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ryg0r
Advanced Member
Australia
2,807 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
34 hardcore releases
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 Posted - 2002/09/20 : 00:17:13
Thats right!! I want to break the circle of spinning and I want to make stuff live!!
I'm not sure what I need, however - a good 303 clone (FR-777) and some synths, a drum machine, a sequncer and finally a mixer.
But I need names of equipment. What is a good synth, drum machine (etc, etc....) and how would I link it so I could play live? I know the BT has shunned MIDI, but I don't know!!
Help me, help you.
-=[ryg0r]=-
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Soren
Senior Member
United States
499 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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 Posted - 2002/09/20 : 05:37:53
BT uses MIDI in his live sets. Just not for his main lead sounds. But he has been playing piano since he was like 4 and was trained for 20 years on classical music so he doesn't need MIDI to have his leads trigger on time cause he's so damn good with keyboard playing.
As far as live you basically have 2 main choices: Laptop or Hardware.
With a laptop I'd suggest going with a Mac, a MOTU 828, and Digital Performer. Then you'd need a (soft)synth and a (soft)sampler. With this setup you don't need a mixer.
For hardware the possibilities are pretty much endless. Right now however IMHO the best live setup would be a synth of your choice and an Akai Z4/Z8 sampler. The Akai Z series are great samplers and will function nicely as your main sampler/drum machine and they can play MIDI files so once you get your set designed in a sequencing program you can dump it off to the Akai and it'll be your sequencer too. It's pretty sweet.
For hard synths i'd suggest checking out the Novation Nova, Access Virus C, and Waldorf Q+. They run about $600/$1400/$2200 respectively and are all very nice.
For soft-synths and samplers i'd suggest checking out all the Native Instruments stuff. It's all great and IMO is the best stuff out there right now :)
For mixers i'd suggest a Mackie 1202 or 1402 VLZ Pro. They are v-good and super solid, but a bit pricey.
EDIT: Oh yeah about 303 "clones". The FR-777 is NOT a good 303 clone. Although it does make some great Acid lines they don't sound like a 303. Plus it doesn't accept controller info for filters or just about anything else. I think the 777 is a great analog acid line mono-synth, but if you compare it directly to a 303 it doesn't sound the same at all.
The only 2 synths that actually sound like a 303 are the TBS-303 and the Syntechno TeeBee. Both are made from the originall TB-303 parts and sound dead on. However both are also no longer made and are pretty hard to find in the used market. If you do find one they run about $300-$400 which is cheap compared to a real 303. Also, both the TBS and TeeBee have built in MIDI and accept controller info for filter and resonance and everything which makes them pretty rocking little 303's for a way cheaper price.
The other thing about 303 sounds is that everyone uses lots of distortion and reverb on the signal so you will need an effects processor. Either a decent external box or some software plugins to go with a 303/TBS/TeeBee.
Which leads you to software. There is also Rebirth and Muon Tau. Both replicate the 303 tonal sound fairly well, however when you start giving them rapid velocity, filter, and other parameter changes you can definitely hear a clear difference between them and a real 303. They also sound a bit digital and flat in a direct comparison, but hey they are damn cheap compared to a 303 and the "light" version of Muon Tau is free. All you need is a reverb and a distortion plugin (Rebirth comes with both) and you're all set. And 99% of the people won't know the difference :)
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Edited by - Soren on 2002/09/20 06:25:56 |
ryg0r
Advanced Member
Australia
2,807 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
34 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2002/09/22 : 19:06:28
I'm thinking of hardware - crowd interaction and those lovely knobs!!
But I've experienced (I don't know about you) quite a bit of latentcy with Midi on my pc. 150ms I think.
I've being playing the tuned percussion since I was 6.
What do Scooter use? (Or rathe what did they use?) What about synths? Like the Supernova and stuff, whats so good about them?
Do mixers really make much of differnce? All these questions!!
And 303's - Do ravers know the difference? After thats what live sets are for!!
What I want to be able to do is: Play notes on a synth, record them to a sequencer so that it can loop. Then Layer more stuff on top - add some drums, a 303-ish sound and away you go!!
Thanx for the info
-=[ryg0r]=-
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Soren
Senior Member
United States
499 posts
Joined: Mar, 2001
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Posted - 2002/09/23 : 05:42:21
"I'm thinking of hardware - crowd interaction and those lovely knobs!!"
I like that idea too, as soon as I get enough good tracks worked out i'm gonna buy a Akai Z4 and dump all my samples onto it and use it live with a Virus.
"But I've experienced (I don't know about you) quite a bit of latentcy with Midi on my pc. 150ms I think."
You have a soundblaster? Latency is 100% based on your soundcard, the drivers for it, and your OS. I have a Delta 66 and Windows 2000 Pro and I get 4ms latency. And if I reduce the samples I can get it down to 1, but I can't tell the difference between 1 and 4 so I go with a better setting.
"I've being playing the tuned percussion since I was 6."
What's tuned percussion? Like drums? I've never learned about real stuff :)
"What about synths? Like the Supernova and stuff, whats so good about them?"
Honestly? Not much. Personally I love the knobs on synths, but you can get cheap controllers to do that now too. But if you don't wanna bring a computer on stage then you need at least 1 "hard" synth. But really all the VA synths like the Supernova and Virus are just sofware being run by computer chips in a handy box with added knobs.
"Do mixers really make much of differnce? All these questions!!"
Yes, you need one for doing live stuff and mastering tracks. You need all the EQ's and need the effects sends if you have an external FX processor or wanna run stuff back thru your computer FX plugins. Even if you have EQ's built into you synth and sampler having a mixer with EQ's is really nice cause you can pre-EQ on the mixer and then finalize on the Synth/Sampler and it's much much faster.
"And 303's - Do ravers know the difference? After thats what live sets are for!!"
I'd say that maybe 1 in every 1000 would know the differnce in Acid lines. Do you want a real 303 sound? Have you listened to them a lot? Most songs with Acid lines now a days don't use a 303. It's a certain sound and if you don't specifically know what it is and want it then it's probably not worth paying for. Just about any synth can do a decent Acid line, and not only will ravers not know the difference, but most producers won't either.
"What I want to be able to do is: Play notes on a synth, record them to a sequencer so that it can loop. Then Layer more stuff on top - add some drums, a 303-ish sound and away you go!!"
Sounds good!
EDIT: Well I guess you don't "need" a hard-synth, you could just use samples (either from the net or ones you sample yourself).
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Happy Hardcore makes me feel like a Koala bear just crapped a rainbow in my brain.
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Edited by - Soren on 2002/09/23 05:45:58 |
ryg0r
Advanced Member
Australia
2,807 posts
Joined: Aug, 2002
34 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2002/09/24 : 01:06:08
The piano, in an orchestra is actually percussion. It works on hammers hitting strings. And becuase of this hitting action, its tuned percussion.
Some trivia for you!
-=[ryg0r]=-
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