need help with setup

i have a couple keyboards (non midi), a drum machine (505), and i'm about to buy a rack synth.

i had a plan to use sony acid pro i know it well and am comfortable with it. i wanted to record drums from the 505 and melodies from synth and other keyboards. i over looked one thing though: the basslines.

i don't think it's possible to record basslines from a synth live....?? cause basslines have to be quantized and exact right?....so?

i only really know a few programs: acid, live, and reason/record

reason record is teh ghey so that makes live an option.

does anyone record bassline in live with one if it's synths like the operator, and do the rest of the stuff recorded live from synths?

i'm sure most people don't even use hardware but i like them.

is that reasonable then? or is there a way to do what i'm doing but with acid pro?

there are no rules.

  On 1/17/2011 at 6:33 PM, yek said:

i over looked one thing though: the basslines.

 

get a bass n start recording

Ya, not sure why this is a real issue? Use all hardware, use VST + HW, use VST only. It doesn't matter

i was just wondering if i could make basslines without any type of a grid and if it would sound any good.

Depends on how you'll make it.

  On 1/17/2011 at 11:03 PM, Adam Beker said:

Depends on how you'll make it.

with a keyboard

oh well, i'll see how it goes i suppose

  On 1/17/2011 at 6:33 PM, yek said:

i have a couple keyboards (non midi), a drum machine (505), and i'm about to buy a rack synth.

i had a plan to use sony acid pro i know it well and am comfortable with it. i wanted to record drums from the 505 and melodies from synth and other keyboards. i over looked one thing though: the basslines.

i don't think it's possible to record basslines from a synth live....?? cause basslines have to be quantized and exact right?....so?

i only really know a few programs: acid, live, and reason/record

reason record is teh ghey so that makes live an option.

does anyone record bassline in live with one if it's synths like the operator, and do the rest of the stuff recorded live from synths?

i'm sure most people don't even use hardware but i like them.

is that reasonable then? or is there a way to do what i'm doing but with acid pro?

People often look down on questions like this, telling the asker to "find their own way." But I think those people lack the creativity to help.

Bass lines do need to be in time in most cases, otherwise it sounds sloppy, but there are other ways of keeping in time without quantizing. If you lay down any beat first and just really get it in your head, and have it play when you lay down your other tracks, your bass line won't be off. I have done this before and then taken the beat track out. metronomes have never helped me, so i usually construct a subtle beat instead. Here is a track I did in which I used this technique.

After 64.mp3Fetching info...

It was very useful to have a beat because the tempo is so slow. This track is all synth, and zero quantizing. I use an ms2000. You may be talking about tracks with a faster tempo in which having a sequencer is more useful, but it's a good trick to know.

Another thing I do is construct a beat and bass line in renoise, (renoise.com) and then add the played elements after. Renoise is a tracker so your sequencing is always perfect once you learn how to use it. This gives some solidarity to your tracks. I've done the same thing in ableton.

Anyway, I think constructing part of your track with a program and part with your synth is a great method-it's one I use often, and is very doable. A big portion of good electronic music is part software part hardware.

  On 1/18/2011 at 2:02 AM, sheatheman said:

  On 1/17/2011 at 6:33 PM, yek said:

i have a couple keyboards (non midi), a drum machine (505), and i'm about to buy a rack synth.

i had a plan to use sony acid pro i know it well and am comfortable with it. i wanted to record drums from the 505 and melodies from synth and other keyboards. i over looked one thing though: the basslines.

i don't think it's possible to record basslines from a synth live....?? cause basslines have to be quantized and exact right?....so?

i only really know a few programs: acid, live, and reason/record

reason record is teh ghey so that makes live an option.

does anyone record bassline in live with one if it's synths like the operator, and do the rest of the stuff recorded live from synths?

i'm sure most people don't even use hardware but i like them.

is that reasonable then? or is there a way to do what i'm doing but with acid pro?

 

People often look down on questions like this, telling the asker to "find their own way." But I think those people lack the creativity to help.

 

Bass lines do need to be in time in most cases, otherwise it sounds sloppy, but there are other ways of keeping in time without quantizing. If you lay down any beat first and just really get it in your head, and have it play when you lay down your other tracks, your bass line won't be off. I have done this before and then taken the beat track out. metronomes have never helped me, so i usually construct a subtle beat instead. Here is a track I did in which I used this technique.

After 64.mp3Fetching info...

It was very useful to have a beat because the tempo is so slow. This track is all synth, and zero quantizing. I use an ms2000. You may be talking about tracks with a faster tempo in which having a sequencer is more useful, but it's a good trick to know.

 

Another thing I do is construct a beat and bass line in renoise, (renoise.com) and then add the played elements after. Renoise is a tracker so your sequencing is always perfect once you learn how to use it. This gives some solidarity to your tracks. I've done the same thing in ableton.

 

Anyway, I think constructing part of your track with a program and part with your synth is a great method-it's one I use often, and is very doable. A big portion of good electronic music is part software part hardware.

thanks a lot for your input!

hey semj wtf, bass players don't quantize their played notes what are you on about???

also, record an octave or two in separate samples and "grid" it on a piano roll, or just record the notes you know will be playing and quantize them on your audio app.

sell the SK-1 and whatever else you have and get a MIDI enabled synth - may as well do the thing properly if you're going to do it at all.

alternatively just play your basslines by hand and record them into ACID, then go in after recording and slice bits up, add timestretch etc until they are all nice and in time.

personally though I think you may as well get a half decent, properly specced synthesiser. doesn't need to cost a lot.

ok, i'm curious if i can do the following:

midi keyboard midi out into midi in of mo'phatt and then midi out of the mo'phatt into midi in of computer

...

So that i could play the rompler with midi keyboard but also mute the mo'phatt on the external mixer and use the same midi keyboard to write midi into ableton live for bass and drum creation

i sure hope so

and i'm not sure if i'd be plugging the midi cable into mid out or thru etc

help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope./

you'd need to do some midi routing i think, not sure of the mo'phatt's specs, (midi through, etc.). split the midi signal, send one to the mo'phatt and the other to your computer.

the reason you want to do this is to prevent having to unplug and replug your midi each time you switch from mo'phatt to ableton/whatever?

switching isn't such a big deal. you could also have 2 midi controllers, not a big deal to get another. the nano pad is cool and you can pick it up for around $60.

  On 1/25/2011 at 9:09 PM, yek said:

ok, i'm curious if i can do the following:

 

 

 

midi keyboard midi out into midi in of mo'phatt and then midi out of the mo'phatt into midi in of computer

 

...

 

So that i could play the rompler with midi keyboard but also mute the mo'phatt on the external mixer and use the same midi keyboard to write midi into ableton live for bass and drum creation

 

 

i sure hope so

 

and i'm not sure if i'd be plugging the midi cable into mid out or thru etc

 

 

help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope./

if i understood correctly what you're after, yes it is possible.

just plug your midi keyboard to your mo-phatt just like you said, then use the midi THRU on your mo-phatt and plug it to your midi IN on you computer. there, you'll have your midi messages sent from your midi keyboard to your computer THRU your mo-phatt.

you don't need to mute your mo-phatt, midi messages don't go in the same cables as the audio, but you already know that, i guess you were just confused. you can have both your mo-phatt and your ableton live playing what you're sending out from your midi keyboard, all at the same time, if you want...

  On 1/26/2011 at 3:45 AM, THIS IS MICHAEL JACKSON said:

  On 1/25/2011 at 9:09 PM, yek said:

ok, i'm curious if i can do the following:

 

 

 

midi keyboard midi out into midi in of mo'phatt and then midi out of the mo'phatt into midi in of computer

 

...

 

So that i could play the rompler with midi keyboard but also mute the mo'phatt on the external mixer and use the same midi keyboard to write midi into ableton live for bass and drum creation

 

 

i sure hope so

 

and i'm not sure if i'd be plugging the midi cable into mid out or thru etc

 

 

help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope./

if i understood correctly what you're after, yes it is possible.

 

just plug your midi keyboard to your mo-phatt just like you said, then use the midi THRU on your mo-phatt and plug it to your midi IN on you computer. there, you'll have your midi messages sent from your midi keyboard to your computer THRU your mo-phatt.

 

you don't need to mute your mo-phatt, midi messages don't go in the same cables as the audio, but you already know that, i guess you were just confused. you can have both your mo-phatt and your ableton live playing what you're sending out from your midi keyboard, all at the same time, if you want...

cheers man. very helpful.