Another noob question

jamrobofist · Post by **jamrobofist** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:56 am

Hey everyone, so I'm new to the whole recording thing. I have a question that I couldn't find anywhere on here, probably because it's really simple and I'm just an idiot.

I can connect my R3 to my mac and use it to record MIDI in Ableton, but only with the sounds that come with Ableton. How do I get the actual sounds from the R3 recorded as MIDI? Do I need to save them in the R3 sound editor and then look them up in Ableton's file browser? If so, how do I do this? The sound editor program really confuses me.

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

fogflip · Post by **fogflip** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:18 am

The R3 does not transmit audio over usb or midi. It transmits audio through the headphone jack and the stereo outputs on the back which is what you would use for recording depending on if you want to record stereo or mono. If you want to record your R3 you will need a audio interface of some kind or you could use your built in sound card but might not sound that great. I use a motu Ultralite but their are many others depending on your needs. The sound editor is for editing sounds or patches. Ableton has some instruments but you should look into other vst's as well because the R3 has midi and usb it is great as a midi controller. I hope that helps some what pm me if you need me to elaborate more or more clearly. Peace

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:27 pm

yeah, one important thing to remember is that MIDI transmits only data regarding what key is pressed when, how hard... and when you change a controller value. it is generally used to control other synthesizers from a MIDI keyboard or synth.
it transmits no MIDI. you need to record the audio directly from the synth if you want to hear its own sounds.

jamrobofist · Post by **jamrobofist** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:53 pm

Oh I see. That's kind of a bummer. The reason I like MIDI is so I can make sure that every note is exactly as long as it has to be, to make up for human error. But I guess recording the audio directly will be good enough. Thanks guys!

travisthered · Post by **travisthered** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:40 pm

jamrobofist wrote:Oh I see. That's kind of a bummer. The reason I like MIDI is so I can make sure that every note is exactly as long as it has to be, to make up for human error. But I guess recording the audio directly will be good enough. Thanks guys!

You can play the midi file you are talking about but only record the audio. This will give you what you want I think.

javaj · Post by **javaj** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:03 pm

just set your midi out in Abelton to the R3 and you should hear what you played. To record the audio, simply pipe in your outputs into a soundcard and record that as a second track (and keep the first track midi so you can edit it in the future and do a retake on the audio playback).