Wierd things happen when I try and connect my Yamaha P45 as a MIDI controller to Cakewalk.

[Boaz van der Vorm]

So, I've been trying for a while to connect the MIDI out of my Yamaha P45 digital piano to cakewalk so I can use it as a midi controller and record what I play, but for some reason it keeps doing weird: When I just plug it in and put all the settings and select everything, it works, but then my audio of my piano itself stops working, probably because it thinks the midi out is also audio. When I then turn my piano off and on again, it does give audio, but then the midi doesn't record even when all the settings are correct. Is this a software or hardware issue? And is it possible to turn off input echo and make my sound come from my piano instead of going through cakewalk (which adds a lot of latency in the ears of an experienced pianist). 

I feel quite dumb right now, as I think I'm just missing something obvious, also because with MidiEditor, which I tried out earlier, it was literally plug and play and none of these issues arose.

Really sorry if this isn't the place for questions like this but it was the only thing I could find around Cakewalk.

[Sock Monkey]

You might have already done this so I’ll just walk through the set up in detail. 
 

First et a cup of coffee and read the Manual. I just looked in the one that is for connecting to a computer. 
There are 2 drivers but it is not clear as only the midi driver is found on the download page. 
 

In the set up guide it says not all models support Audio connection with the USB. If yours does then it says to install that Yamaha/ Steinberg driver from Yamaha web site. 
 

After you reboot computer open Preferences and first go to midi devices and confirm that the Yamaha is both Midi input and output is selected. 
 

Then in Audio settings select ASIO mode and make sure the Yamaha is selected as the Device and timing master as well as showing in sync and caching.
You can only use one audio device in ASIO mode so all sound will now come from the Piano speakers. Later you can try WASAPI shared and choose both the piano and the computer speakers. But for now keep it simple. ASIO will give you very low latency.
 

Now both the midi and audio should be available as inputs. 
 

Insert the SI Piano and choose your Yamaha as the input. It should play and you will need input echo on to hear it when recording. You can turn off input echo for playback. 
Import to know is that with instrument tracks the midi goes just to the instrument. And you will hear it’s audio when recording and on playback after the midi is recorded.
But in the instrument settings is an option for Midi Output. This can cause a loopback so it should be tuned off to prevent the midi data from flowing through. But you can turn it back on after you record if ou want to send the recording back to the piano. 
 

So to avoid the confusion of all this it is best to just insert a midi track when using Hardware. Record to the midi  track and then you can easily choose and change where it goes to. 

I think the missing piece for you might be e Yamaha audio  ad midi drivers. 
 

Edited December 14 by Sock Monkey

[57Gregy]

https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/p_series/p-45/downloads.html#product-tabs

Welcome to the forum.
You should be able to find the correct driver here: ^

P-45 - Downloads - Portables - Pianos - Musical Instruments - Products - Yamaha USA

 

Edited December 14 by 57Gregy
Inserted link.