When it comes to recording your DAWless jams, there are plenty of options from oldskool reel to reel tape, standalone recorders, hybrid devices, ipads, or even a DAW! What? So yes, maybe you are into DAWless production for getting away from a laptop, but the chances are you already have a laptop and if it can be setup in a set-and-forget manner that does not interrupt your workflow, then using a DAW to record you DAWless jams can be very effective, and allows you to make any tweaks afterwards too.
There are several output scenarios. The simplest could be to take the output from your DAWless setup (probably a mixer) into a simple 2 input USB Audio Interface, such as the venerable Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Or if you dont own a mixer and USB audio interface yet, then a device such as the Soundcraft Signature MTK12 could well be interesting for you since it is a 12 Channel mixer and includes a USB Audio output as well. Very convenient!
In order to record into your DAW, I would highly recommend setting up a pre-defined template with all of your inputs and outputs configured so it is ready to go with minimum fuss. This could be as simple as an Audio Left and Right inputs from a 2 channel audio mixer, but if you also have MIDI output from your devices you could optionally capture that at the same time with minimal effort, by using a template. This will give you further creative options. You could just export the L and R channels into a Mix, job done. Or you could tweak the captured MIDI and Audio in the DAW at a later date. Even if you don’t use the MIDI output, its nice to have the option.
The screenshot shows an example of capturing L+R both from the Circuit Tracks groove box (Ext In 1/2), and the Valeton stereo effects pedal (Ext In 3/4), alongside are MIDI channels 1-4 and 10 from the Circuit Tracks, Crave and Microfreak. On the far right you can see the Reverb and Delay FX loop that you can easily route the whole mix through with the Sends, which can help shape and fatten the sound of the final mix before you export it.
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3 responses to “Recording DAWless …. with a DAW!”
[…] my dawless jams into Ableton, with the help of a template to speed up the process. (see the article Recording DAWless …. with a DAW! – DAWless). I then will likely add a small amount of reverb, delay and other FX on the FX loop path, and […]
[…] session was recorded live into Ableton, where nothing was touched on my usual template. Then all I had to do was export the captured Audio […]
[…] Tracks, Behringer Crave and TD-3, the Arturia Microfreak, and Valeton GP-200 Multi-FX and then recorded into Ableton. Currently I make music both with a DAW and DAWless. I have no preference, I like both! However […]