pcock Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 noob rippings ahoy il look forward to, but id appreciate some help i got my 18th in a few days, and i got money saved up and shit to amount to about 300-400 quid i reckon i wanna start writing my own experimental stuff, but i need a drum machine, will i get a decent one for that? i know absolutely nothing of the hardware atall, the only one ive heard mentioned is the 303 but i couldnt find that on froogle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest user Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Well first of all the 303 is a bass synth not a drumcomputer, it's a tB 303 the b stands for bassline, it's companion is the tR 606 where the r stands for rythm. The t stands for trance or techno or trannies. Anyway why do you want the hardware? If you want to do some more complex drum programming have a look at a (second hand) elektron machine drum. But you also might want to look into a decent midi controller, maybe the akai drum pads and a knob box or drumpads and a keyboard. Are you already using software? Anyway if you want to do experimental stuff it's probably not much good geting just a basic drumcomputer, because you'll probably end up being too limited without outboard fx etc. and if you get older stuff you'll also need a midi to sync converter etc. Sorry for the disjointedness of the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chim Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 you should look into VST's and programs such as reaktor, very powerful for experimental stuff. get yourself a midicontroller before you're absolutely positively sure a physical synth is what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Iąїn Ċ Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Yeah, it's definitely worth experimenting with software before taking the hardware plunge, and IMHO you're better off with a synth than a drum machine anyway for your first bit of gear. Of course, you'll also need an audio interface to get the sound into your computer, and some half-decent speakers to hear it on. Hardware's expensive! Congratulations on your 18th but your life is going to be all downhill from there. My life peaked between 16-18, now I'm almost 21 and wondering if I'll ever have that much fun again. The answer is no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 i use cakewalk with a variety of soft synths, albino, PSYN, Pentagon, rgc +audio z3ta etc, and my computer simply isnt powerful enough to handle what i want to do, and my PC cost 800 and isnt getting upgraded i want a new instrument to learn tbh, i have pretty much virtuoso skill on keys so i wanted to get my mitts on a 16-20 polyphony synth and a drum machine and just have a piss about, reckon i could get some pretty interesting ideas out of my head. il post some of the work ive been doing on cakewalk when its finalised,it generally revolves around transposing the work of liszt, bartok and debussy into a variety of synths and that. i think i might be jumping to far too soon but its a risk im prepared to take. one more thing is there anything in the way of pros offering lessons in the relevant hardware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 lol at thinking my life will go downhill from 18, ive just acquired a job tinkling debussy tunes to old people at a posh health club cafe for 30 quid an hour, and im off to study a performance degree next year,im also moving out and basically stinking rich compared to the amount of money ive had previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Promo Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 noob rippings ahoy il look forward to, but id appreciate some help i got my 18th in a few days, and i got money saved up and shit to amount to about 300-400 quid i reckon i wanna start writing my own experimental stuff, but i need a drum machine, will i get a decent one for that? i know absolutely nothing of the hardware atall, the only one ive heard mentioned is the 303 but i couldnt find that on froogle. Buy a decent PC, soundcard, controller or other modern technology. Download the software you need. Don't blow your money away on old technology 'cause that's what it is. It might make good visual porn but very quickly you'll realise that you've wasted your precious money on it. Talent and imagination is the thing you need and no piece of equipment alone can pay for that. Besides 300/400 won't buy you shit in real terms for hardware. Anyways seriously why would you wanna buy a 303? That's £600/700 down the drain straight away. Ever heard of AudioRealism's Bassline? Download the demo of that and get a decent controller and you've got a 303 plus some. Okay it doesn't have the same meaty sound as a real 303 but then you have to have the talent to be a real 303 master anyways. I wish someone would spend 300/400 on my birthday 'cause I would get a new pc for music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 21, 2006 Author Share Posted June 21, 2006 you didnt understand me, the PC im using is a gig ram and has a fast enough processor, cost me 800 to start with, the problem is that the music ive been trying to write is still too complex and causes dropouts every 5 seconds sherely because of the multiple thousands notes i want it to deal with i had thought that hardware eliminated that problem. i also just got confused and thought a 303 was a drum machine, apologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba69 Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 for what you are doing it might be a good idea to use GM and outboard synths in combination with your computer. Sequencing that sort of stuff without a computer would be a bitch and a half. Find ways to save cpu. use samples and stuff and use freezing/rendering. Hardware isn't really fast or anything, it just knows its own limitations so you dont have to bother worrying about dropouts. Digital effects in hardware generally has more latancy than software as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mr. Modular Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 transistor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velazquez Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 radio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrHat Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Garmonbozia Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da Youses got 303 posts and have thus leveled up moving on to a completely non-physical plane of existence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrHat Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 shit now i gotta buy the manual of planes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 23, 2006 Author Share Posted June 23, 2006 decent drum VST then? im usin edirol super quartet and its pretty aeful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Promo Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 How is buying a 303 got anything to do with complex piano arrangements? A 303 is a monosynth so forget playing any chords. :laughing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrHat Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 3x overdub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 How is buying a 303 got anything to do with complex piano arrangements? A 303 is a monosynth so forget playing any chords. :laughing: if you had read my first post, i said that i know absolutely nothing about the hardware, so having a go at getting something wrong is pointless :ermm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eatanter Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 It might make good visual porn but very quickly you'll realise that you've wasted your precious money on it. Talent and imagination is the thing you need and no piece of equipment alone can pay for that. Besides 300/400 won't buy you shit in real terms for hardware. right, a few things concerning hardware: i can take my drummachines and rack effects anywhere i want to. i'm regularly visiting this friend of mine who's living 100 km away with my equipment for jamming around and i couldn't do that with a computer. computers added a visual component that wasn't really there before, with hardware it's mostly just numbers and abbreviations, along with some dots.. so the way of working with music is a totally different one, expanding your methods and giving you other perspectives, generally. don't get me wrong, i'm using pc myself, but i always try to avoid becoming too comfortable in a certain environment, because that will ultimately let you end producing instead of exploring. but anyway, it depends on what YOU want. besides, i never got as deep into a softsynth like i got into my equipment. there's just so many software around, but you really get to know your hardware, since you have to get into it, you know? if you own a piece you will stick to it rather than some soft-thing that can be exchanged easily by a simple download.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LJG Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 I would recommend taking a look at the EMX-1 by Korg. I'm in a similar boat as far as limited computing goes, and I wanted something that was a good springboard for music creation (so I could give it a try) without dropping tons of cash on something that might not ultimately be what I needed. As I figure it, this box is, if nothing else, immensely educational, intuitive, and fun. You can do both synth parts (up to 5) and drum parts (up to 9) and everything is easily tweakable. Tons of effects included, steptime sequencing and realtime sequencing. The sounds you can produce are great (nevermind the cheesy factory presets), it's totally portable, and has nice warm tone via the tube outputs. One of the main reasons I went with this machine (apart from budget) is that I simply don't like the feel of working on a computer. Just a personal preference- but I sit at a terminal all day at work, and I don't want to do the same at home to cook up some beats. It is limited in the sense that all instruments are limited- you can't play chords on a flute, and you can't play true glissando on a fretted guitar. However, I think that as with other instruments, a good bit of the EMX-1's character comes from its particular horizons, and learning to work around "limitations" at least for me is more rewarding than starting from an "unlimited" base. Besides, you can always augment later. This is a monophonic synth, and you stated that you were looking for a polyphonic- but there are ways around that too. Worth a look. EMX-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xy_politics Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 you didnt understand me, the PC im using is a gig ram and has a fast enough processor, cost me 800 to start with, the problem is that the music ive been trying to write is still too complex and causes dropouts every 5 seconds sherely because of the multiple thousands notes i want it to deal with i had thought that hardware eliminated that problem. i also just got confused and thought a 303 was a drum machine, apologies. Firstly, what spec is your system? Processor type and speed.. Motherboard chipset too if you can find that out. Secondly, dropouts and glitching are not necessarily because the PC isn't fast enough - if the sound card you use isn't running ASIO/WDM then you need to get one that does, or alternatively, visit www.asio4all.com. Also, what host (Cubase, Sonar, FL, Reason) are you using, and what instruments? You mention Edirol Superquartet, but that is more memory-intensive than cpu-intensive IIRC, and 1Gb of memory is still a comfortable amount to be working with these days, so the sound card would seem to be the culprit. Thirdly, a hardware synth will not provide you with thousands, or even hundreds, or probably even 40 simultaneous voices, especially one within your budget. If your computer is slow (I would say no less than a mid-to-high end 32-bit Athlon/P4 would work well with today's hosts and instruments) then you always have the option of freezing (i.e rendering to disk) the various elements of your pieces when you complete them. Today's hosts can do this transparently. My recommendation: Korg Kontrol49 Midi Controller E-Mu 0404 Sound Card (Or an M-Audio Audiophile, similar spec and price) CPU/Motherboard upgrade (if necessary) As much free software as you can lay your hands on.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 flashy looking buttons and that are the shizzle, im fed up of computers, so im buying that EMX-1, cheers mate if someone can tell me how i can turn a cakewalk MIDI file into an mp3 il post up my first tune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LJG Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 flashy looking buttons and that are the shizzle, im fed up of computers, so im buying that EMX-1, cheers mate Good luck with it. It's not for everyone, but it certainly is for me. A daily learning experience. If you can splurge on a keyboard controller for it though, it would be money well spent. Word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcock Posted June 26, 2006 Author Share Posted June 26, 2006 im buying shortly so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LJG Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 im buying shortly so lol i guess you've got that angle covered then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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