Equipment set up questions....TOTAL NOOB

I fell in love with synths 2 months ago. Now have a Juno DS 76, a Deepmind 12d synth, a Berhringer Model D synth.

I bought a MPC live and like it but really wanted a sequencer as a centerpiece so I bought he Pyramid…it has not arrived yet.

My question is hardware setup. I know I can plug the Juno from midi out to midi in on the Pyramid to use as a controller. Then, plug one midi out from Pyramid to the Deepmind and one from the 2nd midi out to the Model D.

A couple questions. If I am liking something I create using both synths into the sequencer, how do I record that sound/project? Do I have to buy a mixer and send the audio out from the two synths to the mixer and then from the mixer to a computer or to a Zoom audio recorder? I really don’t want to use a computer so I assume using a Zoom or something like that would work. Is there any other hardware I can use other than a mixer to get those audio channels to the Zoom? Is there no audio out from the pyramid for sounds it is playing? I know it’s midi so I assume that is why I need to do audio from the actual synths?

The other problem is I want to use the Juno also as a synth at times along with being a controller for the modules…but I assume there is no way I can do that with the Pyramid…something where I don’t have to switch cables constantly. etc?

Thanks for any help…I am super early in this fun hobby and really excited to make some tunes!

That’s the most flexible way of doing it with the least use of a computer. The alternatives are to:

  • use a computer audio interface and mix the synth sounds in the computer, or
  • send the sound from the Deepmind and the Model D to the audio EXT INPUT of the JUNO-DS76 (although this is unlikely to be convenient).

You have a couple of options here, too:

  • If you connect the MIDI Out of the Deepmind to the MIDI In of the Juno, MIDI data from the Pyramid will pass through to the Juno (you will need to carefully select which MIDI channel numbers each instrument responds to and set the Juno’s MIDI Local switch to off), or
  • The Juno has a basic sequencer built-in that you could MIDI synchronize with the Pyramid.
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A separate mixer is the superior solution in terms of flexibility, upgradability etc, but just as a pointer, a multitrack recorder such as the Zoom R16 will serve both the mixing and recording needs with overdub possibilities, multitude of built-in effects etc, and can record up to eight tracks simultaneously.

Also plenty of mixers these days offer recording capabilities, including but certainly not limited to Zoom LiveTrak L-12.

The major caveat with most of such options is that when inevitably you sooner or later would like to sync it with the Pyramid, you’re out of luck. For whatever cost-saving-before-sanity reasons, all the manufacturers of these kind of devices have been stripping out sync capabilities even where older versions used to have it.

Yes, the Pyramid doesn’t produce any sound by itself. MIDI is not audio, it’s more like musical notation for electronic devices that needs to be interpreted by actual instruments to produce something you can hear.

Thanks guys!