Recording MIDI in Session View

Now let's look at recording within MIDI. Recording MIDI in Session View is very similar to audio, but there are a few key settings that you need to know to be able to record.

Key Settings

The following image represents those settings:

1. Global Quantization
2. Record Arm Button
3. Session Arm Button
4. Clips Record Button
5. Clip Stop Button
6. New Button (This creates a new scene)

---

Global Quantization

First, let's look at the global quantization.

• If I set this to, let's say, four bars, it will wait until the end of four bars before starting to record.
• For example, if I start recording on the second bar, it will wait until it completes four bars before starting the recording.

Example:
Now I'm hitting it; notice it's blinking, waiting. It should start now.

---

Record Arm

The next thing we're going to look at is the Record Arm, which is crucial.

• Important Note: If I don't have this on, and I'm playing my keyboard, you won't hear anything.
• Once I hit Record Arm, we can hear the sound.

It's essential to have Record Arm set, even if you have the computer MIDI key button activated. You still need to arm it for it to pay attention to the incoming signal.

Now that I have that set and I'm aware of my global quantization, I'm going to set this to a bar. That's my preference.

---

Clips Record Button

The next important setting is the Record Button.

• If I press this and then hit Play, you will see that it recorded all the different MIDI notes.

---

Session Record Button

Now, let's discuss the Session Record Button.

• If I play this and just hit a note, you'll see that I can play on top of this without it recording.
• However, when I hit the Session Record Button, it starts recording whatever I'm doing into the clip.

If this button is off, you can play on top of it, but it won't actually record what's happening. This is similar to MIDI overdub.

---

Stopping the Recording

When recording, I have two options to stop it:

• I can hit Play, which stops it and plays it back.
• I can hit the Clip Stop Button, which will stop recording.

Alternate Option:
You can always click on another empty slot to start recording; it will stop whatever was before and just go to the next one. You can continue this process with variations all the way down.

---

New Button

Another new button in Ableton Live 9 is the New Button.

• When I hit New, it snaps me to a new spot.
• If I'm up here playing something and hit New, it jumps me down to another slot.

---

Summary

As a review, we have:

1. Global Quantization: The point at which it starts recording the incoming signal.
2. Record Arm Button: Ensures that it's listening to notes played on either my keyboard or computer keyboard.
3. Session Record Arm Button: Allows for overdubbing; it won't record if this is off.
4. Clip Stop Button: A way to stop recording or playback.
5. New Button: Creates a new scene and puts you down to a new slot for recording.

Make sure to familiarize yourself with these settings to optimize your MIDI recording experience!