We are the music makers - producers?

I did enough that I don't miss it but not so much it was ruined :)

If I could concentrate on one part of the musical spectrum for a while I might be able to get somewhere. As it is I have a perfect lockdown studio and can't bring myself to stretch out and enjoy it.

This is an incredibly long shot, I know, but does anyone have a Korg Minilogue they'd want to swap for a Korg MS-20 mini?

I fancy making this change but don't know if I can currently be bothered with the whole hassle of selling my MS20 on ebay and then buying a minilogue.

Mutable Beads has been the nudge I needed to get a second small euro case for my modular overspill.

Rack 1:

Rack 2:

Will probably try swapping the Ikarie for an Intellijel Scales when I can afford it and they’re available.

Pic of Beads-shaped hole and sea of cables attached.

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I've had a hardware itch for years now. I've been very tempted by a Digitakt but being a Live user I think I've finally decided on a Push 2. £520 is the best price I can see online, is that about right? Sadly Thomann is a no go now, cos Brexit. Also they seem to hold their value second hand, looking at around £400-£450. Any suggestions for best deals?

The Thomann price only looks good because they've already knocked the vat off.

What I will say is the push is definitely worth it, it's an incredible bit of kit and I don't use to it's full potential by any means but the speed with which I can get an idea down with it is incredible.

Yeah Push 2 is awesome. I use about 1% of its capabilities

Shexi!

Cheers, been enjoying dipping a toe into modular, just need more time & money!

It’s working alright with a more Ableton-y hybrid setup right now, the multiclock syncs everything and I clock/sequence the modular from the Digitone or one of the other Elektrons. I can do long takes and then muck about with it after and do a mix of hardware and software parts.

Don’t know why it’s taken me so long to get a daw setup working smoothly enough for this, but there we go. Overbridge was a bust for me, my sync was mad laggy.

Bought some of this kind of stuff from Andertons recently and they delivered next day. They are in Guildford. Prices seemed as good as Thomann.

Years ago I bought into the Virus Ti, DAW integration was the big deal. It never worked properly, slowed my productivity and destroyed my enjoyment of making music for nearly a year. I tried Overbridge for a few hours and walked away.

Andertons will price match and their service is really good. I do spread my cash around with different retailers (especially modular where the small shops need supporting) but of the big lot Andertons are by far the best to deal with.

Yeah, I feel that. Really the main draw for me was breaking out the individual tracks on the Digitone (without ponying up for the Digitone Keys, which I don’t have room for) but I thought I’d try the other supposed advantages.

It’s just grief. I discovered it was OB that was causing Live to crash when opening projects as well. Lesson learned.

The class compliant audio over USB that the Elektrons have now is actually great, mind. It’s brilliant with the Model:Cycles. Just plug it in, select it as the interface, it syncs to tempo and transport, just record some stuff and get on with your life.

I used OB in the first horrible iteration (abandoned v. quickly) Then again in the long awaited ver 2. which worked for the A4 in my desktop rig, sadly not so great in the studio setup. I have to ignore a lot of this stuff otherwise I spend my entire time updating software or fixing physical problems ranging from cables to capacitors. In fact that's what I spend most of my time doing now I think about it!

That’s the thing I hate the most. Having to troubleshoot stuff when I’m trying to make music.

New toy for me. 1010 Bluebox to partner the Blackbox. Plans to record jams and pump stems through my Tascam Portastudio before finishing off in Live

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Nice, I meant to ask if you had your eye on one of those, I know the Blackbox was working well for you. The size of them shocks me every time, so much functionality in something less than half the size of a Roland boutique.

Yeah I was really on the fence with getting it. The fact they update the firmware pretty regularly, which has transformed the Blackbox and makes me feel they'll do the same with this. Plus the Stimming review also!

So far it's good. I've got the six individual outs from the TR-8S into Y splitters, so using three stereo inputs as L R mono on Bluebox, and it's nice to just record jamming on it.

+1 for Andertons. What I've ordered has come well packaged and the staff in-store have been good.

On another topic - does anyone have a Zoom recorder they're looking to move on? If so, I'd be interested.

does anyone have a Zoom recorder they're looking to move on? If so, I'd be interested.

I'm flogging an old H2 HERE - been up for a while so call it £30 posted?

Awesome, I'll give it a go. PM incoming...

I have more gear Q’s for you (sorry!) ERM multiclock...

I assume so, but does it work as MIDI interface on its own?

Can you run a channel at 1/2 tempo of the master clock? (have looked in the instructions but I couldn’t see it)

No worries!

assume so, but does it work as MIDI interface on its own?

Yes, and it can simultaneously take the DAW sync over audio (most accurate way) while also taking midi data from the computer via USB, combining the clock with the midi and distributing that to each device channel. It is also a midi filter, so you can control which channels get sent to which devices.

Can you run a channel at 1/2 tempo of the master clock? (have looked in the instructions but I couldn’t see it)

Yes you can, they’re called “channel dividers”.

I'm looking for a bit of advice about which mixer to buy. Current setup is simple, DAW-less and semi-modular: Moog M32, DFAM and Subharmonicon, I'm looking to add a drum machine later. Outboard FX, capturing down to a Zoom H6. I have 60hp free in a modular case if I choose to use it. I'm not recording anything I'm likely to publish, this is more weekend theraputic knob-twiddling.

I've narrowed my mixer choices down to either an SSL SiX, SSL X-Desk, or Frap tools QSC with a Master controller. All are about the same price, give or take, though the x desk is the biggest outlay.

The SSL SiX is attractive mainly for the onboard channel and bus compression. I'd struggle to invest in such a decent compressor otherwise. It can take up to 10 channels + FX when summing or six channels in mixdown which might be limiting.

The X Desk is an 8 channel desk which will sum up to 16, but no onboard compression or EQ. Also it has no pre-amps but that's not an issue for me.

The Frap tools QSC is 4 stereo pairs, stackable so I would likely buy another later. It's modular so I would physically play it alongside the Moog gear, which is something I really enjoyed with my last mixer (Roland MX-1). But again, no compression or EQ.

My head says the QSC as I won't miss the benefits of a big-boy desk unless I'm actually recording multi-channel and then using the mixer in post. But the SSL compression seems worthy of attention.

Anyone got any advice for me?

I think the QSC / CGM setup makes the most sense for what you’re doing. The SiX is basically a really bloody good desktop summing mixer. It makes stuff sound airy and subtly good in a professional SSL way. People rave about it. But I reckon you want to be jamming out with mutes and sends and stuff - not sure it’s really the best option for that.

I say QSC and if you want to add a bit of the SSL master buss comp vibe later the Waves plugin is frequently on sale and sounds pretty good.

There are some good modular mixer tips on Mylar Melodies’ channel. He uses the Befaco hexmix + expander but it’s all a similar principle.

My mates got an X-desk and it’s beautiful, but you’ll be spending much more ££ if you want EQ. All the connections are on d-sub too so that’s some more ££ on cables also.