What to do with my cash - Advice please

Discuss anything related to audio or music production.
malenko
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2007 5:21 pm
Location: England

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by malenko » Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:09 pm

Yep. I seriously know where your coming from! It's been wrecking me for months, cause just as I say I'm done, once I've bought something I start looking to my next purchase and just can't help it.

I was exactly same too, I realised that working completely in the box and just clicking a mouse is a little soulless and it's so much more fun and creative to have the real things to use.

I highly recommend the ms20. I managed to get hod of the USB controller for a fraction of the price. Excellent synth with a very familiar and iconic sound. I am tempted to get the real thing.

I am trying to resist a virus at the moment cause I reckon I could probably get same results with sylenth or massive, but it is inevitable I will get one.

System 1 is a little plasticy but has a very good feel but the green lighting is bloody annoying.


One to check and try is arturia minibrute. It looks and sounds awesome and is completely analog, but for a new synth, it cannot receive midi ctrl messages and can't save presets so it's a little off putting for me.

adam_mc
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:33 pm
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by adam_mc » Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:20 pm

Yeah, the minibrute caught my eye but the issues you mentioned steered me away from it.

I think I want something that's going to change my work flow a bit too. Something that can be the foundation for me to build my tracks upon. Whether that's an inspiring sound generator or something to sequence beats, although Push 2 does a great job of that already.

Decisions, decisions
APM/BPM Folkestone Kent UK

Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Quad Core i7 8gb Ram, Live 9, Push and other bits and pieces

adam_mc
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:33 pm
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by adam_mc » Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:14 am

Hi everyone.
Well, after looking around and thinking about my work flow and how something so both change how I work and also work with my setup I took the plunge on eBay last night and spent my money.

I have bought an Elektron Sp1 Machinedrum mkii. I found one for 400 which seems a great price.

From the reviews and videos it seems a really capable machine and really suitable for the music I make and also integrates with ableton okay.

So . . . Many thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. Now looking forward to getting some great sounds out of it.

Adam
APM/BPM Folkestone Kent UK

Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Quad Core i7 8gb Ram, Live 9, Push and other bits and pieces

mekanism1200
Posts: 117
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:25 pm

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by mekanism1200 » Fri Jun 24, 2016 5:05 pm

Hookers and Blow!

EasyWorkflow
Posts: 242
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:37 am

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by EasyWorkflow » Wed Jun 29, 2016 11:02 pm

A high end mic for recording vocals, a set of really good headphones.

H20nly
Posts: 16057
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:15 pm
Location: The Wild West

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by H20nly » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:19 am

+1 for good headphones

but you better hurry... English pounds aren't worth what they were last week...

adam_mc
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:33 pm
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by adam_mc » Thu Jun 30, 2016 6:09 am

Hi.
Thanks for the continued replies.
I didn't list my headphones but I've got a good pair already; my girlfriend's complaints of monotonous thudding coming from the music room made that purchase happen!

Anyway. . . I pulled the trigger already with an Elektron Machinedrum.

Two days in and I'm having a great time with it. A bit of a fiddle to get it all synchronized but now it sits centrally in my setup.

Sound wise it brings something different to what I usually have and there is so much modulation possible that sounds easily move, change and progress.

So. . . Now I have in the back of my mind the desire for a sound card with my inputs to process the individual sounds of the machinedrum; currently I have 2 inputs, I would like 6. However, I need to pause my spending for a couple of months.

It's a Pandora's box!
APM/BPM Folkestone Kent UK

Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Quad Core i7 8gb Ram, Live 9, Push and other bits and pieces

Tarekith
Posts: 19065
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:46 pm
Location: Ableton Forum Administrator
Contact:

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by Tarekith » Thu Jun 30, 2016 7:34 am

The MD is amazing, really fun drum machine. Here's some tips and tricks for it to keep you busy for some time:

http://tarekith.com/assets/machinedrum_ ... tricks.htm
Tarekith
Ableton Forum Administrator
https://tarekith.com

adam_mc
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:33 pm
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by adam_mc » Thu Jun 30, 2016 4:52 pm

Thanks Tarekith.
I'm enjoying the machinedrum and graduating getting the kind of things in after.

The tips and tricks you linked to are really good; they give me great insight into the ways others have used it.

It's also encouraging me to use my push a little differently to. I'm tweaking things far more on that but it's leading me to worry a little that the Push 2 provides everything already. However, the sound of the machinedrum is pretty good.

Currently I'm using the midi clock from the md and not sending midi to the md. I've got an audio channel bringing the audio in from my two inputs in my Saffire 6. I tried to use an external instrument Ableton device but it introduced latency with my midi devices controlling Ableton instruments and vst instruments. So I went back to just bringing the audio in through an audio channel.

I am considering sending midi to the md and sequencing it from push; is that something you have tried or do yourself? Also, I see there is a Max for live device for the md too. Have you tried that?

Many thanks for your help,
Adam
APM/BPM Folkestone Kent UK

Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Quad Core i7 8gb Ram, Live 9, Push and other bits and pieces

Tarekith
Posts: 19065
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:46 pm
Location: Ableton Forum Administrator
Contact:

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by Tarekith » Fri Jul 01, 2016 5:55 am

I tend to keep my hardware and software workflows seperate, so I haven't used Push with any of the Elektron gear. I mostly use it standalone and then just record the audio into Live when I'm ready.
Tarekith
Ableton Forum Administrator
https://tarekith.com

adam_mc
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:33 pm
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by adam_mc » Fri Jul 01, 2016 6:27 am

Okay,
Thanks for letting me know.
I'm going to try to control the md with my push and see how that works out.
APM/BPM Folkestone Kent UK

Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Quad Core i7 8gb Ram, Live 9, Push and other bits and pieces

hyperscientist
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:37 pm

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by hyperscientist » Fri Jul 01, 2016 9:14 am

I would advise something like a Seaboard RISE. Regarding hardware synths which you do lack… For me it was a failed experiment - for me they are like candy - sweet but short lived pleasures. I recently scaled down to just serious MIDI controllers: Kavai VPC-1, Seaboard RISE and MPC pads, but I constantly think about getting Push again (to replace MPC) but I am held off by reports of very bad pads playability. I even want to get rid of most of my vst synths and just leave few of the very best ones.

EasyWorkflow
Posts: 242
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:37 am

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by EasyWorkflow » Wed Jul 06, 2016 5:38 am

Forgot to mention I own a Moog Sub 37 and it is hands down, the best piece of gear I ever purchased. There is something about external analog gear that adds a fun factor especially if you are a musician. I play MIDI guitar using the FTP, and not only can I control soft synths, I was told I could control the Moog which I haven't tried yet. But if that's the case which makes sense, then I am about to have a lot of fun. Now I want a polyphonic outboard synth like the Dave Smith Prophet. Problem is I need to plan another bank heist soon or it's roman noodles for next two years.

MUSIC is an expensive hobby.

adam_mc
Posts: 168
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:33 pm
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: What to do with my cash - Advice please

Post by adam_mc » Wed Jul 06, 2016 8:28 am

Cheers for the continued replies everyone.

It certainly is an expensive hobbie and a new purchase only opens doors to 10 others. It's an ever growing web.
APM/BPM Folkestone Kent UK

Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz Quad Core i7 8gb Ram, Live 9, Push and other bits and pieces

Post Reply