Dec 28, 2010 04:43 pm Hey skylark, welcome to the HRC.
I'll assume that the PSR has its own sounds, and you are OK with them for now. It's possible to send MIDI data from the keyboard to the PC, and have the PC play other sounds, but we'll just use the PSR sounds for now.
1) plug cable from PSR output to the LINE input (which is 1/4" jack on preamp 2) on the CI1. Now you have keyboard sounds getting to the CI1.
2) plug mic cable between MIC and CI1 mic preamp 1. I don't know which microphone you have, so I don't know if you'll need phantom power or now. In the future, if you can type shure microphone, then you should be able to type in the model number: SM58, SM57, ABC123, etc. Helps us know for sure what you're using.
3) apply phantom power if necessary: dynamic mics don't need phantom (sm57, sm58) whereas condenser mics do (ksm, etc).
4) adjust the gain knobs so there's signal getting into the CI1 but not clipping.
5) set up software to record; arm track 1 to receive signal on input 1 (for vocals) and arm track 2 to receive signal on input 2 (keyboard).
6) press big red button (record) and you should see wave forms get created in the tracks as you play. I assume this to be true, as I don't use cubase or cakewalk.
For now, I'd pass on using the midi cable, as it gets more complicated from here. Get this setup up and running, and you can record and mix stuff, then you can move up to more options from there.
After you have 2 tracks, you can UN-ARM the two tracks you've created, then create two new ones, arm those new ones as before, and record two new tracks below (next to, whatever) the previous two. Then you can mix and play to your hearts content.
A word of advice; play to a click whenever possible. This can be a click from the software, or a boom-tap drum type thing from a free drum program. If you don't, trying to match to wavering timing is a real < female dog used for breeding purposes >.
Hope this helps, and have fun.