Retrospective recording, otherwise known as “capture recording” or “retroactive recording” is a music production feature that uses an audio buffer to listen to incoming audio or MIDI signals in the background, even when you haven’t manually enabled recording.
Sometimes the best moments happen in-between takes, in abstract sound design sessions when the playhead is stopped or when quickly tweaking your settings during set-up. Without retrospective recording it’s easy to lose these moments, missing out on the happy accidents that occur every day in modern music production workflows.
While most major DAWs offer retrospective MIDI recording, almost none of them have retrospective audio recording built in as a native feature, leading to a necessity for tools that find a workaround. In this article, we’ll get into state of the art retrospective recording techniques for each major DAW.
Retrospective Recording: Always Available in Scraper
If your DAW of choice doesn’t offer retrospective recording natively, fear not; Scraper is here to help.
Scraper works as a standalone VST/AU/AAX plugin that can retrospectively record an audio signal at any part of your signal chain, perfect for sound design sessions, capturing happy accidents during live sessions, or simply resampling tracks as quickly and easily as possible.
Which DAWs offer Retrospective Recording?
Let’s quickly run through which major DAWs offer retrospective recording for MIDI and/or Audio, and if possible, how to access it in your DAW of choice.
Ableton Live 12
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Ableton Live offers only retrospective MIDI recording, fully compatible with the Ableton Push controller. Retrospective Audio Recording isn’t available in the current version of Ableton Live.
Logic Pro 12
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? Yes
Logic Pro is currently one of the only major DAWs with full integration for both MIDI and Audio retrospective recording. Titled “Flashback Capture” in Logic, you can quickly access the feature using Shift+R for recall on a MIDI or Audio track.
Pro Tools 2026
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Pro Tools offers only retrospective MIDI recording, accessible via the event menu or by using Alt+Shift+Z on Windows and Option+Shift+Z on Mac.
FL Studio 26
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Again, FL Studio currently offers only retrospective MIDI recording available via the Dump Score Log feature. This feature captures the last 30 minutes of MIDI notes played.
Cubase 15
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? Yes
Cubase features both retrospective MIDI and Audio recording, with a necessity for configuring the retrospective audio recording buffer before use. Retrospective recording in Cubase is accessible via the Transport panel or the default shortcut of Shift + Numpad * (Star). Cubase has a maximum of 100 stored MIDI events in its retrospective MIDI recording buffer.
Fender Studio Pro 8
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Fender Studio Pro (FKA Studio One) offers only retrospective MIDI recording, with a unique twist; each track in Fender Studio Pro stores its own non-recorded data per track, meaning each track has its own buffer and its own capacity for retrospective recording.
Garageband 10
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? No
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
As the most primitive option on this list, Garageband offers no retrospective recording features currently, incentivising users to upgrade into the Logic Pro ecosystem.
Reason 14
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? No
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Reason doesn’t currently offer any retrospective recording features, although this is expected in future updates.
Reaper 7
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? Yes
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Reaper offers only retrospective MIDI recording with no support for a retrospective Audio recording buffer.
Bitwig 6
Does it Offer MIDI Retrospective Recording? No
Does it Offer Audio Retrospective Recording? No
Bitwig currently offers no support for retrospective recording. As one of the freshest faces in the major DAW market, this is expected as a feature in future releases.
Conclusion
As you can see from the above breakdown, almost all modern major DAWs do not offer retrospective audio recording. Whilst some, such as Logic and Cubase, are leading the way with native retrospective recording features, other DAWs have kept users waiting for many years with no native support on the cards.
That’s where Scraper comes in. Scraper works as a third-party VST plugin which can be used for instant retrospective recording, with a neat interface that allows for custom timeline selection, click and drag straight into your project and configurable buffer settings that let you manage your retrospective recording in full.
If you haven’t already, check out our handy guide on how to use Scraper for retrospective recording in your DAW, or simply grab Scraper and start your retrospective recording journey now!