People ask us a lot if there’s a way to record the output of the aQWERTYon. We might introduce recording functionality some day, but in the meantime, there are two methods for recording your aQW performances.
Method one: Record the audio
Don’t hold a mic or your phone up to the computer speakers! You can record the sound coming from the web browser directly inside the computer. On a Mac, my preferred tool is Audio Hijack–the free version is fine. On Windows, you can use Stereo Mix and/or Audacity.
Method two (recommended!): Record the MIDI
Thanks to the miracle of web MIDI, you can use the aQW to play software instruments in any DAW. The computer will think the aQW is a regular MIDI keyboard. This method gives you a lot more flexibility than recording the audio directly, because you can edit and quantize your MIDI, play it back on different software instruments, and import it into notation software.
In order to send MIDI from the aQWERTYon, you will need to open it in Google Chrome. You will also need to set up a virtual MIDI (IAC) bus. On a Mac, this is trivially easy; just follow steps one and two on this tutorial. On Windows, you will need to install MIDI ox or loopMIDI, both are free.
Once you have your web MIDI going, the rest is easy. Open the aQW in a browser window. Then open GarageBand, Ableton, FL Studio, or whatever DAW you are using. Put a software instrument on a MIDI track. Switch back over to the aQW and play. You should hear both the sound of the aQW and the sound of your software instrument. Turn the volume on the aQW to zero, and you are ready to rock.
When you record MIDI, whether it’s from the aQW or a regular controller, it’s a good idea to do it over the metronome or (better yet) a drum loop. That way, everything you play will be lined up to the bars and beats. Then you can easily quantize, edit, copy and paste, and add more loops. If your MIDI is not lined up to the grid, it will be very difficult to do these things. Happy recording!
