Do you ever record by hand?

akaie · Post by **akaie** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:31 pm

Hello people! I am new to this forum. I 've been reading this forum for a while and I am sorry that my first post is a new topic but I would like to make the following question. Do you ever record live with a keyboard instead of drawing midi notes with a mouse? Do you think that this is a more inspiring way to write music? Also do you always hard quantize your notes or you think it is important to have a live feel to your track?

aallvor · Post by **aallvor** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:54 pm

I have an Evolution knob box that I use for recording automation data, way more fun than mousing around.

As for quantizesing, most of the time the kick, everything else is slightly ahead of or behind the beat. I guess it's a question of what you want to achieve...

Android · Post by **Android** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:11 am

I play everything into my MPC

and the mute and unmute tracks while I tweak synth knobs

the computer is only a stereo recorder for me at the moment.

sorgenkind · Post by **sorgenkind** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 6:16 pm

since I have a couple of pre-midi synths i started recording "by hand" and even thought i'm not that good in playing keys I find this way to record synths more inspiring than drawing notes with the mouse, even if it means having to have several takes until it really works

akaie · Post by **akaie** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:55 am

interesting views.

Android · Post by **Android** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 4:48 am

yes I do several takes as well.

I feel the "live aspect" comes through more, even though I'm still muting and unmuting perfectly sync'd midi sequences.

and the fun thing about several takes is

you have an instant remix or new arrangement of the material

which you can listen back to later, and further develop your composition techniques.

of course my studio is rather minimal at the moment, once I'm at my new place and unpack all the other synths, I may make things more computer controlled, but I will still have to feed them all live through my mixing desk.

revy · Post by **revy** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:09 pm

if you dont have a midi keyboard, most software you may assign notes to your computer keyboard...not natural playing but you can make the timings more "human"

akaie · Post by **akaie** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:55 pm

revy wrote:if you dont have a midi keyboard, most software you may assign notes to your computer keyboard...not natural playing but you can make the timings more "human"

Yeah. Thats what I do but I hate it mostly because of the sound the keyboard keys make when you release them. It doesn't let you concentrate on the rhythm.

Question: Has anyone tried to use a midi keyboard to do drum programming? does it work? Is there a huge difference from using drum pads?