I am sorry for posting this because I am sure there has been a thread about this... I cannot find it.

Is there a specific program that I need to connection the Kawai CA51 digital piano to the computer?

If you've got Windows XP or above you just need an USB cable.

You'll get midi sounds only that way. If you want to record the sound samples the CA51 can make, you'll need an Audio Interface and a couple cables L/R from your CA to your Interface, then the USB from the Audio Interface to your computer. The interface acts as a sound card, essentially.

If you want to record only in Midi, then a usb to your computer with an Audio recording program like Garageband (there are many more pro softwares out there), you can have loads of fun.

so if i have just a usb cable, it will be in MIDI format, meaning the sound is simple, and doesn't sound like the song that is being played on the piano, at all?

It means that this way (usb) the piano only sends the data to the computer, which read them provided you use the software that suits. The sound will not be simple, if you use a program like pianoteq for example it will even be better. And you probably still can use the piano sound if like I understant USB is like midi in and out.

Shirakawa can surely explain this better.

Oh yes, I have windows vista. So if i connect the computer to the piano with a USB cable, what do I have to do from that point on? (The keyboard is at school, so I am asking this in advance)

What do you want to do exactly by connecting your DP to a computer ?

If you just plug your piano to a computer with vista, it will be recognized, but you'll still need a software that read the datas and either traduce them into a partition, or sound using a third party sample bank, etc...

I just want to record what I play onthe DP to the computer so I can upload it. But I am not sure how to do that..

Mahlzeit's website is terrific, PianoNOOb. It should answer all your questions:

http://www.pianoclues.com/how-to-record-piano/

Mahlzeit's website is great, but I do not have those types of cables... I only have the USB cable. sorry...

The cable I have is this: USB CABLE

and it fits into the DP and my laptop

hmmm... cables are fairly inexpensive, Yang. I think you're still better off going out and buying the right cable than getting the software to translate the MIDI data into piano sounds.

So the USB cable can only transmit it into MIDI format?

I wonder if you don't confuse midi format with midi sound files ? From the above site :

The main difference between audio recording and MIDI recording is that MIDI does not store the sounds you make, only the names of the keys that you pressed. It is like sheet music or the old piano rolls — but in electronic form.

Midi does not mean that the sound is simple. Midi is what you play on the piano (including key velocity), not yet traduced to sound.

Play the MIDI, upload it here, and I'll translate it for you to real piano audio file using Ivory.

But if you want to record your own piano sound, you'll need to get audio from your piano audio outputs to your laptop's audio inputs (usually a mic). Any Guitar Center Store will have the right cables.

Ok I got it. Thank you to everyone!

PianoN00b, as you are using Windows Vista, you will also need to install the updated USB driver from the KAWAI America website:

http://www.kawaius.com/archive/download_archive_2.html - see the Software Drivers section.

Kind regards,
James
x

Good advice on that website. Couple more things, first be sure you get a cable that's long enough to make it from the DP to your computer. Second, Radio Shack is also a good place to get those kinds of cables relatively inexpensively (and there are usually more Radio Shacks running around than Guitar Centers).