Rqvenscroft 275 IOS

[vid wes]

Hello,

I recently purchased Ravenscroft 275 for my iPad. I have connected it my my Yamaha P125 keyboard using USB to host and Lightening to USB.
I cannot figure out how to get the Revenscroft piano sound to play through the Yamaha keyboard. I'm guessing that I need to select something within the Ravenscroft app but I cannot figure it out.
Thanks for any hellp.

[BillB]

Hi vid wes and welcome to the SOS Forum. Your question is a bit confusing. When you say that you cannot get the piano sound to play through the keyboard, do you mean
a) you can’t generate a note in Ravenscroft when you play the keyboard? or
b) you can’t get the Ravenscroft piano sound through the USB cable and played back through the Yamaha speakers?

If a) check MIDI channel output setting from the piano. Getting the keyboard to play the iPad should work fairly easily. You should see the virtual keyboard in Ravenscroft responding to the keys you play on the Yamaha, and hear an output from the iPad speakers.

If b), I don’t think that the USB cable is intended to pass audio in this way. The P125 USB MIDI manuals says:

Audio signals cannot be transferred between the digital instrument and the iPhone/iPad. This means that audio signals created via your keyboard performance cannot be recorded to the connected iPad/iPhone.

Presumably the same is true of audio generated by the iPad.

From what I can see of the spec for the P125 it would appear to have no audio inputs. So if you want the Ravenscroft sound through the Yamaha keyboard , you seem to be out of luck.

[vid wes]

"b) you can’t get the Ravenscroft piano sound through the USB cable and played back through the Yamaha speakers?"

Yes, that is what I am trying to do. I thought Ravenscroft could function as a sound module to get a better piano sound on my Yamaha P125.

"From what I can see of the spec for the P125 it would appear to have no audio inputs. So if you want the Ravenscroft sound through the Yamaha keyboard , you seem to be out of luck."

Maybe it is not possible.

[BillB]

Maybe I jumped the gun on this. The manual p23 states

Connecting the [USB TO HOST] terminal of this instrument and the computer via a USB cable allows you to transmit/receive MIDI and Audio data (USB audio interface) to/from the computer.

So in theory the same should be true for the iPad.

1) Try to get the P125 to play the Ravenscroft, by going to Settings > Audi/MIDI preferences then selecting it as as Active MIDI Input - not sure how it will be named, but it should be in the list of devices. You should hear the piano sound from the iPad speakers the same as if you tapped the screen keyboard.

2) Set the Yamaha as an audio destination in the Device list. Hopefully at this point, you will hear the Ravenscroft sound through the P125.

You may then need to turn 'Local off' at the P125, which disconnects the keyboard internally from the P125 sound source, but lets get steps 1 and 2 established before worrying about that.

Let us know how you get on.

Incidentally, I have Ravenscroft app on iPad, but not a P125, so I can only guess a little from this side, but there are some setup tests I could run with other keyboards.

[vid wes]

BillB.

Thanks for your reply. I tried the steps you suggested but still I could not get the Ravenscroft sound to play from the Yamaha keyboard.

When I play the Ravenscroft keyboard on the iPad, the sound of that comes through the speakers on the Yamaha keyboard, but the reverse does not happen.

You said that I may need to "turn 'Local off' at the P125" By that do you mean turn off the Yamaha's internal speakers, or do you mean sometbing else?

Thanks,

[BillB]

BillB.

When I play the Ravenscroft keyboard on the iPad, the sound of that comes through the speakers on the Yamaha keyboard, but the reverse does not happen.

That’s great news - in some ways you have done the hardest (or most technical) part - getting the Ravenscroft audio into the P125.

Now you need to get the P125 MIDI into the Ravenscroft.

In the app, go to Audio/MIDI Preferences, then Active MIDI inputs. You should see ‘Yamaha P125’ or similar in the list of options. Click the checkbox, then play the P125 keyboard. The Ravenscroft should sound through the P125 speakers. You will likely also hear the P125 piano, so it may be a little hard to tell, but try setting the P125 to some other sound, such as strings, then see if you can hear the Ravenscroft piano alongside the strings. There is no MIDI channel setting that I can see on the Ravenscroft, so it should be listening to all 16 channels, therefore the channel setting on the P125 should not matter.

While you are in the settings, just note the Options under ‘Device’. Alongside IOS Audio, you should be seeing ‘Yamaha P125’ or similar. This is what is directing the Ravenscroft sound into your Piano - don’t change it, just be aware!

If you get this far, and are hearing the Ravenscroft Piano alongside the built-in sounds of the P125, you then need to ‘disconnect’ those P125 sounds from being played by the P125 MIDI keyboard. This is known as ‘Local off’, and no, it doesn’t mean turning the speakers off. The piano keyboard still generates MIDI out, but does not sound the onboard piano, strings etc. I remember reading that the P125 can do this, but don’t recall whether there is a button/menu option, or whether you need to send a MIDI ‘Local off’ instruction to the P125, which is more complex and will involve a bit more software.

I’ll have a look at the P125 manual, meanwhile try the steps above and let us know how you get on.

[BillB]

Good news. Local off/on can be set on the keyboard. Grab a copy of the P125 MIDI reference guide from the Yamaha website.

Page 2 explains in detail, but basically:
While simultaneously holding down the [METRONOME] and [RHYTHM] buttons, press the C5 key. Pressing the C5 key repeatedly toggles between Local Control On and Off.

So, if you can do the steps in my post above first, then turn local off, you should have the P125 keyboard playing the Ravenscroft sounds, heard through your P125 speakers. Hurrah!

Hopefully

[BillB]

Any joy with this?