Connect & record
Record audio or MIDI
Arm deliberately, record a take and check the result.
In this guide
Before Record
Select the appropriate track type and input. Check each track's record-arm button, including other tracks in the project. Choosing an input can arm a track. Check the monitoring path and watch the meter. For MIDI, verify that an instrument is loaded and producing sound.
Record a first pass
- Place the edit cursor at the intended start.
- Choose a tempo and turn the metronome on if needed.
- Set Count-in bars in Preferences → Audio → Recording.
- Review Loop and Punch. Leave them off for a simple first pass.
- Press Record in the header and perform.
- Press Record again to end recording, or Stop to stop the transport.
- Wait for the take to finish saving, then play it back and save the project.
A visible recording region is not confirmation that its data has finished saving. If a save or recording problem is reported, keep the project open and follow the recovery message.
Loop and punch
Loop repeats the marked interval. Punch limits the recording interval while allowing playback around it. Check the ruler boundaries before starting. Loop boundaries extend down the arrangement when Loop is active. Try a short test pass before recording a long performance.
Multiple passes
Enable Take folders in Preferences → Audio → Recording to retain overlapping performances as alternatives. Non-overlapping recordings remain separate. See Takes and comping for selecting the best passages.
Recording commands
The command list includes normal recording, recording without count-in and restart recording. Restart recording explicitly deletes the current recordings and starts over; it is not the command for keeping one take and adding another. Use a normal stop, save and new pass when you want to retain a performance.
Start and stop deliberately
If the song is already playing, Record waits for the next bar; click again while it blinks to cancel. Shift-click Record starts without count-in. Record again ends the take while playback continues; Stop ends the transport. With no armed track, Record explains that a track must be armed, except when an automation mode is writing. Undo remains unavailable until the new take finishes saving.
Repeated notes and Capture MIDI
When a new press retriggers an active pitch while recording, the earlier recorded note ends at that press. This keeps repeated notes separate instead of stretching the first across the next. Check the resulting notes after a count-in or loop pass.
Capture MIDI keeps the last 10 minutes of accepted playing even when Record was not running. Overlapping presses of the same pitch are retained, including input from different controllers or MIDI channels. Arm a MIDI track, play, then use Capture MIDI before changing the recording setup. Stop recording before capture; Command+Z undoes the captured region. Read MIDI setup for focus and input selection.
Playback dropouts during a MIDI take
Stop playback on audio overload protects playback when audio repeatedly misses its processing deadline. With this setting enabled, version 1.3.0 keeps a MIDI-only take recording when the playback-dropout detector reaches its limit. The warning says: “Audio dropouts. MIDI recording continues, but monitoring may sound interrupted.” The same continuous dropout episode shows one warning.
Audio recording and mixed audio/MIDI recording still stop under this protection, as does ordinary playback. Disabling the setting disables this detector’s warning and automatic stop; it does not fix the audio load. Explicit Stop and genuine engine failures can still end a MIDI take.
If you continue the MIDI take, listen to the result after stopping and check its notes before saving. Increase the audio buffer or reduce demanding processing before the next pass. Continuing to record notes does not repair interrupted monitoring or guarantee that every input event was received. See Troubleshooting if the engine reports a failure.
Dawnamite user guide for macOS. For changes between versions, see update history.