Burning a CD from a Technics Keyboard Performance.

Devices and Software Required :

Any KN or PR keyboard with USB connection.

PC with Windows Operating system Windows 98SE, 2000, or XP

Panasonic Audio Recorder for KN installed on the Computer.

USB connecting lead, installed between the keyboard and the computer.

NERO 6 CD Burning Software. Other programs can of course be used but this description is confined to using NERO.

It is assumed that the USB drivers for the keyboard have been correctly installed on the Computer and have been proved to be operational.

A tutorial for installation and testing of the drivers, is available on the website from which this document was downloaded.

The easiest way to carry out the recording process, is to record a sequence or sequences on your keyboard first. You would have to use this option if  you intend to produce multi-track recordings.

When you are satisfied with the results, they can then be transferred to CD. You can of course record directly, in real time, if you wish.......

Generating the Files

1. Assuming you have a satisfactory recorded sequence on the keyboard, or stored on SD card, load the sequence.

2.  Start the Panasonic 'Audio Recorder' and click on the Recorder button ( RED Center Dot ) to start the recorder.

3. Ensure the keyboard's APC/SEQUENCER VOLUME control is set to maximum to ensure adequate recording level.

4. Press the START/STOP button on the keyboard - Playback on the keyboard will start and recording will begin - note the 'L' and 'R' volume indication bars will show data input to the recorder and the lapsed timer will indicate recording progress.

5. When the sequence has ended,  click on the Recorder Stop button ( Small Central Square )

6. You can now playback the recording, using the keyboard's sound system, by clicking on the Recorder's Play button ( Small single Triangle ).

7. The recording is only stored in a temporary memory location so it should now be transferred to a suitable folder on your computer's hard drive.

8. If you have not already created a suitable folder - say 'My Recordings' - then do so now following steps 9 - 13 otherwise skip to step 14.

9. Double click 'My Computer' Icon on the desktop and then double lick on the 'C: Drive' or alternative hard drive if appropriate.

10. In the menu at the top of the window, click on 'File', move the mouse pointer down to 'New' and across to 'Folder'

11. Click on 'Folder' and a new entry will be seen in the Folder list.

12. Right click on the 'New Folder' name and in the pop-up menu, click on 'Rename' and type an appropriate name and hit the <ENTER> key.

13. Close the explorer window.

14. If you intend to burn the recordings to a CD which is playable in a standard CD player or a PC CD Drive, the recording should be saved in '.WAV' format.

15. Click on the 'File' option in the top menu of the recorder,  in the drop-down menu, click on 'Save As'

16. To the right of the 'Save in' text panel, click on the 'Down arrow', then on the C: Drive (or other drive if appropriate) and navigate to the 'My recordings' folder.

17. Double click on the 'My Recordings' folder to open and then in the 'File Name' panel near the bottom of the window, type a suitable name for the recording - say, the name of the Song/Tune. 

18. Check that the 'Save as type' panel is showing as 'Audio Files (*.wav). If this is not the case, then click on the 'Down arrow' at the bottom of the window and then click on 'Audio Files (*.wav) in the drop-down options.

19. Click on the 'Save' button and a progress indicator will appear. When the save process has finished the file will be available in the 'My Recordings' folder.

20. Repeat the above process as many times as necessary to build up a series of recordings to be transferred to CD.

Transferring the Files to CD

1. Start the NERO program and in the initial screen, move the mouse pointer over 'Audio' (Quaver Note Icon) and then down to 'Make Audio CD'

2. Click on the 'Make Audio CD' Icon and after a short delay, the compilation window will open.

3. Click on the 'Add' button at the top right of the screen and the 'Select Files and Folders' window will appear.

4. Click on the Down arrow at the right of the 'Location' panel and then click on the C: Drive (or other appropriate drive) and look for the 'My Recordings' folder.

5. Double click on the 'My Recordings' folder and the .WAV files which were added earlier should appear.

6. Assuming you wish to include all files in the folder, Click on the first file to highlight it then holding down the SHIFT key, click on the last file. This should highlight all files.

7. Click on the 'Add' button at the bottom of the  'Select Files and Folders' window and the files will be added to the compilation window.

8. Close the  'Select Files and Folders' window by clicking on the 'Finished' button.

9. On the right of the compilation window, place a tick in the 'Normalise all audio files' box. This will make sure that the data is digitally optimized to the best volume level for recording on to the CD.

10. If you wish to save this particular compilation to hard disc, so that future CD burns are a little easier, then click on the 'Save' button, choose an appropriate location on the hard disc and save the compilation. Next time you wish to burn a CD using the same set of files, then the process can be carried out much quicker. ( See Paragraph 18. Below  )

11. The bar indicator at the bottom of the window  indicates the total playing time of the CD when it is burned. If the bar shows that the play time exceeds the capacity of the disc to be recorded, then you can delete single  files by clicking to highlight and then clicking on the 'Delete' button.

12. When you are satisfied with the compilation, click on the 'Next' button at the bottom right of the window.

13. Place a blank CD in your CD recording drive and check that the panel at the top of the 'Final Burn Settings' window, displays the correct CD Drive. If not, the click on the Down arrow at the right of the panel and choose the correct CD Drive.

14. In the 'Writing Speed' panel, click on the Down arrow and set the appropriate writing speed for the blank disc. I suggest that you set the value one step below the rated value for the CD - if the CD is rated 48x set the speed to 40x. I find that although the burn takes a little longer, it seems to produce a more stable result.

15. When burning an Audio CD using NERO, it is not possible to use the 'Multi session' Option, 'Verify Data', 'Track at Once' or optionally 'Finalize Disc'. These options are only available when recording a Data CD  i.e. Programs, Images etc.

16. Click on the 'Burn' button and the transfer of the files to the CD will start.

17. When the process has finished, the CD should play on most standard CD players and Computer CD Drives.

18. If the compilation has been saved to a file on hard disc, it will have been saved as a file with a .NRA extension. To burn another copy of the compilation, simply navigate to the .NRA file and double click on it.  Nero will open automatically and load the compilation ready to burn.