How I Record All My Gear Into a Computer.

[@landonh3535]

Great topic man. I have an alternate way and since you are an Elektron guy I am curious what you think: For the Digitakt, I use Overbridge in standalone mode. It has it's own multitrack recorder which is awesome and I don't see anyone talk about it. I usually make a 2 bar 4x4 kick only pattern on the DT as pattern 1 and then song mode chain it to my other patterns. I then hit record on the overbridge software and then press play. What I do then is get the basic pattern in and then tweak knobs and live jam so I have a lot of options in the DAW right away and im getting more out of the hardware. then I stop and drag all the waves into the DAW (set to same BPM) and since the first pattern is just kicks I line them up on the grid (with all audio files highlighted and moving together). Since the OB recorder starts and stops in the software you can trim off the second or so before you hit start on the DT. But the cool part is you get all the tails at the end when song mode ends. Hopefully that all makes sense. For the OT you can record each track in the OT. so just solo a track, let it play like normal a few rotations and then maybe capture all the cool fader movements it does. Rename the file so you know WTF it is and then you can just drag and drop from the OT onto your computer and into the DAW. Best way I have found to record both devices.

[@RickyTinez]

dude! @Landonh3535 Mario is into the Overbridge standalone recorder and its dope! I should try this setup as well since most interaction between machine and DAW is just for the recording part. That standlaone recorder is slept on for sure haha

[@landonh3535]

Awesome, I'd love to see what you think. I have gone through the ERM latency setup thing myself so this kind of eliminates it for me.@@RickyTinez

[@dirtymusicassette]

i'm only using the standalone recorder but i monitor the DT directly from the machine avoiding OB because of jitters. So i have separate tracks recorded + a main out including FXs. Not having a clean FX track recorded is pain. Because i need to set tons of sidechains + eq to attenuate the dry hits on the Main Out track to transform it in something of a Wet FX track. 😭

[@ToxicHumanCorporation]

​@@dirtymusicassettewhat I do with my Syntakt is feed back the tracks into the FX track once the arrangement is done, kind of like reamping guitars. The sidechain function on OverBridge makes this easy. The drive in the ST is so good for a master bus

[@PeterPepper93]

Hey Ricky, super tutoríal. There is one thing that you would probably entertain, at 15:50 you’re moving the different blocks one by one, if you selected them all while they’re on the same track and you press command it will automatically put each clips on a different track. Hope you enjoy that, keep on doing the good work man, really inspiring

[@Pete-LC]

Great video I've been struggling with the latency when recording from external sequencers, good to know that the first note ist almost always off because that was driving me crazy. Another thing that can be done to speed up the process, as long as the sounds are recorded mono, is panning track couples completely to the left and right and assigning those inputs on different ableton tracks. In this way you can record two different sounds in parallel and save some time

[@mastersunfish]

You Working at elektron is dope. I wouldn’t mind that job

[@TheCALMInstitute]

I had no idea that E-RM went out of business! 😱I absolutely SWEAR by my multi-clock, and I completely agree that 2-3ms matters in latency. If a drummer is playing off by 2-3ms, that's totally fine - because it's "feel", it's not the very same 3ms every single hit. But when your drum machine is lagging, it feels nasty. That list little bit of timing in grooveboxes is "felt" more than described. Haters will say I have imagined it.

[@cudamusic_nola]

Fantastic video on a topic that has been beyond frustrating to me for years. I had several "a-ha" moments to my workflow shortcomings while watching this, especially with recording my Elektron grear and addressing latency. All of your videos on using external gear with Live are top notch! Keep them coming.

[@wraggal]

Thanks for talking through your shortcuts as you go, most people don't bother, it takes no time at all, and is a really useful for folks that haven't memorised that stuff

[@RickyTinez]

Yea i know as a creator a lot of us wonder and worry about the viewer and their time. I know i do.. So we'd rather skip the "boring" stuff and stick to the substance. So i said why not make a video where the substance is the boring haha. Glad you found it helpful!

[@TheLordGU]

Thanks for that video! I think that it is a good idea, to say the least, to talk about the somewhat tedious bits when creating music. Of course, in all those videos that are out there, things like initial calibration tasks, the now and then somewhat time consuming bits of recording physical instruments or from external machines, and then the housekeeping before getting taken away in the next steps of the creative process, those things are more often than not sort of dropped. They go unmentioned, but even though they may take some time (practicing works wonders here, I was told), and even if they don’t seem to be glorious artistic stuff, they are part of the process, too. Long story short, I think it is great that you make videos on topics like that as they are, as I think, equally important like the bits on creative sparks, working on the ideas and making stuff sound as intended/imagined (sooner or later). Thanks again!

[@intersweat]

Well said. I totally agree

[@blackoutlw5020]

Yo this is exactly what I needed! I’ve been using the OT full time for about a year now and I finally ordered an interface so my music can live outside of the box itself, and was starting to think about how exactly I’d get everything into Ableton. Tysm man

[@mitdemall]

nice, this will bring your music to the next level :) arranging is so much more easy and fun in the Daw

[@RickyTinez]

Yep! @@mitdemall is right, its fun dawless. but that always only gets me about 80% of the way.. and the last 20% is arrangement and mixing, and some longer random parts of my song. And that part feels like im 90% away from the finish line 😂

[@blackoutlw5020]

@@RickyTinez a new challenge to look forward to haha! Also I just had this idea when rewatching the section about recording the OT tracks one by one, for how to record those tails at the end of patterns you may want to keep. Instead of hitting stop on the ERM could you just record the OT switching to an empty pattern? Would you still get the entirety of the pattern that the main loop exists on, while still catching that tail?

[@ThijsNaus]

Great vid again ! When recording you can start the loop at bar 17, and start recording a bit earlier. Then the recording is all in sync and just delete the stuff before 17. So you do not have to fix the first bar every time. Thanks for sharing Ricky

[@RickyTinez]

this is true, but with some machines they won't start on bar 4 then into bar 1. My machines always start on bar 1. so then im left shifting a bunch of other things around :) I appreciate the tip though! Thanks @ThijsNaus

[@ThijsNaus]

Always @@RickyTinez so thankfull for your sharing and great videos !

[@MadelnMachines]

I really like your videos that show your process and difficulties you run into and how to fix them. The kind of thing that can have you tearing your hair out for hours or days or put you off using hardware completely.

[@triften1]

Great instructional content as usual. Give us more stuff in the deep end. It helps understand how to achieve a seamless workflow, and fighting latency is what we all want.

[@neuronist]

Great explanation, thank you!

[@FlyingPetschman]

just yesterday i plugged in my Oberhub with the elektron stuff for the first time ... this is perfect ... thank U!

[@VentureSilk]

Hey Ricky, thanks for sharing this video! I really found it useful because actually not many people explain how they sample/record hardware instruments and I believe it's important to understand how sampling works and how to use it properly. Thanks for the tip about copying the 1st step of the 2nd bar! You don't know how many hours I spend to understand why the first beat is always offset:)

[@ian_tulud]

Thanks for shining a light on syncing with Elektron boxes. I finally gave up on using Overbridge. So many pros yet so many cons (Hearing audio quality from OB is less inspiring that plugging it straight to an interface.) I personally like the challenge of syncing my Octa by ear and more importantly, seeing the waveforms normally as opposed to the tiny files that OB shits out.

[@SsgtHolland]

Thanks for the video Ricky. To get rid of the first beats that are off sync in Live, I always use the cut time command. I record 5 bars and then cut the first bar of time. It is slightly quicker than copying and consolidating the first drum hits.

[@chrisheynen1784]

Wow, always had a feeling the first hit in my Rytm was off a little when using an external clock, but never got into it with so much detail. Will definitely include this in my workflow! Thank you for showing this!

[@RickyTinez]

Hell yea! I subconsciously felt that way too then thought about it and zoomed all the way in ahaha

[@therealmattplayer]

Where is your pull out keyboard stand thing from (in the background at 1:04)

[@lit3work]

Yep. Great video and already applied the tips. Thanks as always Enrique 💙

[@RickyTinez]

Hell yea! Thanks @Lit3work glad you found it helpful :)

[@jimmyscott7414]

Would love you to do a jam with the A4 & Rytm. And a bit of a rundown of how you would do it.

[@voodoohex72]

you can also set overbrigde VST to not send clock and transport and send the clock from ableton which you can shift. Not sure about ableton but in bitwig this is how I do it and no erm needed. Bitwig clock is super solid.

[@GabrielAbaud]

thanks for the video! My biggest hurdle towards Overbridge is bringing over send effects. I do more ambient/glitchy music and sometimes the delay/reverb are huge parts of the sound design. I'ts always such a bummer to hear the audio come in dry. I read message boards and everyone says it can be done, then it can't be done, then I see the FX on your template and I'm like...can it? I can't seem to figure it out. Would really love a video where you can go deeper into the FX with overbridge?

[@jamesbowsher-murray128]

The fx come in as a separate channel, so it’s there, but it’s only one track so anything sent to delay or reverb will be mixed there.

[@GabrielAbaud]

@@jamesbowsher-murray128 Thanks for that. So I'm curious how that is routed? Is there something I need to do on my Digitakt (or Digitone) to make this work?

[@mf_music312]

@@GabrielAbaud Best way I've found to do it is just record each track one at a time. one track for the drum and then one for each effected track. It's really tedious but it's the only good way I've found to separate them out and still use the elektron effects.

[@GabrielAbaud]

@@mf_music312 that's what I've been doing. I just saw the "FX" track on the template and had a glimmer of hope Ricky had a trick up his sleeve!

[@sundaymorningmassradioshow8624]

I used it in a track that effect for melodies and its a nice effect... when the loop is a millisecond longer..but you do it for 32 bars max and reset it

[@RedEmberRecords]

an insanely draining process. but when all the bits are ingested and its ready to jam... very satisfying ... the elephant in the room of course is... rearranging all the banks to a set-list sequence. OCTA EDIT is vital (and ELK-HERD for DT too) and both these guys seem at the end of their wits and funds keeping their amazing 3rd party software updated ... it would be a dream if elektron could assist somehow in getting these two tools up to speed.

[@RickyTinez]

neverheard of this before! I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing

[@RedEmberRecords]

@@RickyTinez please do ♥️♥️🙏

[@ticketstomars]

This video is magic

[@J-Hz]

the technique you showed at 13:52, I recall a comment by another person mentioning this tip in your digitakt and logic on Ipad video. If that is the case, then it's awesome that you read tips from here and try them out yourself! Keep putting out great content

[@jimlampshady]

Nice 1 fella. I'd be interested in seeing when and how you use external hardware audio processing - I mean fancy compressors and EQs. In this vid you showed how to get each part on it's own track in your DAW - would you now use send/return to process each track individually with outboard gear? I'd love to see a song taken thru that stage of the process. Or are you doing everything with plugins?

[@RickyTinez]

I pretty much do everything with plug-ins that are built into Ableton live. I use the SoftLimit by Apogee once in awhile, you can see it in action here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZzXYmxuf5iebJIsi=U-19DVw-kTTA_8-m&t=652 Other than that, i'm waiting to get my Analog Heat +FX to finish tracks off but i can still make music without it :)

[@mitdemall]

Really cool to see the whole process, keeping latency at check is always the most annoying part to me..

[@RickyTinez]

yea it doesn't shift too often with me luckily. But what's more annoying is the self inflicted changes jumping from DAW to DAW or setup to setup which has ME adjusting, then I go back to Live and have to reset all this again haha

[@joaquincareca9254]

Thank you so much for this..especially since Im in this area of learning and what I was looking for. Appreciate you taking time out to teach others a trick or two. I hope it gives you something as well. I miss a "heads up list" from people I trust and like, of other people who do great content for producers and writers. Its a jungle of showoffs and sponsored creators out there,and I just want to pivk yr brains..:) Keep it up,all the best

[@adrealz276]

That’s really useful, thanks for sharing 🙌🏼

[@k-g-p]

You are dope! Love you my man. Share the knowledge! Peace❤❤❤❤

[@RickyTinez]

Thanks for tuning in homie! I appreciate the love

[@k-g-p]

When do you play live in Berlin? Wamt zo see your Liveset!

[@neonjams]

Thanks for showing!

[@alessiooissela227]

❤ 🙏🏼 thank you so much for your video tutorials

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

E-RM is gone!?! When did this happen? (Just see it was Jan 2023). 😢. There is now a decent alternative although it's not as nearly feature rich as the Multiclock, but the Midronome has been working great for me for getting those sequencers in sync. Thanks for the video, it was a great overview of the process. Should be enough to kick start the rest of us to make some music! 🙂

[@zhangke1350]

Hey, thanks Ricky! Recording Audio looks quite easy but I am having some delay problem recording output of digitakt. Wondering if you have any solutions around it. Much thanks!

[@johncitizen8828]

Really find these Elektron > Live workflow deep dives helpful Ricky. Appreciated 🙏 To be clear, are you redoing all your send FX (delays and reverbs) in the DAW? (are the ones applied within the DT just to get the vibe?)

[@RickyTinez]

Thanks for the kind words, and yes. The DT fx are basically a scratch track to get the vibe. I'll use delay in Ableton and reverb in ableton to get a bit more precise with it.

[@gin-sonic]

I usually normalize my tracks with an external editor, like ocenaudio. Not sure if that makes sense but I do not like low recordings like the way Overbridge does it. you can select the external editor in Ableton's preferences. OR I open the samples in the Finder.

[@effext1]

Since I’m not dawless, I use Overbridge along with other external and software synths. I put the utility device on each Overbridge channel in Ableton and raised the gain. Since it’s recording digital audio, there’s no added noise or artifacts when turning the gain up like there is when recording analog audio through an interface.

[@RickyTinez]

This sounds like a decent idea! do you think it throws off the general mix you had in your box though? say you had a ride cymbal quiet relative to your kick but now its all normalled to -1 or 0? and you then have to re-mix it in the DAW? hope i made sense lol

[@gin-sonic]

​@@RickyTinez It probably will screw up the mix. And as mentioned by @effext1 it probably does not matter as it is all digital. I am coming from the "old days" recording analog synths and other stuff and it was important to record with the level as high as possible. To have as little noise as possible. That is why recording with such low level feels uncomfortable to be 😀 And on the other hand you might need less of the Utility effect in Ableton.

[@enso3460]

can you go deeper in organizing recordings in ableton? i recently found a bunch of my cringey dry volcals in my samples and it would be nice to know how to organize them and how ableton deals with them

[@futur_sunds]

What is the song that you always play at the beginning of the video including this one? With the ratchety trap snares and the sweeping arp

[@fraangalli]

Hey guy, thanx for the video, I was checking all the stuff and my question is: What do if I have several audio tracks already recorded in Ableton, and I want to record the Digitakt as a drum machine on top of those tracks? Because, if I want to record the Digitakt I have to choose it as an audio interface replacing my Focusrite interface, and then I no longer have an audio output

[@JohnBrown0]

Thanks for the video, out of curiosity why arent you using the audio sync? I just got a cirklon and am trying to figure out the best way to sync things. I was thinking E-RM -> Audio -> E-RM -> Cirklon, but annoyingly it always starts after 1 bar.

[@RickyTinez]

I am using Audio sync with my ERM. and you have a setting turned on your ERM that is making it wait. in the menu section look for something set to "POS/NEG" and set it to only POS. That means you will NOT be able to push your timing early on the ERM knobs. BUT to remedy this you'll want to make your ERM audio sync track be like 100ms EARLY. This makes EVERYTHING connected to the ERM paly early. So you push things positive (late) into position instead of trying to pull things back (early) with the ERM. -- I Briefly speak about it here! 3 years ago holy crap.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6KxgICCatOVe6csi=ck2hRXOCo4jSVikg&t=769

[@johncitizen8828]

Also - how many patterns/ideas do you usually make in your DT/OT before moving to arrangement in the DAW?

[@RickyTinez]

eh. about 1-2. I do most of my patterning if the DAW. I get the main pinnacle of my track and a B section done on the boxes. Then transfer it over.

[@harnoldramos9159]

So you don't run the audio pulse into the ERM? Wondering how you get it all to start right after the count in, I use the pulse signal on my erm and need a bar AFTER the count in before the recording starts on my gear.

[@tb80038]

I wish Ableton just had a latency ping like logic does.

[@BostonDeadHead]

Battling latency is the bane of my existence lately.

[@bramsanjanssan4908]

Doesn't your Fireface UCX II get way way hot? It doesn't affect the ERM?

[@RickyTinez]

I haven't noticed it messing up yet. It does get pretty warm though!

[@feikeuphoff4309]

Dude, just use midronome as an alternative. It‘s not so expensive and works really well!

[@RickyTinez]

Yep thats another great alternative!

[@SchweinchenHorst]

Which Headphones you use for Mixing

[@k1ttyF158er]

I would say, "you should ALWAYS align your samples". Otherwise, they will not be phase-aligned & cause inefficiencies in driving speakers/headphones. Meaning - Your drums (especially) and bass will be less punchy because they aren't pushing the speaker out at the same time.

[@veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

new fear unlocked! makes me want to just finish songs before they hit the daw.

[@PololiNuskil]

Are you using wireless headphones?

[@justinjones2595]

I love my E-rm. didn’t know they went out of business

[@RickyTinez]

yea super bummer. check their site! they split into a separate company i believe.

[@justinjones2595]

@@RickyTinez Looks like Floating Point is taking over the Multiclock product so that is nice there will still be support!

[@Its303AcidBass]

New producers who follow you are going to want to understand the hardware connections and the how the signals are routed to specific tracks in Ableton. I understand its different for everyone. I have a ridiculous set up that ie probably overkill with running a MOTU LP32 with 3 (eventually 4) MOTU Travelers behind it to have up to 32 channel inputs without a physical mixer. I also have a Multiclock to tighten my hardware sync since I have a bunch of Roland, Behringer, Korg, and Isla gear.

[@joonoonoo9643]

Anyone knows what is his position in Elektron? Curious!

[@mrluwin5054]

Ooof so much hassle… how about midi sync all your gear together and send individual outs to mixing desk and from mixing desk (mixing desk with multitrack capability)multitrack everything in to the daw with the same latency. So everything sits in the mix just right even though it won’t be probably exactly on 1 maybe 1.3.2 or something but all the tracks will be on that …

[@veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

octatrack only has stereo outputs? i saw a vid on JonMakesBeats of him hitting one or two buttons and then instantly generating stems for each track. recorded all the parts of the song and generated stems within 3 minutes.

[@mrluwin5054]

@ he probably used overbridge ( elektron software ) where you can individually route channels in / out to with DAW.

[@LoveMeBack]

What? Didn’t know that about ERM.

[@iancain6647]

[@illhellmuss420]

💚🙏🏻🙌🏻

[@petersen280798]

Just use Ableton and vst instruments :-)

[@user_unknown1488]

how the sausage is made?... LOL you a jim fan bro?

[@ThirdEyeWarrior]

I’m sure he mean all the devices used to make the track to produce the song. 🤦🏿‍♂️

[@user_unknown1488]

@@ThirdEyeWarrior do you know how the sausage is made?

[@ThirdEyeWarrior]

@@user_unknown1488 Yo momma does.

[@chambre466]

this fix is not 100% reliable. Even if you do that, at one moment it ll lose the timing whatever you do. Ableton has to fix this

[@Spir4Lz]

What's with this "Got a Prize for you" comment everywhere?

[@RickyTinez]

its a scam, just check out their name. Its not mine its something weird about telegram haha. I don't have telegram

[@Spir4Lz]

@@RickyTinez Thanks! I thought it was worth checking :)

[@Soundpaintmusic]

[@vinylarchaeologist]

2:48 is what I tell all my girlfriends…

[@christdolphin69]

yeah, floating points existed before sam shepherd started making music, you dink

[@christdolphin69]

all of his music sounds like a baby got ahold of some dj loop cds