Jump to content
IGNORED

the watmm GAS thread


modey

Recommended Posts

6 minutes ago, sweepstakes said:

The Blackbox 1010 was a popular choice for a while. My buddy had one for a bit and I think he decided he didn't like the lack of physical pads.

If you wanna go REALLY simple, the PO33 is a hoot, but with that you throw MIDI out the window entirely.

What is your use case for MIDI triggering slices? Control with physical pads? It might be worth just running an MPC (any MPC) alongside the OT if this is important to you. They are different enough that they could complement each other. WNY / Winnie the Shit was using this setup for a bit and he said as much about them complementing each other. That said, I tried this a while back and found it a little too beaucoup for me.

I will say that for slicing up vinyl loops/phrases, I've found the MPC1000 w/ JJOS to be the absolute best option. The slicing workflow is wicked fast, and once you've got your slices, bashing the pads to arrange can be very satisfying and musical. Sometimes this feels almost trance-like with the micro-rhythms pulling you in different directions as you discover delicious pockets of grooves.

I dont know what it is but for some reason the Blackbox 1010 really turns me off, just looks so sterile! Also a bit pricey with as you say lack of physical pads. I'm sure looks can be deceiving and its actually great but not a huge fan of touchscreen.

As far as i'm aware the Octatrack doesn't allow you to trigger slices via MIDI or any external input. Had the idea to somehow get a MPD working so would have the best of both worlds and do the MPC thing while in the Elektron workflow world but sadly no joy!

Didnt realise the MPC 1000's went for so much money these days, maybe my imagination but thought they were way cheaper a few years back - I see MPC 2500's for cheaper!

Ill keep my eyes out for any bargains tho! Its an itch which may never be scratched till you're bashing those pads, as you say :cisfor:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, TRiP said:

As far as i'm aware the Octatrack doesn't allow you to trigger slices via MIDI or any external input. Had the idea to somehow get a MPD working so would have the best of both worlds and do the MPC thing while in the Elektron workflow world but sadly no joy!

I wanted to do a similar thing and I discovered a hack for this which is, frankly, terrible. Unfortunately it's a little involved, but if you want it badly enough it's something you can set up in basically any MIDI processing environment:

  • Lock the slice number to scenes: left scene has the minimum slice, right has the maximum slice.
  • Set up your MIDI processor to convert notes/pads to the crossfader CC (I think it's 45) so that the first pad sends 0, the last sends 127, and the rest are between. Now you will hear that slice played as expected.
  • Also set it up to send the correct slice number at the normal playback start CC. This way, that parameter change will be recorded.
  • Finally, send the note for that track.
  • Now bash pads and record.
  • Remove the scene locks and repeat for other tracks. Yes - it is tedious.

If you skip the crossfader/scene bit, the slice will actually be properly recorded, but the slice will not get updated in the playback engine until about 150ms after you send the CC, which obviously is useless for finger drumming.

I detailed this on elektronauts but I can't be arsed to find the post - slightly hungover from a jam sesh yesterday, hehe.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/29/2020 at 5:15 PM, sweepstakes said:

I wanted to do a similar thing and I discovered a hack for this which is, frankly, terrible. Unfortunately it's a little involved, but if you want it badly enough it's something you can set up in basically any MIDI processing environment:

  • Lock the slice number to scenes: left scene has the minimum slice, right has the maximum slice.
  • Set up your MIDI processor to convert notes/pads to the crossfader CC (I think it's 45) so that the first pad sends 0, the last sends 127, and the rest are between. Now you will hear that slice played as expected.
  • Also set it up to send the correct slice number at the normal playback start CC. This way, that parameter change will be recorded.
  • Finally, send the note for that track.
  • Now bash pads and record.
  • Remove the scene locks and repeat for other tracks. Yes - it is tedious.

If you skip the crossfader/scene bit, the slice will actually be properly recorded, but the slice will not get updated in the playback engine until about 150ms after you send the CC, which obviously is useless for finger drumming.

I detailed this on elektronauts but I can't be arsed to find the post - slightly hungover from a jam sesh yesterday, hehe.

wow jaysus fair play!

So close yet so far, nice to know it is posible but as you say perhaps too tedious to keep doing everytime you want to use the feature

c'mon Elekron!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, TRiP said:

wow jaysus fair play!

So close yet so far, nice to know it is posible but as you say perhaps too tedious to keep doing everytime you want to use the feature

c'mon Elekron!

Yeah sadly this bug goes back to the dawn of the OT. I've accepted that finger drumming needs must be addressed by other tools, which is fine for me because the OT has lots more to offer that can't be found elsewhere, at least not within immediate reach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently went on a bit of a gear buying spree after selling some gear and records. Pretty impulsive, but I ended up with:

Roland SH01A + TB03: I never thought I'd like these, but I am so glad I bought them, as the form factor is beautiful and there are so many sounds I randomly stumble upon from some of my favourite classic IDM tracks. 

Korg NS5R: I got it into my head that having a QY70 and SY22 wasn't enough in terms of romplers, so tracked down one of these. Super lush and weirdly interesting to program. Pairs nicely with Pyramid, which it has finally got me using!

Retrokits RK-006: I got sick of not having a USB-MIDI host. This has the benefit of also doing a whole lot of other stuff with MIDI that I'll likely never use. 

Chase Bliss MOOD: Probably the most impulsive purchase of the lot. Lush pedal, but it is definitely most appropriate for live playing. I'll keep it around for a bit longer, but I'll probably eventually move it along. 

I blame lockdown for all of this ? 

Edited by modey
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, modey said:

I blame lockdown for all of this ? 

I was going to make 2020 a "depth year" until lockdown. So far I've picked up an acoustic guitar, 0-Coast and 0-Ctrl, and my first euro case (2x84HP) which is almost full now.

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, thawkins said:

Thanks to doing the weekly jams I have basically stopped using half my gear because it is easier to work with less stuff. Down to laptop and two synths now (Korg MicroX and Roland XV5080).

I wonder if there's a lesson in this somewhere ...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ha yeah, when I want to get something down super quickly I just use software. I'm working on music for a game that I'm making and have found that it's way easier to do it all in software because it's possible to go back and make changes without having to re-record anything. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't watch more than 30s of that video, the editing and cuts is just too insane. I have heard that story before though, so nice.

 

I succumbed to GAS yesterday and bought a drum tuning key and a hi-hat clutch. Now I only need a nice backpack style cymbal bag and a proper nice ride. Might also need a snare though.. ahh shit it's starting again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It probably sounds terrible and I bet you need a 30v-or-whatever driver of some kind to make it compatible with an analog phone system (or maybe not, maybe it's line level, who knows), but this particular variation of Western Electric #52 switchboard operator headset is the most stylish thing ever and if I was a regular vocoder user I would have to own one:

 

a5f7523dd23b4416dc93ea36af4819fd.jpg

 

582ec279a18ff468b842cf93e40b1c8d.jpg

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/11/2020 at 1:16 AM, Stickfigger said:

Picked up a Tascam Model 12 yesterday; selling my soundcard. 

Really nice little unit

Sweet. I am looking to replace my zoom r16 with this. Love multi-tracking and while the zoom is great, absence of eq's and midi is a shame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, e-mertz said:

Sweet. I am looking to replace my zoom r16 with this. Love multi-tracking and while the zoom is great, absence of eq's and midi is a shame.

Afaik zoom r16 has digital eqs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, xox said:

Afaik zoom r16 has digital eqs

xox you"re right, I meant to say absence of eqing knobs and midi is a shame. The digital eq on the zoom is very annoying to use being a submenu together with panning and fx. Very difficult to get an overview that way what is equalized in which way. Better to export and load the single tracks into a DAW but then one of the main points of the whole device for me is to not have to use a DAW.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, modey said:

I don't understand the whole DAWless recording thing. It's 100x easier to record in a DAW and see what is actually going on than on a standalone recorder.

yes, but how to tell your friends that you use computaaz?! (which usually makes music by itself).

And if yo music sucks you can always say “hey, but it’s dawless”, Iike, at least something is ‘good’.

it’s not hard to understand from a cynic’s point of view ? 

image.jpeg.5c324f31bffa993fe35fa2763de4ee55.jpeg

but, yeah... recording on a recorder then mixing it in a daw is not a dawless production, right?

Edited by xox
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, modey said:

I don't understand the whole DAWless recording thing. It's 100x easier to record in a DAW and see what is actually going on than on a standalone recorder.

I don't know why but my projects get so insanely complicated that just opening a Live set and doing nothing will start my computer fans up making noise. It's mostly just MIDI tracks (which send output to hardware) and audio tracks with some effects, no virtual instruments or crazy Max4Live things.

I see the point of DAWless to avoid this sort of scenario where your project can get to a point where the "DAW" craps out. Hardware mixers and recorders have their operating limits and those may be really strict, but they are guaranteed to work perfectly within those limits. Your Space Echo pedal does not shit itself because you suddenly added a Strymon, a Moog and whatever else to the chain.

Also I think if you have a reasonable hardware setup you can get to learn it and managing the EQs and effects becomes muscle memory, instead of scrolling to the correct plugin in the DAW. It's definitely possible to build this same muscle memory with the DAW but that involves relying too much on what you see on the screen instead of listening to what comes out of the speakers. For example, for some reason I feel I get a better drum sound by messing around on the Volca Sample, instead of trying to build a drum kit in Live - might be because I am a dumbass, but also might be that the interface of the Sample is just a bunch of knobs that the designers figured out, while Live has *everything* and good luck figuring out what you actually need to do.

That said, I prefer to sequence my stuff using the laptop so that I can recreate my projects and edit and save them. I get my DAWless kicks by playing some drums every once and a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Computers can’t handle DAW projects because producers are overcomplicating things.

 Techno used to be music where you’d let a 909 BD run in a 4/4 pattern and add some bleepy bloopy things on top.

Now, people build huge stacks of synths, samplers, EQs and compressors just to make a single bass drum.

 

Use a DAW the way, say, Autechre used logic in 1998 and I can assure you your laptop - or phone! - will handle it fine.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.