Setting keyboard recording level

[dwf2008]

My rig includes a Kurzweil keyboard, Zoom L-12 mixer, and Cakewalk, among other stuff.  The keyboard is plugged into one of the stereo channels on the mixer. These channels do not have a preamp and thus no gain adjustment. The output volume of the keyboard is set to max. When recording into Cakewalk, the signal level seems ok and playback is ok, but the visual image of the waveform is almost a flat line. I can boost it a little by maxing the channel gain setting but visually it is still almost nothing. I do not have this problem with the other instruments. Suggestions as to how to deal with this?

Thanks

[David Baay]

Are you playing the keyboard using Local Control or by echoing MIDI through a track in CbB back to the keyboard? If the latter, raise the MIDI Volume to 127 to ensure CbB isn't lowering the volume via CC7 messages. Then check what the track meters and numeric indicators show for peak level when the track is armed to record and you play some big, high-velocity chords with a piano sound. You should be able to clip the signal. But if you reset the meters and play a quiet, monophonic line it may well be down around -18dB or less. It's possible to zoom out the scaling such that a lower level signal like that will be nearly flatlined. Double-click the dB scale between the track and clips panes to reset it to default.

[rsinger]

10 hours ago, dwf2008 said:

When recording into Cakewalk, the signal level seems ok and playback is ok, but the visual image of the waveform is almost a flat line... Suggestions as to how to deal with this?

You can change the scale. I think you left click and drag up and down.