Topic by TheodorN

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Topic: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

I'm trying to record my screen with Pianoteq playing a MIDI file, in OBS. I get the video, but no sound. I tried adding Desktop Sound as a source, but that didn't do anything. I see my mixer, with the microphone, and desktop sound (or system sound).

I see the signals coming into both of the audio sources, and when I record a YouTube video playing on my computer, the sound is indeed recorded. When playing the Blues demo in Pianoteq, and recording in OBS, the audio is not recorded, even though I'm using the same settings as when recording from YouTube.

I'm using the onboard sound card, and ASIO4ALL, and I know that Pianoteq blocks access to the audio output device for other applications. I notice when I'm playing something in Pianoteq, I get no sound when playing audio in other applications, like Firefox or VLC.

Is there any way around this? Do I have to record the screen, render the MIDI file to audio, and then sync up audio and video sources in a video editor? I can do that if needed, but if there is a way to record everything at once, I'd prefer that.

Adding an audio interface is not an option, since I'm doing this on my laptop. I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, but it's connected to my desktop, and it's too much of a hassle moving it between computers all the time. I'm assuming this would not be a problem on the desktop, since the 2i4 has a kind of a shared mode, not blocking access to other applications, when using a VSTi.

Last edited by TheodorN (14-12-2022 16:39)

Reply by dazric

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

I remember having problems trying to record into OBS Studio a while ago. The problem seems to be with ASIO (I thought OBS was supposed to support ASIO, but it didn't work when I tried it). The only way I could get OBS to record the sound was to use Windows Audio for the Pianoteq output.

Reply by Sanderxpander

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

Most ASIO drivers take exclusive control of the soundcard. ASIO also doesn't have native repatching of in/outs. So unless you have a dedicted device with a multiclient ASIO driver and some routing options, that won't work.

You could try some app like Audiojack or Soundflower which basically acts as an ASIO driver wrapper, but ib my experience it's a little hit or miss.

Reply by TheodorN

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

Thanks for replies. I tested with Windows Audio, and it worked fine, see link below (just for testing, might delete it in a few days). It is a bit cumbersome having to switch to Windows Audio, and again to ASIO4ALL, for practising because of the lower latency.

I'll repeat the same process on my desktop with the Focusrite, since that's where I'll be creating my performance videos, when I have a decent recording of my playing ready, which might take a long time, LOL!

When you talk about ASIO in this regard, do you mean ASIO4ALL, or all ASIO drivers, including the one that comes with the Focusrite? I know that I can play other audio sources when Pianoteq is running, but can I record in OBS? I'll try it tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Ss8LYrAkQ

Last edited by TheodorN (14-12-2022 19:11)

Reply by Sanderxpander

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

If you can play other sound with your Focusrite while also playing PianoTeq, it seems its ASIO driver is multiclient capable. Then all you need is some way to "loop back" the sound, usually to an existing input. On my RME I can for instance use an unused in/out pair (like the stereo S/PDIF) and click "loopback" and then whatever I send to the S/PDIF outs arrives back at the S/PDIF ins. Handy for sampling stuff from Spotify, YouTube or anything really.

I don't know how your Focusrite handles this on the software side of things, but if you can't do it with software and you have a set of ins/outs to spare you could always just run cables. Make sure to avoid a feedback loop, i.e. don't route the sound from those inputs back to the outputs you're feeding them from.

EDIT: I mean ASIO, if I mean ASIO4ALL I'll say so specifically.

Last edited by Sanderxpander (14-12-2022 19:21)

Reply by miiindbullets

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

You need something to reroute the audio when using ASIO. Reaper has a free ReaPlugs VST that works in any DAW to rebroadcast the audio (via ReaStream), and you receive it from the same VST in OBS.

Here’s some info on doing it in Reaper, but you don’t need Reaper.

https://reaperblog.net/2022/01/rearoute...-tutorial/

ReaPlugs download: https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/

Last edited by miiindbullets (15-12-2022 17:36)
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Reply by dazric

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

miiindbullets wrote:

You need something to reroute the audio when using ASIO. Reaper has a free ReaPlugs VST that works in any DAW to rebroadcast the audio (via ReaStream), and you receive it from the same VST in OBS.

Here’s some info on doing it in Reaper, but you don’t need Reaper.

https://reaperblog.net/2022/01/rearoute...-tutorial/

ReaPlugs download: https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/

Thanks for the info, sounds very useful, I'll check it out.

Reply by TheodorN

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Re: Recording Pianoteq with OBS Studio - help wanted

Thanks for the tips, but it turned out to be too much of a hassle for me to set things up this way. I felt it would complicate the setup too much, and couldn't get the routing spaghetti working, anyhow.

Just did this video as an exercise, took the MIDI file from the Piano E-Competion website, and played it in Pianoteq. I switched to Windows Audio, which is not a problem latency wise for playback of MIDI files.

Then I recorded in OBS Studio, and locked the window in to the Pianoteq app, with a background picture. Maybe not fitting to have a background of a sunny day, since the Raindrop prelude should remind us of a rainy day, and is rather bluesy.

When I start recording my performances, it'll be a similar process, but probably with the addition of a video of me playing. For that I will need a video editor, and I've installed Davinci Resolve 18.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6a8V2SSG04

Last edited by TheodorN (16-12-2022 21:20)