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On this thread, we like synthesisers.

Rekator is actually a lot cheaper and more accessible than the hardware modular route . It is the perfect learning tool ... maybe you can start off with building a simple subtractive monosynth to get your head around the basics of oscillators, filters and envelopes and then work your way around.

Push 2 is great... if overrated ... i still find myself favouring the mouse and keyboard for certain programming. Saying that, it is a brilliant entry point for live production and has enabled me to produce complete tracks from scratch ... live. That bouncy bouncy track was sequenced live apart from a bongo drum sample that I ran through the sound->midi converter to create snare and tin hat parts ,

Oh and all sliders and knobs are controlled by the (very nice) 8 rotary knobs and ribbon controller ... which is ok . I am still using the mouse all the time .

Oh yer the bass station was ace.... almost impossible to get a convincing 303 acid line out of though due to the lack of a decent accent effect and totally different circuitry .
 
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bmd said:
Thinking about buying one! I had one of the Groovebox things, Novation Whatsit? The one that looks exactly like it. I bought it when I was thinking that I knew something about making music. Then I got that and realised that I needed a bit more knowledge and that Youtube wasn't exactly the place to find it. I often find myself spending more time searching for a decent teacher that I can listen to than I do actually learning anything, on YT. I then tried some paid for tutorials and they were all by this bloke who thought that teaching was just about telling you what he knew in a mildly structured way. Then I found someone on YT who was really good, at least, they were telling me stuff I didn't know in a way that meant I knew it. I got half way though their playlist and found they'd given up. So I thought, "leave it sat on the shelf until I learn more, or use the 1 month return's window and get something nearer to my level?" So I don't have one any more but I do love the look of the Circuit. They go for around £250 on eBay. What's it like?
Click to expand...

They're great for coming up with a quick idea, a few looping patterns.
You can swap the built in drum samples for your own, which is cool.
Once you get your head round the interface, no screen, knobs do different things dependant on context, it's really fun to use. Decent build quality.
The FX, massive reverbs sound great on headphones.
The built in speaker's handy for using it as a metronome, drum machine to practise another instrument to.
A nice composition tool to chuck in a bag. I've used mine on the train (with headphones.)

Some down sides.
I've found the 8 patterns per part a bit limiting. I was trying to cover some 80's synth stuff and ran out. Don't get me wrong you can chain patterns together and have things mute / solo etc until the memory runs out. But for each part you only have 8 slots to record individual patterns. (Unless I'm misreading the manual.)
It can end up sounding a bit samey with the onboard patches. Though you can do more editing of them on the PC editor.
Generally I much prefer a keyboard to come up with something on, so perhaps don't use this as much as I thought I would.

I was nearly tempted by the Circuit Mono. Cost fair bit more though. Annalogue version of the same. Like a supped up grid based, Bass Station.

There's that Elektron Cicles thing now, which sounds similar.
 
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RTWL said:
Reaktor is actually a lot cheaper and more accessible than the hardware modular route . It is the perfect learning tool ... maybe you can start off with building a simple subtractive monosynth to get your head around the basics of oscillators, filters and envelopes and then work your way around.

Push 2 is great... if overrated ... i still find myself favouring the mouse and keyboard for certain programming. Saying that, it is a brilliant entry point for live production and has enabled me to produce complete tracks from scratch ... live. That bouncy bouncy track was sequenced live apart from a bongo drum sample that I ran through the sound->midi converter to create snare and tin hat parts ,

Oh and all sliders and knobs are controlled by the (very nice) 8 rotary knobs and ribbon controller ... which is ok . I am still using the mouse all the time .

Oh yer the bass station was ace.... almost impossible to get a convincing 303 acid line out of though due to the lack of a decent accent effect and totally different circuitry .
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, I was watching a bloke on Youtube explain FM synthesis yesterday and he was using Reaktor. He also used Dexed, an excellent freeware DX7 clone. He also explained a bit about how the DX7 works and showed how he uses Dexed to make a sound, which was fascinating, really helpful and a brilliant insight into FM sound synthesis.

I am impressed that you sequenced Bouncybouncy live. That's mad, but makes for such a better sounding track, imo. Well, it does if you get it right lol. :D

xenon said:
They're great for coming up with a quick idea, a few looping patterns.
You can swap the built in drum samples for your own, which is cool.
Once you get your head round the interface, no screen, knobs do different things dependant on context, it's really fun to use. Decent build quality.
The FX, massive reverbs sound great on headphones.
The built in speaker's handy for using it as a metronome, drum machine to practise another instrument to.
A nice composition tool to chuck in a bag. I've used mine on the train (with headphones.)

Some down sides.
I've found the 8 patterns per part a bit limiting. I was trying to cover some 80's synth stuff and ran out. Don't get me wrong you can chain patterns together and have things mute / solo etc until the memory runs out. But for each part you only have 8 slots to record individual patterns. (Unless I'm misreading the manual.)
It can end up sounding a bit samey with the onboard patches. Though you can do more editing of them on the PC editor.
Generally I much prefer a keyboard to come up with something on, so perhaps don't use this as much as I thought I would.

I was nearly tempted by the Circuit Mono. Cost fair bit more though. Annalogue version of the same. Like a supped up grid based, Bass Station.

There's that Elektron Cicles thing now, which sounds similar.
Click to expand...

Just realised we're talking about the same thing, when I thought you meant you had the Mono. :facepalm: :D

Aaanyhoo. I bought the Izotope Circuit Editor and that threw back the curtain and it was at that point that I realised that I was way out of my depth. I will probably get one again but it will be when I'm working on knowledge not a wing and a prayer.

You can get a 2nd hand Mono for the price of a new Circuit btw. :)
 
Watched some more about Reaktor. The best thing about it is the user created stuff, apparently. I'll have to buy it when it's on sale again.
 
I absolutely love it . Aside from the classic synth assemble (808909303101+juno) I use it because .... basically ... when you want to create a new sound ... you want to create a new instrument/synth or effect from scratch.
 
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I got the iVCS3 yesterday, aka The PUTNEY. Ohhhhh em geeeee.

I think I've found my thing. It sounds like the insect population of the Amazon rainforest is having a conversation with the citizens of the oceans.

Working my way through the tutorials atm and I have a miles wide smile on my face.
 
Looks fun. This morning I will mainly be smoking teh high grade and playing with this excellent free dub siren :



:oldthumbsup: Ive got some kind of gabba dub breakcore rudeboy remix of this :



going on.
 
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Looks fun too! But not as fun as The Spanishtonians were having when they thought of that name.
 
Clicking round Youtube and this popped up...



I'm trying to work out the value of the kit being used there and running out of numbers. Must be serious work keeping it all going, some of them were temperamental when new, never mind decades down the line.
 
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beesonthewhatnow said:
Clicking round Youtube and the popped up...



I'm trying to work out the value of the kit being used there and running out of numbers. Must be serious work keeping it all going, some of them were temperamental when new, never mind decades down the line.
Click to expand...

That is quite old (although I take your point about the upkeep of the gear).
 
beesonthewhatnow said:
Clicking round Youtube and the popped up...



I'm trying to work out the value of the kit being used there and running out of numbers. Must be serious work keeping it all going, some of them were temperamental when new, never mind decades down the line.
Click to expand...

There's a video floating around somewhere of a concert of his that went horribly wrong. Pretty much every synth fucked up.
I can't find it but this gives an idea as to how finicky analog synths can be.

 
I use Cubase. Although the leap from my original Version 2 that I knew inside out to the Version 10 Pro I now use is baffling to use and it puts me off writing.
 
Last minute present buying...

My son recently found his brothers old pocket synth that he's taken to carrying about. I was thinking of getting him something like a 303 clone to play about with. Also looked at Midi controllers...Komplete Control M32, Arturia Minilab Mk2 and Akai MPK Mini.

I've no idea about this stuff so any advice welcome on where to get started with this seemingly endless money pit? :D
 
Part 2 said:
Last minute present buying...

My son recently found his brothers old pocket synth that he's taken to carrying about. I was thinking of getting him something like a 303 clone to play about with. Also looked at Midi controllers...Komplete Control M32, Arturia Minilab Mk2 and Akai MPK Mini.

I've no idea about this stuff so any advice welcome on where to get started with this seemingly endless money pit? :D
Click to expand...
Do you know what sort of music he might want to make? Also, is he/will he be using a computer?
There’s a lot to consider if he’s not got any kind of set up already and all of the things mentioned will have greater or lesser usefulness depending on what else he has or plans to get.
Hope that makes sense.
 
Part 2 said:
Last minute present buying...

My son recently found his brothers old pocket synth that he's taken to carrying about. I was thinking of getting him something like a 303 clone to play about with. Also looked at Midi controllers...Komplete Control M32, Arturia Minilab Mk2 and Akai MPK Mini.

I've no idea about this stuff so any advice welcome on where to get started with this seemingly endless money pit? :D
Click to expand...
Does he own/have access to an iPad? There's loads of software toys you can get for one.
 
beesonthewhatnow said:
Does he own/have access to an iPad? There's loads of software toys you can get for one.
Click to expand...

danski said:
Do you know what sort of music he might want to make? Also, is he/will he be using a computer?
There’s a lot to consider if he’s not got any kind of set up already and all of the things mentioned will have greater or lesser usefulness depending on what else he has or plans to get.
Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...

He's into Techno mostly I think with a bit of old rave tunes thrown in.

He's got a laptop, 2 CDJs a mixer and a turntable. Not sure what software he's been using.
 
Part 2 said:
He's into Techno mostly I think with a bit of old rave tunes thrown in.

He's got a laptop, 2 CDJs a mixer and a turntable. Not sure what software he's been using.
Click to expand...
If he’s into DJing maybe something like a Korg Kaos pad might be of interest?

Korg Mini Kaosspad 2S - The Disc DJ Store

Buy the Korg Mini Kaosspad 2S Dynamic Effect Processor for the best price at The Disc DJ Store. Authorised Korg dealer! We price match any UK DJ store and offer DJ finance options.
www.thediscdjstore.com
 
I was about to suggest a kaospad or kaospad 2.

Good call if he's got the decks

This guy gives a nice demo if how a kaospad is used with decks. He's not a pro so it shows how quickly it can be picked up and used to manipulate the music as it's played live.

 
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bmd said:
Here is where I've got to with this music making malarkey.

I reeeeeally need to know how to mix stuff now. How do I mix stuff, Urbs? What do I need to know? Sorry to just drop in and take. I will try to give back in some way.
Click to expand...

In terms of levels that's not too bad. One thing you might want to think about is putting some reverb or pan on some of your parts to create a bit more space. Also you may want to use some EQ to highlight the main frequency range of each part, for example if you kill some of the treble on your bass part that might let you to bring the lead down a bit in the mix without it sounding any quieter.

Mixing is an endless rabbit hole though. The main thing is learning to stop, and accept that what you've got is pretty good.
 
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