#23

no offense but

DO NOT GET A MICROKORG

it’s just a ROMpler (ie software in a box)
For the same/similar price Korg themselves make analogue units - get a minilogue (4 voice polyphony) or an MS20 mini (monophonic) instead

or for less than £200 you could get a 2nd hand Ensoniq ESQ-1 or any one of a whole bunch of underrated synths from the early/mid 80s

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#24

This almost makes me want to get back into this - but there’s sooooo much to learn! Always amazed / intimidated by @BodyInTheThames knowledge and skills with all this!

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#25

Good advice and I’ll be coming back to this thread. Nice one BITT.

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#26

You should definitely get back into it - once you get into a flow there are few better joys in life than composing electronic music

And thanks for the compliment but don’t be intimidated, there’s an infinite number of ways of doing things and there is not a right or wrong way artistically (sometimes there’s a definite wrong way technically, though even that can be used artistically)
Don’t take my word as gospel either - I’m just talking from my point of view in terms of what best gets me going

#27

yeah it’s just this bit -

fills me with dread of the enormous depth of knowledge you need to get something to sound half decent, and the time investment really - ultimately i end up a bit disappointed and dejected with what i’ve put together, like all creative stuff it can feel like a bit of a thankless task - anyway, mope over, i might make a few bits this year

ALSO for @Richie_Ronco - i don’t make anything housey at all, it’s more kindof short glitchy electronic stuff i guess, (not done anything in about a year), so this might be totally useless info but here goes

so i use ableton a lot, it’s fairly easy to use i think, i probably use about 10% of it’s capacity
i don’t use any of it’s soft synths or anything like that - i use if for recording audio from a load of crap i have build up over the last 15 years or so, (effects pedals, guitar, crap keyboards, a nice synth i don’t know how to use, some fairly cheap korg bits and pieces) and then chopping it all up and rearranging it into something i think sounds alright.

i think ableton is a really nice tool for arranging stuff, you can kind of play ableton a bit like an instrument, you can set up loops or samples of midi or audio information and then map those loops to keyboard keys or midi keyboard strokes and kind of drop them in and out of your track as listen back to it (same with effects), and you can set up bank of samples and have it play those samples in an order (or random order) so it’s great for experimenting as you have a lot of control ‘on the fly’

but yeah, i don’t use it for any of it’s sounds, and try not to use many of it’s effects either (apart for the eq and the auto panning) - they just sound a bit flat - i might just not be using it properly

!!!

#28

Just to bump up this thread, as I think I’m in a similar situation to the OP now. I think I want to get something to have a play around with, and from my own research, the Minilogue seems to fit roughly what I want (also listening to some of @Bamnan’s stuff made on it.

Would this still be a good option at this pricepoint (I think I can pick up a second hand one for about £350)

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#29

Depends how important tweaking physical knobs (stop it) is to you I suppose. You could get a cheap Midi keyboard and some virtual synths plus a basic (or trial of a higher end) DAW (Ableton is the preferred one here although I like FL Studio) for a lot less than that. Of course, there’s something ‘tangible’ about an actual synth.

My own setup is an Akai MPK Mini then lots of software synths FWIW.

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#30

Any option is a good option if it invites you in to play around & experiment

The fact that the minilogue has an onboard sequencer is a big plus in that regard too

I’d say go for it, there’s not really much else in that price bracket that has all those features

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#31

Thanks (and to @Twinkletoes too). My laptop is a slow bit of junk, so going down the software route probably isn’t for me. I’ll go with this minilogue, see what weird and wonderful noises I can make.

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#32

Shit man, this thread is two years old. Where did the time go?

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#33

2 years and I’ve still done fuck all. Need to motivate myself. Seeing as I now have a lot of time on my hands I really should get on with it.

#34

It’s all been in mega-DM threads, but one of the best things about starting the label has been the collaborative element of learning from each other on production techniques. Would love to have that as a more general discussion with the rest of you lot as well in this here thread

#35

Anyone tried VCV rack yet? Seems like a good way to try modular synthesis without spending All Of The Money.

#36

it’s great for just messing around with, seems pretty powerful and versatile but there’s not so many knobs to turn that it’s overwhelming. It’s laid out well on the panel and no fiddling through horrible menus.

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#37

gonna bookmark this thread actually as i might try my hand at this sort of thing at some point in the future.

currently know nothing about recording software, have only ever used Audacity and a Tascam, which i’m using for some more lo-fi stuff. tried a free trial of Ableton once and found it a bit overwhelming. i even struggle a bit with the digital Tascam and would love to get one that records to tape instead tbh (though i’d have no idea how to transfer that to the computer)

also have a microKorg which i barely play, fun for a bit of messing around but should have got something analogue as i find analogue far more intuitive - reminds me of manipulating a guitar through a load of stomp boxes rather than some complicated digital effects unit. think i’m definitely a bit of a luddite with music gear.

#38

This is the absolute #1 reason why people go for analogue/hardware. Interface/knob per function is so much more conducive to interaction and FUN even if (and sometimes even because) it’s a limiting factor

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#39

I’m currently making music with a MicroKorg on Reaper and it’s really easy to use. It’s not going to scratch your analogue itch obvs but Iit’s free so might it be worth a punt. There’s a couple of good virtual synths on sale for a quid a piece on pluginboutique atm as well.

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#40

i probably just need to learn how to use it properly, most of the presets are obviously shit aside from a couple and i don’t find any of the other settings that intuitive - i’ll muck about with the knobs and stumble upon a good sound and then never remember how i got there (there’s probably a way of saving them but i’ve never worked out). i should just plug it into my guitar pedals instead though, need to replace a couple of cables so i can do it.

i’m a bit impatient with musical equipment, get bored reading the instructions and if i can’t work it out myself i just put it down.

#41

It’s a completely different thing to the minilogue and not as professional but I love my Roland JDXi

Pros:
-Built in sequencer, with 4 instruments at once (1 analog synth, 2 digital, drum machine)
-Great for just the drum machine alone, has all the Roland sounds, each sample can have independent parameters set for filters pitch effects etc
-the ‘supernatural’ digital synth tech sound great to my ears, the emulation of Jupiter strings being my favourite

Cons
-the analog synth part is a bit of a gimmick and fairly limited, see it as a bonus rather than the core thing
-while some of the key parameters you would want to tweak in real time can be, the deeper sound creation part involves a lot of menu diving (there are third party editor apps though so can use a pc to make this easier) but there are a lot of options there if someone wanted them

It’s definitely a beginners synth in the microkorg mold, more about using presets than creating new sounds, but I really like the all in one box convenience, it has some of the tactile feel of tweaking hardware but not enough for it to be daunting, it’s really fun and easy to come up with ideas and save them, I use my loop pedal as a kind of audio sketchbook for guitar, this is my keyboard equivalent

#42

also bought a Korg Volca Beats a while back that i haven’t learned to use either lol

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