Hardware Snobs

sgingras · Post by **sgingras** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:54 am

Geez, eh? Different strokes for different folks.

All this string has proven is how much EVERYONE loves to talk about their gear, no matter what side of the debate they're on.
So, in keeping with that tradition: Dude, I have a crappy iBook that I got for school and an M-audio Keystation 49e (absolute cheapest I could find) and tons of VSTi's that I got from a proffessionnal recorder friend.
And you know what, it keeps me happy for hours, and that's the important part!

live and let live, be it digital or analog. (but this is all coming from some hick in Canada so feel free to flame me)

bye.

Zakari Luk · Post by **Zakari Luk** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 2:12 am

sgingras wrote:
All this string has proven is how much EVERYONE loves to talk about their gear, no matter what side of the debate they're on.

kind of like how rednecks like to talk about their trucks

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:47 am

Zakari Luk wrote:
sgingras wrote:
All this string has proven is how much EVERYONE loves to talk about their gear, no matter what side of the debate they're on.
kind of like how rednecks like to talk about their trucks

Ya, well, my truck is bigger than yours...

(I'll get me coat, shall I?)

Angstrom · Post by **Angstrom** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:24 pm

I can beat your MS20 deal

I got two Ms20s and an MS10 for £30 !!! bargain of my lifetime there I think.

it was about 12 years ago now though, (so your deal is more valid really)
Back then MS20s were considered weak and thin sounding so people were chucking out these old weak synths for more modern fat digital workstations.

hooray for stupid people!

Komplex · Post by **Komplex** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:38 pm

Angstrom wrote:I can beat your MS20 deal

I got two Ms20s and an MS10 for £30 !!! bargain of my lifetime there I think.

it was about 12 years ago now though, (so your deal is more valid really)
Back then MS20s were considered weak and thin sounding so people were chucking out these old weak synths for more modern fat digital workstations.

hooray for stupid people!

nice1

jasefos · Post by **jasefos** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:24 pm

Angstrom wrote:I always prefered the Jupiter 6 , the 8 had all the Kudos ... but I prefered the noises the 6 made.

lol ... I had an Jupiter 8 for a while (MIDI retrofitted) but would have preferred a 6 any day (PWM and Oscillator Cross Modulation could be attached to an Envelope; MIDI was inbuilt). Using the wanders of Cubase VST when it first hit the scene (and matured slighly) in 1998, I had alot of fun multitracking my realtime manual tweaking on the Jupiter 8. Such a rich deep tone that baby has !!

For the nastiest of DnB textures I loved ramming the Jupiter 8 through the amp simulators in my DP4. Serious firebreathing textures !!!

I have loads of hardware still. Quite a lot less than years ago fortunately. For Live PA sets watching someone hide behind a laptop is positively dull (from a performance aspect).

For live sets I use a bunch of Electribes (ERmk2, EMX1 (awesome!), ESX1), microKORG(synth + MIDI keyboard parts), microKONTROL (triggering clips and scenes), Behringer BCF2000 (Mixer for Live) and Behringer BCR2000 (editor for VST synths) ... Live4.1 and Reason (rewired). For bigger gigs I probably will lug along my Ensoniq ASR10 (sampler) rack, Ensoniq DP4 (4 part effect processor with MIDI synced FX).

The hardware sequencers are the master clock for the setup. If anything goes tits up on the computer I can happily carry the set for as long as necessary on nothing but the hardware.

My favourite machine for live improvised sets however has to be the Electribe EMX1. It's arpegiator/ribbon is utterly wicked for fluking new basslines on the fly (and recording them). Connecting little transistor radios into the audio input and apply gating FX is favourite trick too ...

Hardware will never totally die - you just need so much less of it nowadays to get a complete sound.

jasefos · Post by **jasefos** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:34 pm

Komplex wrote:
Angstrom wrote:I can beat your MS20 deal

I got two Ms20s and an MS10 for £30 !!! bargain of my lifetime there I think.

it was about 12 years ago now though, (so your deal is more valid really)
Back then MS20s were considered weak and thin sounding so people were chucking out these old weak synths for more modern fat digital workstations.

hooray for stupid people!
nice1

What a score!!
(and cheaper than the virtual version ala Korg Legacy Collection).

Still ... I think I prefer the MS20 in software form with patch memories, no hiss and polyphony up to 32 voices (in a single instance). I've made quite a sound library for the KLC M20 too. I absolutely love this synth !!

cheers!

jasefos
(an ex Perthite now Melbournite)

ikeaboy · Post by **ikeaboy** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:55 pm

I have loads of hardware still. Quite a lot less than years ago fortunately. For Live PA sets watching someone hide behind a laptop is positively dull (from a performance aspect).

Yeah I'm looking at thet problem at the moment. I used to drag my studio to every gig I played, I don't own a car and i ended up dropping stuff (Mpc2000xl can take some physical punishment i tells ye) skining knuckles etc and all at a very early (ie no cash compensation) stage of the game.
I use my laptop now but i feel less of a connection with the crowd. Before I used to get an applause after i managed to plug everything in correctly

Maybe arkaos on a projecter is the way to distract people.
And how do non-scratch Dj's win crowds visualy with such basic physical movements?

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:13 pm

ikeaboy wrote: And how do non-scratch Dj's win crowds visualy with such basic physical movements?

honestly... i think its all in our heads.

when i'm DJing, as in beatmatching vinyl... my brain is computing an entirely different kind of logic than when i'm playing live. how i interpret the crowd, and how i invision how they interpret me is much more communal than when i'm playing live. Playing live is like i'm up there, exposed, and i see the crowd as "watching" me instead of grooving with me. Its an entirely different headspace for the performer.

But getting over that is really something that just takes time. I've had to approach my live set with a more laid back attitude. Often times i try to do too much and its easy to lose the crowd that way (especially when everyone else on the bill are vinyl djs)

I think the key is realizing that the crowd IS grooving with you when you think they are just staring at you. look at the crowd... see what sounds they are really digging on and what techniques are really working on the dancefloor (assuming you make dancemusic). The beauty of Live is how much more control it gives you over the usual turntable set up. If i can tell a crowd is really into a pad sound i'm using, i can exploit that to my advantage. The sound is there for my mangling, all by itself, be it a VSTi or just an audio sample. Its not pressed in or "hard wired" to a vinyl.

now i'm just rambling, but i honestly think its all in our heads as performers (i know it is in mine)... the added vulnerability can fuck with our sense of acceptance on stage.

vince watson · Post by **vince watson** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:21 pm

great post adam....spot on..

ive lost count of the amount of gigs where poeple seem to get fed up looking at a laptop and some bits......even if the crowd are grooving, you never really feel connected the same way as when you are djing.....weird one.

Crowds are changing as well though..

ikeaboy · Post by **ikeaboy** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:23 pm

Thanks Adam. I feel what your saying, especially about trying to do to much in a live set. I used to leave as much as possible, including any arrangement longer than a bar to be done live, even thou i instinctively went for very similar arrangements and play orders each time. Now I give myself the option of digging into the arrangement but i have some fallback preparation done which can allow me to do something else. That way I can enjoy myself more and not have a constipated concentration look on my face

.

When i start singing over techno, now that'll evoke crowd response (Of what variety remains to be seen

)

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:56 pm

vince watson wrote:great post adam....spot on..

ive lost count of the amount of gigs where poeple seem to get fed up looking at a laptop and some bits......even if the crowd are grooving, you never really feel connected the same way as when you are djing.....weird one.

Crowds are changing as well though..

yea i think Final Scratch has actually helped the Laptop performer. Not only in the way that crowds are more accustomed to seing laptops on stage or in a DJ booth, but it also helped me when performing live instead of DJing (i do use final scratch) as no matter what i'm doing - the laptop is there. so for me theres that comfort factor.

But you have to look at the fact that even final scratch djs with laptops seem to get better acceptance from the crowd. and alot of it is just the physical movements of the performer that the crowd is used to seeing, the familiarty of seeing a guy working on turntables and a mixer, cueing with his head cocked to the side, etc.

So what i try to do is keep the laptop off to the side, at an angle (just as i do when using FS) and treat the midi controller as a turntable. It may sound contrived but i tell you it works. Hell, bring a $90 Roland R5 drum machine with you to trigger clips... so long as you can replace 2 turntables with 2 controllers and keep away from the laptop as much as a final scratch DJ would... its the familiarty of how a DJ does his job helps to groove a crowd. The DJ for years has represented not so much a performer but a leader... the crowd feels like they are dancing with the DJ. I'm not saying emulate what a DJ does.. i'm saying there are things you can do to make a laptop performance feel more familiar to a crowd, and this will break down those barriers we all feel on stage from time to time.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:45 pm

Have any of you ever leaned over the front of the stage, mic in one hand and grabbed the hand of an audience member (I don't suppose my bands have ever had fans per se, but anyways) with the other? That is fucking... it's worth something, let me tell you.

-Paws

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 7:51 pm

err how bout putting laptop out of view... what would the audience care if they cant see ... it's the visual presence of the laptop that could be doing everything.

Otherwise move around like there's no tomorrow, if you go totally nuts, the crowd is likely to follow... works for jody in way out west...

jasefos · Post by **jasefos** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:10 pm

sweetjesus wrote:err how bout putting laptop out of view... what would the audience care if they cant see ... it's the visual presence of the laptop that could be doing everything.

Otherwise move around like there's no tomorrow, if you go totally nuts, the crowd is likely to follow... works for jody in way out west...

There is a technical term for this: Showboating !!!

If you're truly playing live (personal def: performance will not go anywhere without user involvement) then you should be so busy up there that you'll be showboating by default ...