7 · Recording Instruments

AnalogDAW can host virtual instruments — software synths, samplers, and drum instruments — that you play live and record straight to audio. You get the expressiveness of a software instrument with the simplicity of an audio track.

How it works: you perform the instrument live (from a MIDI keyboard or the on-screen keyboard), and AnalogDAW records its audio output as a normal clip — exactly like miking an amp. The result is plain audio you edit and mix like any other.
AnalogDAW is not a MIDI sequencer. There are no MIDI clips, no piano roll, no step sequencer, and no note editing — and no MIDI performance is ever stored. Performance is live only; the thing you keep is the recorded audio. If you want to change a part, you perform and record it again.

What you can host

macOS: Audio Unit instruments — both AUv2 and AUv3 (for example, sampled drum instruments and software synths you've installed).
iPhone/iPad: AUv3 instruments.

Only instruments installed and validated on your device appear in the picker. If you see "No instrument plug-ins found," you don't have a compatible instrument installed.

Step 1 · Set a track's input to an instrument

On the track's channel strip, open the Inserts (INS) section, open the input source picker, and choose the Instrument submenu, then pick an instrument. The track's input is now that instrument.

A stereo track is recommended, since most instruments output in stereo. (Only the instrument's primary stereo output is recorded — extra outputs some instruments expose are not split out to separate tracks.)

Step 2 · Play it live

Once an instrument is assigned, you can perform it:

Hardware MIDI controller — connect a MIDI keyboard (USB or Bluetooth) and play. AnalogDAW detects MIDI sources automatically, including hot-plugging.
On-screen keyboard — open the instrument's keyboard from the strip to play with mouse/touch when you don't have a controller handy.

You can also open the instrument's own editor to choose patches and tweak its sound. Those settings are saved with your session.

Step 3 · Arm, monitor, and record

From here it's identical to Recording Audio:

Arm the track.
Turn on Input Monitoring to hear the instrument through the channel strip while you play.
Press Record and perform. The instrument's audio is captured as a clip.

No microphone needed. Recording an instrument-only track doesn't require microphone permission and doesn't touch your audio input — so you can perform and record instrument parts quietly. If you record a mix of mic tracks and instrument tracks at the same time, AnalogDAW captures them all together.

Working with the recording

Because the take is plain audio, you can:

Trim, fade, split, and comp it like any clip (see Editing Clips and Takes & Comping).
Mix it with the full channel strip and inserts.
Stack multiple takes with loop recording.

Cross-device note

A session that uses an instrument remembers which instrument and which patch it used. If you open that session on a device where the instrument isn't installed, the track shows the instrument as unavailable and stays silent — but nothing is lost: reopen it on a device that has the instrument and it works again, and your already-recorded audio clips play everywhere.

Next: Takes & Comping →