the watmm GAS thread

  On 3/3/2018 at 3:45 AM, auxien said:

^sounded great modey!

 

Came here to post this. I've got a fetish for weird little sequencers I guess...I don't even have a modular anything but this looks interesting.

 

This is cool, I might implement it in Pure Data. I found a description of the working principles here https://hackaday.com/2018/03/02/basic-sequencer-for-your-synth-rack/

  On 3/3/2018 at 3:45 AM, auxien said:

^sounded great modey!

 

Came here to post this. I've got a fetish for weird little sequencers I guess...I don't even have a modular anything but this looks interesting.

 

oh yeah that guy is a good friend of mine, love his stuff. Actually on a similar note to the Digitone, he developed an interface for the Sega Megadrive a few years ago that allowed the sound chip to be controlled by MIDI, he got a mention in Cuckoo's Digitone NAMM video :D

Great guy, very open with his DIY stuff, he posts schematics and code for almost everything on his site.

also thanks!

  On 3/3/2018 at 6:05 AM, modey said:

 

  On 3/3/2018 at 3:45 AM, auxien said:

^sounded great modey!

 

Came here to post this. I've got a fetish for weird little sequencers I guess...I don't even have a modular anything but this looks interesting.

 

oh yeah that guy is a good friend of mine, love his stuff. Actually on a similar note to the Digitone, he developed an interface for the Sega Megadrive a few years ago that allowed the sound chip to be controlled by MIDI, he got a mention in Cuckoo's Digitone NAMM video :D

Great guy, very open with his DIY stuff, he posts schematics and code for almost everything on his site.

 

also thanks!

 

I've heard really good things about that Megadrive interface. 

The new Roland TR-8s actually seems kind of interesting? Not gonna buy one or anything, just saying.

  On 3/5/2018 at 12:25 PM, auxien said:

The new Roland TR-8s actually seems kind of interesting? Not gonna buy one or anything, just saying.

I love the TR-8, so this is looking pretty amazing! All the TR-x0xs, sample import, crazy pattern chaining, 8 individual outputs, extra fxs, and parameter locks!

looks really good!

after reading this review i belive it's the right time for a machinedrum's successor to come

http://cdm.link/2018/03/roland-tr-8s-hands-playable-powerful-drum-machine/

Yeah, exactly! I'm not big on using the classic drum machine sounds in my music so I'd never paid too much attention to the TR-8 (or boutiques etc), but this one seems malleable enough to go classic or really take it into new territory (maybe was the case previously of course). And the classic sounds are of course good ones, classics for a reason, but the option to really shape them into new things is great for the target market. The pattern and fill options, last step and effects per channel, stereo input and user-defined routings to individual outs, plus all you mentioned and more, looks like a great machine. Especially for the price. Seems to be designed to compete with the Digitakt/Rytm/Akai Live/Maschine/etc., and should hopefully keep competition in those areas strong. Good for us users :)

  On 3/5/2018 at 6:16 PM, xox said:

looks really good!

 

after reading this review i belive it's the right time for a machinedrum's successor to come

 

http://cdm.link/2018/03/roland-tr-8s-hands-playable-powerful-drum-machine/

I was always on the lookout for a reasonably priced MD, but what I love about the TR-8 was the excellent live play ability and quick programming on the fly. The downside was the the limited sonic palette. I was considering getting an MD and using the TR-8 as a possible controller for it. However, this TR-8S is really promising to expanding that palette!

Hmmmm, whether to sell the tr-8 (quick) and upgrade.....? Spending a lot of time on the MD at the moment, so is a tough choice

That thing looks pretty great, although it's up in the price range where it has some stiff competition.  For less than $30 more than the price that link quotes, you could get a digitakt, for example.

But yeah, that's the first post-Aira Roland machine I've seen so far that has caught my attention, if I was looking for a drum machine I'd definitely check it out.

I have seen the tr-8 and it's a really physically huge thing which I don't think needs to be in this day and age. Since I have been looking for inspiration in building my own DIY drum machine/sequencer thing on top of the Livid Code I have been looking at a lot of videos. I caught a glimpse of the tr-08 and tr-09 in a couple of videos and these seem like really nice devices in terms of usability. If they only had some SD card reader so you could load your own samples it would be golden though.

  On 3/6/2018 at 12:37 AM, thawkins said:

I have seen the tr-8 and it's a really physically huge thing which I don't think needs to be in this day and age. Since I have been looking for inspiration in building my own DIY drum machine/sequencer thing on top of the Livid Code I have been looking at a lot of videos. I caught a glimpse of the tr-08 and tr-09 in a couple of videos and these seem like really nice devices in terms of usability. If they only had some SD card reader so you could load your own samples it would be golden though.

I believe there's still a healthy market for a larger, more 'breathable' UI / layout... some people are tired of the tiny objects trend. Honestly, after watching a video of Cuckoo showcasing an unfinished OP-Z, it looks painfully small.. of course, that doesn't detract from the tremendous functionality of the thing, it just doesn't look very playable--it looks fiddly as f*ck.

Yeah, I definitely appreciate larger layouts, especially on drum machines.

Agreed, this trend for dinky machines leaves me cold, especially minijacks in place of 1/4". That said, I am a sucker for Eurorack modular which ticks all previously mentioned boxes  

  On 3/6/2018 at 11:36 AM, barbara planar said:

 

  On 3/6/2018 at 12:37 AM, thawkins said:

I have seen the tr-8 and it's a really physically huge thing which I don't think needs to be in this day and age. Since I have been looking for inspiration in building my own DIY drum machine/sequencer thing on top of the Livid Code I have been looking at a lot of videos. I caught a glimpse of the tr-08 and tr-09 in a couple of videos and these seem like really nice devices in terms of usability. If they only had some SD card reader so you could load your own samples it would be golden though.

I believe there's still a healthy market for a larger, more 'breathable' UI / layout... some people are tired of the tiny objects trend. Honestly, after watching a video of Cuckoo showcasing an unfinished OP-Z, it looks painfully small.. of course, that doesn't detract from the tremendous functionality of the thing, it just doesn't look very playable--it looks fiddly as f*ck.

 

My personal dumb metric is "does it fit nicely in my backpack along with a laptop. To my eyes, the tr-8 has an absolutely comically huge footprint - 40x26cm compared to the tr-08's 30x13, that's like 2.6x difference. I haven't actually had a chance to play around on either, but the tr-08 size format seems super nice from what I have seen in the stores. Things like Volcas, the Pocket Operators are definitely too small though.

I would probably have a different opinion if for the last 2 years I had not been fighting the gods of studio feng shui to fit my gear nicely on what's mostly a 90x50cm IKEA shelf. Of course there's materials savings in all aspects from manufacture to transport in there as well if you think from that perspective.

I say this a lot, but I'm very happy to see the miniaturisation of synths and drum machines. The new, smaller form factor of Elektron gear is perfect for me, but I would love to see if someone comes up with a machine the size of a credit card that can be a full groovebox style synth (and isn't a phone). The pocket operators are close, but held back a little by the low price point. I'm very keen to check out the OP-Z, especially after seeing Cuckoo's latest video:

Portability appeals to me but I'm a musician first and foremost, and small, cramped interfaces just don't work well for me.  Making music should involve the whole body, not just the tips of the fingers.

Also in terms of durability, these small form factor devices are essentially disposable, even the expensive ones.  1/8" board mounted jacks, tiny potentiometers and encoders (less contact area = quicker failure, all else being equal, and that's on top of the smaller parts being less mechanically robust in general), generally difficult or impossible to service, notoriously fragile mini- or micro-USB connectors (that are also the only source of power in the worst cases), DIN MIDI on 1/8" jacks if present at all.

I love the sounds Eurorack setups can produce but every time I sit down with one the form factor kills it for me. I've traded away the handful of modules I built over the last few years.

Even the Octatrack, as much as I love it, is a bit on the small side.  If the knobs were about half an inch farther apart and about 50% bigger in diameter than they are, it would be MUCH more playable.

But the portability is definitely nice, that I'll give them,

  On 3/7/2018 at 1:17 AM, thawkins said:

 

  On 3/6/2018 at 11:36 AM, barbara planar said:

 

  On 3/6/2018 at 12:37 AM, thawkins said:

I have seen the tr-8 and it's a really physically huge thing which I don't think needs to be in this day and age. Since I have been looking for inspiration in building my own DIY drum machine/sequencer thing on top of the Livid Code I have been looking at a lot of videos. I caught a glimpse of the tr-08 and tr-09 in a couple of videos and these seem like really nice devices in terms of usability. If they only had some SD card reader so you could load your own samples it would be golden though.

I believe there's still a healthy market for a larger, more 'breathable' UI / layout... some people are tired of the tiny objects trend. Honestly, after watching a video of Cuckoo showcasing an unfinished OP-Z, it looks painfully small.. of course, that doesn't detract from the tremendous functionality of the thing, it just doesn't look very playable--it looks fiddly as f*ck.

My personal dumb metric is "does it fit nicely in my backpack along with a laptop. To my eyes, the tr-8 has an absolutely comically huge footprint - 40x26cm compared to the tr-08's 30x13, that's like 2.6x difference. I haven't actually had a chance to play around on either, but the tr-08 size format seems super nice from what I have seen in the stores. Things like Volcas, the Pocket Operators are definitely too small though.

 

I would probably have a different opinion if for the last 2 years I had not been fighting the gods of studio feng shui to fit my gear nicely on what's mostly a 90x50cm IKEA shelf. Of course there's materials savings in all aspects from manufacture to transport in there as well if you think from that perspective.

I empathize completely on easing the load when playing live, but the TR-8 is such a fun machine to play at shows that I can’t imagine not using it. I’ve whittled down my live rig to two carrying cases with the TR-8, MnM, and a backpack with a 5 channel mixer and cables. Consciously making it possible bring everything in one easy trip. This kind of limits my options in live composition, but it forces me to be creative in exploring just two machines in depth. I stubbornly create obstacles to troubleshoot and problem solve to keep interest up like some kind of masochist tech nerd.

I love my arsenal of dinky machines. I think I have enough of them at this point, but there's still room in my life for a volca kick. Now I mostly just want a bigass mixer.

just gonna keep posting videos in here..

Making the most out of a single track on the Digitone..

Pretty nuts what you can do with 1 track on an Elektron, they ran a compo a few years back to squeeze as much out of 1 track using Overbridge (no sound locks) and there were some interesting results:


vvinner:

  On 3/7/2018 at 3:36 AM, paranerd said:

 

  On 3/7/2018 at 1:17 AM, thawkins said:

 

  On 3/6/2018 at 11:36 AM, barbara planar said:

 

  On 3/6/2018 at 12:37 AM, thawkins said:

I have seen the tr-8 and it's a really physically huge thing which I don't think needs to be in this day and age. Since I have been looking for inspiration in building my own DIY drum machine/sequencer thing on top of the Livid Code I have been looking at a lot of videos. I caught a glimpse of the tr-08 and tr-09 in a couple of videos and these seem like really nice devices in terms of usability. If they only had some SD card reader so you could load your own samples it would be golden though.

I believe there's still a healthy market for a larger, more 'breathable' UI / layout... some people are tired of the tiny objects trend. Honestly, after watching a video of Cuckoo showcasing an unfinished OP-Z, it looks painfully small.. of course, that doesn't detract from the tremendous functionality of the thing, it just doesn't look very playable--it looks fiddly as f*ck.

My personal dumb metric is "does it fit nicely in my backpack along with a laptop. To my eyes, the tr-8 has an absolutely comically huge footprint - 40x26cm compared to the tr-08's 30x13, that's like 2.6x difference. I haven't actually had a chance to play around on either, but the tr-08 size format seems super nice from what I have seen in the stores. Things like Volcas, the Pocket Operators are definitely too small though.

 

I would probably have a different opinion if for the last 2 years I had not been fighting the gods of studio feng shui to fit my gear nicely on what's mostly a 90x50cm IKEA shelf. Of course there's materials savings in all aspects from manufacture to transport in there as well if you think from that perspective.

I empathize completely on easing the load when playing live, but the TR-8 is such a fun machine to play at shows that I can’t imagine not using it. I’ve whittled down my live rig to two carrying cases with the TR-8, MnM, and a backpack with a 5 channel mixer and cables. Consciously making it possible bring everything in one easy trip. This kind of limits my options in live composition, but it forces me to be creative in exploring just two machines in depth. I stubbornly create obstacles to troubleshoot and problem solve to keep interest up like some kind of masochist tech nerd.

 

I do the same thing for playing live, I have to be able to carry everything in one load. I can carry a small keyboard on my chest, a backpack on my back, and two hard cases.

  On 3/7/2018 at 6:31 PM, RSP said:

I do the same thing for playing live, I have to be able to carry everything in one load. I can carry a small keyboard on my chest, a backpack on my back, and two hard cases.

I got my Digitone in the mail today finally. I feel like its beginning to warrent its own thread.

so modey, are you now closer to the dark decision of selling your monomachine?