I have Audacity version 2.4.2 Windows 10 and I am trying to figure out how to record the different voices of my Alesis SR-16 drum machine on individual tracks simultaneously. All I have been doing for the past 5 years is going from the left and right Main outputs of the Alesis directly into the line input of my external USB soundcard and recording the drum machine’s voices all onto one stereo track in Audacity. But, I really need to have better control over the individual drum voices as my recordings progress and continual adjustments in the mix become necessary. So. is it possible for me to connect the “MIDI out” on the back of my Alesis drum machine to one of the USB ports on my laptop (either directly or by way of a special kind of external USB soundcard with a “MIDI in”) and then record the different drum machine voices on separate tracks (but done simultaneously!) in the version of Audacity that I am using? If it is possible, can someone please walk me through the set-up process here in fairly simple language, since I don’t know that much about the technical aspects or lingo of this work?
I’m new to audacity so i can’t offer the most technical advice, however, I can give a few tidbits based on my recording knowledge.
Midi does not send audio, but digital instructions for another instrument. Unless there’s something to receive those instructions, you’re not going to be recording any sound. So essentially, you could set up your physical drum machine to trigger a digital drum machine which could output to separate channels.
If you’re interested in exploring that route, power to you. However, if you really want the specific sounds of your drum machine, your current method is still the best bet for simultaneous recording.
The only additional advice I can offer is that you could see if there’s a way to pan tracks from the drum machine left and right and record them separately. I’ve done this with live drums — hard pan snare right, hard pan kick left, and overhead mic dead centre. Then, I separate the mid-side information into separate tracks, then separate L/R into separate tracks. So I end up with one track with kick, one track with snare, and one track with overhead. There will definitely be some bleed, but it’s better than nothing or just separating by low/med/high frequencies.
Sorry for my lack of technical details, hope this is helpful at all!
Audacity can only record the audio and usually only 2-channel stereo. (1)
You’ll need a DAW or other MIDI application to record/capture the MIDI data. (Actually, I’m only ASSUMING the drum machine can send out the MIDI messages for the individual drums/cymbals.)
(1) The USB port is PROBABLY only MIDI but it MIGHT support digital audio and Audacity could record that. Otherwise you’d have to use the analog output from the drum machine into a line input (blue on a regular soundcard).
If you have a laptop with only mic-in and headphone-out you’ll need a USB audio interface with line inputs to record the analog.
Thanks to both nothought and DVDdoug for the responses. It is all very helpful information. It sounds like my best bet is to stick with my current method (of recording the different drum sounds together on one stereo track). Too bad there isn’t a simple and straightforward way of recording them all separately and simultaneously. But thanks again for the insight!
I’ve never used MIDI but it’s not THAT complicated. You just need different software. Yes, DAWs are more complex than a “simple audio editor” like Audacity and you have a bit to learn but you don’t have to use all of the features.
DAWs are also used for multi-track recording (of audio) and multi-channel mixing.
I call MIDI “sheet music for computers”. It’s mostly “notes and timing”, plus the “loudness” of the note (called “velocity” in MIDI terminology) and information about which instrument is playing (or which drum/cymbal).
So MIDI files are smaller than audio files. The actual sound is generated by virtual instruments (software) or by a MIDI instrument, usually a MIDI keyboard but I assume your drum machine can also play MIDI files.
The drum sounds generated by the software will likely be different from what you hear from the drum machine.
With MIDI you can change to a different instrument (or a different drum/cymbal) and you can also change/correct the notes and timing. It’s a lot more powerful and flexible than audio editing/processing.
Thank you, DVDdoug, for the added information. I’ll keep looking into it and see if the MIDI approach will work well enough for me. And, no doubt, a DAW would enable me to do what I want to do with the drum tracks.