[RMZ]

I'm sequencing my drum parts using Ableton Live... I have a need to be
able to store my songs as a collections of patterns inside a rhythm
machine.

So I hook up Ableton Live to my rhythm machine and I'm able to control
the rhythm machine using MIDI out from Ableton Live (it's playing my
drum sequence from MIDI channel 10 as expected and sounds great on the
rhythm machine). My problem is getting the rhythm machine to record
the incoming MIDI notes.

Should I be in step-record mode or real-time mode? Is there something
special I need to do?

I have two rhythm machines (ZOOM MRT-3 and Alesis SR-16) and I don't
really care which of the two I can get this working with.... just want
it to work on one of the two.... At this point I've been successful in
getting my sequencer (Ableton) to feed a drum sequencer to either
device.... my problem is recording the incoming MIDI using the rhythm
machines record methods.

[Mike Rivers]

RMZ wrote:
I'm sequencing my drum parts using Ableton Live... I have a need to be
able to store my songs as a collections of patterns inside a rhythm
machine.

I have two rhythm machines (ZOOM MRT-3 and Alesis SR-16) and I don't
really care which of the two I can get this working with.... just want
it to work on one of the two.... At this point I've been successful in
getting my sequencer (Ableton) to feed a drum sequencer to either
device.... my problem is recording the incoming MIDI using the rhythm
machines record methods.

I'll bet you can't do that with either of those drum machines. Generally
the way drum machines work is that they store short patterns, and what
you store in them is those patterns and the order in which they're
played. They aren't MIDI sequencers, and they don't have the capacity to
store every MIDI note in your drum part. If you have short patterns and
can figure out how to string them together using the drum machine's
song-building tools, that's something that you can do.

As far as getting the patterns into the machine via MIDI rather than
pushing the buttons on the machine, that's something you'll need to
consult the manual or the manufacturer's tech support for unless someone
here can tell you how to do it if it's even possible. If you want the
drum part for a whole song to be stored and played (most convenient for
working a live show) you need a real stand-alone MIDI sequencer. I don't
know if they even still make those, probably because today you can buy a
laptop computer for less than a stand-alone floppy disk based sequencer
did 15 years ago. On the other hand, if you can find an Alesis DataDisk,
it probalby won't cost more than about $25.

--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

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Hey, pretty good advice. Your drum machine is just a sound module so
if effect, you're creating your patterns in your software and asking
your drum module to play it back. The benefit is you get to program
the different kits or sounds from the machine with the pc. As an
alternative to the above, just add an audio channel to Live and record
off your drum machine (in effect using Live as the sequencer). That's
what i do if i'm performing live. Hope it helps. Hit me if you need.