the watmm GAS thread

[Soloman Tump]

[xox]

^ wat zet?

[auxien]

I got slight GAS for some Ableton controller with nice integration and faders, and there's an Akai MPD32 for sale on CL. Seems like a lot of people have fun with playing just the controller and not messing too much with the laptop so I am wondering if it's a nice thing to try out and see how well it suits what I am trying to do..

 

Edit: I think I am mostly interested in how well the out of the box default configuration maps to Live because lately I am feeling tired of constantly having to figure out ways to do something or program my own scripts and troubleshoot some latency or midi issues.

 

Edit2: yeah ok maybe I should just get a push, but it's got no faders and somehow seems way more limited than the MPD32

Push is pretty nice, had mine since right after it first came out. Works without flaw. Heard mostly good about Push 2. Have no knowledge on the MPD32, just looks like an MPC-style MIDI controller at first glance, I guess if it's cheap (Push 1s are like $150ish? Maybe less) and you want the faders and that MPC feel then should be fine? MIDI mapping to various controllers is pretty dead simple with Ableton in my experience.

[user]

wrong thread lol

 

gassing for a usamo, hard

Edited October 22, 2018 by user

[thawkins]

 

I got slight GAS for some Ableton controller with nice integration and faders, and there's an Akai MPD32 for sale on CL. Seems like a lot of people have fun with playing just the controller and not messing too much with the laptop so I am wondering if it's a nice thing to try out and see how well it suits what I am trying to do..

 

Edit: I think I am mostly interested in how well the out of the box default configuration maps to Live because lately I am feeling tired of constantly having to figure out ways to do something or program my own scripts and troubleshoot some latency or midi issues.

 

Edit2: yeah ok maybe I should just get a push, but it's got no faders and somehow seems way more limited than the MPD32

Push is pretty nice, had mine since right after it first came out. Works without flaw. Heard mostly good about Push 2. Have no knowledge on the MPD32, just looks like an MPC-style MIDI controller at first glance, I guess if it's cheap (Push 1s are like $150ish? Maybe less) and you want the faders and that MPC feel then should be fine? MIDI mapping to various controllers is pretty dead simple with Ableton in my experience.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I think used Pushes do go pretty cheap these days (esp. the first versions), so it could be an option.

I know most things are dead simple to map with Live, but I am looking for the adaptive kinds of mappings where if I add a device, I don't have to figure out a mapping for it myself, but it's the physical controller that maps to it automagically. Push does that really well, but I am not sure about the MPD 32.

I am not so much after the MPC "feel" (although it seems like fun workflow) but I like the faders too. Sometimes you just want to fade out more than one thing and with knobs it's difficult to do.

[Soloman Tump]

^ wat zet?

 

A guy called xdugef made it....

 

 

 

I always have a workbench of half finished projects. One thing I completed recently that seemed to catch many people’s eye was the BitchBOX. Although this is not strictly a circuit bent device it is intended as a switching device for multiple toys and also provides feedback loops for pedals etc. It’s basically a box full of switches and is completely passive electronically speaking. It’s works best with hot signals because with normal signals it tends to click when you switch or mute an input, but for noise projects this isn’t a problem.

 

I also have been acquiring military radios to rehouse bent devices in and I have been working on a roadcase for my upcoming tour that has been appropriately dubbed the Xdugef Engine.

[auxien]

Thanks for the suggestion. I think used Pushes do go pretty cheap these days (esp. the first versions), so it could be an option.

 

 

I know most things are dead simple to map with Live, but I am looking for the adaptive kinds of mappings where if I add a device, I don't have to figure out a mapping for it myself, but it's the physical controller that maps to it automagically. Push does that really well, but I am not sure about the MPD 32.

I am not so much after the MPC "feel" (although it seems like fun workflow) but I like the faders too. Sometimes you just want to fade out more than one thing and with knobs it's difficult to do.

Oh I see, yeah there's a fair amount of MIDI controllers that come with mappings for Live already, and of course many likely have setups available from user communities available online as well. But definitely if you want the perfect MIDI controller for Ableton all the time then Push 2 (or Push 1) is your best bet. Used Push 2s are not so cheap that I've seen, but I also haven't looked in a while. I'm sure a little hunting would give you an idea if the MPD32 has any Ableton-centric user-made mappings you could use. Curious to hear what you end up going with.

 

edit: also I dunno how much you've looked into Push integration but it is crazy fucking powerful with the amount of niche things you can do with it now with all the updates they've pushed out over the years, many users don't seem to be aware of half of it...there's step sequencer modes, split MPC/keyboard grid modes, etc... even the Push 1 is capable of many updates they're putting out.

Edited October 22, 2018 by auxien

[thawkins]

Oh I see, yeah there's a fair amount of MIDI controllers that come with mappings for Live already, and of course many likely have setups available from user communities available online as well. But definitely if you want the perfect MIDI controller for Ableton all the time then Push 2 (or Push 1) is your best bet. Used Push 2s are not so cheap that I've seen, but I also haven't looked in a while. I'm sure a little hunting would give you an idea if the MPD32 has any Ableton-centric user-made mappings you could use. Curious to hear what you end up going with.

 

 

 

edit: also I dunno how much you've looked into Push integration but it is crazy fucking powerful with the amount of niche things you can do with it now with all the updates they've pushed out over the years, many users don't seem to be aware of half of it...there's step sequencer modes, split MPC/keyboard grid modes, etc... even the Push 1 is capable of many updates they're putting out.

 

 

I think I am going to take a critical look on the junk I have piled on my desk & drawers now and try and make use of it as best as I can. I do have a Livid Code v2 with a script that I wrote that already gets me basic mixing, sends, device control and clip triggers.

I still do believe that it is kind of better to have to fight with my gear to get something out of it, getting the Push seems just like going the easy way..

[sweepstakes]

I want both of the smaller MIDI Fighters. The one with the arcade buttons seems brilliant for drumming but all I can find on YouTube is these dorky videos of people doing EDM "lightshows" on them which is embarrassing.

[b born droid]

 

The trashy Altai echo box came today, been having fun messing with it. It's pretty terrible; it's designed for putting echo on karaoke vocals and shit like that, so the delay time is permanently set at 200ms; anything louder than a mic level signal makes it distort pretty badly unless you tread carefully. It's a murky, foggy bucket brigade box, and noisy af, but lots of fun for eight quid. Did a couple of demos:

 

 

 

 

Pretty good for 8quid. :) At permanent 200ms, this conversion chart could be useful for picking bpms: http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-bpmtempotime.htm

 

 

Haha I use the exact same website to quickly set release times when I'm mixing.

[flacid]

Morning gangsters. I'm looking for an FM synth with the best midi cc capabilities. I did have the Yamaha DX reface but midi control wise it's pretty limited. 

 

Any ideas? 

Edited October 23, 2018 by Alan Ord

[auxien]

Someone try this out

 

https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2018/10/22/chrome-extension-puts-a-midi-sequencer-in-your-web-browser/

[sweepstakes]

Morning gangsters. I'm looking for an FM synth with the best midi cc capabilities. I did have the Yamaha DX reface but midi control wise it's pretty limited. 

 

Any ideas? 

Like this kind of thing?

 

https://ixox.fr/preenfm2/manual/midi/

[TubularCorporation]

MIDIbox FM is a top contender too, but you'd have to build it and it's probably not the easiest thing to build (I was about 1/3 done with a MIDIbox SEQ before I got the money for an Octatrack and I've built a few things that are at least as complicated before and since but it was definitely no picnic, and the modular nature of the whole MIDIbox system (plus its insular community) makes it even more of a challenge.  But I imagine this thing is just about as deep as you could ask from a classic Yamaha 4-operator chip.

 

http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_fm.html

Edited October 23, 2018 by RSP

[flacid]

 

Morning gangsters. I'm looking for an FM synth with the best midi cc capabilities. I did have the Yamaha DX reface but midi control wise it's pretty limited. 

 

Any ideas? 

Like this kind of thing?

 

https://ixox.fr/preenfm2/manual/midi/

 

 

 

MIDIbox FM is a top contender too, but you'd have to build it and it's probably not the easiest thing to build (I was about 1/3 done with a MIDIbox SEQ before I got the money for an Octatrack and I've built a few things that are at least as complicated before and since but it was definitely no picnic, and the modular nature of the whole MIDIbox system (plus its insular community) makes it even more of a challenge.  But I imagine this thing is just about as deep as you could ask from a classic Yamaha 4-operator chip.

 

http://www.ucapps.de/midibox_fm.html

 

 

Cheers for the ideas, both sound very good although the Midibox is probably a bit more DIY than I'd ever likely do... 

[acid1]

16 recursive cc loops in Tidal -> Digitone

[modey]

Played a Lyra 8 yesterday at Schneidersladen yesterday. I'm going to try my best to get one before I leave Europe. It's fkn incredible.

[auxien]

I have generally almost zero interest in modular, but this thing....

 

[TubularCorporation]

I wish everything used high quality, mechanically switched, keyboard style buttons like the Erica drum sequencer looks like it has.   They're such a pleasure to work on.

[auxien]

^I've never actually used any gear with those keyboard style buttons but all my instincts tell me I'd love them (obviously other than keyboards when DAWing)

[TubularCorporation]

I've never gotten to use them on audio equipment sadly, but I've got some 90s video equipment that uses them, and I'm just old enough to have grown up around IBM Model M keyboards (and more often their cheaper but still better than most modern keyboard knockoffs), and they're really, really nice.  That's what all the keyboards were like when I was using trackers a lot as a teenager.

 

 

Actually that's not totally true, I have a Soundmaster SR88 that I used occasionally for years that uses similar keys but they started to double trigger so I sprayed some control cleaner into them without thinking much of it and it apparently jarred some mechanical part loose inside because both of them completely stopped working right away, and you can feel that there's a piece in one that's physically blocking it from moving all the way.  So that's in the closet until I can figure out replacements.

 

 

It's all down to a long throw plus a nice, positive "click" when it actually engages.  I guess because they were developed for electric typewriters and computer keyboards rather than buttons that would occasionally be pressed but didn't have to necessarily be "playable" to a typist, so they're closer to the keybed in a good music keyboard than they are to a typical tact switch or membrane button.  Which makes them ideal for instruments.

Edited November 3, 2018 by RSP

[auxien]

Interesting points dude, never thought too much about the keys in direct relation to music-making (other than just general lust for them), but that makes sense. I love love love the sequencer buttons on my Rytm (Mk1) and I imagine there's probably a lot of overlap with mechanical keyboard style keys

[TubularCorporation]

I think like 90% of the reason I'll always lust over a 909 is the buttons.  Not that it isn't a great, classic drum machine, but there are plenty of other great, classic (and new) drum machines that don't cost as much as a good used car.  But do they have those buttons?  They don't.

[sheatheman]

 

You guys gotta try this thing. It’s incredible. For my money ($10 vs $600), this beats a DFAM and makes the hardware vs software debate 90% nullified.

[zylinderz]

Thought this was a thread about this project