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Hi there EP

can you elaborate a little bit more please on the solutions you suggested?

I do have a laptop and a desktop available in order to do the job.

What is a multi - client MIDI driver?


Thanks

EP has a point here: actually in Windows you can use the free Virtual MIDI driver http://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/virtualmidi.html to create virtual ports and route the VPC1 midi both to Piano Marvel AND a SW instrument (and/or have Piano Marvel output sent to the VSTi)

You can try that with your current DP right now, assumign Piano Marvel can use the ViRtual MIDI ports (as a start, just install Virtual MIDI and create some ports, to see if this is true)

PS: there is also the older combination MIDI Yoke + MIDI Ox http://www.midiox.com (Yoke Driver works on Windows XP, probably also on 7, not sure on 8) to create virtual ports and route the physical MIDI IN/OUTs to them.

With regards to Virtual MIDI, as you can read on the web site, it is not a standalone download but it is part of the rtpMIDI (MIDI over LAN) or Loop MIDI packages of the same author. Just download one of them, e.g. loop MIDI.

Why would you need a virtual midi here? The midi signals coming from USB and from traditional midi can be used at the same time in the same pc. I don't think VPC1 is an exception to this.
What's more, in my experience the same midi signal can be used by different softwares at the same time. The problem is in sound, rather than with midi. I don't know if PM has sound, but if I want to control 2 virtual pianos at the same time for instance (say Ivory and pianoteq) I need to use the audio interface for one and the pc sound with asio4all for the other (or 2 channels on the same audio interface if it's multichannel). I can do this with just 1 midi signal.

It depends on the application, some programs take exclusive control of the assigned MIDI port. I don't know if Piano Marvel does (could be), so I am suggesting a potential workaround just in case.

A lot of speculation being spewed here.

Here is something that I know works.

I just signed up for the PianoMarvel trial version.

Downloaded and assigned my MIDI connection from my ES7 and ... DONE !

Simple. Worked perfectly !

That gets my vote.

I can tell you that when I had my VPC1 I used the midi out and USB out at the same time with no problems. No speculation there.

Indeed, simultaneous USB-MIDI and MIDI is a feature of the VPC1.

James
x

Of course it does, ES7 has sounds and a line in, like the OP Casio but unlike the VPC1...
So how does that answer the OP questions?

The OP asks:

1. For learning I use Piano Marvel which is installed to my laptop (internet access is required at all times) and I connect to my Casio CTK 4200 using USB. For sound I connect the head phone jack of the laptop to the Line- in of the Casio and sound comes out of the keyboard speakers (I use headphone too). How is it possible to do that with VPC1?

Answer to question 1. It is not possible to do that with VPC1

2. Is it possible to run Piano Marvel and get sounds from the piano software (Ivory, Pianoteq, Galaxy, Alicia's Keys) at the same time with no issues?

Answer to question 2. It is not possible to do that with no issues.

While the OP wasn't asking if he should get a VPC1 or not, I agree with dmd's advice. If you are teaching yourself piano with piano marvel on a Casio 4200 and want to get a better instrument. Get an ES7, it's the best of the slabs. Question 1 could be answered with a yes and question 2 would not be important.

Not wishing to get into a fight over this, I will concede to emenelton that it cannot be done with no issues. If the OP truly wants no issues whatsoever, I'd advise staying away from software pianos period. I'm not familiar with the ES7, but a keyboard with onboard sounds is clearly a more straight-forward solution.
OTH, with a little tinkering and ingenuity (who can run a computer these days without a little of both?) and he could make the VPC1 work with Piano Marvel.

Thank-you EP for the consideration. Going from a Casio 4200 to an actual DP is a big step that should be recommended. I would rather spend the next 4 years 4 hours a day practicing on an ES7 and then be ready for a VPC1!

Ha ha - how often do I wish I had spent more time practicing and less time messing around with computers and such! One of my goals over the past couple of years has been to declutter my studio and focus on the playing rather than the tinkering. Easier said than done these days.

I hear you!

Long ago you just needed musical skill ... and you'd pick up an instrument and play.

Today you need all that ... but first you have to diddle with a bunch of equipment.

Major work for initial setup. And more work anytime something glitches and needs a fix.

Too much time spent on tech and not enough time left for musicianship!

Agree totally. The electronics of your environment can eat all your time if you allow it to happen.

I have come to a place where I realize that my main mission has to be learning to play and not worrying about the "tone" of my instrument. I have noticed that if you find someone that can really play, they sound good on almost anything. You can have a $20,000 sound system but if you can't play, who wants to listen to you ?

Learn to play, first.

Ne'er a truer word spoken. (Anon)

I have the opposite problem: I NEED to spend more time tinkering and trouble shooting and less time playing, but I seem to run out of time when I'm done practicing. My list of things to do keeps getting longer, too.

Maybe I should just play the recorder.

When I was in college (oh so long ago ... ) I was happy with a harmonica in my pocket, later on a banjo under my arm. Now I'd need a Uhaul to move my gear (not even counting the piano). True story.

+1 I am on the path to getting there too

Exactly, the conclusion of this discussion and the end of the day is: it is most likely possible to use a VPC1 and a VSTi piano with Piano Marvel, but of course is more complicated than just using a DP and more prone to technical issues (though eventually solvable)

I also agree that for the OP an intermediate step, i.e. going for a better DP such as the ES7, may be a better option at this stage of his musical and technical knowledge (otherwise the original questions wouldn't even have been asked)