• The Musician's Gig Room Chat V1 - Songwriting and Sound Design for all!
    4,109 replies, posted
Hey, I'm a college student who really misses being able to play drums whenever I want. I'm looking to get an electronic set for my apartment and wanted some advice. I was thinking of piecing something together from used parts off ebay or something since I figure that's cheaper than buying new. Does anybody have experience with the Roland TD-11 module? Is it outdated or lacking in any sort of important features? It seems to fall into my price range and just wanted to know if there's anything to look out for.
[QUOTE=splenda;51185683]The post was getting a bit long but I was going to add a paragraph about how important it is to not think that because you didn't start making music at age zero that you will never get anywhere. As long as you have the flame lit, and really strive to better yourself, you will become a fantastic producer/engineer/musician/whatever in no time!! The main mistake I see people make when starting out in music is that they expect to be able to make #1 beatport tier songs a week after they pirate their copy of Ableton or whatever. All this mindset will breed is carelessness and resentment, two things that really do not make a good track. Only if you have a will to learn, the ability to turn off your ego in times of criticism, and put in the time sacrifices can you ever make a track that has potential. In terms of the equipment part, as long as you have a computer you can pretty much learn how to use any piece of outboard gear. Plugins have gotten really, really good over the past couple years, like to the point where I cannot tell the difference between the real thing and the virtual one even in a soloed test, so you can theoretically have a multi million dollar studio for just a few thousand dollars. While outboard gear is all shiny and carries dickwaving power, it is by no means essential. Really the only thing I suggest for everyone in this thread is to get at least one knob encrusted synth. Not even for the sound, but just for the fact that you can just sit on the couch and create music away from a screen. Also it makes it so much easier to go out and jam with friends in a park or whatever, and music is always more fun in groups!! Like I always keep a bunch of little toy-like synths in my backpack, stuff like a korg volca or two, a little recorder, or one of those cute teenage engineering pocket operators, actually just impulsively bought [url=http://www.bastl-instruments.com/instruments/kastle/kastle-synth/]this little cutey[/url], just in case I ever get bored waiting for the bus or whatever. Also cheap stuff like the volca bass, the microbrute, and the volca FM sound really good, so you can definitely use them in your songs and they will not sound lofi at all, unless of course you want that lofi sound (who doesn't)!![/QUOTE] Oh no, you reminded me of teenage engineering! I want, but I can't justify the price.
[QUOTE=cardfan212;51185928]Hey, I'm a college student who really misses being able to play drums whenever I want. I'm looking to get an electronic set for my apartment and wanted some advice. I was thinking of piecing something together from used parts off ebay or something since I figure that's cheaper than buying new. Does anybody have experience with the Roland TD-11 module? Is it outdated or lacking in any sort of important features? It seems to fall into my price range and just wanted to know if there's anything to look out for.[/QUOTE] I think I jammed on one of these once and it was fine. Like the drum sounds work and everything, and are multisampled using good mics and all that jazz, but it's not going to be like a "time to gig at a festival" kind of drum module. Also like you cannot do cymbal mutes on it iirc, I think only the newest roland drum module lets you mute the cymbals with your hands, so do not expect to do some of the most esoteric drumming techniques. If you just want to scratch your drumming itch, then it will work well. I find that with these type of things it really matters more on the triggers you buy than the sounds, since with drumming it's all about the feel. So like the fabric-y snares, you know, the white ones, are infinitely more playable than the standard black rubber pads, and having a real kick drum beater cannot be beat. I've never been a fan of the cymbal pads on any v-drum, so you might want to head down to your local music store to test out some kits to see if you can live with the feel of fake drums.
[QUOTE=splenda;51185683]The post was getting a bit long but I was going to add a paragraph about how important it is to not think that because you didn't start making music at age zero that you will never get anywhere. [...] The main mistake I see people make when starting out in music is that they expect to be able to make #1 beatport tier songs a week after they pirate their copy of Ableton or whatever.[/quote] I've always been interested in sound and music, but it wasn't until like 4 years ago I started experimenting with making music myself. I remember being 10 years old (I'm also 20 now) and wondering how midi files were put together. Before I started making music myself I just didn't think I could do it since I don't play any instruments, but after a friend and I downloaded Ableton and learned how to use it, I realized it wasn't impossible. The first couple of years went pretty slow because I have ADD and lost interest in my own creations pretty quickly because it didn't sound "beatport tier" instantly. However, after a period of being on medication for it, I got better and realized patience is key and I just have to take breaks when I make music to keep myself from being bored. I think it's also good to take breaks to keep your ears "fresh". [quote] Not even for the sound, but just for the fact that you can just sit on the couch and create music away from a screen.[/QUOTE] Have you ever made music on a 3DS? Korg has made some pretty sweet software for it, it's primitive but that's kind of what makes it great. Sometimes I find myself spending too much time trying to find the right sounds.
[QUOTE=Warship;51186947]I've always been interested in sound and music, but it wasn't until like 4 years ago I started experimenting with making music myself. I remember being 10 years old (I'm also 20 now) and wondering how midi files were put together. Before I started making music myself I just didn't think I could do it since I don't play any instruments, but after a friend and I downloaded Ableton and learned how to use it, I realized it wasn't impossible. The first couple of years went pretty slow because I have ADD and lost interest in my own creations pretty quickly because it didn't sound "beatport tier" instantly. However, after a period of being on medication for it, I got better and realized patience is key and I just have to take breaks when I make music to keep myself from being bored. I think it's also good to take breaks to keep your ears "fresh". Have you ever made music on a 3DS? Korg has made some pretty sweet software for it, it's primitive but that's kind of what makes it great. Sometimes I find myself spending too much time trying to find the right sounds.[/QUOTE] I'm kind of happy I got into music production the way I did, mostly curiosity based, rather than trying to make a big tune. When I was a baby my dad would play me underground detroit techno and 20th century classical music, so I never really got the idea in my head that electronic musicians had the ability to become rich and famous, so stuff like number 1 songs or "get rich quick" schemes never interested me. Also since I was so young I was more intrigued in making cat sounds on synths than getting featured in magazines or whatever. :v: I don't play videogames anymore so I have no use for a 3DS. Have seen the app(?) that you are talking about though and it sounds pretty good. Isn't it a ms-10 remake (or ms-20, i forget?) I have the iMS-20 app on my iPad and love messing around with it when I'm bored so I get what you mean. Still would suggest something away from a screen though. Our brains are tuned to think with our eyes, not our ears, so if you have a lot of visual stimulation, like a computer screen, it will colour your auditory perception, causing you to not hear as well as you would normally. Also idk about you but if I stare at a screen for too many hours my eyes start to strain and I get tired, and thus, make more mistakes/not think over things as clearly. O wait just looked it up and saw that they also made an M1 remake for the 3DS. Guess it's time to bring back 90s dance music, especially with the new little roland remakes of the 303 and 909.
[QUOTE=Warship;51182713] I'm trying out some new things with this one. It's my first track with a 3/4 time signature, and I don't think I've ever used the beat repeat device before. And I went out today and got some rain sounds which I think really adds an extra layer to the atmosphere. Here it is. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thedanielholt/why-not-me[/media][/QUOTE] I really love this style of music that's really slow and calm, but still interesting enough rhythmically to not just be very static and un-entertaining. I agree with a lot of what spelnda said, some things are just a bit too strong on the low end, and some reverb on your percussion would really add to the dream-like style of the track. Although the low ends may be a bit too strong in certain places, I think your bass sounds really good. There's a really good kind of contrast between the strong, pervasive bass at the lows and the lighter, more delicate keys at the upper mid to high levels. I really like the section from 4:29 and on. I find syncopation to be something that can be really good when /just/ the right amount of it is used; not too much, not too little. So, the stuttered synths being in sync with the stutter of the kick syncopated your rhythm just the right amount, fantastic job with that. Hope to hear more in the future! Messing around with a simple band pass filter wobble bass. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thehoyticus/untitled[/media]
There's something wrong with that link? I can't listen
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;51189739]There's something wrong with that link? I can't listen[/QUOTE] sorry, might just have to open the link to the source
If you have it on private, click on share then copy the link and paste - though you can't embed it, but that doesn't matter.
[QUOTE=Hoyticus;51189452]I really love this style of music that's really slow and calm, but still interesting enough rhythmically to not just be very static and un-entertaining. I agree with a lot of what spelnda said, some things are just a bit too strong on the low end, and some reverb on your percussion would really add to the dream-like style of the track. Although the low ends may be a bit too strong in certain places, I think your bass sounds really good. There's a really good kind of contrast between the strong, pervasive bass at the lows and the lighter, more delicate keys at the upper mid to high levels. I really like the section from 4:29 and on. I find syncopation to be something that can be really good when /just/ the right amount of it is used; not too much, not too little. So, the stuttered synths being in sync with the stutter of the kick syncopated your rhythm just the right amount, fantastic job with that. Hope to hear more in the future! Messing around with a simple band pass filter wobble bass. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thehoyticus/untitled[/media][/QUOTE] Sounds pretty good for a little demo thing. The only real "issue" I hear is that at your reverb break, ~0:55-1:00, your track slightly crunches up. Check your levels without a limiter on to make sure you are not crazily over modulating or anything. Limiters shouldn't be used as an always on thing, but really should only be thrown on the master fader in the mastering process. You want your song to not clip when you turn the limiter off, or else you will get that weird artifact-y sound, especially with digital limiters. Another thing is that your bass line gets kind of stale after a while. If I were you, I'd add some automation to the resonance control of the filter you are using, like just tweak it by hand. That way you won't lose the character of the wobbly bass, but you will periodically make it a bit wetter and grimier and other adjectives too! Also like I know you are showing off your bass in this little snippet, so like it's not a completed work or whatever, but the low end is a bit loud. Like it's not crazy over the top or anything, and maybe this type of music is meant to be mixed this way(?) but it's just a smidgen overcrowding. While I'm on the topic, I would lessen the compression a bit too, I know you are going for the in-your-face pumping loud sound, but it is veering towards the "headache pumping" levels, then again though, might just be me having a headache. :v: Finally, if any of you are curious, or just want to help me out [img]https://facepunch.com/fp/ratings/heart.png[/img], I just "finished" this one song that I want some other ears to listen to before it goes out to the world, and thought you guys might give a perspective different than my usual suspects. Can't post it here because it is slated for a commercial release and this is in a public part of the forum, but just PM me and I'll send you a link!!
Personally I'd like louder or atleast more present drums, a few more double snares, maybe a few hats or reversed crashes - at first I was going to suggest turning the base (the base that's not just on the 2 basic chords) up, but I'm not sure how that'd affect the overall mix and spirit of the song. In general, I really like it, it's got that pumping dirty sound from that sidechained limiter/compressor. I've taken splenda's feedback in account, but I'd love to hear more feedback on that track - it's a great track for this.
I made a little FM drum synth in ableton today if any of you want to check it out. Even wrote small guides in the information portions of the sounds so you can try to understand drum synthesis a little. Sorry it is FM synthesis since it is a bit complicated but I just really like operator in Live. Just like look at the patch or whatever since I didn't really do anything too advanced so you can probably follow along. Kept a lot of it open too, so there are spaces for you all to explore and find you own sounds. [URL="http://puu.sh/rGd9a/fd56caaba2.adg"]Link to download the drum rack.[/URL] Also made a really dumb "free jazz" song/trippy video to go along with it that is pretty awful but is kind of my satire against all of those product demos people make where they layer the sounds they are trying to sell in so much reverb and stuff that you cannot tell they are garbage. The drums in this are totally clean apart from some bus compression. :smile: [video=vimeo;186528357]https://vimeo.com/186528357[/video]
Hey guys, me and my group just released a 12 track mixtape. Produced, mixed, and "mastered" entirely by me in FL Studio. Give it a listen when you get the time and tell me whatcha think. [media]https://soundcloud.com/gaenggaeng/sets/dark-title-full-project[/media] [QUOTE=splenda;51191698] [video=vimeo;186528357]https://vimeo.com/186528357[/video][/QUOTE] As a hip-hop producer I love this kinda stuff! Anything to do with synthesized drums is dope in my book.
[QUOTE=eggnogg13;51200557]Hey guys, me and my group just released a 12 track mixtape. Produced, mixed, and "mastered" entirely by me in FL Studio. Give it a listen when you get the time and tell me whatcha think. [/QUOTE] Listening to the mixtape right now, digging it so far! I'll be back with more feedback when I've heard it all. Is there a way we could get a download of it? Edit: Sick use of sampling, sounds like you know what you're doing. There's a gritty, dark tone to most of the tracks and it feels authentic (If that makes any sense). Princess Diane can only be described as creepy and interesting. Also digging the trap elements in Fugazi, what kind of bass is that even? Nice use of the brass. Sweet drums and guitar sample in Seafoam (Assuming it's sampling). Desperado's probably my favorite track. I'll say that a couple of the tracks are a bit boring to me, but I'm also a pretty light hiphop listener so it could just be me. Also lol at the outro in Kaiju. But keep it up dude! I was at some underground nightclub yesterday night to 6 in the morning, so I was exposed to house music for a long time. Today I woke up and made one of the housiest tracks I've ever done, probably. Made it pretty quickly, and the mastering could be better, but I'm trying to not be a perfectionist. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thedanielholt/wasting-my-time[/media]
Ughhhh so after seeing all the stuff roland is releasing/has released this year I was hoping Jupiter 50's/80's would drop in price, but I'm not seeing much. I might just bite the bullet though, instead of working 10hrs a week like I thought I would be this academic quarter I'm working closer to 24/wk for as long as they'll have me. I really, [I]really[/I] just want a machine with nice action and a diverse library that I can play with. I also still haven't made music since I did that film score. That honestly just completely massacred my interest in making music for fun. I never even got paid for it either, despite the director promising payment. Same thing happened with writing articles for that one website: I had written four articles for them in less than two weeks, each nearly 2000 words and featuring loads of pictures, and sent them to them but never saw them get published and never got paid again. They also haven't contacted me since then, and I had started developing a few other ideas. It was all just tons of work, and make music feel like work instead of a fun or relaxing activity. Be careful of doing that, unless you're sure you want music to become like that for you. I like my job, but I also like having weekends off to just not have to do anything with it. Playing music is still great though, but being in an apartment means that having the room to setup my computer + keyboard + synths all together just isn't possible. I end up with my KB at a 90 degree angle to my computer and stuff, and can never see what I'm doing and its not easy to just swap instruments or adjust parameters. So that's my mostly off-topic rant. I just want a bloody keyboard/workstation/synth thingy that has good-enough action and a screen like the JP80 so I can just plug my headphones in, turn the computer off, and play away :/ [sp]bwah first world problems[/sp]
[QUOTE=paindoc;51214037]Ughhhh so after seeing all the stuff roland is releasing/has released this year I was hoping Jupiter 50's/80's would drop in price, but I'm not seeing much. I might just bite the bullet though, instead of working 10hrs a week like I thought I would be this academic quarter I'm working closer to 24/wk for as long as they'll have me. I really, [I]really[/I] just want a machine with nice action and a diverse library that I can play with. I also still haven't made music since I did that film score. That honestly just completely massacred my interest in making music for fun. I never even got paid for it either, despite the director promising payment. Same thing happened with writing articles for that one website: I had written four articles for them in less than two weeks, each nearly 2000 words and featuring loads of pictures, and sent them to them but never saw them get published and never got paid again. They also haven't contacted me since then, and I had started developing a few other ideas. It was all just tons of work, and make music feel like work instead of a fun or relaxing activity. Be careful of doing that, unless you're sure you want music to become like that for you. I like my job, but I also like having weekends off to just not have to do anything with it. Playing music is still great though, but being in an apartment means that having the room to setup my computer + keyboard + synths all together just isn't possible. I end up with my KB at a 90 degree angle to my computer and stuff, and can never see what I'm doing and its not easy to just swap instruments or adjust parameters. So that's my mostly off-topic rant. I just want a bloody keyboard/workstation/synth thingy that has good-enough action and a screen like the JP80 so I can just plug my headphones in, turn the computer off, and play away :/ [sp]bwah first world problems[/sp][/QUOTE] Yea most of the time those "anyone can write articles for us" blogs or random kids asking for music scores don't pay, but at the same time you can always put that stuff on your resume so it's not a total loss. Getting an external synth is a really good idea though. I remember you said you have a JD-Xi but I forget if you have anything else. If not, I get where you are coming from, since minikeys are not the most fun things to play for long periods of time. Workstations are cool, but just not for me. Usually when I use "real instrument" sounds in my music I either just get a hold of the instrument myself or call a friend who is good at whatever instrument I'm not good at and just mic them up. The only one that kind of interests me in the Yamaha Montage, but that is only because it has a crazy 8-operator FM synthesizer built in so I can just make whatever sound I want to on it. Not a selling point though because I should just code my own FM synth rather than paying $2,000 to use one. :v: You can always just blow off the whole workstation thing and buy the new roland boutiques. Got to jam with them a few weeks ago, alongside analog clones of the 909 and 303, and they sounded pretty good. The tb-3 was still a little off from a real 303 to my ears, but who really cares at this point. Also since the original tb-303 and tr-909 were branded as replacements for bass guitarists and jazz drummers, you can ditch your dubstep thing in order to be the future-jazz band roland desperately wished was formed back in the 80s! [sp]If I ever got a real 909 and 303 I would so just become a weird jazz musician just to make all the vintage synth nuts really angry.[/sp]
[QUOTE=splenda;51214360]Yea most of the time those "anyone can write articles for us" blogs or random kids asking for music scores don't pay, but at the same time you can always put that stuff on your resume so it's not a total loss. Getting an external synth is a really good idea though. I remember you said you have a JD-Xi but I forget if you have anything else. If not, I get where you are coming from, since minikeys are not the most fun things to play for long periods of time. Workstations are cool, but just not for me. Usually when I use "real instrument" sounds in my music I either just get a hold of the instrument myself or call a friend who is good at whatever instrument I'm not good at and just mic them up. The only one that kind of interests me in the Yamaha Montage, but that is only because it has a crazy 8-operator FM synthesizer built in so I can just make whatever sound I want to on it. Not a selling point though because I should just code my own FM synth rather than paying $2,000 to use one. :v: You can always just blow off the whole workstation thing and buy the new roland boutiques. Got to jam with them a few weeks ago, alongside analog clones of the 909 and 303, and they sounded pretty good. The tb-3 was still a little off from a real 303 to my ears, but who really cares at this point. Also since the original tb-303 and tr-909 were branded as replacements for bass guitarists and jazz drummers, you can ditch your dubstep thing in order to be the future-jazz band roland desperately wished was formed back in the 80s! [sp]If I ever got a real 909 and 303 I would so just become a weird jazz musician just to make all the vintage synth nuts really angry.[/sp][/QUOTE] Yeah, the JD-Xi is great fun to just play with and I don't really want to sell it - buuuut minikeys get old eventually and its sound pallete is a bit limited. It has a really deep sound engine, but its a pain in the dick to edit. The JD-XA and that other new Sytem8 thingy are more in the right direction, but still not what I really want. I do want to sell the JV-1080 though, since it also is not what I need atm. Same with the MIDI keyboard I bought, the Novation SL2 is about as good as Midi keyboards get under $500 but if I get a nice KB I'd hardly need that anymore. Not blowing the whole workstation thing off though, as lovely as the new boutiques are. Worst case I'd shoot for an FA08. The JP80 has all the synth legends sound expansions anyways [sp]I would pay to see you do that, to further deepen the anger felt by those sorts and /r/synthesizers especially[/sp]
[QUOTE=paindoc;51216791]Yeah, the JD-Xi is great fun to just play with and I don't really want to sell it - buuuut minikeys get old eventually and its sound pallete is a bit limited. It has a really deep sound engine, but its a pain in the dick to edit. The JD-XA and that other new Sytem8 thingy are more in the right direction, but still not what I really want. I do want to sell the JV-1080 though, since it also is not what I need atm. Same with the MIDI keyboard I bought, the Novation SL2 is about as good as Midi keyboards get under $500 but if I get a nice KB I'd hardly need that anymore. Not blowing the whole workstation thing off though, as lovely as the new boutiques are. Worst case I'd shoot for an FA08. The JP80 has all the synth legends sound expansions anyways [sp]I would pay to see you do that, to further deepen the anger felt by those sorts and /r/synthesizers especially[/sp][/QUOTE] Do you have any requirements for your next synth, maybe I can help you pick something. I've at least tried almost every synth on the market, as well as many of the classic vintage ones, so I have a pretty good repertoire of knowledge. But yea I was very unimpressed by the big roland synths from this year, and last. The JD-Xi is really annoying to use, since it has that really esoteric voicing structure, not really sure how they could make this better but then again I am not a synth designer, and that glossy panel with dull red text, this is just a nightmare. Like it sounds alright, but it's just not for me. Also the System 8 feels kind of late to the party and overpriced, especially considering Behringer's 12 voice analog (ok DCOs but whatever) synth is coming out soon. Guess Roland is banking on the fact no one wants to be caught dead with a piece of Behringer gear on stage. :v: Also I'm not a fan of the green roland is sticking on everything now-a-days. It reminds me of those gaming mouse and keyboard brands who put jarring colors on all their stuff.
[QUOTE=splenda;51216918]Do you have any requirements for your next synth, maybe I can help you pick something. I've at least tried almost every synth on the market, as well as many of the classic vintage ones, so I have a pretty good repertoire of knowledge. But yea I was very unimpressed by the big roland synths from this year, and last. The JD-Xi is really annoying to use, since it has that really esoteric voicing structure, not really sure how they could make this better but then again I am not a synth designer, and that glossy panel with dull red text, this is just a nightmare. Like it sounds alright, but it's just not for me. Also the System 8 feels kind of late to the party and overpriced, especially considering Behringer's 12 voice analog (ok DCOs but whatever) synth is coming out soon. Guess Roland is banking on the fact no one wants to be caught dead with a piece of Behringer gear on stage. :v: Also I'm not a fan of the green roland is sticking on everything now-a-days. It reminds me of those gaming mouse and keyboard brands who put jarring colors on all their stuff.[/QUOTE] I think you can justify red light, as red light is the least likely to reset your eye's adjustment to darkness. So if you're on a dark stage, your red lights aren't blinding you or your fellows. Not so with green lights. Backlit items can be great, but they need more thought than just ~future aesthetic~ I've listened to and played with a lot of synths as well, but I'm pretty sure I don't really want a synth. If I do any further music work, its not going to be in a genre or function that requires me to use synth-y sounds alone. I need the wide gamut a workstation machine offers, so I can cover everything from lovely strings and, yes, the occasional synth, but also have the ability to get deep customization. When you get into this higher-end market, I think it is also really important to find a machine with a sound library you like, and I've looked at Yamaha's line of workstations and just been pretty unimpressed with their sound library. I even like Roland's acoustic instrument sounds more than some of the fancy cinematic libraries I've played with, and the supernatural tech works [I]really[/I] well for expressive string instruments. I'm watching Ebay and CL for Jupiter 80's, and I'm pretty settled on one of those. I'll be waiting a few months too, to make sure my budget is on track and that I have enough money in the bank to safely make this purchase. Hopefully be able to scope a deal too. The price has dropped a bit, but not much, so they're usually findable for about $1800 [editline]17th October 2016[/editline] well, correction. I'm set on an FA-08 or Jupiter 80. Gotta do a bit more research about about the FA-08, but Roland's sound library has long been my favorite.
[QUOTE=paindoc;51217110]I think you can justify red light, as red light is the least likely to reset your eye's adjustment to darkness. So if you're on a dark stage, your red lights aren't blinding you or your fellows. Not so with green lights. Backlit items can be great, but they need more thought than just ~future aesthetic~ I've listened to and played with a lot of synths as well, but I'm pretty sure I don't really want a synth. If I do any further music work, its not going to be in a genre or function that requires me to use synth-y sounds alone. I need the wide gamut a workstation machine offers, so I can cover everything from lovely strings and, yes, the occasional synth, but also have the ability to get deep customization. When you get into this higher-end market, I think it is also really important to find a machine with a sound library you like, and I've looked at Yamaha's line of workstations and just been pretty unimpressed with their sound library. I even like Roland's acoustic instrument sounds more than some of the fancy cinematic libraries I've played with, and the supernatural tech works [I]really[/I] well for expressive string instruments. I'm watching Ebay and CL for Jupiter 80's, and I'm pretty settled on one of those. I'll be waiting a few months too, to make sure my budget is on track and that I have enough money in the bank to safely make this purchase. Hopefully be able to scope a deal too. The price has dropped a bit, but not much, so they're usually findable for about $1800 [editline]17th October 2016[/editline] well, correction. I'm set on an FA-08 or Jupiter 80. Gotta do a bit more research about about the FA-08, but Roland's sound library has long been my favorite.[/QUOTE] Oh alright I thought you wanted a workstation but your mention of the JD-Xa and the System-8 kind of threw me off for a second. The Roland workstations sound really good, so there is not much downside to them. The only thing that I can think of is I don't think you can expand the RAM on the synth, like you can with stuff like the Korg Kronos that just takes normal laptop ram cards, but idk how important that is to you. The supernatural engine is very nice for converting normal piano style playing to playing styles of other instruments, so in some ways it has an edge to the millions of kontakt libraries out there where the sample size might be significantly larger, but you have to adjust how you play the notes. Also if I remember correctly the jupiter-80 has a pretty powerful VA synth component too, so you very well could use it for most of your synth parts too, rather than just as an added extra. NAMM is coming up in a bit too, so maybe Roland might be saving their workstation announcement for that, did seem weird that they announced stuff in basically every one of their product categories except workstations on 909 day. If so, I bet the price of the jupiter-80 will drop, or maybe the fabled new workstation will be better. I do agree with the not settling part of your statement though. Go for the sound you want, instead of the sounds other people tell you to want. Like if it was me I would spend the $1800 on a bunch of new eurorack modules to add to my west coast rack, but that is pretty much the opposite direction that you want to go (aka melodic instruments and the bridging of acoustic and electric in your soundscapes.) Tbh now that I think about it I would probably just buy this single module instead: [t]http://buchla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/200e_250e-510x510.jpg[/t] but one made before Don sold the company because the quality has taken a dive. [editline]17th October 2016[/editline] You can always get the XPS-10 for its Indian Tones [sp]for some reason there are a ridiculous number of videos of this weird keyboard only showing off Indian sounds.[/sp] [video=youtube;DucVzgUYe8Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DucVzgUYe8Q[/video]
[QUOTE=splenda;51217646]Oh alright I thought you wanted a workstation but your mention of the JD-Xa and the System-8 kind of threw me off for a second. The Roland workstations sound really good, so there is not much downside to them. The only thing that I can think of is I don't think you can expand the RAM on the synth, like you can with stuff like the Korg Kronos that just takes normal laptop ram cards, but idk how important that is to you. The supernatural engine is very nice for converting normal piano style playing to playing styles of other instruments, so in some ways it has an edge to the millions of kontakt libraries out there where the sample size might be significantly larger, but you have to adjust how you play the notes. Also if I remember correctly the jupiter-80 has a pretty powerful VA synth component too, so you very well could use it for most of your synth parts too, rather than just as an added extra. NAMM is coming up in a bit too, so maybe Roland might be saving their workstation announcement for that, did seem weird that they announced stuff in basically every one of their product categories except workstations on 909 day. If so, I bet the price of the jupiter-80 will drop, or maybe the fabled new workstation will be better. I do agree with the not settling part of your statement though. Go for the sound you want, instead of the sounds other people tell you to want. Like if it was me I would spend the $1800 on a bunch of new eurorack modules to add to my west coast rack, but that is pretty much the opposite direction that you want to go (aka melodic instruments and the bridging of acoustic and electric in your soundscapes.) Tbh now that I think about it I would probably just buy this single module instead: [t]http://buchla.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/200e_250e-510x510.jpg[/t] but one made before Don sold the company because the quality has taken a dive. [editline]17th October 2016[/editline] You can always get the XPS-10 for its Indian Tones [sp]for some reason there are a ridiculous number of videos of this weird keyboard only showing off Indian sounds.[/sp] [video=youtube;DucVzgUYe8Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DucVzgUYe8Q[/video][/QUOTE] Hell, I keep forgetting about NAMM. I'll be they make a workstation announcement then. They released the new Juno's, but that's the only vaguely workstation-like machine they've dropped lately. Something new akin to the FA06/FA08 would make sense, my only gripe about those is that the screen isn't as nice as the JP80. It feels like, in 2016, with usable big LCDs costing literally less than $10 a pop that more workstations should have big honking screens for editing things on.
[QUOTE=paindoc;51217892]Hell, I keep forgetting about NAMM. I'll be they make a workstation announcement then. They released the new Juno's, but that's the only vaguely workstation-like machine they've dropped lately. Something new akin to the FA06/FA08 would make sense, my only gripe about those is that the screen isn't as nice as the JP80. It feels like, in 2016, with usable big LCDs costing literally less than $10 a pop that more workstations should have big honking screens for editing things on.[/QUOTE] You are talking about an industry who still thinks that a few megabytes of storage for samplers is totally reasonable. Even the [url=https://www.pioneerdj.com/en-us/product/production/toraiz-sp-16/black/overview/]Toraiz[/url] only has 8 gigs of memory in it, and that is a $1500 piece of kit. Also the max sample length is still 32 seconds on that machine, which is really inexcusable. Like I get the argument about limitations breeding creativity, but at the same time, instrument manufacturers like to live like it's still the early 90s.
[QUOTE=splenda;51218044]You are talking about an industry who still thinks that a few megabytes of storage for samplers is totally reasonable. Even the [url=https://www.pioneerdj.com/en-us/product/production/toraiz-sp-16/black/overview/]Toraiz[/url] only has 8 gigs of memory in it, and that is a $1500 piece of kit. Also the max sample length is still 32 seconds on that machine, which is really inexcusable. Like I get the argument about limitations breeding creativity, but at the same time, instrument manufacturers like to live like it's still the early 90s.[/QUOTE] It's doubly retarded because of how much the electronics market, particularly for small, power-efficient, and dense hardware has advanced recently. There are tons and tons of high-power chips out there capable of doing significant amounts of DSP work, and I'm not even considering thing's like FPGA's (which can do DSP really really fast, or be made into "virtual analog"-like machines). Not to mention the explosion in the single-board computer market, and the System-on-a-Chip market. Raspberry Pi's aren't alone suited to the sort of synth work I think would be required of them, but for a large synth company getting someone in-house to design hardware using late SoC's for the core (capable of addressing up 8gb of RAM easy), some DSP processors that interface with the core, and some decent ADC's/DAC's should not be difficult or prohibitive. But yeah, here we sit, with PCM waveforms and other workaround methods dominating the market. welp. [editline]17th October 2016[/editline] as reference, the chip/computer that will be forming the core of the cubesat for the club I used to work with cost us $25, and that was for the fancy broken-out prototyping friendly edition. The actual chip itself is about $8. and this is for a satellite, managing everything from navigation, to communications (w/ 256 bit encryption), power management, etc. so they have no excuses. [editline]17th October 2016[/editline] goddamnit splenda now im browsing TI's website and looking at SoC's and/or FPGA's I can play with
Speaking of gear, I lost the power cable for my rd 800 while moving :( can I buy another straight from Roland (for a price that isnt insane hopefully?)
[QUOTE=Maveraux;51219189]Speaking of gear, I lost the power cable for my rd 800 while moving :( can I buy another straight from Roland (for a price that isnt insane hopefully?)[/QUOTE] From what I can tell it's just a standard power cable so anything like [url=http://www.parts-express.com/as-nzs-3112-2-pole-plug-to-c7p-polarized-6-ft-power-cord-18-2--110-113?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pla]this[/url] will work.
Not sure if anyone is into this kind of music (some of you must be) but just produced what I feel is a banger, would like some feedback. Feel like I did quite well on this one. [media]https://soundcloud.com/jaooe/ft-biggie[/media]
It could use a bass. Not a fan of the genre (what even is it?), the lead thing takes too long to modulate as well. It relies too much on the vocals.
[QUOTE=Ott;51223533]It could use a bass. Not a fan of the genre (what even is it?), the lead thing takes too long to modulate as well. It relies too much on the vocals.[/QUOTE] There's definitely some bass... What did you listen on? I'm using headphones and can feel the sub-bass. Yet to listen on speakers and don't have monitors. I don't know what the genre is, I guess I had dubstep in mind.. Thanks for the feedback though, I agree about the vocals, oh well :dead:
[QUOTE=jaooe;51223783]There's definitely some bass... What did you listen on? I'm using headphones and can feel the sub-bass. Yet to listen on speakers and don't have monitors. I don't know what the genre is, I guess I had dubstep in mind.. Thanks for the feedback though, I agree about the vocals, oh well :dead:[/QUOTE] I can barely hear the bass too (or at least I think that is bass before "the drop" or whatever.) You shouldn't be sectioning your music to certain listening environments, so saying that the bass is there isn't really an excuse. Your song should sound more or less the same on the best speaker array and on shitty laptop speakers. You want your bass to be heard in all listening environments. Also the vocals cut off really weirdly. Biggie is in the middle of a word and the song just ends. It's pretty jarring. Since Ott already gave you feedback, I'll let it slide for this, but next time [b]post feedback on another person's song in the thread before posting your own music!!!![/b] If you don't, it makes it seem like you are very entitled, and is generally toxic for this type of thread that can only survive based on community feedback. [editline]18th October 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Warship;51212826]Listening to the mixtape right now, digging it so far! I'll be back with more feedback when I've heard it all. Is there a way we could get a download of it? Edit: Sick use of sampling, sounds like you know what you're doing. There's a gritty, dark tone to most of the tracks and it feels authentic (If that makes any sense). Princess Diane can only be described as creepy and interesting. Also digging the trap elements in Fugazi, what kind of bass is that even? Nice use of the brass. Sweet drums and guitar sample in Seafoam (Assuming it's sampling). Desperado's probably my favorite track. I'll say that a couple of the tracks are a bit boring to me, but I'm also a pretty light hiphop listener so it could just be me. Also lol at the outro in Kaiju. But keep it up dude! I was at some underground nightclub yesterday night to 6 in the morning, so I was exposed to house music for a long time. Today I woke up and made one of the housiest tracks I've ever done, probably. Made it pretty quickly, and the mastering could be better, but I'm trying to not be a perfectionist. [media]https://soundcloud.com/thedanielholt/wasting-my-time[/media][/QUOTE] Few things: First, the intro reverb thing is kind of weird. Like its a good idea, but poor execution, maybe ease into it a bit more instead of just going from 0-100-0. Your low tom, I think that is what it is, kind of rides on a mess of low end. Tame the bottom of your song and it will hit harder. The tambourine, or whatever, could use a touch of reverb to sit more in the mix. I don't really like the transition at 2:08, too much energy is lost. Also your drum beat, while nice, could use some "ghost snares" at the last big part of the track. Like just through some quiet snare-y or clap sounds that float around the beat to liven it up. Overall nice song though!
[QUOTE=splenda;51223940] Few things: First, the intro reverb thing is kind of weird. Like its a good idea, but poor execution, maybe ease into it a bit more instead of just going from 0-100-0. Your low tom, I think that is what it is, kind of rides on a mess of low end. Tame the bottom of your song and it will hit harder. The tambourine, or whatever, could use a touch of reverb to sit more in the mix. I don't really like the transition at 2:08, too much energy is lost. Also your drum beat, while nice, could use some "ghost snares" at the last big part of the track. Like just through some quiet snare-y or clap sounds that float around the beat to liven it up. Overall nice song though![/QUOTE] I agree with most things you said. I kinda regret posting it because I can do better and it was completed in less than 5 hours. But not every track has to be a masterpiece either I suppose. I just completed something I'm quite a bit more proud of - Also spent more time on the mastering than I usually do. I'll post it later.
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