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 indeed.Jeez, why not just sync the 808 and record it straight through rather than sample over 500 individual kicks? I generally feel that in situations like these all the production effort is being obsessively focused on a single aspect to the detriment of the rest of the tune. (And I say that as someone who often gets obsessive about his own analogue drum machine collection, 808 included.)
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| # ¿ Nov 22, 2011 23:50 |
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| # ¿ May 23, 2013 02:24 |
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BetterWeirdthanDead posted:I really don't have the resources to buy a vintage 303 or patience to track down the Moog-Commodore 64 drum interface module. S'up, fellow Simmons owner (SDS-IV, MTX-9 and SDS-1000 in my pile). An alternative to hacking up methods to use the sequencer port would be to look out for a cheap second-hand Yamaha RX5 or similar and just use it's individual outs to trigger the Simmons. Depending on how you edit the trigger sounds and their level you can even force the Simmons to re-trigger in a flammy manner which can add additional spiciness to the SDS-8's tones.
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| # ¿ Nov 25, 2011 12:20 |
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Eh, if it's calling to you then go for it but I've got to say that my Poly-61 (non-M) rarely gets used. Primarily, it's 'cos the 61's programming interface is dreadful. Only a single parameter at a time can be changed and they have really limited ranges: just 8 steps for the filter resonance, keyboard tracking of the cutoff is simply on or off, etc. There's also a distinct lack of options for the kinds of interesting modulation paths I personally enjoy on analogues (sample & hold, oscillator sync, envelope to pitch routing, etc). Even tweaking a chosen parameter live is dangerous as if you slip and press both up & down buttons simultaneously then that value is reset to the stored preset value. (As I do a few times in this improv: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BeCTl_-8VE) All told, it's really limited in the range of sounds it can make but still acceptable as a bread and butter analogue source, particularly when outboard effects are used to induce additional motion. Also, whilst basic as hell, the arpeggiator is obviously fun, especially when clocked externally with a syncopated pulse. Do watch out for the keyboard contacts! Korgs of that era require regular and repeated maintenance to keep them triggering cleanly (not such a worry if you're just driving it over MIDI, of course) and they have a strong tendency for their batteries to leak acid gunk over the internal circuitry. Oh, and calibrating all six voices to match is a real pain if you're a stickler for tonal consistency as the voice allocator cycles. (I find it a welcome feature, me.) Personally, unless your heart is really set on the 61M I'd be looking around for other synths with comparable features in that price range that offer way better value for money. Roland JX3Ps and Alpha Junos are far more tonally flexible and impressive, for example, and their crappy digital interfaces can be overcome with the acquisition of the PG programming units or via sysex. Edit: It's worth noting that the 61 can be modified for better realtime analogue control but that's a hell of a load of time and effort to spend on something that'll still sound middle of the road. vvvv drat right. There's also some Ensoniq ESQ-1s floating around for cheaper than the 61 that also blow it out of the water in terms of sound and usefulness. ynohtna fucked around with this message at Nov 28, 2011 around 00:23 |
| # ¿ Nov 28, 2011 00:17 |
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Whilst the ESQ-1 certainly has started slowly rising in price (although I got my ESQ-M about 8 years back for £50) I think the salient point is that it still offers an amazing amount of sonic flexibility and bang for the buck. I think that's helped by the way it sits in that little black hole of lacking pure analogue knobs & internals, not being of "VINTAGE KORG MOOG YAMAHA CLASSIC!" big name heritage, and having exceptionally robust build quality and decent sales thus reducing their rarity factor. That said, my ESQ-M stopped firing up a month or so ago. Hopefully it's just the power supply 'cos I love layering it under the Juno for mega-pads. 
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| # ¿ Nov 28, 2011 09:23 |
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I don't know of anything that fulfils all those requirements simultaneously. The need for USB MIDI discounts all but the most recent products, why not just get a cheap USB to MIDI interface? Also, if a device has both the micro-processing power for MIDI control of it's synthesis parameters and the fascia space for the associated knobs then the manufacturers generally throw in some sequencing capability for "free." However, have you taken a look at the Novation DrumStation or any of the Jomox stuff? And, of course, if your budget is big enough and you're willing to wait for it's OS to mature then there's always the DSI Tempest. Oh, and there's the Arturia Spark but, personally, I was very underwhelmed with it's sound and interface when I got my hands on it. ynohtna fucked around with this message at Nov 28, 2011 around 15:30 |
| # ¿ Nov 28, 2011 15:25 |
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I'm waiting for the rack mountable version with the CV inputs easily accessible on the front.
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| # ¿ Jan 6, 2012 16:50 |
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MrLonghair posted:This thread has zero freakout over the MPC Renaissance. B-b-but it has an integrated pop-up display, genuine MPC pads, and totally non-gimmicky vintage output modes!  It's winter NAMM season - most folks have already tuned their filters to notch out the inevitable avalanche of self-professed innovative, game-changing MIDI controllers and integrated hardware/software solutions.
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| # ¿ Jan 7, 2012 11:47 |
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Could be the A880. The first thing I try when encountering sysex issues (other than saying gently caress it and reverting to analogue instead) is to slow down the data transfer rate. It's really common for bits of gear choke if they can't process the incoming stream fast enough.
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| # ¿ Jan 7, 2012 17:56 |
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That's some great synth wrangling and arranging there. Kudos! The filter res problem seems a little strange. Have you tried contacting Tom Carpenter of Analogue Solutions for some insight? He's a good guy (or at least he was when he sold me my 202 and 808 in the 90s). And, yeah, having osc 1 hard-patched to the filter could be seen as a downside but I suppose you could always just pitch it way above the cutoff point or below audible range. Of course, that does exclude it from cross modulation and excitation purposes. (Semi-)Modulars: limitless possibilities but never without limits. The Doo Do Chasers posted:Does the vintage output mode thing mean it has a bit crusher in it? Or does it resample? ynohtna fucked around with this message at Jan 8, 2012 around 09:25 |
| # ¿ Jan 8, 2012 09:20 |
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I can't believe Arturia didn't provide keyboard velocity and aftertouch CV outs on the Minibrute. Even if it did knock the price up a bit it'd massively increase the machine's flexibility and integration options, and make it a defacto presence in every existing analogue synthesist's studio. Edit: I'd have insisted that the demo video be reshot to avoid showing the knobs wobbling insecurely, and with a demonstrator with smaller fingers to avoid making the fascia look too cramped too!
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| # ¿ Jan 19, 2012 17:00 |
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The TX7 is a DX7 (including the gritty 12 bit DAC and tiny patch memory of the non-II models) except for the inability to be programmed from the front panel (time to find a software editor) and missing keyboard (hey, no poo poo ).
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| # ¿ Jan 20, 2012 07:31 |
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I know plenty of folks who swear by the Furman power conditioners. Me, I'd just stick the hums and pops through a phaser and tape delay and reclaim it as part of the sonic aesthetic.
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| # ¿ Feb 2, 2012 20:05 |
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Oldstench posted:No two 808s sound the same either due to age and the lovely tolerances on the components. Purists are weird. It's not like a bad track gets better just because of some ephemeral gear authenticity. My real (ugh) TR-808 sounds distinctly different from the others I've used, but that's probably just a side effect of all the abuse it's suffered over the decades. It still sounds good to me, though, when given a respectable amount of processing and energy expenditure to get it running smoothly - http://soundcloud.com/ynohtna/aleph-null-speak-machine - but I can happily go without using it for months at a time whilst I explore other options.
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| # ¿ Feb 28, 2012 15:08 |
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With all the lovely 303 and 808 chat floating here, I think y'all should check out and participate in the monthly acid pattern group on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/groups/the-acid-question Back to the gear purist stuff for a second, I've got to admit that I'm being quite a hypocrite given that I am myself a recovering snob who's been privileged/lucky enough to have/use a lot of the commonly fetishised gear and thus get blasé about their more conventional sounds. I guess my main point is to not get hung up on not having the exact right gear if your goal is to express yourself through making great sounds. JohnnyMondo posted:but part of the fun of getting original gear for me is the limitation that the piece imposes. Programming basslines on a 303 is a completely different experience than programming them on a x0xb0x, or on a DAW. The interface and usage processes of gear - and their consequences on how one mentally models, interprets and interacts with it - and is a huge factor in the result for me, and it's amazing how many modern devices seem to ignore this in favour of only supporting the most shallow, basic and mundane control mechanisms.
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| # ¿ Feb 29, 2012 20:38 |
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MrLonghair posted:The monthly acid pattern group has given me a lot of fun, and the only thing I have for it is RD3 and RD3 HD for Android (highly recommended).  It ain't what you work with, it's how you work it. Decades old anecdote: some dude posts to the Analogue Heaven mailing list how he's just bought a second-hand 303 but can't get it to make that distorted Hardfloor sound - is it broken? The mailing list drat near explodes with everyone replying "put some distortion on it, you mook."
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| # ¿ Feb 29, 2012 21:08 |
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MrLonghair posted:I've been looking at an FS1R (since I'm a Kurzweil guy who likes fine sounds) but how dirty, ugly and gritty can the FS1R sound? Even if I roll a formant sequence from an grungy acid track, is it going to sound like a French girl whispering dirty things into my ear? In case anyone of you have experience of it.. Mmm, the FS1R is a great synth. Naturally tends towards clean (particularly in the presets which are a knee-jerk reaction to the noisy FM reputation of the original DXs) but can also easily do gritty, weird and wonky if you coax it's algorithms, modulation indices, unvoiced oscillators, and effects and use the format filtering in atypical ways. Takes to external effects nicely, too. Requires a significant amount of patience and commitment to get deep - a software editor is a necessity and it has a bunch of typically obtuse Yamaha idiosyncrasies - but is equally rewarding and mind-bending in return. Good luck finding one!
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| # ¿ Mar 16, 2012 07:02 |
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Oooh, I programmed a whole bunch of AX-80 voices for a producer a long time back. Let's see if I can remember some pros and cons. Cool stuff: those bar graphs! Oscillator sync, sub oscillator, 3 LFOs with selectable waveshape and onset delay, CEM filters, envelopes can be routed to pitch (stuns me how many modern synths miss this) although I think only one of the oscs can be env-pitched. Weak stuff: heavy as hell, prone to failure (doubly so these days given it's age), digital oscs are a bit too pure and thus can be thin (pro-tip: put a good chorus on it), LFOs retrigger upon every key press, LFOs are shared across all the voices, no portamento/glide, the lack of hold pedal socket means you have to take a hand off the keyboard to push the hold button which kinda breaks the whole concept - a real pity given how good the machine is at making drones. Overall, they're not amazingly unique but still a decent bit of gear for a good price. I'd strongly recommend dedicating an effects unit (or two) to it to really let it shine (but I tend to say that about everything). ynohtna fucked around with this message at Apr 4, 2012 around 20:47 |
| # ¿ Apr 4, 2012 20:45 |
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No need to repeat it, but I shall anyway... Effects processing! Spacey pads are little more than chords swathed to taste in a metric gently caress-ton of processing: modulation, reverb, delays, chorus, modulation, EQ, modulation, reverb, and whatever else is lying around to induce motion, depth and space. Then run through a guitar amp to add another stage of non-linear grit and timbral shaping.  And gently caress yeah on the DP/4(+). Wonderful boxes. I'd get a few more if I could afford 'em. On that subject, anyone got an Eventide Space? ynohtna fucked around with this message at Apr 11, 2012 around 18:45 |
| # ¿ Apr 11, 2012 18:42 |
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Hurrah for resurrecting gear! My Firstman SQ-01 died at the last weekend - probably PSU related, too - so I'm going to have to dive into it this weekend and hope I don't accidentally drive a soldering iron stake through it's heart.   The way things are going, I'm gonna have to rezone my studio to be a cemetery.
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| # ¿ Apr 11, 2012 22:09 |
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The Cleaner posted:Just curious how many of you record synths off a guitar amp as opposed to just direct input to the mixer/daw? Try it and see how you get on! Even just sticking a mic (or two) in front of your normal monitors is fun (experiment with distance and axial direction). In other news, seems like the only thing deader than half the vintage gear in my studio is the state of instrument shops in central London. I miss the days when I could leave my greasy paw prints on a hundred or more machines in under an hour.  Schneider's Lab in Rough Trade helps assuage the melancholy, but a tiny room just ain't enough. Oh, and gently caress me but the MFB 522 sure is tiny, innit? Sounds good, fantastic price, live jamming on the tone triggers is fun: makes me feel like a clumsy giant. I'd also have to gaffer tape it to a surface lest a mild breeze on the cables blows it away. It's not worrying my 808 (I'm maybe being a needlessly prissy purist here) but very desirable for those lacking some analogue boom-tchak-tsss-chong in their lives.
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| # ¿ Apr 12, 2012 17:19 |
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Aye. Cheaper prices from reduced stocking costs is nice and all but for me there ain't nothing that matches getting my hands, eyes, and ears on a machine before investing. I can't complain too much. Digital Village's West London branch is in dangerously close walking distance to my flat (as is Bell Percussion - gently caress yeah waterphones) and they are happy to order stuff in for evaluation if they don't already have it in stock. Overall, my credit card is happier but it still saddens me.
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| # ¿ Apr 12, 2012 17:38 |
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Fortunately, the modern digital age allows one to easily run parallel channels of processing and balance/EQ/process them as needed. (My favourite thing recently is to apply different chains of processing to the mid/sides of tracks. Obviously only works if the sound source is stereo, whether naturally or through artificial inducement.)
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| # ¿ Apr 13, 2012 11:06 |
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Thanks to the incredible kindness of a friend, it looks like I'll soon be adding a Sharp RD-708V to my collection of crap: Suspicions that I'm just going to dedicate it to outboard tape loop duties are, of course, 100% correct.
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| # ¿ Apr 19, 2012 14:15 |
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Oldstench posted:Now you can tape echo like a pro! Well, I already have my 70s analogue oscilloscope (it smells of wonderfully vintage dust and smoke when fired up) semi-permanently wired into the booth output of my primary mixer to provide the necessary glow worm inspiration. Anyone want to
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| # ¿ Apr 19, 2012 17:46 |
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^^^ Leave them on long enough and I think you'll find that analogue oscilloscopes will easily burn. Hey, Popcorn. I can't help directly 'cos I'm a dirty Mac user and thus unable to use the Superwave plug-ins. I have a few off-the-cuff guesses on what could be going wrong for you, but would you mind taking a screenshot of your plug-in settings? That'd really aid in debugging the sonic artefacts you're hearing. ynohtna fucked around with this message at Apr 19, 2012 around 18:11 |
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2012 18:08 |
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Popcorn posted:I'm using oscillator 2/filter 2/amp 2. Included a snap of the midi data in case it contains solutions somehow. Are the clicks at the start or end of your notes? My thoughts there are that filter 2's envelope is set with immediate attack and release thereby making the filter cutoff rise and drop really quickly. In the analogue world this often causes clicks but - hrm - your filter 2 is already open all the way regardless. As FLX said, you need to have KF (the keyboard follow) for filter 2 increased (and set to positive modulation) so that the low-pass filter opens more with higher notes to let the harmonics through. But, again, the filter is fully open so that doesn't quite make sense either. *shrug* Do the clicks disappear when retrig (in the polyphony section) is disabled? That would indicate that it's the envelopes to blame; likely due to the pitch changing immediately as the notes change. I'd shorten the notes in your sequence a bit to let the release kick in a touch. And, yeah, the dual wave will be a doubling of the waveform to thicken up the sound - with the second version detuned according to the appropriate detune knob value.
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| # ¿ Apr 19, 2012 18:53 |
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Geo Synth: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/geo-...d465224352?mt=8 Meanwhile, oscillator and filter basics demonstrated by Thomas Dolby and a Henson Company fly in a matchbox: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR-Qf1vwd28
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2012 16:35 |
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Carl Craig talking modulars: “I get a little… a little crazy about it. Um. Y’know how many filters does a person really need? I got a lot of loving filters, y’know?” http://vimeo.com/41126870
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| # ¿ May 16, 2012 12:02 |
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My AX80 thoughts from earlier in the thread:ynohtna posted:Oooh, I programmed a whole bunch of AX-80 voices for a producer a long time back. Let's see if I can remember some pros and cons. I see absolutely no reason why you wouldn't want to borrow it!
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| # ¿ May 28, 2012 05:11 |
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The Cleaner posted:With wavetables you can do alot. Sometimes I think wavetable/digital synths sound more retro and vintage than most older pure analogs. All the aliasing artifacts toppled with the fact that they were used so much in the 80's and then just disappeared just scream "this sounds OLD" but in the best way. Hell, yeah. Unlike modern digital which scans wavetables at a fixed rate (and thus naive implementations without band-limiting - and all those lovely synth Apps - exhibit nasty harmonic fold-over at Nyquist), decent old digital synths simply changed the clock speed of their wavetable memory access giving that lovely gritty feel that's nicely rounded out by the subsequent analogue output stages. Mmm... Be right back, pitching everything down on Sequential Tom & Studio 440 again (and bemoaning my loss of the Ensoniq Mirage). The Cleaner posted:And yea it also looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. It looks amazing. gently caress yeah. Simple, yet classy in an understated functional way.
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| # ¿ May 28, 2012 20:03 |
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Out of idle interest, Quincy, what is it about the Gaia that ain't hitting your buttons? (It just felt and sounded tackily plastic in the short time I had my hands on one, but I know I'm a bit fussy when it comes to synths.)
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| # ¿ May 28, 2012 22:27 |
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The Cleaner posted:What is your opinion on SQ-8l? (http://www.buchty.net/ensoniq/) I'm unable to evaluate SQ-8l directly (dirty Mac user), but the demos sound quite respectable and close to the standard sound of the SQ-80. I really doubt you'll be blown away by the ESQ, though. They get a lot of deserved kudos for being a highly capable machine with lots of sonic flexibility and solid bang for buck given that they haven't really suffered from big name "VINTAGE! KORG! MOOG! YAMAHA!" hyper-inflation. But, whilst definitely having a certain character, they aren't to me so gob-smackingly unique that it's worth fetishising the hardware over a software emulation if that is enough to satisfy your ears. As 0dB rightly points out, the end results are what matter. Personally, although I'm sad that my ESQ-M has died (probably just the internal PSU blown) I'm not really pining for it other than missing the nice screen glow when the studio lights are off. I mostly used it to layer subtle low-end bell-type harmonics under my Juno, though, so a more straightforward hands-on-keys synthesist would possibly have a stronger opinion.
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| # ¿ May 29, 2012 12:19 |
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The SH-09 is a lovely little synth and you make a good point about it's layout: sculpting great sounds is a fast process, it's well calibrated in that it's easy to find the sweet spots of its interdependent parameters, and it rarely sounds bad during realtime manipulation. (I often find this to be lacking in poorly designed synths and VSTs where they just expose the full range of possible values rather than consciously limiting it to a smaller but more musically meaningful dimension.) But, yeah, the 09's limitations start becoming quite pointed at that kind of price! Especially as there's a small renaissance of boutique modern analogues at highly respectable bang/buck ratios being produced right now.
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| # ¿ May 30, 2012 10:08 |
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^^^ gently caress yeah for discrete components. So much easier for shallow diagnosis and repairs than surface mount stuff. Heh, ever since that SH-07 demo vid was posted I've been compulsively jamming crude variations of the ROYGBIV bass line on everything I have. Such a great riff. Here's a dirt cheap SH-09 non-analogue original purist Kontakt users (or folks who can be bothered to make their own multi-sample patches, I guess): http://www.sampleism.com/koney/roland-sh09 Anyway, waqii, don't confuse the Novation Bass Station too much with a K Station. As Laserjet said, they go for a lot cheaper 'cos the Bass Station is very focused on being a 303 clone (although I always found it too plasticky for my tastes) and probably won't scratch your Legowelt itch if it's the only gear you get. The K Station seems more appropriate for that but I have no direct experience other than a general agreement that Novation's build quality definitely tends towards the cheap'n'nasty. Not really a big deal if you alter your expectations up front.
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| # ¿ Jun 2, 2012 05:57 |
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DM1 seems to me to be a good way to get into things initially. When you start reaching the limits of what it offers you'll have a better idea of your needs for switching to something else. (The same thing applies to the K Station, really.) vvvv I'm well jealous of that! Got any vids of stuff you've made? ynohtna fucked around with this message at Jun 2, 2012 around 06:51 |
| # ¿ Jun 2, 2012 06:38 |
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Hopefully this'll flush out my need to continually (badly) vamp around the ROYGBIV riff: http://soundcloud.com/ynohtna/aleph...-colour-acronym. Although I've just been told that it sounds a touch like something off the latest Tron movie soundtrack so there's that. And if AnnoyBot is going to show off his 1986 rig, then here's mine (with a touch of the 70s as well as some slightly more modern stuff littered around):  The 808 usually lives on the central "control" console but it's temporarily on the floor whilst I audit it's operational problems so I can get a ballpark repair quote, and also 'cos I've been slinging cables around to ensure everything can be somewhat easily synchronised (rambling explanation). Thinking about it, the digital south wall is also pretty 80s if you discount the CS1x and EA-1 thanks to the Emax II and Sequential stuff: 
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| # ¿ Jun 5, 2012 14:33 |
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Cool jam! I'm repeatedly considering setting up a studio webcam so how are you capturing it?FLX posted:So far I was always heading towards the next purchase, but right now I feel really happy and content with my setup and the possibilites it offers me. Am I sick somehow? I'd argue that you're not so much sick as cured. Or maybe temporarily inoculated 'cos the lust may return at point. My own gear acquisition syndrome kinda petered out about a decade ago when I realised I had plenty of stuff to keep me entertained and distracted as well as constantly conceiving of new ways of using it all together. Not only is it good for the wallet, but I think it's also healthy for the creative side of things to focus on growing virtuosity and imagination in concert with a constrained set of sufficiently deep, flexible and inspiringly inter-operable instruments. I continually lust for some modular gear, naturally, but that's a scarily slippery slope and being broke is an excellent dampener for it. Saving up to pay a skilled synth tech to refurbish some of my more poorly bits is the biggest priority right now.
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| # ¿ Jun 7, 2012 11:17 |
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spaceship posted:my first video synth doodle loving awesome. Now make it spin around and change your name to John Whitney.
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| # ¿ Jun 18, 2012 19:30 |
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Time to swallow a big handful of GAS suppressant pills, people: here's Jack Dangers having a fiddle (via MatrixSynth): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYMX5QuUaj4
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| # ¿ Jun 20, 2012 08:40 |
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| # ¿ May 23, 2013 02:24 |
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The last I looked at the R-Pi, it's audio drivers were disabled by default 'cos they were in beta and had a variety of bugs. Things change fast with it, though, so it's worth digging around the various support forums to check the current status. I just wouldn't expect it to be an overly smooth development experience for quite a while though.
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| # ¿ Jul 16, 2012 17:46 |
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