Record a sample in Mimic??

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Mark_B
Posts: 11
Joined: 12 Feb 2023
Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA
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12 Feb 2023

Yes, this is probably pretty basic. Once I figured out how to connect my iConnectAUDIO4+ audio/MIDI interface to Reason, I then had to discover how to set up audio inputs on the Rack's Hardware Interface. I can see the V/U indication from a microphone input on that interface. Now I can't figure out how to get that signal recorded as a sample for the Mimic Sampler.

**Can anybody guide me through how to record an external audio sample for manipulation in Mimic?

If that doesn't work, I'll try to figure it out in Arturia's Emulator II V or Waves' CR8 sampler. However, that'll be yet another learning curve. Or maybe I'll just use Audacity.

Am I a little frustrated with the overly-complex nature of the Reason DAW (and Cubase seems just as bad or worse)? I came up through bricks and mortar recording studios with 24 or 32 tracks on 2" tape using a Prophet V as my main recording synthesizer (and later a DX-7). I knew how to use a patch bay to connect effects, a mixing console to record, which mics worked best for different instruments or voice.

Why is using a software DAW such a pain in the ass?

Anyway, rant over. Thanks for any help.
Mark B, MSEE
Dinosaur Artist

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jam-s
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Location: Aachen, Germany
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13 Feb 2023

You have to connect the "sampling input" to your signal. Imho the easiest way to do this is to use the "control room outputs" from the mixer.

p.s. The manual also has some good info on how to do sampling in Reason. Give it a read it is well-written.

Baylo
Posts: 149
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

13 Feb 2023

If you came up through bricks and mortar recording studios and are familiar with patchbays and such, I hope you've already discovered the "tab" key shortcut to flip the rack around and see all the internal audio connectors. You'll see the Sampling Input on the hardware interface device and, as jam-s suggests, it's easy to click and drag a couple of cables from the Control Room outputs. Or you can click and drag from the audio inputs, or from an instrument/effect. The back of the rack is your friend.

If you don't fancy attacking the manual (though you should - it's really good), here's a shorter article on the topic from Sound on Sound magazine: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/sampling

Mark_B
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Joined: 12 Feb 2023
Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA
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13 Feb 2023

OK, hooked up "from audio inputs" 1 and 2 (mic / audio interface is into track 1) to "sampling input." When I hit the "squiggle" icon to record the sample on Mimic, nothing.

** Then I instead connected the CTRL room outputs to sampling inputs. That actually works... pleasantly surprised.

"from audio inputs" must be from somewhere else. Kinda illogical.
Mark B, MSEE
Dinosaur Artist

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selig
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Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

14 Feb 2023

Hello fellow dinosaur!
If you want to sample a microphones signal as in your original post, you should be able to use the hardware interface inputs (which you say did not work). The default input to the samplers is audio 1/2 (so you actually didn’t need to ‘hook up’ anything, right?), so if you have a microphone in either/both inputs it just works - not sure why it’s not working for you. This is SO much like hardware/patch bays compared to other DAWs, and in fact was a huge draw for me coming to Reason. :)

But if you want to sample something from INSIDE of Reason, the control room inputs will work great. In fact, the only way to get a live microphone into the sample inputs when connected to the control room outputs is if you first create an audio or mixer channel (and connect the input to that channel) and in the case of audio inputs, put that track in record/monitor in the sequencer (which is the long way around IMO).

I suspect in your second example you are no longer trying to get a live microphone into the sampler, or am I missing something?
Selig Audio, LLC

Mark_B
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Joined: 12 Feb 2023
Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA
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14 Feb 2023

Hi Selig.

I'm using an iConnectAUDIO4+ interface with mics, a MacBook Pro 13" M1 2020 and an iPad Pro 11" M2 2022. It's the iConnectAUDIO4+ that can make things a little tricky.

My first sound recording experience was at the University of Illinois' electronic music studio in 1977. I was also playing keyboards and singing with Horizon Brass Rock, a Chicago cover band. Jazz-rock was a natural for a guy who'd been classically trained on Bach and Chopin.

I went on to play keys, sing and compose with Ringmaster in Northern California alongside an IC design engineering career. The band kept me sane... I also ended up recording at the Music Annex with Don Harriss (Pat Travers, solo New Age music) and at a San Jose studio whose name escapes me after all these years with Kevin Gilbert (Cheryl Crow).

If you used an Ethernet router or switch from Cisco or HP in the mid 1990s, it had my design work in it. And that plus 35 cents will buy me a really bad cup of coffee...
Mark B, MSEE
Dinosaur Artist

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