Hardware MIDI sequencer

Question

I've just bought Roland RD-800 piano. I love it's sound and mechanics. However it turned out that it doesn't have a feature to record and playback midi files. So I cannot for example record one track, then play it back and record another or play along. I'm looking for a device that I can connect to the output of my keyboard and record MIDI or analog tracks. Then connect it back to MIDI in of the keyboard to play them back using Roland's synthesizer. Also connecting mic, electric guitar, some monitor speakers to it would be great.

I'm aware that probably the most versatile solution would be to connect keyboard and other instruments to a PC. But I want a dedicated device with knobs, buttons for playback and such stuff.

What would you recommend in such scenario? How such a device is called? Does it even exist?

Answer 1

if I were you (which I'm not), I'd opt for a software midi sequencer.

the hardware ones may have buttons and knobs. Now, for a midi synthesizer, those are great. For a midi sequencer, they are not. A sequencer just has a lot more stuff to do than a synthesizer. You need to show music notation, pick tracks, adjust velocities, mute and solo tracks, play, record, save, load. All that complexity just kind of forces you into the realm of software.

I've not tried a lot of hardware midi sequencers other than the ones built into a couple of the keyboards I've had. But every single one of those has sucked. So get a laptop, midi interface, and dive into allllll the software possibilities. It may take a while to figure it out, but at least you won't be stuck in a corner with hardware just to find out that you'll need to figure out the software realm after all.

Good luck to ya :)

Answer 2

The device you're describing is a multi-track recorder.

These are stand alone units that don't require a computer to record, but have their own storage devices for record and playback. Most of them have inputs for microphone and instruments, and some models will have outputs for speakers.

MIDI used to be a standard interface with them, but with hardware requirements for computer recording going down all the time most of the newer multi-tracks don't seem to any more. My Tascam DP-02 had midi recording capability.

It is possible that you can the USB connection for the MIDI, but that will depend on the hardware and software of both the keyboard and the recorder, so you would need to do some research to find a current model that will work, or look at the used market for an older model that still has MIDI built in.