Joined: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 14830 Location: A beautiful vector among many
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:23 am Post subject:
techstepgenr8tion wrote:
On a bit of ADD, here's something I might buy myself as a present if I get some cash coming in. Might do it as a reward if I get something in particular done right this year.
I might have just made a liar out of myself. I think it might just be synth module buying time, I'm looking for something under $1000, new or used, and the closer to being under $700 the better. I saw some Access Virus C's going on Ebay for a good price but, I hesitated, listened to the demos, and I'm push pull with them. Supposedly Access Virus is the music industry workhorse, everyone wants one, they can make any sound, but something about them just sounds cheap to me and I don't know that there's any amount of gymnastics they can do that would really overwhelm that impression.
The other thing I did while shopping around was listen to the Waldorf Pulse demos to get a sense of what the Pulse 2 has to offer. Much better! It has most of the analog sound strengths that I liked in the Minibrute as well as having a lot more in the way of options. That and, they're talking in terms of $599 US new when they come out this summer, so, I may be holding out get my hands on one of these. Audio demos will be illucidating as well.
Joined: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 14830 Location: A beautiful vector among many
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 1:23 pm Post subject:
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
If I had the extra cash I'd buy a Waldorf Microwave, a DSI Tetra and a Doepfer Dark Energy not a Virus.
I've heard all three of those - all good choices. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping as well that the Pulse 2 might be a compromise between the original pulse and the Blofeld. In listening to Blofeld demos it reminds me of that Lomax track (Mercia) that I posted for AngelRho; ie. very sharp, thin, metallic type textures which would be perfect if I had the option of that palet as well as organic. One of my main goals has been making very 3D music and mixes and it seems like to really be able to make a detailed world within the mix you need your sounds and layers razor sharp. If Pulse 2 has that as well I'm all over that, if not I may go for the Blofeld.
Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 3723 Location: The Landmass between N.O. and Mobile
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:17 pm Post subject:
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
If I had the extra cash I'd buy a Waldorf Microwave, a DSI Tetra and a Doepfer Dark Energy not a Virus.
That would be a lot of extra cash, though. With the Virus you at least get flexibility and variety in one box.
My personal taste is in things that are a bit more subdued, and the two DCO synths I use have more bang for the buck when it comes to that. My Matrix 1000 is quickly becoming my second favorite, and it certainly poses fewer programming challenges than the Yamaha TX7. I have a TX7 and TX802 that have barely seen use for that reason. I've spent less than $1000 on eBay for one of every synth I'll need to get the kinds of sounds I want, including an Akai S2000. Anything too complex for those synths I have plugs for, like granular synthesis and physical modeling. On the "modern" digital side I do have Korg X50, and I have the plug versions of the Wavestation and the M1. So I think if I were to get another digital synth, I'd probably most want the Roland D550, after which my synth-buying days would be nearly over.
If I had money to burn, I'd go for a Roland V-Synth XT. Virtual analog, D50 card, and voice modeler for starters. I'm really not sure what else anyone could want after getting one of those.
Joined: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 14830 Location: A beautiful vector among many
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:33 pm Post subject:
For me I just really miss having easy access to my Thor from Reason 4. Loads of great sounds and I never had any problem making sounds within it that I loved. NI Absynth 5 does really good dark/mystical in the same way but the sounds are too diffuse and you'd have to pound the hell out of most of them to get them to work in a mix. NI Massive - its good, I like it a lot more than Absynth 5 for engineering my own sounds because they can be made to be quite basic and effective but, nothing wildly inspiring with it. I think that's why its time for a change. I've had some fun playing with the free HGFortune synths but I'm somewhat sketchy on the output (albeit they had great taste in sample selection) and there are some other free synths like TAL Noisemaker, Tyrell Nexus 6, and FreeAlpha that are good but - I don't know, I still feel like they're 75% and they aren't strong go-to's.
So, hopefully getting a good hardware synth will add something in the way of outboard, perhaps set up a good hardware effects and filtering loop with it. Techically come to think of it I have a Yamaha RS7000, I could if I really want to raid its sound bank but, I still just remember that being the best I could get my hands on back in 2002 or 2003 rather than ther being anything about it that drove me wild in particular.
Joined: Jul 05, 2010 Age: 30 Posts: 28105 Location: California
Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:34 pm Post subject:
I see that y'all ask about unfinished works. I'm curious if there are any suggestions/helpful hints for this one.
Nothing too complex... I'm still relearning all the basics here. _________________ Do you bury me when I'm gone?
Do you teach me while I'm here?
Just as soon as I belong
Then it's time I disappear
Joined: Feb 25, 2012 Posts: 1608 Location: Ireland
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:25 am Post subject:
techstepgenr8tion wrote:
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
If I had the extra cash I'd buy a Waldorf Microwave, a DSI Tetra and a Doepfer Dark Energy not a Virus.
I've heard all three of those - all good choices. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping as well that the Pulse 2 might be a compromise between the original pulse and the Blofeld. In listening to Blofeld demos it reminds me of that Lomax track (Mercia) that I posted for AngelRho; ie. very sharp, thin, metallic type textures which would be perfect if I had the option of that palet as well as organic. One of my main goals has been making very 3D music and mixes and it seems like to really be able to make a detailed world within the mix you need your sounds and layers razor sharp. If Pulse 2 has that as well I'm all over that, if not I may go for the Blofeld.
It's a softsynth, but have you considered NI's Razor? That blew me away. I haven't really found a use for it, but I really want to.
In reply to your subsequent posts, if you're after outboard gear you really need a Roland Space Echo. That's just the best thing ever.
Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 3723 Location: The Landmass between N.O. and Mobile
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:25 pm Post subject:
TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
I see that y'all ask about unfinished works. I'm curious if there are any suggestions/helpful hints for this one.
Nothing too complex... I'm still relearning all the basics here.
Suggestions/hints? Ummm...this is WAY out of my scope, so take this for whatever little it's worth!
First of all, you have some interesting ideas going here and a lot of loops. It sounds to me you're going more in a hip-hop influenced direction. Not rap necessarily, but definitely some kind of electronic pop. One of my favorite pop singers out there is Natasha Bedingfield, and this has the same sort of vibe I expect from her and others. So what you really want to do is come up with a melody and some lyrics! I don't really hear this working very well as an instrumental, and I do understand it's an unfinished track. Depending on what you do with it, I may just have to take all of that back.
Towards the end you have this metallic-sounding texture going on, a sound I tend to be attracted to. The interesting thing about that is it's so out-of-character to everything else you're doing. I'd like for you to keep it, but I think you need all your other material in that section to contrast what you've done already, maybe even turn that section into a kind of breakdown. Naturally I think you need to expand your material, make it closer to a standard song form (verse-chorus, etc.) and use that as a template for other things such as lyrics and stuff. Establish your formal structure, and everything else will fall right into place.
I like the things I'm hearing from you (I even checked out some of your poetry, btw, so I know you have lyric-writing potential) and hope you'll keep working at it.
Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 3723 Location: The Landmass between N.O. and Mobile
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:45 pm Post subject:
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
techstepgenr8tion wrote:
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
If I had the extra cash I'd buy a Waldorf Microwave, a DSI Tetra and a Doepfer Dark Energy not a Virus.
I've heard all three of those - all good choices. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping as well that the Pulse 2 might be a compromise between the original pulse and the Blofeld. In listening to Blofeld demos it reminds me of that Lomax track (Mercia) that I posted for AngelRho; ie. very sharp, thin, metallic type textures which would be perfect if I had the option of that palet as well as organic. One of my main goals has been making very 3D music and mixes and it seems like to really be able to make a detailed world within the mix you need your sounds and layers razor sharp. If Pulse 2 has that as well I'm all over that, if not I may go for the Blofeld.
It's a softsynth, but have you considered NI's Razor? That blew me away. I haven't really found a use for it, but I really want to.
In reply to your subsequent posts, if you're after outboard gear you really need a Roland Space Echo. That's just the best thing ever.
The Blofeld is a cool synth, too. I thought about going that route. However, the tighter the money gets, the pickier I have to be.
Razor is cool. My issue with it is it's based on the Reaktor player. NI has offered free stuff based on freebie Reaktor before, and I'm disappointed with how limited they usually are. You can't really make significant enough changes to the pre-loaded sounds in those things unless you already own the full version of Reaktor. I've considered getting that, too, and for the money I figure I might as well bite the bullet and spring for Max/MSP instead. If they step up the amount of flexibility they allow with their Reaktor-based products, I might reconsider.
If you're attracted to the additive synth engine of Razor, which doesn't suck, you'd probably really enjoy Alchemy. It has nearly twice the formants you'd get with Razor, not to mention it already has extensive sound libraries available on the market. It certainly leaves Absynth in the dust.
Joined: Jul 05, 2010 Age: 30 Posts: 28105 Location: California
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:22 pm Post subject:
AngelRho wrote:
TeaEarlGreyHot wrote:
I see that y'all ask about unfinished works. I'm curious if there are any suggestions/helpful hints for this one.
Nothing too complex... I'm still relearning all the basics here.
Suggestions/hints? Ummm...this is WAY out of my scope, so take this for whatever little it's worth!
First of all, you have some interesting ideas going here and a lot of loops. It sounds to me you're going more in a hip-hop influenced direction. Not rap necessarily, but definitely some kind of electronic pop. One of my favorite pop singers out there is Natasha Bedingfield, and this has the same sort of vibe I expect from her and others. So what you really want to do is come up with a melody and some lyrics! I don't really hear this working very well as an instrumental, and I do understand it's an unfinished track. Depending on what you do with it, I may just have to take all of that back.
Towards the end you have this metallic-sounding texture going on, a sound I tend to be attracted to. The interesting thing about that is it's so out-of-character to everything else you're doing. I'd like for you to keep it, but I think you need all your other material in that section to contrast what you've done already, maybe even turn that section into a kind of breakdown. Naturally I think you need to expand your material, make it closer to a standard song form (verse-chorus, etc.) and use that as a template for other things such as lyrics and stuff. Establish your formal structure, and everything else will fall right into place.
I like the things I'm hearing from you (I even checked out some of your poetry, btw, so I know you have lyric-writing potential) and hope you'll keep working at it.
Interestingly enough, that's exactly what I was going for. I was unsure about the metallic sound you speak of, though. Not because I was considering removing it, but because it seems kind of out of place where it is ATM. I think it needs moved, but as of yet I've not figured out exactly how to tie it together.
And thanks. ^_^ It's been a while since I did much music. Feels good to get back into it. _________________ Do you bury me when I'm gone?
Do you teach me while I'm here?
Just as soon as I belong
Then it's time I disappear
Joined: Feb 25, 2012 Posts: 1608 Location: Ireland
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:24 pm Post subject:
The Blofeld's a great synth, no question. It's really great for percussive short release stuff like Razor. I got MAX for Live the other day, impressed with Henke's Granular thing and the Alex Kid groove tool's pretty decent if you have a couple of instances of it running and I already bought the last Komplete. Komplete came with a coupon, so I got Razor for pennies.
I'm not intentionally being a prick here, but is that Aria track big in clubs? I've been to lots of Jungle parties years ago with people like Dr S Gachet and Randall and MCGQ, but I honestly cast see how anyone could dance to it. It's a bit nerdy. One of Techstep's recent tracks he posted here is a bit more friendly sounding.
Joined: Feb 07, 2005 Posts: 14830 Location: A beautiful vector among many
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:39 pm Post subject:
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
It's a softsynth, but have you considered NI's Razor? That blew me away. I haven't really found a use for it, but I really want to.
Actually yes, I have that one but forgot to mention. Its got quite nice additive, the drawback being that it works from within Reaktor player, glitches out pretty much permanently if you decide to put a sound in a track, not bump it to audio, save, close and reopen. If it were standalone I'd love it but Reaktor player and just how buggy and unreliable running it through that is takes out a lot of the fun. Bought it, tried it, perhaps for worse though I haven't been back to it much at all since.
ZX_SpectrumDisorder wrote:
In reply to your subsequent posts, if you're after outboard gear you really need a Roland Space Echo. That's just the best thing ever.
Yeah, there's a lot of good stuff. I'm not sure how I'd go. I know for certain that if I do get something I'll be best off with something that has analog thru's on it as well as really good filters; just that I still don't know enough about the Steiner Parker filters and their difference when held against Moog cascade to know whether they're far and away better for that purpose or not. Part of me is thinking that for $100 more I get much more capability with the Waldorf Pulse 2 but I also get a plane old Moog filter as well which are pretty common. I just wish there was more discussion about the types of filters online, what the qualitative difference (LPF against LPF, BPF against BPF, etc.) is between the different architectures.
Another thing that I got curious about is, further down the road and only if I can nail my mixing enough to be worth it, I'd like to get a proper outboard compressor. I see that the EL's are pretty good as well as the Purple's but its a little ways off for certain. Even right now, as I'm pricing what synth I want to buy this spring/summer I'm also pricing a good handgun and also trying to get myself into a real estate investors association and get in on some projects. My money (not to mention time!) will be pulled in a lot of directions this year I can see. Heh, good thing I'm not married!
(edit: heh, almost forgot - add to the laundry list testing for red belt in Kali at the end of August)
That'd be nice, personally I 'd rather leave outboard compressors and the like to any engineer I'd pay to get masters done.
Not out tonight, so had a bit of a smoke and some rum.
Just finished this. It's over saturated, so watch your ears. I'll fix it later.
Epic... great pads and synths. What synths are you using?
I think it could use a bit more snare presence. It seems a bit hollow in the middle of the stereofield.
I think it could also do with being just a touch swingier all round.
Great work though, way more polish and professionalism than I'll likely ever achieve
I've just noticed that Soundcloud seems to play the first play on a page at full volume, and then if you play the same tune again, the volume is attenuated. Anyone else notice that? It's been making me question my sanity. More than usual. _________________ Not currently a moderator
