Beat Music Makers

[Jizz]

tbh to bang out drums i got my qwerty anyway volca seems a bit more weirder overall, especially seeing how so many people are on the 404 nowadays

yeah lets hear this

[mks]

^^ ^That tune is good, it def has some head nod vibes. I was talking about the tunes that were purposfully off the beat but maybe people aren't doing that so much anymore.

[nowaysj]

Post up an example, brochamps.

[nowaysj]

shiit those are the exact 2 im debating between volca's tempting purely because it seems cheaper to get hold of as well

The Sample is not a sampler, in that it doesn't sample, the 404 is a sampler. The 404 you can work with full phrases, like a sampled 4 bar piano line, the Sample, no, it only has 4mb of memory. Use it for small sounds, that you can stretch out/loop mangle, and drums.

They're both good at fucking things up.

The 404 is playable like an instrument, can work with larger samples (though does have pretty limited polyphony), can sample, has a lot MORE samples to work with 10 banks of 12 samples, good to leave half of that empty for resampling what you do on the 404, has quite a few fx, all set to be playable in realtime.

The Sample is like Instant Techno Box, haven't made any hippity hopity beats on it. Once I record this beat, it'll free the Sample up for more exploration, but that is the thing, the Sample is limited, 10 samples at a time, but you have WAY more control over the samples, and in that respect Sample is more like a sampler than the 404, can pan things, envelope the amp and envelope the pitch, only one fx, a duuurrrty reverb.

[Jizz]

ohhh its not a sampler? ffs, why would they call it the Sample

lemme tell you guys what i really want as a setup here... sampler, couple real nice filters, a reverb unit and all this through some interface into ableton. sound reasonable?

[mks]

Sounds totally reasonable, and is in fact pretty much my setup. Throw in some analog synths with that. Make sure you get a soundcard with a lot of ins and outs.

The sampler though, is the one thing that did not make the digital transformation. I still have my Akai S5000 but it is not installed in my studio. Over time, I found that working with software samplers was a lot easier. That said, the S5000 was my main instrument for close to a decade. But really it was just a big computer that did one thing.

Maybe there is something to be about more lofi samplers like the 404 that you can just bash on.

[Jizz]

whats a good soundcard you could recommend? seems that makes a whole lot of difference, recording quality etc

filters though, that is what i am ON. the filters/reverb gunna be what makes the biggest difference, wanna take my time picking those out

I wish i could afford analog synths... one day

[mks]

I have an older PreSonus Firepod soundcard. Generally PreSonus has been good to me.

For a filter I use one of the original Big Briar (Moog) Lowpass filter. I used to have a Waldorf 4-Pole that I sold for cheap and I'm still kicking myself over that one.

Reverbs, I use a Lexicon MX100 and a Zoom 1204, which is lofi in a good way. I route the Lexicon as an external effect module in Ableton.

The Korg Volcas might be a cheap way for you to get analogue in your sound.

[Jizz]

i'll look into PreSonus

yeah with the Volca really it is the price thats drawing me, so cheap lol

for filter/verb though i might look into stuff thats in the market currently, some newer stuff y'know... its all plugins now, but hopefully theres playaz out there who are developing good hardware...

[mks]

I should have mentioned, the filter is a MoogerFooger which you can still get. The new ones come out under the name Moog, rather than Big Brier.

[nowaysj]

You need to take this discussion over the the Gear Lust thread, and read like the last 10 pages of me raving about the Volcas. They are A A A A A A AMAZING. Wish I didn't wait so long to get them. A A A A A A AMAZING.

Jizz, you may want to think about picking up a mixer if you want to do hardware fx like filter and verb. I personally like to buss my fx, meaning send multiple things to the same verb, or to the same filter. Can't do that with hardware w/o a mixer. A mixer will give you an aux buss, that you can send channels to, so you could send the 404 and Volca Keys to your reverb.

I don't have a mixer, and it SUX. I've now got 14 channels input into my computer, so I have the capability to record each instrument direct, but I have to just choose which instrument gets the hardware fx, I can't send multiple instruments to the kp3+ for example.

Jizzy, really seriously, for your economics, the Volcas CANNOT be beat. Nothing gets anywhere close to the analog sounds of the Keys/Bass.

The Sample is a sampler in that it plays back samples, but is not a sampler in that it does not sample samples. There is no AD on it. I do sample directly from vinyl to the 404, but I also load up the card with samples, like drum samples, and other synth and bass stuff I've made itb, or with other hardware. But with the Sample, I have to transfer samples from the computer (or phone) to the Sample. Then fuck up and sequence them there. Honestly having both a Sample and a 404 is not a bad idea. But the 404/303 is like the basis of the (now former) beat scene. Bedrock instrument.

I just got a Volca Bass for... like $105, and the Volca Sample for $145. Trying to get a keys, but the price has just risen on them. Won't pay more than $105-110. But in pounds, that is like two beers from what I can tell.

[mks]

Yeah, a mixing board is a really important part of that equation. Especially you are going to be using hardware and external effects. I use a Mackie 1604 VLZ.

As far as filters, I'm checking out the Waldorf 2-Pole. Man, why did I sell that 4-Pole? This is veering into the Gear Lust thread for sure.

For Beats, I have a free Downtempo/instrumental Hip-Hop/Trip-Hop album available called Orbits. It is all mostly samples and analog synths mostly all made on the Akai S5000, mixed through the 1604 VLZ mixer with analog delays and external effects down to an ADAT and a DAT. This music was written in 2003 and was available as a release from 2007 to 2011 until my digital distributor went down and all of my music got taken down from the stores. I haven't really hassled with it since then.

http://tonescientist.com/audio/Tone_Sci ... OHF001.zip

[Jizz]

oh damn, once a mixer comes in the budget has to stretch a Lot...

mks, thats vibes. sounds are nice and crisp, bass sounds nicer than the lower frequencies on most of the stuff coming out nowadays

hah, like 15 pints but yeh $110, thats a decent price... is the volca bass good?
tbh, transferring from computer to the Sample doesnt sound like too much of a hassle but maybe im forgetting how long it takes to do something like that.

at this rate though, if even a mixer is coming into the equation, i should probably be getting monitors and room treatment first. as always, its getting out of control

[mks]

mks, thats vibes. sounds are nice and crisp, bass sounds nicer than the lower frequencies on most of the stuff coming out nowadays

Thanks man! I still like the music on that album and if I can say that years later, that's good.

[hubb]

whats a good soundcard you could recommend? seems that makes a whole lot of difference, recording quality etc

filters though, that is what i am ON. the filters/reverb gunna be what makes the biggest difference, wanna take my time picking those out

I wish i could afford analog synths... one day

sherman filter bank + cheap second hand reverb unit

would make you very happy I think

[nowaysj]

have been told the v-verb is a super low cost high end reverb

I now own one, but am not setup to test it

[hubb]

i was told by some cool inside idm people (oxy moron) that the
alesis micro is almost cheating for the price

[Jizz]

shiit that filterbank looks amazing!

v-verb is discontinued now apparently hard to find on the Bay too

[nowaysj]

Just bought one off ebay for like... shit how much was it. Like a hundo?

[hubb]

can get one for a hando