The problem is that the market is currently swamped with cheap USB/Midi adapters that garble SysEx messages and don't work reliably with chords, most of them featuring a violin clef (but there is also comparable garbage under the 'Swisstronic' house brand). USB had a MIDI transport definition almost from the start, so basically all USB/MIDI adapters are 'class compliant' and work with Linux as good or bad as with other operating systems. What should I look for, or what sort of adapter should I get? Will any MIDI/USB adapter work with Linux generally speaking, like keyboards and mice do even when not so advertised? Or is the advertised compatibility important, like how backup software preinstalled on external hard drives will ONLY work with the OSes mentioned in the specs?Īlso, is the model of the keyboard an important variable for establishing whether a given adapter will work?Įssentially I'd like to get an adapter that will work with his keyboard and with Linux, that's not outrageously expensive, and that is high enough quality that it won't become a pain point even if he starts creating music semi-professionally. Hunting around online I couldn't find any MIDI/USB adapters advertised directly as working with Linux, and the only review I found that mentioned working with Linux, was filled with caveats and said how the adapter doesn't follow the MIDI spec and only works sometimes.īeing completely new to MIDI, I don't know if the general lack of advertised compatibility is important or not. Audacity), but the first order of business is to get a cable (actually an adapter) that will connect the keyboard to the computer. I know of some free software available to help with this (e.g. The family laptop (the one he uses) runs Linux, currently Kubuntu 20.04. He's interested in recording musical tracks onto the computer. My son has a keyboard, a Casio LK-110 that was a secondhand gift, which he's learning to play music on.

Midi to usb cable