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Sizone covered most of the bases. If you had talked to me 10 years ago, I would have agreed: why not use a vastly superior multi-purpose machine? Hell, I would have even advocated developing my own sequencer application if I didn't like the interface of existing products. But living the hell that is IT maintenance, I don't want to touch a desktop/laptop/tablet computer in my off-hours. Every time I have tried to make music on the computer, it has been a chore. Every time I sit down with the SP-505, I can put my ideas down in no time. The SP-505 does not meet my needs with respect to sequencing, as it is designed to sequence its internal voice banks. So I'm replacing the 505 with something that works better with my hardware is all. QY700 is right out. There has been a WANTED:QY700 @ $400 ad on Kijiji since the beginning of March. The QY70 only has a single MIDI In/Out, so it's a bit less flexible. Also I really don't need the on-board sound, the on-board styles / accompaniment, the mini keyboard, or the portability. So it's a less than ideal option. The MC80 fits the functionality bill, but the seller has gone AWOL on me, so I guess I have a little more time to search.
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Jun 12, 2014 14:48
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Startyde posted:e- Almost forgot, there's also the MV30 which is, iirc, more directly built on the MC500 with a U220/D70 bolted on. They seem to be going for very cheap, never had one. Well, that would round out my 80s digital fetish with the DX7. Probably hen's teeth though. I had not really been looking at MPCs, but a 500 might be in the price range. Single MIDI I/O, so same complaint as the QY70, but the sampling aspect adds some value. Thanks again! edit: Is that tiny screen going to be an obstacle for sequencing external tracks? Tan Dumplord fucked around with this message at 13:15 on Jun 13, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 13:11
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Hmm yeah, I guess the 500 is not for me. Maybe I'll get lucky on a 1000.
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Jun 13, 2014 19:31
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:Reminder that a dirt cheap computer is far more fun for drums and midi than a thousand dollar dedicated sequencer. That's debatable. Maybe I just haven't used the best software, but I find the mouse and GUI a lovely tool for live composition / jamming. Also I won't be spending a thousand dollars. 
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Jun 13, 2014 21:05
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The Alesis iO Dock II alone costs more than a used hardware sequencer, though.
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Jun 13, 2014 21:17
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:a hammer to hit yourself in the dick with is cheaper as well, which is arguably more efficient than hardware sampler/sequencers since at least you're getting instant percussion. Can you point to the part on this doll where the hardware sequencer touched you? It's okay, it can't hurt you any more.
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Jun 13, 2014 22:56
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Over the forums outage, I've finally passed GAS. I managed to locate a QY700 in my price range. It's pretty good. Not only am I able to produce jams at a ridiculous rate, I can also reproduce sheet music almost perfectly in the step sequencer. And it's actually quick to do so thanks to the computer keyboard style numpad, cursor, and command keys. Now, if I could read sheet music quickly... It's not the best for live song-making: looping in song mode produces a slight but noticeable delay on loop, and you need to stop the sequencer to switch between recording user phrases in pattern mode. But with a little bit of prep, it works fine for jamming. As a linear sequencer, however, I can't imagine a quicker workflow. The jobs really do cover all of the bases for manipulating data. And as mentioned, dedicated keys + numpad + MIDI keyboard = wicked fast data entry. The quantization templates seemed useless until I wrapped my head around them and tried them on hi-hat 16ths and 32nds. It's great that they can be selected and adjusted on-the-fly, and you can 'render' them to the track if you want to keep them. The only bug I have found is that the MIDI filter won't actually filter out program changes, which was a pain in the rear end because in pattern mode it sends a PC at the beginning of each phrase or pattern loop. It was a big problem at first because you can't compose a phrase or pattern with no program number. Luckily my synths' input filters work fine. Overall, pretty happy I didn't buy a lesser device, such as an iPad.
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Jun 26, 2014 14:40
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Love the 1U module above the Virus. "Product name? How about a shitton of knobs, switches and buttons instead?"
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Jun 26, 2014 18:49
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Look ma, no computers! It's the year 2014 and I'm making MIDI files and saving them on floppy disks. The QY is a total beast for entering sheet music. Even my wife, who wouldn't normally touch anything but a Real Piano, sat down with 10 minutes of tutoring and banged out a few pieces in an evening.
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Jul 2, 2014 16:22
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After playing with the Minibrute and ms20 mini for a couple of hours at the store, I have to say that I'm disillusioned about the analogue / VA divide. I failed to find anything magical about the sound that I could not reproduce on the KingKorg. Also my coworker brought me his old K1m, and is it ever digital sounding.
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Jul 23, 2014 20:52
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Holy poo poo, I'm in. And it's open source!
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Jul 24, 2014 13:30
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W424 posted:I have one too, it's also really easy to circuit bend. I used mine today on a song after a long time, it's pretty grim. Do you have schematics? I can't imagine using it in its current state. The noise and sample rate aliasing are pretty nasty. The only cool thing about it is the pitch aliasing that happens during a fast pitch bend. Sounds like Nintendo, except there aren't any nice sounding pulse waves.
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Jul 24, 2014 20:00
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I just meant that none of the pulse waves sounded nice. Guess I've found a temporary use for the spare patch bay. Once I figure out which are the *nice* pin combinations, I'll rig up some toggle switches. Thanks!
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Jul 25, 2014 13:37
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Looks like the Aira series got a big update, which could be either interpreted as Roland listening to feedback, or Roland releasing incomplete products. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYCZJAEMQgk
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Jul 25, 2014 16:55
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In learned order: BASIC, C, C++, Java, Perl, Javascript, C#/.net, Python, Dart In practical use: Python There are a handful of other languages I've dabbled in (Erlang, R, Forth, Ruby), or had to use for a single project (Lua, a dozen other scripting languages), but I don't remember enough of any of them to develop in them. I find the more notable metric is which paradigms you're able to employ. Really what I know well is the imperative/procedural, object oriented, generic, and metaprogramming paradigms. I get the functional paradigm, but I couldn't sit down and really hammer out something functionally the way I can procedurally.
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Jul 31, 2014 12:50
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Not exactly synthesis related, but I've written a handful of tools for song composition with the Python library Mingus. It doesn't do everything perfectly and the code base hasn't changed in years, but it's cool for what it does. Tools created: Progression suggestion engine Guitar tab to sheet music / notes Sheet music to chord names Those tools are currently in limbo though, having lost the MBP they were on to liquid damage. Due to something with the OS upgrade chain I followed, I can't access that home directory from any computer I attach the drive to. Also, the big project I keep sidelining is a 6-operator Phase Modulation (FM) sound mimicry engine. The idea is you feed it a waveform and it approximates that sound with FM, spitting out the DX7 algorithm / operator configuration parameters. It currently works for static, harmonic waveforms, and it's going to be a long road to evolving ones. I've built rainbow tables of the spectrum distribution of all possible (simple) configurations of DX7 voices minus any envelopes, but now I need to find some way to map vectors through those tables and derive envelope settings for evolving waveforms. The envelopes can be really fast and might have amplitude resolution greater than 11 bits though, so I don't know if my existing tables are good enough and oh god where do I start?
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Jul 31, 2014 15:56
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Picked up a Lexicon MPX500 yesterday and fell in love with my DX7 again. Carefully crafted patches that ended up seeming boring were brought to life with a little chorus/reverb/ambience. The spaciousness of the sound had me looking over my shoulder at things that weren't there. Noise floor of the unit is a bit high though, roughly 15dB above any of my synths -- even the DX7. With the internal gain at -21dB and preamp gain at 0, it really stands out with the faders at 0 against a near-silent DX7 at +6dB preamp and +10dB on the faders. And the FX is running balanced vs. unbalanced to the synths! Luckily the sweet spot for most FX is 100% wet at -10 to -15dB in this configuration. It kind of kills the unit as an insert, but I guess it means I won't have to wear out the stiff-as-poo poo rotary encoder controlling the mix.
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Aug 12, 2014 15:19
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Yeah, I'd be interested in what kind of noise floor that unit has, although it will be hard to A/B them unless we happen to have similarly-specced audio interfaces (Focusrite Scarlett 2i2). Put together a terrible Acid jam on the KingKorg last night with a swirly reverb. It really is remarkable how a smidge of spaciousness improves a sound. Guess I should finally record something.
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Aug 12, 2014 16:34
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Welp, something's wrong with the memory in my E!quipped DX7IIFD. Voices loaded from memory are very quiet. When I investigate their parameters, they seem to be correct. Editing them in situ will never restore their volume. Starting a voice from scratch works alright though. I can load it back after it's saved no problem. So.... maybe it's some hidden parameter that's been set on all stored voices. Maybe some sysex got routed to it by mistake? I just find that hard to believe because it's affected every voice in every bank. Guess this gives me an excuse to finally organise my voice library.
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Aug 13, 2014 00:55
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^^ Dat phaser  Startyde posted:Been forever since I poked an E! but doesn't it add velocity curves? Perhaps one is being applied on load but not on a fresh init? That was it! The velocity curve is a global parameter. I don't tend to add velocity sensitivity to a voice until later, which is why a fresh voice was loud, but other voices were quiet. The velocity sensitivity on this keyboard suuuuuuuucks, so when the curve level was set to 1, it was whisper-quiet even when hammered. Thanks! Tan Dumplord fucked around with this message at 13:25 on Aug 14, 2014 |
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Aug 14, 2014 13:11
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I am completely floored by the concept of granular synthesis. I mean, listen to what an 8 bit micro can do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyM-wk3eelQ When I first heard this, I was absolutely sure that there was an analog filter involved.
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Aug 14, 2014 13:45
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As much as I'm in love with chiptunes, the aliasing on everything I've heard from the Atmegatron really turns me off. I really wanted to want one.
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Aug 19, 2014 03:19
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Farting Robots e: Laserjet 4P posted:ROBOT FART BOX Tan Dumplord fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Aug 20, 2014 |
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Aug 20, 2014 20:23
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So the Lexicon MPX500 has a flanger that can push itself into feedback internally by cranking one of the resonance parameters past 50%/-50%. It sounds great to have a gnarly feedback panning around in stereo space. I wonder though: is it likely to be safe for the hardware? The OVR indicator comes on without the input being driven, so that's worrying.
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Aug 22, 2014 12:50
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4 voices in system 1 mode. Monophonic with the SH-101 plug out.
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Sep 5, 2014 16:00
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The best bass drum on the QY700 also has the worst sample rate aliasing. I keep inserting breakdowns into the challenge song, and the more elements I remove, the more I hear it. It's maddening.
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Sep 6, 2014 20:00
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Startyde posted:Brassy saw from an FM synth. Basically the first voice I ever made on FM. "Boy, two operators are pretty bland. Hey what does feedback do?" Still my go-to worm lead with mod wheel patched to modulator depth. Still don't use more than 2 operators.
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Sep 10, 2014 18:25
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C430AWTvMPs
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Sep 11, 2014 13:01
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If only they could KEEP THE DAMNED STEP SEQUENCER If the KingKorg had a step sequencer or at least an 'as played' option for the arpeggiator I would have been much happier, and would probably not own a hardware sequencer from 1996 ... probably.
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Sep 11, 2014 17:56
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So this time, instead of buying the CZ-1000 that showed up locally, I'm going to try to program Phase Distortion synthesis in Python. Sine waves and sample rate fuckery can't be that hard, can it? Actually tempted to do this on an FPGA instead. It seems REALLY simple in that domain.
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Sep 16, 2014 16:18
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The only part that's going to take either some Casio design docs or some hashing out are the clock speed envelope shapes. Guess I could just simulate for a while and solve for known waveforms. But yeah its super simple to implement. Never tried out the DAC on my dev board, guess it's time to build an audio frontend for it. E: DX FM on FPGA would be a cinch if only because you can follow the Chowning patent. Tan Dumplord fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 01:19
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a_big_dog posted:Anyone know of a decent FM synthesis tutorial/explanation? Especially if it's geared for SuperCollider I liked the Synth Secrets breakdown of it. (edit: Don't miss part 2.) Comedy option: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r8WfV8qpXM In seriousness, I learned all about my DX7IIFD from this sockless freak. Tan Dumplord fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 13:14
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At the same price, I'm torn between the Shruthi-SMR4mkII and DSI Mopho. My guess is that the Mopho is the better unit, but the hackability of the Shruthi is attractive. Am I likely to be disappointed by either?
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Sep 24, 2014 17:07
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I hope DSN-12 is released before September ends so that my Synthtember jam doesn't sound like 1995 General Midi barf.
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Sep 28, 2014 17:23
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Never thought I'd be thanking Microsoft for anything synth-related, but they've handed me all the envelope math I'll ever need. I'm bad at math and my envelope code was always super kludgey. Now I have n-segment envelopes with 4 curve profile options in under 100 lines of code. Thanks Microsoft!
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Oct 2, 2014 18:52
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Found a Yamaha EX5 for cheap, picked it up for flip potential. Gonna keep it instead. The VL engine sold me with the trumpet and shakuhachi models. The only downside: it's silver. Silver plastic needs to die in a fire.
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Oct 6, 2014 01:47
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My current "if I could start from scratch" synth in that category would be a DSI Poly Evolver.
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Oct 10, 2014 14:58
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Owning the KingKorg, I don't see any value in it above a used Virus B or later. I feel that the KK has compromised too much in the name of simplicity. Granted, I don't get any use from the Gate/CV so maybe that might tip the scales.
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Oct 10, 2014 17:40
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Here's my terrible music. Said gently caress it, did it live. https://soundcloud.com/poindexter-frink/bad-sequence E: Korg DSN12 got a release date: October 23. Can't wait! E2: Jesus just listened to this on my laptop. Volume is too low! I'll have to fix that when I get home =/ Tan Dumplord fucked around with this message at 12:51 on Oct 17, 2014 |
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Oct 16, 2014 22:24
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 09:52 |
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A sad discovery: The Yamaha EX5 does a better Moog impression than the KingKorg.
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Oct 23, 2014 18:29
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