New With ??? About My Set Up Options

[torchsong]

Hi, new girl here with lots of questions about hardware and software.
I've read just about everything I can that is somewhat related to my situation but still have ????

I am a cellist and vocalist and want to make backing tracks to play with live and also make demo recordings on my computer. I come from the portastudio school of home recordings so the MIDI stuff is making me nuts!

Here's what I have:
imac running OS 9.2
DX7
Boss DRmkII
Behringer Eurorack
MOTU Fast Lane
Metro 5
OMS 2.3.8 grrrrrrr.....
cello with pickup (although I usually am miked for studio recording)
guitars
cables

I've tried to keep the basic set up simple but am having problems with OMS I think. Metro doesn't seem to like to work with Free MIDI.
I am also having problems playing back audio after recording a track, how am I supposed to hear what I've played to do over dubs?

BTW, I downloaded Pro Tools Free to try it out and just can't get the thing to open (memory error 1,010) so I gave up and went with Metro instead because it was inexpensive to start.

Thanks for any help, this is a great site!

[Levon River]

Well, torchsong, you've drawn a crowd and are getting lots of help.

I'm glad the crashing problems are gone; that's progress. I'm sure all these program-specific advices you're getting are excellent, but I won't even go near them until you are getting sound from your keyboard, because if you don't have the basics nailed down, everything that follows accumulates variables exponentially.

So on the SOUND from your keyboard issue (*not* the MIDI issue), here is the checklist based on the little I know about your set-up:

1. Way back in your second message you said "the audio is going through a pair of speakers hooked up to the computer." Then in a later message you said "Would I want to make an audio connection via the mixer? I don't believe I have the proper size connectors to do that." So step one is determining where the AUDIO OUT of your DX-7 is going. So: where is it going? Wherever it's currently going, like if it's routed to your hair dryer , you've got to get the AUDIO OUTS of the DX-7 going to some kind of AUDIO IN on the computer if you want to be able to record AUDIO from the DX-7 on your computer using your music program(s). In that case, the answer to your question of "Would I want to make an audio connection via the mixer" is "Yes," and so you're going to have to get the proper size connector to go directly to the audio in of the iMac--or you're going to have to get an audio interface (probably a USB audio interface) to sit between your mixer and your computer. If you just want to go straight from the mixer to the iMac "mic" input, you'll need an adapter that will take two cables from the L/R outs of your mixer and combine them into a stereo mini-jack that will fit that "mic" input on the iMac.

2. Assuming for the moment that you're going to get that adapter and route the AUDIO OUTPUT of the DX-7 (plus your cello pickup, mics, or whatever) to inputs of the mixer, then route the AUDIO OUTPUT of your mixer directly into the iMac, then all you really have to do (once the adapter is in place) is go into the sound control panel and make sure it's configured to take input from that iMac "mic" input port.

At that moment, you should then be able to hear whatever is going through your mixer, or I'll eat my hat. And I'm on a felt-free diet, so please get this working, and report back for further confusion.