How to Export EP-40 Patterns to Your DAW (Stems and MIDI)
Made something good on the EP-40 and want to finish it in your DAW? EP-PatchStudio can export your patterns as audio stems or as MIDI. Here's the difference, and how to get your work into Ableton, Logic or Reaper.
The EP-40 is brilliant for getting an idea down fast, but at some point you'll want to take a pattern into your DAW to arrange, mix and finish it. EP-PatchStudio bridges that gap: open a project in the Project Viewer, and you can export it as audio stems or as MIDI. The two serve different purposes, so it's worth knowing which you want.
Stems vs MIDI: which do you need?
Stems are audio. Each pad or group is bounced to its own WAV file, exactly as it sounds, so you can drop them into your DAW, mix them, add effects and treat them like any other recording. Choose stems when you want the EP-40's sound in your project.
MIDI is note data, not audio. Exporting to .mid gives you the pattern as notes you can re-trigger
with any instrument or rework on the grid. Choose MIDI when you want the arrangement but intend to use
different sounds.
Plenty of workflows use both: stems for the parts you love as they are, MIDI for the parts you want to re-voice.
Exporting stems
In the Project Viewer's Timeline Editor, you can bounce audio and choose the scope of what gets exported: the full project in one go, each group separately, or individual pads as separate stems.
Because playback runs through EP-PatchStudio's effects chain, the stems capture the sound with its effects, so what you bounce matches what you hear, ready to sit in a mix.
Exporting MIDI
Export the pattern as a .mid file and load it into your DAW. From there you can re-trigger it with a
software instrument or a different synth, rework the sequence on the piano roll, or drop it onto a
completely different kit. It's the quickest way to reuse an EP-40 groove without committing to its
exact sound.
A typical workflow
- Open your project in the Project Viewer.
- Decide what you want out: sound (stems) or arrangement (MIDI), or both.
- For stems, pick the scope (full project, per group or per lane) and bounce.
- For MIDI, export the
.midfile. - Import into Ableton, Logic, Reaper or whatever you use, and carry on.
Get started
EP-PatchStudio is free to download, and project export is included.
Download EP-PatchStudio free →
EP-PatchStudio is an independent app from SquareWave Studio. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Teenage Engineering AB.