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If that picture on his myspace is his studio then joker's got some nice synths. Think i heard geiom uses quite a bit of hardware as well.

Im Pretty sure Flying lotus has got loads of stuff on stage... most of it goes through his mac but theres drum machines & synths up there aswell...

Abs wrote:When I saw Bass Clef he had nothing but drum machines, synths and a trombone, it was brilliant, I don't know why the dubstep scene (a lot like the jungle scene) puts up with all their favourite djs just spinning records when you go to see them.. how is that a performance? it's no different to listening to tunes by anyone, sure they may be dubplates, but it's still just a record being played.

yeah we should be demanding more from those damned lazy DJ's!!

dubluke wrote:

Abs wrote:When I saw Bass Clef he had nothing but drum machines, synths and a trombone, it was brilliant, I don't know why the dubstep scene (a lot like the jungle scene) puts up with all their favourite djs just spinning records when you go to see them.. how is that a performance? it's no different to listening to tunes by anyone, sure they may be dubplates, but it's still just a record being played.

yeah we should be demanding more from those damned lazy DJ's!!

lexactly man. how have dj's pulled the wool over peoples eyes for so long????? i feel like such a mug now

well i think the point really is that for a lot of music you dont actually need hardware to make it. I have quite a bit of hardware and i rarely turn it on. I can do most if not all i want to do in the computer.

defoxster wrote:Im Pretty sure Flying lotus has got loads of stuff on stage... most of it goes through his mac but theres drum machines & synths up there aswell...

Nah just a laptop and controller

I run some hardware, I have a virus TI and a mackie desk.

I personaly love it. Its got its own sound which I dont think you can really create with software as the oscillators included (ie hypersaw, picking one of 6 different oscillator options) is something I have not seen on a software synth and I have most of them! Even the Oscillators you do find on other synths (wavetable for one) will not have the same wave shapes at all! For example I have 64 waves per Oscillator times 3 oscillators! The 3 x 64 different sound options. I have not seen that on a vst.

Thing is I can so understand people not liking hardware when its run through midi as its proper ball ache! Sisex is a bitch to write so saving is so hit and miss. Most people with hardware like that bounce a sound as soon as they find one but with a TI it runs all 16 midi tracks live along with as much automation as you want!

I used to run just software but then bought a TI to try and get some new sounds into my music. Now I just use my TI as I've had it two years and know it back-to-front! I am a firm believer that mastering one synth is all you need!

My 2 pence

We have quite a bit of gear. Most importantly an emu sampler and small mackie desk. All the mixes end up going thru the desk and some compressors and FX (when matt sorts it out, valve shit too). It not really about funds or not, it's just how you liek to work init. I bet you could pick up an emu on ebay instead of your next pair of Air Max, if you see what i mean. Anyway, it's all about the analog sound. defo makes all our stuff sound better. Plus you've got loads of lights and buttons to impress girls.

I sold all my hardware and 8 track after buying modular synth building app. i still have my Akai reel to reel. does that count?

Compound One wrote:We have quite a bit of gear. Most importantly an emu sampler and small mackie desk. All the mixes end up going thru the desk and some compressors and FX (when matt sorts it out, valve shit too). It not really about funds or not, it's just how you liek to work init. I bet you could pick up an emu on ebay instead of your next pair of Air Max, if you see what i mean. Anyway, it's all about the analog sound. defo makes all our stuff sound better. Plus you've got loads of lights and buttons to impress girls.

EMU sampler is my next buy! All about the Z Plane filters

goth trad

defoxster wrote:
Im Pretty sure Flying lotus has got loads of stuff on stage... most of it goes through his mac but theres drum machines & synths up there aswell...


Nah just a laptop and controller

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=s08nXwtCgsc

hes using one here... maybe loads of stuff was an over statement

an Akai MPC 5000 is well worth the investment, they are some fun pieces of kit.

can't stay away from producing hip hop on them though, so addictive.

Not that I'm ready to put anything out yet, but I'm using an Access Virus C and two drum machines, or grooveboxes really, a Roland SH101 synth, an ancient Yam SU200 sampler (mostly for flipping sounds backwards), a Mindprint Envoice Mk2 channel strip, a Boss dig.delay stompbox, very occasionally an even ancienter Gibson L6-S lektrik gitter, all tracking into a Roland VS2400 HD recorder. None of which, bar the Virus, is really high-end gear, but it keeps me off the streets!

Problem with the HD recording is the limited track count, just 24 in this case. That was a nutsache when I was messing with breaks, much less so with dubstep though.

I do intend to incorporate computer and software. Haven't got nuff good FX, have I, and also to facilitate the file sharing, since I only know one other person - UK hiphop legend Rufmouth - who's got a machine that'll read/play my files. Bouncing out all tracks as CD audio and having the recipient unpack 'em all and zero it all up is...well, probably impolite!

But I won't ditch the VS recorder. With its enormous running time it'll be great for recording/archiving our ReDub crew's live shows without having to worry about swapping out minidisks all the time. Nuff inputs for the two Technics, CD players, mic action etc all to get their own recording lane for proper mixdown. The machine’s also excellent for recording bands in demo or live. And you have to try extremely hard to crash it, it's not impossible, but it's never cropped up during tracking, which is the main thing.

Hardboiled? Softboiled? Just keep boiling

This past weekend dusted off the EMU and trying to get it working with my soundcard and Logic 8. Been several years since using it, but my roommate is pushing to integrate it in to my set-up.

You guys wanna check out a Geoim live set, then tell me that dubstep producers aren't on the hardware...
Most producers i know cant afford them though, i think you need a bit of success first to then be able to buy the hardware (or just save up everything u earn!)

our set up in studio 1.



our main sequencing tool.



and we have a roland phantom x6 in studio 2.

You can get stuff fairly cheaply on E Bay these days, an E Mu sampler secondhand can cost you as little as sixty quid, and they have blinding filters on them.
Aka samplers about eighty notes for an S3000, if you're lucky you can get a fully expanded one for around a ton. Both makes are really useful and are really synths in their own right, it's just how you use 'em.

Sound modules aren't that pricey now either, a good Roland JV1080 will set you back around a hundred and twenty quid and i've seen a few go cheaper than that, they're great well spec'd synths, that you can tweak to yer hearts content. Same with the EMu Proteus 2000 modules, 124 note polyphony and loads of sounds.

I recently saw a Roland Juno 6 go for peanuts, okay it had a few missing sliders but nothing too bad, and it's a beaut analogue that software won't be able to recreate.
All these bits of kit can give you a distinctive sound that software might not be able to, and vice versa.

Then there's all the outboard stuff, Lexicon FX units can be had for around the seventy notes mark, look out for Joe Meek compression units and TL audio stuff on the second hand, its all out there for little money.

Get a few cheap bits and mess 'em up! record them into your Audio Workstation and experiment, my advice would be to get some kind of decent input/output device/soundcard. Those Apogee Duet's are amazing, they will really improve the overall sound comming out of the computer. Well worth it if you are serious about your music.

A few good pieces are probably more helpful than a whole room full of stuff. Something like an old sampler, a desk, a mic, a compressor/delay/reverb unit and a good soundcard for your pc will deliver the best of both worlds. Throw in a good, flexible synth with character and you're set.

For examples of 'all the gear, no idea' just check out the gearslutz forum. It's hillarious what some of them actually get around to producing with all their gadgets. That's when they actually finish something.

S'right, a few well chosen pieces of gear that you can get to know inside out, is better than a room full of gear that ain't gonna do you fook all but accumulate dust.

It's all about experimenting, cheap old microphones from car boots or jumble sales have way more character that a two grand Neauman Mic.

Unless you're recording some fab vocals!