Korg Forums

[dutch2019]

Hello, forgive me if this question is rather noobish or has been answered a million times already ( I am rather new to the whole keyboard thing!)

I have managed to set up my PA4X in my daw (Sonar Platinum) and can successfully record multi midi tracks and have those played back via the keyboard.

However is it possible to record the audio directly via multi channels so that you don't have then re record each midi track on its own as an audio file or assign a vst instrument to the track?

Hope my question is clear and am grateful for any kind advice,

Cheers

Ritchie

[Korghelper]

It depends on whether you want separate audio recordings for each sound in the DAW, for further processing and mixing.

The PA4X only has a stereo main output and two direct outputs (that only output the sound without effects) so basically no... Unless your sequence only has one sound (if you want to record the effects and inserts) or four mono sounds without effects, you are going to have to make a recording of each track individually.

[dutch2019]

[Korghelper]

I’ve never tried this myself, I am content to simply make a pass for each sound, but perhaps your DAW can be scripted to do something like [Play Track1 and record audio][Play Track2 and record audio] etc..

Some DAW’s have some quite powerful scripting languages, if it’s important enough for you, perhaps it’s worth digging in and seeing if you can write one, or check their forum and see if one has already been written..?

That way you could start the script and go make lunch while the DAW does all the work!

But a 3 min track with eight parts is probably about 30 min work, it might take you much longer to figure out the scripting. It all depends on how often you need to do this.

[dutch2019]

[Korghelper]

I like to take off most of the effects from the arranger and do them in the DAW. Generally, you can find MUCH higher quality reverbs, compression and EQ than what the arranger offers (not to mention amp sims, flangers, chorus, just about everything!). It's a bit of a PITA to do on drum kits if you want to process the drums separately (here might be a good time to split individual drums out to separate outputs) But I generally find a separate track for kick, snare and then a stereo mix of the rest of the kit allows for enough control without too much work recording them. It's amazing how much more live you can make an arranger's drums sound when fed into a convolution reverb of a high quality drum room...

[dutch2019]

[Korghelper]

It depends on the DAW, but often you can open drum parts in a 'drum Track' view, which allows you to solo or mute individual drums with the kit.

Then all you need to do is solo the kick, make a pass, solo the snare, make a pass, then mute kick and snare and make a pass of the rest. Or make more elaborate groupings if desired... Toms, cymbals, hihat, percussion, it all depends on how much time you want to spend!

Other DAW's allow you to split a Track into separate tracks based on note. Honestly, this is a bit of a faff, IMO. Having a separate track for each individual drum sound uses a lot of screen real estate or forces you to create folder tracks which then don't show the contents as well.

If you have no Drum Track, try simply selecting all kick notes (there will be a shortcut for that) and 'cut', then 'Paste' into a new track set to the same channel. Same with snare... Then solo the tracks one by one and make a pass.

[dutch2019]

[Korghelper]

The problem I have with a track for each drum sound is that yes, SOMETIMES you want to work on just one drum, but most of the time you want to see what you are doing in relation to the rest of the kit. Comparing position or velocity levels, groove etc. really needs you to see the other notes too, and having them split across multiple tracks makes it a faff to edit them all at the same time.

Given how easy it is in Drum edit to work on one drum sound while still seeing the rest (or even piano roll mode if you don’t need solo or mutes) makes for an easier system, IMHO. You are always working within the context of the entire kit, and can easily hear the other sounds then mute them for comparison purposes, something that’s often tougher to do when the kit is spread over multiple tracks. Even rendering individual sounds through a VSTi doesn’t need the whole kit splitting, just use of the mute and solo in Drum edit, or output assignments of the drum edit.

Although there’s no WRONG way to edit, and everyone has their system, I like to always think of the kit as a whole... so getting used to editing while seeing and easily hearing the whole thing keeps me focused on the big picture, lest I lose track of it all..!

[Korghelper]

[dutch2019]

[Korghelper]

My bad! Lost track of the beginning of the thread!

It still might be worthwhile explaining the CAL routine for other Sonor users here, specifically if this automates recording the parts from the arranger itself (I believe what you first inquired about) or whether this only works on parts assigned to a VSTi... This could be a huge timesaver for many here.

Does the CAL routine already exist, and does it have a name (and a location it might be d/l’d from if not included in the install)?

Or have I misunderstood you and the CAL routine is simply one which splits a drum track into its component parts?

[dutch2019]