Analog Lab - Can it be used without a DAW

Software Instruments Analog Lab
#1

Good Morning,

As a newbie to finally purchasing Analog Lab, I was wondering if there is a way to simply hook up a keyboard (in my case a Juno DS-61) and access/play patches without having to go thru a DAW. Everything seems to be centered around DAW’s and recording and that’s fine, I’m more of an experimental player that would like to use the sounds of synths for playing live only etc.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Dave

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#2

All Arturia’s instruments also have standalone executables, so you can play them outside of a DAW. Just connect your controller to your computer using USB and select it in the Analog Lab MIDI Settings.

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#3

Do you really mean ‘without a DAW’ (as in, multitracking production software) or do you really mean ‘without a computer’?
The reason I ask…assuming you’ve already downloaded your purchase of Analog Lab you must have already seen the Analog Lab icon and sussed-out that it opens a DAW-free patch-librarian which will link to any controller or synth that your computer recognises as a midi device. So I’m thinking you might mean ‘without computer’. In which case, no.

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#4

As Jon_Vincent pointed out, without computer - no. But assuming you mean not “inside a DAW” like Ableton, Cubase etc. but otherwise using the Analog Lab app on its own on your PC. Yes, certainly! I actually use Analog Lab V frequently without DAW, getting inspiration, creating new sounds etc. No hazzles, disturbances or other computer-like drawbacks, that said - I recommend you get yourself an Arturia MiniLab/Keystep/Keylab type of controller to make things run smooth.
I cannot comment on Roland DS-61 vs. Analog Lab, the keyboard itself would of course work via midi but control surfaces is another story, that could be some assigning work but not impossible…

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#5

I’ll just echo what has already been said about using Analog Lab as a standalone app on the computer as being not only possible, but actually how I use it most of the time. When I’m just making music for fun I just run a beat or pad(s) on other apps and then just play around with Analog Lab as an app, or outside of Ableton. For recording, of course, I do bring it into Ableton, but all my initial experimentation is outside of the DAW. I would also highly recommend getting the Arturia Minilab 3 (these are cheap on Reverb, too) as it integrates seamlessly with Analog Lab, with all knobs and faders already mapped. Everything is super easy, so all you have to do is select your sounds and have fun!

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#6

Thank you everyone that answered my question(s) and sorry if I confused you in any way. I did simply mean being able to use my Juno DS-61 more or less as a controller and access any instrument(s) within Analog Lab to explore their respective patches etc.

One other thing I am interested in knowing is if anyone can recommend a good sampler software (if they exist). What I would like to do is to be able to create a multi-sample across different zones (we’ll say one octave starting with C1) where on C1 I could assign a wav file of someone saying “Hello”, then on C# assign “Goodbye”, then on D1 “Good Morning” etc. etc. I have many one-off samples that I would love to play again and I believe my Juno DS can handle it to an extent, but again wasn’t sure if there was a VST that you could create multi-samples and assign different samples to different keys on the keyboard and play them live. Any additional info would really be appreciated.

Dave

#7

Your computer DAW will surely have a sample player that you can assign different samples to different notes or note ranges. Even Apple GarageBand can do this, which is free [for Apple users].