We are the music makers - producers?

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  • Everyone seen the new Arturia synth. Looks fun.

  • Few bits and pieces for sale if any interest?

    https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/380775/#comment16728850

  • been having fun with the electribe over the last few weeks. there's so many functions i haven't even looked at yet, but have got to grip with the basics and made some fun tunes i'm happy with

    it's so much easier than using pc based music making software, hands on knobs is just so much more intuitive and quicker than trying to adjust a button on a screen with a mouse. it's quick to programme a percussion sequence then add in tune, effects and melody. inputs via touchpad or sequencer or record live. half the sound samples seem to be the drums and cymbals which are all quite similar but there are a nice range of synths and effects and sound samples to play with. i'd give it a 9/10

    i know it's way too early, but planning ahead what is the next bit of kit i should be thinking about ? maybe a different manufacturer for a different range and take on the sound samples. keyboard synth or load up on another groove box or something else

  • My (quite possibly incredibly naive) hope is that between the JX-08 and the MC-101 I haven't yet bought, pretty much all my non-computer-based needs will be met. 4 tracks on the MC-101 and the bi-timbral JX-08 is more than enough I'd wager. Also means I don't need to faff around with a mixer.

    Not sure what sort of stuff you'd be looking for in terms of a keyboard synth, and I haven't personally tried one, but the Hydrasynth Explorer does look like a lot of fun, for not a whole lot of money. Or you could buy my Reface CS ;)

  • hands on knobs

    dibs new band name.

  • Elektron Octatrack.

  • Would you mind uploading one of the tracks? I am really interested in getting one, never had a hardware synth and would be quite a novice and would like to see what you can achieve in a relatively short time.

  • one of the functions i haven't got to yet is saving tracks !
    i've been spending about an hour or two making a track, play around with it then just clear it. i've no real reason to save them just yet

    tomorrow i'll work out how to download to my pc and try and save a tune.

    i'll have a look at the elektron and the hydrasynth. a keyboard would make a change from the buttons and knobs of the electribe,

  • Check out the Elektron stuff. It's not exactly one knob per function. I think some of the most fun synths are 1KpF. First track name sorted.

  • Bit the bullet on the MC-101. Anyone had any experience with them or the MC-707 that has any tips or tricks? Anyone got experience with buying the sample packs from Roland cloud? I know there's a licence installation step but I'm guessing there's no licence-checking like the new Juno-X that has to "phone home" every 30 or so power cycles?

    Pains me to be giving Roland money while they do shit like that.

    On a tangental note, sale thread for my Reface, Volca & SQ-1 here

  • Quick question for the group, when you put tracks on Bandcamp do you add metadata/tags? Is there a best practice format to use (on the actual file itself) or is it just track name and artist etc?

    Cheers!

    Edit. Think I found the answer, Bandcamp adds metadata upon upload but only lossless downloads display the metadata, WAV doesn't

  • Just bought my first modular case. Planning on buying the ALM MCO oscillator and ALM Pamela's New Workout to start off with, probably a VCA too, give me some time to find out what they do/ what I like before buying other modules.

    Anyone got any suggestions/must haves?

  • does anyone on here use an NI maschine?
    i've seen a mk3 for sale locally for £250 and i'm quite tempted. always fancied one.
    might go and have a look today - i need to find out if the software is included as i guess it's pretty useless without.

  • Had a mk1. Did enjoy it but found it hard to integrate it, I wanted to record my jams as stems into Ableton Live but could never really get it to work how I wanted. Maybe they are better now?

    I would think it will come with the software

  • went to have a look, it was a mk2.
    decided not to bother

  • Got a Mk1 in the cupboard too. Couldn't get it to integrate properly at the time. I think Ableton Push came a long and software integration was good.

  • Will check ta

  • Turn back now before it's too late!

    Uh, I'll write you up something later. You'll need a way of getting signal out, and a way of syncing / sequencing with your other gear. PNW is a good module for a lot of timing/sync stuff but you'll also want at least one filter, and some modulation like LFOs and envelope generators. If you're going to use analogue oscillators you'll probably want some way of managing tuning.

    When choosing modules it'll help to have an idea of what you're looking to get out of it. Eg fat analogue bass, acid lines, percussion, bleepy bloop stuff, Buchla-esque squawks/pings…

  • Nice one. Thanks. Yeah I already feel like I'm on a slippery slope. Even pricing up blank plates, nuts, cables etc etc is eye watering!

  • When choosing modules it'll help to have an idea of what you're looking to get out of it. Eg basslines, percussion, bleepy bloop stuff, Buchla-esque squawks/pings…

    Techno melodic/not so melodic bleep lines if that makes sense. Wanted the PNW for Euclidean. Plan to sequence as much as I can using the Torso T1. I'm not really interested in drums, so will be mostly oscillators, modulation sources and FX really

  • How about one of these, maybe save a few quid 🤪

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLPc1veOYZ4

    Jokes aside will probably seem cheap by the time you get where you want to go!

  • This is a really good and thorough beginner's guide:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2bo9boedEs

    I like his vids and demos a lot in general.

    So for what you want, I think it's essentially a synth. And the question is, what will it do that a conventional non-modular synth won't? "Sound better" is a valid reason btw, but you should be confident that it will actually sound better and in the way you want, and in a way that isn't achievable more cheaply in non-modular.

    Where modular has a big advantage is in a couple of specific areas, mostly 1: modulation and 2: generative/random stuff. The fact you can patch a ton of modulation up to anywhere you like (including to other modulation) is quite fun and liberating.

    So I would say for basics you need sequencing (sounds like you have this sorted), sound generation (sounds like you are looking at the MCO for this, I have one and it's a cool module, also being digital it is tuning stable), filtering (if you like the look of ALM stuff the MUM M8 is a killer filter, it's based on an Akai S950 and sounds ace), modulation (Quaid Megaslope is cool but maybe overkill in a small rack, or the DivKid Øchd is a really cool and compact way to get a bunch of triangle LFOs going), slope / envelope generation (eg Pip Slope and/or an ADSR module), attenuation/inversion/attenuverters (eg the O/A/x2), VCAs, mults/mixers, and an output module (if you want to get it down to line level to mix with other gear). You might also want some kind of FX or other sound modifying modules like a bitcrusher or wavefolder for more variety/weirdness. For checking tuning, I have a little oscilloscope unit in my rack, but you can also just use a guitar tuner.

    One module that I think is fantastic to have in a small rack is the Intellijel Dixie II+. It is a very good sounding analogue VCO but it is also an excellent LFO.

    Apart from that… up to you to find "flavour" stuff really. Do you like the east coast sound of Make Noise, the glitchy digital Noise Engineering vibe, the vintage Roland sound of System 80, etc etc.

    Whatever you pick you'll be changing things up as you figure out what you like and don't like.

    These are my two little racks at the moment (which I tend to treat as one synth):


    https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1239486


    https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1478036

    Click the links, and you can see what all the modules are. The buffered mults built into the Palette case get a LOT of use for multing triggers/envelopes. Any questions lmk. I'm going to lose the Pons Asinorum at some point as I keep forgetting how to work it… have a Pip Slope to replace it with. Also have a Jove / 860 filter that needs to go in somewhere.

    Oh, also this arrived a few weeks back…


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We are the music makers - producers?

Posted by Avatar for mattty @mattty

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