Ableton Forum

I'd never heard of it until someone mentioned it in the 303 thread. I WANT ONE! Does anyone have one?

The demos on their site are the first demos I've heard for a product that don't sound a bit geeky. I was even put off the Virus TI by that video of that bloke making Hendrix faces as he played with the modulation wheel.

http://www.future-retro.com/

ya.

its the bomb.

Is it difficult to use? I am creative but thick. Can I set it off at a certain time with Ableton, and time sync it easily?

Ya its easy to use, to program a note you hold the step you want to program - and use up/down buttons to scroll through the range of notes till you get to the one you want.

It would be so kool if you could hook up an external midi keyboard, hold a step and hit a key and have the step go to that note - like the MnM. But its not gonna happen, not enough space left for them to program it this way.

as for sync, I've never synced it to live but I've synced it to my other hardware and it locks tight. Tried it for a while without sync, everything at the same tempo - just to see - and there was drift all right. I guess thats normal with hardware ?

You just need to get your working method down. Like, set every step to the same note. Then mute them all (by pressing the step once), then get the rhythm of your line down by activating the appropriate steps till it sounds right, then change the note of the steps to make your melody, then work on sustains and glide....its all done easily/quickly - everythings on the face of the unit, no menu surfing etc.

it can be done so quickly infact, you can essentially 'perform' these functions live if your good enough.

I never nailed sync with live, with my other stuff...so I didnt bother with the revo. Once I make a few ergonomic changes to my setup and get live 6 I will nail it, but these days I'm almost always noodling with hardware alone - using live for basic recording functions


i use it as the master clock, I can have a blank pattern playing (ie no sound) and select a pattern to play and it will launch it quantized to the bar. So it sounds tight. I believe you can use prg change messages to change patterns remotely, but I dont play it that way.

oh, and its got a stereo output. and you can control the FX MIX level for L & R

what this means is, you can use a splitter cable and output a dry mix, and a wet mix. Or use the headphones output with a splitter cable and route some audio back into the FR to get some really nasty resonance, coupled with some FX output from the R side (you'll want the L side dry, more then likely) - to get some truely dirty acid.

the envelope and decay have greater ranges than the original 303 too, with all the extra stuff it can sound way different to a 303 - but if you stay away from those features its a 303. the liquid kind...you can dirty it up with some of the tricks & features if thats what you prefer.

as I learned, you'll need to play the cutoff/resonance/evelope/decay to complete the acid sound, its not like you press play on a pattern and acid comes out, you got to tweak the stuff in time with the pattern. Or, record phrases to a sampler and piece them together.

b0unce thanks for the lowdown on the Revolution. It has reinforced my decision to buy one. Shame about the MIDI keyboard issue, I was wondering whether there was room for future upgrades e.g. features / OS on this machine.

What hardware do you have experience syncing to? I have MD SPS-1, TM-1, MnM, MS2000 Live 6 & Logic MIDIwise. Plus an old Frontline X-2 Dual Drum Module which I would like to trigger via CV with the Revolutions sequencer. Also have you tried the MIDI to DIN conversion? This appeals to me as I would like to get my grubby mitts on a TR-808 / 909 eventually.

Cheers bro

Macriada wrote:b0unce thanks for the lowdown on the Revolution. It has reinforced my decision to buy one. Shame about the MIDI keyboard issue, I was wondering whether there was room for future upgrades e.g. features / OS on this machine.

What hardware do you have experience syncing to? I have MD SPS-1, TM-1, MnM, MS2000 Live 6 & Logic MIDIwise. Plus an old Frontline X-2 Dual Drum Module which I would like to trigger via CV with the Revolutions sequencer. Also have you tried the MIDI to DIN conversion? This appeals to me as I would like to get my grubby mitts on a TR-808 / 909 eventually.

Cheers bro

I've synced it with a MDuw, and a quasimidi polymorph. I used the REV to send clock. It works great with the MD, but there is a quirk. When you stop the rev, and start it again it plays from the beginning of the pattern - which is pretty kool because you really get into 'performing' this synth's sequencer, so stopping for a sec and kicking off again (with another pattern if you like) can sound kool. But with the MD in sync, when it stops it picks up again from where it left off (the MD that is). But theres a quick work around, press & hold stop on the MD and press PLAY at the same time - and when you start the REV again the MD will start at the beginning of its pattern too. Only takes a second, and with practise its second nature.

I dont have anything to test out the din conversion...

as for CV, I've yet to get the CV IN module for my moog, but I look forward to it. gliding from one note to the next is output nicely via CV....one thing to note, if you are thinking about sequencing CV gear I'd recommend you check out the UK-signature edition revolution, as its the only one thats been modified to output Accent via CV - which would be pretty important if you want to do the acid thing with your CV stuff.
There's no plans to put this Accent mod into the standard units (I asked and he said "its not gonna happen"), and its not in the American Signature Editions. It was specially requested by Ben Mahayni of analogue addiction, thoughtful type that he is.

http://www.analogueaddiction.co.uk/anal ... CTION.html
the picture on the front page is the UK-signature edition, oh ya baby oh ya uuugggh uggggh.

if you get a standard unit, he can do the mod for a 'small fee'. being in the UK, if your spending dollars you may have a mild stroke when you get a price (for the UK-SE unit)....the currency exchange is steep.

I was really surprised when I sequenced (via midi) my moog and MD with the Revo, I didnt intend to do this when I went for it (just got it for acid)....but the results were great - your 303 acid line layered with drum/samples/another synth....sounds wicked. loads of fun mate.

oh I just noticed you're in the UK! DEFINATLY get the UK-se edition, well worth the extra expense. I think it was about 80 pounds extra.

Hey b0unce.

That little quirk with the MD sounds interesting. Didn't realise the UK edition had any significant improvements, must have misread the details and presumed it was just a paintjob. Unfortunately I much prefer the unit in it's original b/w colour scheme, that orange is just too intense!

I have arranged to buy Ben's next ex-demo unit from him at the end of the month, think I might ask him about doing that mod for me. Reckon it would be beneficial especially when sequencing my X-2.

Bet it's pretty damn sick sequencing a Moog with the Rev.

Just sold my FR-777. Too bad for you.

Why did you sell?

Hey macriada, you didnt misread the details - I didnt realise it could do that till he told me, which was sweet because I was looking into emulating a trick someone over at the x0xb0x forums mentioned for achieving accent output through CV, mentioned it to ben then he dropped that bombshell on me.

sounds like you'll get yourself a nice deal on the revo, might as well get the mod done while its handy ?


how much did you sell your 777 for decoder ?

Thanks for al the info, I think I'll buy one. I'm in New York in December, is there an area there that sells musical equipment, like Tin Pan Alley in London?
Where can I buy one of those things? They seem to be half price there.

Thanks again

http://www.novamusik.com/default.aspx
stock them, they had some signature editions too (no accent CV output, just a new paintjob and a signature)

buy online, and have it delivered to your hotel or your mates house ?

www.robotspeak.com is worth checking out too,

sorry I wouldnt have a clue about any street-level gear stores in the U.S

Macriada wrote:Plus an old Frontline X-2 Dual Drum Module which I would like to trigger via CV with the Revolutions sequencer

Hey dude – I used to have a X-2 drum module. Cool/rare beast!! Ultimately sold it as too much of a pain to integrate. Btw, I don’t recall having CV but rather, audio triggers. I used to take to tom outs of my tr808 and use that audio to trigger it.

Macriada wrote:Also have you tried the MIDI to DIN conversion? This appeals to me as I would like to get my grubby mitts on a TR-808 / 909 eventually.

Im sure you know this anyway but you obviously don’t need a DIN converter for a 909 as it has MIDI.

I am VERY close to buying a xBase999. Its so flippin expensive I just need a bit more thinking time.. Whilst a 999 is not a 808 or a 909, it’s so much more powerful/flexible whilst still being pure to the cause

Macriada wrote:Reckon it would be beneficial especially when sequencing my X-2.

Hey again – just remembered, got some pictures and audio from when I was selling:

http://www.punkdisco.co.uk/misc/gear/front_line/

Stupidly did not take any pictures from behind but mine was definitely audio triggers, not CV.

Macriada wrote:Bet it's pretty damn sick sequencing a Moog with the Rev.

Hell Yeah! I have a tb303 with the rather excellent Colin Fraser MIDI In/Out kit. Driving anything from a 303 (or Revo I guess) makes you realise how important the sequencer is in the 303 sound.

PS: Just been listening to my audio clip and AHHHHH!!! Why did I sell it?!!!! It sounds incredible!