So, while we’re talking about working with elements outside of your computer, we better get to discussing the External Instrument device. This one has uses for almost all Live users, whether or not you have any external synths…
Let’s cover the basics first. In the old days, sequencing an external hardware synthesizer required two tracks in your computer. A MIDI track to send MIDI to the synthesizer, and an audio track to record the sound coming out of the synth. The External Instrument device simplifies this and lets you sequence an external synth the same way you would a virtual instrument.
First drop External Instrument into a MIDI track. To configure it, just select the MIDI port and channel your hardware is recieving MIDI on…
…then select the input that your hardware synthesizer is connected to:
Slick. Now your sending MIDI and recieving audio with one track.
Don’t have any MIDI hardware? Not to worry. This device is a real help with any virtual multitimbral synth. We’ll have a look at this in the next tip.
