The Hardware Megathread

#2596

Hand count, who’s up for a groovebox challenge thing?
I promise the winner will not get a picture from Relic!

#2597

Modern MPCs feel like cheating against the spirit of this thing. They just do so much, and 8 tracks in stand alone is hardly a limitation when all the drums can easily go into one Drum Program on one track, and you still get 4 effects per pad/sound, and 4 effects for the whole Program on top of it. There is a lot of mileage to be had with eight tracks on a device like these.

Something like an Octatrack, also with eight tracks, is obviously much more limited in that it has two effects per track, and if you want more you have to literally eat into your audio track count. It has its own tricks, of course, like sample chains/p-locks, Master FX on track 8, but that’s just how you work it for maximum firepower. It’s 10 year old sampling groovebox at this point.

I’d wonder if a modern MPC should be limited to… 4 tracks? 2 seems too stringent. 1 track for drums plus 3 to do whatever you want with still gives a lot of options. I’m not familiar enough with boxes like the Digitakt to know how well they’d compare with their full 8 track count coming to bear. But then again, I don’t want to tell people how to use whatever it is they have to work with, either. I definitely wouldn’t be “in it to win it” XD I haven’t done nearly as much as I could have during quarantine =/

#2598

Count me in.

I already have pictures of relic so I don’t need any anyway.

#2599

Sounds like so far 3 people are in.

Just to reiterate a view points:

  1. I know I brought it up in the first place, but now I’m feeling like we are getting lost in the details with the restrictions. For now, if I’m going to be in charge of the thing, people using MPCs, DAWs and other super powerful options can come up with their own set of limitations per project.

  2. Which leads me to my next point. For myself, I don’t really care about voting or winners (I will send everyone a dick pic). I just want to make music and see how and what people come up with something.

If we want to formalize things as we go that’s fine with me. Let’s get the momentum going first and if there is energy behind the project we can use it on those things later.

#2600

I’m planning on using the Cycles only, but we’re allowing RfuckingJ with Maschine+, we can spoil his new toy with more limits.

But I see what you mean, modern MPC are pretty much DAW experience, especially with the latest updates…

As you’re obviously being forced to join, posting in this thread is an insta-subscription, what will your weapon be?

#2601

Anyone have thoughts on a theme for the first go? Again, I was thinking like seasonal (like summer dance/minimal winter) or genre themes or like a vibe or incorporating a certain kind of classic synth patch or something. I dunno. edit: all these ideas are kinda ultra dorky, just spitballing

#2602

I like the seasonal thing. classic synth patches sounds fun, too, though depending on what it is, might have to be a sample everyone spins or figures out how to recreate it on a synth they do have access to, too. Possible ideas for future… well, I guess not contests. Not sure what the word is here for people all making beats/songs around a theme but not in competition or collaboration XD

Songsmithing? :smiley:

#2603

For the first one what if we just kept it real vague and open?

Use a single box.
Limit yourself using your own conscience while considering the spirit of the activity.
Post your track along with a few words about what you did, how you did it, your inspirations, and state your own imposed limitations.

Following that we can then identify as a group what worked, what didn’t, and decide any limitations we want to put forward on the next one if needed, using specific themes or categories as well at that point in time.

#2604

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#2605

Mic it up and groove it, mang.

#2606

probably my MPC tbh. I’d likely limit myself to say, four tracks and maybe even 2 effects per pad/track. i dunno really. Drums/percussion/samples, bass, lead, and pad sound should suffice for most of it.

#2607

One Box Challenge

#2608

I’m in, sounds interesting. Probably will do it with the Octatrack, using only one sample as limitation.

#2609

Sounds like some kind of monogomy thing one of those hipster churches. Like Promise Keepers for dudes with ironic moustaches…

#2610

as you remind me of the slang term box… :woman_facepalming:t2: :joy:

#2611

Apparently channeling my inner 13 year old boy this morning. I like to consider myself a switch - I can go either Bevis or Butthead.

To the actual topic at hand: anyone have any hands-on experience with Symbolic Sound hardware? Capybara, Paca, etc? I’ve been curious about the whole Kyma ecosphere for a while, watched lots of videos, talked to a couple of movie industry folks that use them, but don’t really have a bead on what working with one is like, especially for music production audio design.

#2612

Well this is kinda interesting.

https://www.grappendorf.net/projects/eurorack/korg-volca-panels.html

Was thinking about putting my Volca Drum and Sample into something not dedicated to just them, and that’s a solution… I looked at generic rack mounting and that seems tricky to find. But I have the eurorack rails to put them into carriers like this and then into a rack XD

And in news unrelated to synths… I have a great need…

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#2613

I’ve been thinking the same thing for like two days, I’m just glad someone else said it so that I can keep some semblance of maturity on here.

I do a lot of “that’s what she said” too.

#2614

Unfortunately I know almost nothing about Kyma.

My partner and I joke that our senses of humor are stunted at 12 years old. The weird mustache Christian hipster one box challenge is indeed, hilarious.

#2615

To be fair, I know very little about Kyma as well, except it looks like a ridiculous playground for sound stuff - way beyond anything you’d find in a DAW. The barrier of entry is a lot of cash (or ‘some cash’, if you go used and older) and being tied to a specific piece of hardware a la Avid Protools, along with some limited I/O stuff. Also, a woefully shitty 90s GUI.

To morph two sounds you run them through an analysis process which creates a special non-audio file that includes all of the ingredients needed to rebuild the sound, and then plug them into one of the morphing modules.

After analysis pitch, timbre and time stretching can all be controlled independently, and with only a little more effort you can morph manually with a slider, or under LFO or envelope control.

You can also control a morph by listening to incoming audio, and pick out whatever feature you want to use as a controller - from average loudness, to the volume of one very specific frequency band.

That sounds fucking ridiculous. Possibly tedious, but awesome.