Hardware synth & Ableton question

[TriSect]

I purchased an access virus synth about a year ago. Absolutely love it!
It has SO much more to offer in regards to modulating sounds and creating crazy electronic tones compared to your average $150 software synth

BUT

I am finding it extremely difficult to record sounds into my DAW (Ableton)
I constantly find myself trapped in these situations where I create a melody or catchy pattern on my Midi keyboard, then I go to record it into my DAW. It ends up sounding semi-decent and often requires some editing which is where quantize comes in. Now this is where the problem beings:

You can either A) insert warp markers to make subtle changes or B) quantize the whole melody. The problem with either of these options (I find) is that I will have delay/ reverb/LFO's modulating the sound in which I am trying to record. By moving warp markers or quantizing the melody, the sound then becomes distorted as the sound is adjusted. it's as if the delay and/or reverb/ LFO's just make sudden stops within the sound which completely ruins the whole vibe of my melody(As I am trying to get it to correspond to the 4/4 kick). Super frustrating!

I was wondering if anyone had any tips in order to avoid this problem..? :S Or if anyone has a different method for recording piano melodies/ riffs into Ableton to create their mix

I was thinking of training my ears/ hands with the metronome so I play to the right BPM and get everything in exactly the right position. Although the latter seems like the best option for me right now.. I was wondering if there are any other options?(This option seems like a very time consuming.. but it would make sense.. I assume producers 10-20yrs ago did it this way??)

[JuanSOLO]

I look at it this way,

You can spend hours upon hours practicing your playing skills.
You hours upon hours fixing your lack of playing skills.

With the latter, you will always be spending hours upon hours.

Personally I don't like things "perfectly in sync, and some mistakes become groovy.

[filosofem]

There is not a lot you can do to sync modulated destinations after the fact. It's either an effect you embrace or not. What I find hard to believe is that Access Virus does not support tempo synced LFO's nor delays.

[NPC]

What do you mean by "quantising the melody"? from what you say, looks like you are recording the audio input of your melody into live, while quantization comes in at the midi level..
that said, what i do is record the keyboard line as a midi clip before: this way, if some adjustments to single notes, quantization or grooves, are to be made i can do them at this stage.
Then, when the midi clip plays as it's intended to, i record it as audio.
Hope it helps

[djadonis206]

Set up an instrument track and record the midi first. Then bounce that down to audio. I have a Virus as well, and I agree, it's pretty powerful.