Could you help me identify a suitable device please?
I’m looking for a tactile device I can have attached to my mixer output that continuously records the last X minutes (let’s say 10 minutes) of audio into a buffer, such that anything older drops out of the buffer. The idea being that I could jam on my synths and when I hit something I like I can quickly hit pause on the device and scrub the audio back (ideally with some sort of jog wheel) to where the magic happened, then quickly play that back to sample into my Digitakt. Before hitting record again.
I’m looking for something on the lower end of the price scale, and with tactile controls.
I’m aware that the sp404mk2 has “skipback” which is essentially what I want, although I think I want a longer buffer, lower price, and smaller device.
I have a nasty feeling Teenage Engineering do something that fills this roll, but lets just say it’s out of my budget.
I think there’s probably some iPhone or iPad apps that would do the job. If you have any recommendations then that would be helpful, but primarily I’m interested in a physical device with physical controls to make it a nice tactile experience.
I could probably achieve the same result using a recorder like the Zoom H1 to just record continuously with a big enough SD card, but I like the idea of a continually replaced buffer rather than an ever growing audio file.
Does the Norns Shield have software that would achieve this?
Habit also came to mind for me!
Some caveats: it’s mono in/out and (IME) needs a pretty mild signal or else it will distort. Although if you’re using the DT OG then mono doesn’t matter … and you can do some cool processing on the Habit using the modifiers before sampling it into the DT
You might want to check out Global Sampler, the Reaper plugin.
By default it records the last 60 seconds, but you can easily change it to however long you like by editing the plugin in the FX window and changing a value. IIRC there’s an action you can trigger via a keyboard or MIDI button that will drop the current contents of the buffer onto a track, then you can jog/scrub through it in a few different ways depending on what you prefer, and you can do that via a MIDI controller too.
You could use a cheap laptop + interface setup specifically for this purpose, once you’ve set up your controls and macros it should work very well and be very immediate.
You’re overcomplicating it, and you were on the right lines with this;
SD cards are so cheap these days, you can take the H1 and record continuously.
My preferred device is the Denon DN300R MKII, a rackmount stereo recorder that records direct to USB stick drives and/or SD cards. It’s fed by my mixer, meaning I don’t have to have the computer switched on to record to it… when I’m just playing synths, drum machines, gtr, bass, etc, it’s there with a fool proof ONE TOUCH record and I’m catching ideas.
I record to 24-bit WAV files, meaning I can catch ideas fast and use them later on if I need to… normally, if I’m playing something I like, pressing one button to record doesn’t disturb the flow so I don’t forget what I’m doing… which is the main draw back of any system that takes more than 10 secs to get you recording, right?
The Denon also records to mp3, so if I wanted a ‘skipback’ approach, I’d just hit record at the start of a session and leave it on as an ‘ideas catcher’. It’s easy to take the mp3 file into your computer, see the waveform, and zero in fast on what you’re looking for.
So, TLDR, I’d say just use a stereo recorder with a big SD card. And periodically delete the recordings you know you don’t want.
Or a premium version: one of those mixers that allow multitrack to SD, like the Tascam or Zoom ones. Depending on what you want to record. So you would have a long recording and can even pick a single instruments track that you like.
I am starting to think this might be something for me. Over to Thomann… Sh*t.
The traditional recorder is an option, but it’s only 80% there on the user experience front.
I envisage something that just starts recording without me having to think about it. Turn the power on to my studio and off it goes.
When I’ve hit magic, without pressing any other buttons, I just want to turn a jog wheel (like a pitch bend controller) back and have it immediately start rewinding through the audio.
When I find the bit I want I can hit pause to give me time to set up my sampler, then play.
Once I’ve finished sampling I just hit record again and it off it goes again.
Ive actually had an idea that I could use a raspberry pi plugged into the USB port of my Digitakt II which could respond to MIDI CC and note info coming from a MIDI track to control it. It could record the audio coming over the DT2 usb and play back over usb. That might be a pretty cool way to do it.
I wonder if it could even be a performance effect. Sort of like a dynamically retrievable bucket brigade delay.
You’ve reminded me that someone once said about how they just hit record on their Tascam 12 to record everything to capture the happy accidents. I think that’s what planted the seed of this idea in my head.
I’ve got a Model 12, nowhere near as useful for the record catch as the Denon. Honestly, it’s the best thing I added to my studio for fast capture.
(The Model 12 is great for being able to catch individual elements/sources though.)
You’re making me hark back to the days of using a rack mount minidisc recorder at my old studio radio station. Maybe I need one of these denons in my life.
wouldn’t you have to keep hitting the record trigger to make this work for the BOSS-RC1? as far as I can tell it doesn’t really have a continuous recording mode?
seems like SP404MK2 skip back or chase bliss habit are the best HW options for this?
most looper pedals / loopstations seems to require triggering
one other thought that one could use OT set with a record trig to record max length but guessing thats more complicated to setup and may required active midi clock?
update read a comment I missed above and made me wonder if it would be possible to use the record to SD card function of my l-20R at same time as using as an audio interface… hmmmm