, but music isn't on-off commands. "The 'Headphone-to-Midi' adapter is wanted by lots of people, Mike, but such a device isn't developed yet."
Mike was disappointed. "How about a 'Midi-to-Headphone' adapter? The computer program displays music manuscript and plays the notes at the same time to the 'Midi Out' connector."
"You're in luck," I assured him, "but it's not called a 'Midi-to- Headphone' adapter, it's just a newer model of your kid's keyboard, and it does what you want: it makes music in the headphones from the Midi commands. Ask at the big department stores."
He grinned, "Okay, and let me know when a 'Microphone-to-Midi' adapter is in the stores. I want to see the music appear on the screen when I sing-along with the Karaoke player!"
I'm afraid that Mike doesn't yet understand ... but he'll soon learn -- his little girl will teach him! Merry Christmas, all!
Robbie Rhodes
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