A bit lost - First steps with Arturia Minilab 3

Lab MiniLab
#1

Hi there,

I would love your help, if possible. :slight_smile:

I purchased an Arturia Minilab 3 and despite I am loving it, I confess I am a bit lost, unfortunately.

Well, I downloaded all the amazing software, including Ableton Live Lite, etc.

I play piano, and also have an Yamaha keyboard (PSR E463). I would like to use Minilab 3 to compose, but, well, let’s start from the beginning.

I am using the included Analog Lab, but can’t figure it out how to “record” things. Let’s suppose I make some beat, some piece of music. How to “record” it?

Or, how to send it over to Ableton Live Lite? Or am I confusing things here, misunderstanding everything? Do I need to try to compose directly on Ableton Live Lite?

Sorry for the confusion, guys. And I would love any help.

Thanks in advance.

#2

HI @EWSG ,. Welcome to the community.

Ableton live is a DAW - a recording software. There are more DAW’s out there. Some might fit better to your needs and work methods than others.

Virtual instruments like Analog Lab is used as plugins inside a DAW or another host, without opening it as a standalone application outside the host.
A DAW can record both midi messages and audio.

Audio can also be recorded into a DAW from an external instrument, but that’s mainly used for hardware instruments that can’t be used as a plugin and for vocals and such.

The rest is about learning to use your DAW, your controller and plugins that all need to be set up correctly to work in the DAW.

You can record midi and or audio into other software or onto some recording hardware, if you have it.

Try it out with a DAW. You’ll need to lean how it work. That’s about the DAW.

You learn down the road.

1 Like
#3

Hi @LBH ,

Thank you very much, and sorry for my late reply.

I understood.

Well, I confess I am really “struggling” with Ableton Live, mostly because it records other things than what I want in the same “track” (other instruments, from other tracks).

But it certainly is due to the fact I don’t know well how to use it.

Also, I noticed I have a license for FL Studio and will try to install it and see what DAW is most appropriate.