Friendly gear thread

  On 8/14/2019 at 1:08 AM, user said:

Care to share any of your secrets? Asking for a friend.

Most vsts are too complex. You have to make them behave and be equipped like your ideal “analog.” It’s all about zeroing out any parameters you won’t use, and simplifying the range of any parameters you will. Most envelope sections are way too complex on vsts. You have to strip all the complex stuff away until you basically have two osc, one filter, one envelope, and see if you can get some subtle random detuning in there.

for me it started as simply as saving a default INIT sound that was identical to the INIT of something like a prophet 5, then tweaking from there. 

Genuinely surprised by the awesomeness of the TR-08, SH-01A and (I bet when I receive it on Friday) SE-02.

Super fast workflow, fantastic tones right out of the box with huge sweetspots, great hidden features that make them much more versatile than what they first seem (the 08 for instance turns into a really nice beast as you can access tuning and decay for most of its kit) while remaining focused / limited, ultra convenient form-factor... I’m impressed. And they offload my CPU big times, while letting me dial tones I’d spontaneously go for with my fav softsynth (using much more complex patches). I guess I’ll now use Bazille for explicitly complex stuffs.... and grab a Razor licence hehe.

So basically the opposite of my now ex-Digitone (sent it back) : amazing box... but way too much of a chameleon and, consequently, a way too much vanilla soundprint (IMHO / YMMV etc...). Not to mention all its menues. I really wanted to love it tho.

Re: vst. Just use a few ones you genuinely like the tone of (I for one just spontaneously and wholeheartedly LOVE u-he synths) et voilà. Softsynths tend to be indeed absurdly featured pack while sounding bland while hardware (and especially analogue synths) tend to be the opposite (great sonics, limited feature-set).

Sounding analogue isn’t that hard... now you can even simplify your task and use the few VSTs that sound amazing from the get-go and build upon such basis.

I now can’t see the point in wasting energy and time bending a vanilla sounding synth into something say Moogish or Rolandey (been down that counterproductive rabbit-hole : learnt a lot, barely ever finished a tune) while I can directly grab a nicely done emulation / hardware inspired softsynth and patch all sorts of (complex / unique) sounds with those. Just like impersonating an SSL buss comp or tape with generic software is an amazing and insightful  intellectual challenge... but when you’re actually mixing you’d better go for the right piece of code / gear and dial the sound you need effortlessly.

Zoom Sampletrak

  On 8/14/2019 at 12:16 PM, Nil said:

Sounding analogue isn’t that hard... now you can even simplify your task and use the few VSTs that sound amazing from the get-go and build upon such basis.

Yeah, as much as I'm into old hardware I watched some recent Gary Numan live footage (doing his early material) last night and it was all Access Virus and laptops and a couple other VA keyboards and it sounded just fine.

EDIT: I haven't used mine much since I moved a while ago, but the old EHX 2880 looper is great.  Sure there are newer loopers that do more, but it's just so fun to play with. Control-per-function interface, no display at all, basically jsut works like a portastudio with a stereo mixdown deck, except it's a looper.  If nothing else it's a really fast, inspiring, fun way to make seamless multitrack loops to load into other hardware or software, and you can easily base an entire live set around it if you're doing something droney or ambient or otherwise compatible with only having one loop in memory at a time.

Actually, a lot of EHX stuff belongs here, they tend to do really well with user interfaces on single-purpose boxes.

I lent a work friend my Korg monologue. We had a little jam this evening and it was great. He has no prior experience with synths and he is just fucking around and stumbling on sweet spots and making awesome sounds. If it was 10 years ago I would probably want it back so I can get some of my own mojo going. But now I'm just really happy for him and it's a joy to watch him just go bananas on it, such a huge variety of sounds and so immediate and fun. It's in my top 5 friendly gear for sure. If I get any more hardware synths they're going to be along the same lines (e.g. MS-20, Circuit Mono Station).

  On 8/14/2019 at 12:00 PM, Nil said:

Genuinely surprised by the awesomeness of the TR-08, SH-01A and (I bet when I receive it on Friday) SE-02.

Super fast workflow, fantastic tones right out of the box with huge sweetspots, great hidden features that make them much more versatile than what they first seem (the 08 for instance turns into a really nice beast as you can access tuning and decay for most of its kit) while remaining focused / limited, ultra convenient form-factor... I’m impressed. And they offload my CPU big times, while letting me dial tones I’d spontaneously go for with my fav softsynth (using much more complex patches). I guess I’ll now use Bazille for explicitly complex stuffs.... and grab a Razor licence hehe.

So basically the opposite of my now ex-Digitone (sent it back) : amazing box... but way too much of a chameleon and, consequently, a way too much vanilla soundprint (IMHO / YMMV etc...). Not to mention all its menues. I really wanted to love it tho.

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great news, can't wait to hear what you'll do with this new gear. A friend of mine uses the SH-01A for playing live to replace his studio 101 and he's super happy about it.

I’ll just have to refrain myself from writing and patch Squarepusherish hooks (à la Theme from Ernest Borgnine, Ultravisitor, Tetra Sync etc...), I’m such a sucker for these sounds hehe.

Actually I bought all this gear to get shit done, so hopefully I’ll share things soonish. Might even lead to a proper release (as in, not self-released) Now I think I’ve finally found the right angle to pack all my current influences / goals in a slew of new tunes, so

  On 8/14/2019 at 12:26 PM, bendish said:

Zoom Sampletrak

I've never even seen one of these IRL but I've always been irrationally biased toward them because of how much I like the Zoom PD-01 Power Drive pedal I bought back in like 2002 or something. Outlasted the vast majority of gear I've owned in terms of usefulness, so they did something right. I think the only other things I've owned longer are my electric guitar and acoustic guitar from high school, and my portastudio (sort of - I gave it away and the guy I gave it to gave it back 5 or 6 years later).  Also when I bought in, J Mascis was trying out guitars right next to me for lie 20 minutes and I never even notices because the PD-01 was so good - only reason I even know is that another customer started getting all worked up about seeing J Mascis as soon as he left. So yeah, questionable multifx pedals notwithstanding, I've always had a soft spot for Zoom because that PD-01 just keeps being good.

  On 8/15/2019 at 11:49 AM, Nil said:

I’ll just have to refrain myself from writing and patch Squarepusherish hooks (à la Theme from Ernest Borgnine, Ultravisitor, Tetra Sync etc...), I’m such a sucker for these sounds hehe.

Actually I bought all this gear to get shit done, so hopefully I’ll share things soonish. Might even lead to a proper release (as in, not self-released) Now I think I’ve finally found the right angle to pack all my current influences / goals in a slew of new tunes, so

 

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I was skeptical about the tr 08 and tr 09 but the audio over usb is a great feature and they sound really good !

I honestly believe it’s impossible to tell in a track. And I don’t mind if it’s not exactly, identical : I’ve always dreamed of having each part of an 808 as an oscillator I could use as a starting point rather than as an end-result, and the few additional controls the Tr-08 offer are awesome in that regard. Plus 24/96 over a single USB cable, and effortless DAW integration. 

Ps: summer rig (+ TidalCycle + Bazille + Razor)

  On 8/16/2019 at 4:14 AM, TubularCorporation said:

I've never even seen one of these IRL but I've always been irrationally biased toward them because of how much I like the Zoom PD-01 Power Drive pedal I bought back in like 2002 or something. Outlasted the vast majority of gear I've owned in terms of usefulness, so they did something right. I think the only other things I've owned longer are my electric guitar and acoustic guitar from high school, and my portastudio (sort of - I gave it away and the guy I gave it to gave it back 5 or 6 years later).  Also when I bought in, J Mascis was trying out guitars right next to me for lie 20 minutes and I never even notices because the PD-01 was so good - only reason I even know is that another customer started getting all worked up about seeing J Mascis as soon as he left. So yeah, questionable multifx pedals notwithstanding, I've always had a soft spot for Zoom because that PD-01 just keeps being good.

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i know we've chatted about the PD-01 before on here, but i'm just going to add that any Zoom stuff is, in my experience, always super user-friendly. sometimes gets looked over by 'pros' i think because the brand generally tends towards the entry-level market, and no doubt that most of their gear is not terribly complex, but if they've got an option for something you need, i'd say it's worth at least considering. i own more Zoom gear than any other brand, by a pretty long shot actually. within arm/foot reach of me right now situated in my 'studio' (lol) i've got at least 10 bits of various types of Zoom gear (mostly effects). most of it only gets used sometimes of course but cheap and durable and user-friendly? check check and checkmate.  

second the monologue recc for simplicity/user-friendliness. still has a fair amount of depth to it of course, and it sounds like a dirty little dream 

  On 8/16/2019 at 6:09 PM, Nil said:

I honestly believe it’s impossible to tell in a track. And I don’t mind if it’s not exactly, identical : I’ve always dreamed of having each part of an 808 as an oscillator I could use as a starting point rather than as an end-result, and the few additional controls the Tr-08 offer are awesome in that regard. Plus 24/96 over a single USB cable, and effortless DAW integration. 

Ps: summer rig (+ TidalCycle + Bazille + Razor)

 

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hey nil, is the tr-08 worth buying if only for sampling the drums and sequencing them in ableton? 

I think it is, especially if you sample bar(s)-long loops rather than single hits : Roland's nailed the way (for instance) kicks with long decay build up and morph over the course of a few beats, sounds awesome and organic, something akin to strumming the strings of a guitar and listening to the tone evolving with every new note ! Snare rushes sound amazing as well, not static or shotgun-like like samples would... and I might even end using the cymbal (now that's an unexpected twist, ah !).

Sampling the 08 would be more or less exactly like sampling an original 808 IMO. Might even be more convenient as you can power the unit, MIDI control/sequence it and get 24bit/96kHz audio with a single USB cable.

You can simply sequence it from Live using an External Instrument and with some simple routing use each of its individual out.

And now if you have m4l, you can grab something like https://maxforlive.com/library/device/5082/tr-08-ctrl-1-0 and enjoy best of both world, combining hands-on operations and VST-like workflow as it pleases you. Which is fantastic in my books.

Now, does it sounds straight out of the box like a real 808 ? The sounds of an original TR vary so much depending on the unit... but with some tweaking I'm sure you can 100% imitate a given 808 (if that's what you aim for). And you can go much, much further than using it as a (boring) replica.

I'm genuinely impressed by these 3 boutiques, I really am.

Hope it helps !

  On 8/15/2019 at 8:50 AM, sweepstakes said:

I lent a work friend my Korg monologue. We had a little jam this evening and it was great. He has no prior experience with synths and he is just fucking around and stumbling on sweet spots and making awesome sounds. If it was 10 years ago I would probably want it back so I can get some of my own mojo going. But now I'm just really happy for him and it's a joy to watch him just go bananas on it, such a huge variety of sounds and so immediate and fun. It's in my top 5 friendly gear for sure. If I get any more hardware synths they're going to be along the same lines (e.g. MS-20, Circuit Mono Station).

And the motion stuff is sooo powerful, not sure if that's a common thing since it's the only bit of proper gear I own besides an old amp but it makes it extremely flexible when sequencing stuff. Or even when playing something live, punch in a simple acid line, press play, press record and start twiddling the knobs, then if you stop it keeps playing the last iteration of knob twiddling, so fun

Thanks Nil 

  On 8/14/2019 at 12:00 PM, Nil said:

Digitone (sent it back) : amazing box... but way too much of a chameleon and, consequently, a way too much vanilla soundprint (IMHO / YMMV etc...)

Wow, vanilla soundprint compared to a 101? Guess we have different tastes

Hehe I knew it'd raise some eyebrows, I was being a tad provocative here.

Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely machine but I didn't gel with its overall tone (be it the enveloppes, OSC or filters). But I suppose that's also the price to pay to have such a versatile synth as the DN. I first bought it to offload CPU, which it did, but I prefer the tone of my go-to FM (soft)synth (u-he Bazille). Please don't shoot  

Also grabbed a Razor licence for cheap, so I'm all good when it comes to lovely digital sounds.

The 101 is a huge sweet spot, kind of a one trick pony somehow... but it resonates with my own tricks (or the pony in me ?) ^^ And I end often using such tricks (so still, it'll offload CPU).

So basically, rather than doing everything with a synth or two no matter the effort, I'll just use a few ones more for what they each offer (and hopefully finish tracks).

Funny thing is, from what I've heard, I believe we have similar tastes :D

Ps: though Overbridge has a much tighter sync ATM, the latency I currently have is a bit scary. Endless obstacles