Replace Live with hardware?

[freshdrumma]

mpc, an analog old synth, good quality mixer and a couple of reack effects or stomp boxes

i rembeber a producer that i worked with and used to say "give me a delay and an eq and i'll make you a record", he actually did.


love hardware, and love live too!

[o0o]

pff if there was ever a piece of music software that you can just "fire up and play" it's Ableton Live.

+1

I find that it works pretty damned flawlessly on my MBP...

@Newecho.. That's exactly how I work.. User control when needed..

Only the other day I went out with laptop and just got to work in a park.. great!! try doing that with an mpc!

I used to use the Roland MC909.. Little LCD, pages and pages of sub menus, not that portable... not very much fun to program, ok to tweak and all but... Nah...

To have the power and flexibility of LIVE and a bunch of well picked VST's IMO is hard to beat.. I love the fact that I can put my whole shit in the boot of my car and be mobile, in what 10 mins? No cables , no dusting, no complicated setting up, no need for masses of space.. dunno for me a laptop and LIVE has been a revolution... And it's not that I haven't tried hardware set-ups coz I have.. Many.

Anyway Tone.. You know you gotta do what you gotta do...

But from my perspective
Soft is the new hard!

Hd

mpc-1000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQymMhNhfho

and the mpc-500 runs on batteries for 5 hours, that's longer than most laptops

[onehandstand]

i used to play synths from logic into a electrtix repeater which was a lot of fun, but then the sound quality was not so good

this one looks interesting http://www.looperlative.com/

more hardware here also http://www.loopers-delight.com/tools/tools.html

[Moody]

Switching between playing my bass and AL seems to bring some balance to the mix. Headed back into the jam room soon with some friends to see what we can do with the computer ideas we have captured over the last couple of years.

[sans soleil]

yamaha su700...really solid, underrated piece of kit.

[o0o]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8obE7jAY ... re=related

[doc holiday]

mixer, patch bay, shitload of FX, compressor etc.

sythns and drums, some nice mic's and a booth for your guitar...


and maybe an adat if you don't want to multi-track into your computer,

but it's nice to have a set up rigged with your computer outs into the mixer as well..

then the issues come where you can only work on one project at a time, or else you muck your settup away and can't get your track back.

that was the biggest issue with me.. not wanting to have to mix shit down again if i have two ideas going.

computers have the advantage of loading up you set, and it being the way you left it.

you don't have to worry about you cat trying to dial your mix for you!

[oblique strategies]

Riddle:

What kind of carpenters blame their poor craftsmanship on their tools?

He is not blaming the tools for lack of results, he is commenting on the process.

[Tarekith]

I hear you Tone, I'm in more or less the same place lately. Nothing against Live, just getting sick of mkaing music on a computer. It happens, I too am one of those that switches back and forth on hardware and software, this isn't the first time.

Recently I picked up a Korg EMX-1 to pair with my Machinedrum, just so I could get that 'instant on' gratification when the urge to write music hits (and it wasn't hitting with the computer). It was a lot of fun, yes there were limitations, but it forced me to rethink what I was doing and ultimately not let it stop me. I ended up writing an entire live set in less than a month and half.

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... light=flow

Good stuff, and it's been a lot of fun to write music again. I know eventually I'll swing the other way and put all my hardware away again to use only the laptop. but in the meantime I heartily recommend the EMX as a good cheap option. The Evolver is a fun little box too and a good deal, but a little less immediate to use.

[NativeOps]

well, I've considered this seriously also. I still do even today. Heck, sometimes I look at the $10k I have in the studio, and wonder why there's not more actual hardware, and less controllers and virtual plugs.
The truth is, it's best to have both. If you use Ableton strictly for MIDI signals and audio routing, I'm sure you can get a pretty stable system. I'd hope so at least.
Use Ableton, and an audio/midi interface, then get a hardware synth, a sound module like the fantom XR with sampling capabilities, and build all of your custom multi-layered drum patches and loops. Plus it includes hundreds of high quality solid performing patches to keep the color pallet strong. Heck, the fantom XR should be everything you really need since it has synthesis capabilities. Ya just gotta get into it's guts to get some cool synth sounds out of it. No VST's, no software effects. The only thing Ableton should do is run MIDI, and route audio, and record the sequence for mastering and reproduction.

Other than that, the only option is to get an MPC, a mixer, and a digital recorder/ADAT and quite a few rack effects for processing. Hardware truly is a better way to go about it. The stuff just always works solid like it's supposed to, plus, once you learn the stuff real well, its all about the music then. No more tech BS. But if you use Ableton as a nerve center and bridge for audio and MIDI, you should be fine. That's the set up I plan on using, I just need to sell my 1TB desktop and get some modules.

I feel ya tho bro. I actually paid money for the VST Predator, and all it does is crash my Ableton, completely. I'll never use that live, I can barely use it in the studio.

[nathannn]

if i had the money i would use an mpc for drums, one synths probably not analog most likely the korg ms2000 a couple of groove box type of things mainly the korgs again and a machine drum.. or the new linn drum thing..
i dont know how i would record it all though.. definitely not on tape.. i hate tape.
hmm im talking to myself now.. i know for a fact no one in there right mind is going to keep on reading after the bs i have just posted, and surely no one reads horrible paragraphs this long, they just skim through them and say fuck it you have nothing good to say, im on to the next post.
yeah i would probably use an atari to record.. just so i could feel like im traveling in the past with all the knowledge i have about music now and pretend im going to be the most awesome thing by recreating the shit that has came out in the last ten years. i am now rambling on like a fucking loon talking to the wall .

[kidmeke]

try this:

http://www.fleshlight.com


i think that's about right for your needs.


.lm.

Oh. My. Lord!!!!!

This made me laugh for about 5 minutes!!!

Thank you leisuremuffin, well spoken!

[sporkles]

It's fun to stay at the http://www.propellerheads.se/.

[theophilus]

once when I was out of town for a few weeks (and it was easier to fly with luggage) i managed to get an rs7000 + microwave XT into my suitcase. that is a pretty nice compact setup. (i don't have any of it now, all in the box).

depends on what you are doing... hardware can get out of control quickly with all the cables you need.
i think i'd rather use live, with something equivalent to this:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/4327580-post69.html

[3phase]

I once got sick of the big setup for one gig and started 2 hours before the gig rewriting it with ab electribe ES and a micromodular... that was pretty funny in a way.. even had a microphone connected to the micro modular input.. the micro modular in the audio ins of the elelctribe...

was able to leave the stage with all the equipment in one hand...


thinking about that... i might need a micro modular again .. the electribe is still there