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groove machines and software

Korg ER1mkII $199
EA-1 mkII Electribe A $199
Korg Electribe EMX-1 $500
Roland MC909 $1300

consider all these groove boxes above , would these be worth buying
,since you can duplicate these sounds in Reason ,and Rebirth

with step sequencing,the Matrix, or in Rebirth with Mods

or in your sequencer of choice with a piano roll ,and adding effects later.


if these are worth buying though and these sounds cannot be created else where id really like to know.

Re: groove machines and software

quote:

Originally posted by crazedonee Korg ER1mkII $199 EA-1 mkII Electribe A $199 Korg Electribe EMX-1 $500 Roland MC909 $1300 consider all these groove boxes above , would these be worth buying ,since you can duplicate these sounds in Reason ,and Rebirth with step sequencing,the Matrix, or in Rebirth with Mods or in your sequencer of choice with a piano roll ,and adding effects later. if these are worth buying though and these sounds cannot be created else where id really like to know.

u know what???
forget all those !

you could buy those boxes if you prefer that kind of sequencing, but I wouldn't buy them for outstanding sound.

thanks that was what i figured anyways ill just get an analog synth
after all.

^toys

They're a fun way to get into making music, but in the end lack the versatility and power of a sofwtare studio coupled with either some good VSTi's or analog hardware.

thanks guys ,they just seem so tempting ,with all there bosts on line about how they can make any genre in edm.

but ido agree that you could have a lot more freedom with a soft synth or hardware that was analog.

hardware DOES have resale value, thats if you end up having to sell stuff.

im going to look around at some pawn shops this summer, see if i can score a toy or two, but im done buying new stuff like these.

quote:

Originally posted by pho mo They're a fun way to get into making music, but in the end lack the versatility and power of a sofwtare studio coupled with either some good VSTi's or analog hardware.

I suppose you have 50% right...some groove boxes are toys, but remember that music programs tries to emulate real music equipment. I think manny of thoose programs are a fun way to get into making music.

if toy means it's fun to play, I don't see the badness in that. Besides it looks elitist to say something like that.

One of my mates had an electribe and it was awesome. It isnt comparible to a software studio or an analog synthesizer. I dont even know why the comparison was even brought up in the first place. I mean come on people - they dont even do the same things.

I liked the electribe and would like to get something like it at some point. Its lower down on the list though because I still need monitors, a keyboard and a preamp/mic combo. But its great for what it does, which is for adding rhthymic layers and sequenced groove tracks.

A few years ago i bought myself a Roland MC-505, and used it frequently since there wasn't much of good drum VSTi at that time.

These days it's just gathering dust, because it's so much more convenient to stay in the digital VST domain, without having to record a drum track from an external source...

Also, the drum sounds ( in the 505 - don't know about 909) are not that crisp, and are harder to tweak/layer than in it's software counterparts. But you get a load of great bassline/rhythm presets that can get your inspiration going ...

I never said i was looking for a comparison between software

i just wanted to know if you can make these same beats and sounds with software which one swould you recommend.

I didn't mean to imply that grooveboxes are a toy. I bought a MC505 about 3 years ago and it was an awesome way to get into writing trance! I'd recommend having one of those things, if only because you can write tunes on your lounge and then take it to house-parties to play live

Once my productions got to a certain point though, I could see I needed to use more tracks and have multiple effects per-track. Grooveboxes have their limits and for me, cubase was the way to go from there. What you can do in cubase with some VSTis is amazing.

I'll never sell my 505 though, it still has a place for me, which is cranking out quick beats and ideas in the comfort of the lounge. It's a really fun way to make the framework for a tune.

the 505 also makes a wicked control surface if you build a decent CC map for it..

Clear controls for filter, multiple envelopes, FX, 8 sets of levels all withh continuous controllers. And that's before you get to the all kinds of fun you can have with the D-Beam mapped to the filter of another sytnh..

Sonically the 505 and later 909 are pretty disappointing soncially, though you can get some good sounds out of them it's a lot tougher than you're expect.

maybe I should have quoted this post

quote:

^toys

I have owned 2 MC307s, and yes, I do think they are toys. And I bought them brand new folks! One in 00' and one in 01' I think.

Grooveboxes and the like are EXTREMLEY fun to play, I agree, and there is virtualy no learning curve. Also, they can be used for alot of other stuff besides trance. If you dont know shit about computers, theyre a good place to start.

That being said, anyone who is thinking about getting into writing/producing music shouldnt waste their money on toys, IMO. Money is better spent on a computer, unless you can find one for very cheap. Im going to keep my eyes peeled now, though, as pawn shops sometimes buy music gear and cant sell it. (especialy in the bad part of town)

The electribe's actually sound pretty good, so does the 909, so go check them out. A lot of guys realy like the sequencer on them too.

I think that a groovebox or two is a much better investment when you're getting started than an expensive computer system, host app, sound card, assorted soft synths and effects, all of which have little if any resale value. The MC307, JX305, MC505 and D2 all had Roland's standard sample and synthesis architecture similar to the JV-20x0 series. The interfaces of these machines were almost all that differed between them. The MC-909 has the XV engine similar to the Fantoms. These synth engines are extremely deep and powerful! I would not agree that they are weak sonically. With 4 tones, each having 3 envelopes, 2 LFOs, wave cross modulation and more a skilled programmer can do a lot. My recommendation to someone starting out would be to grab a used, decent 49 key controller and an MC-505. If they sell they are out nothing and have possibly learned a lot about sequencing, synthesis, and performance.

I would say forget the hardware, just go for the software. You can get more done at a much faster pace (especially with Reason). Not to mention, it makes remixing your own tracks much simpler.

quote:

Originally posted by jahnlay The electribe's actually sound pretty good, so does the 909, so go check them out. A lot of guys realy like the sequencer on them too.

I have both the Elctribe MX-1 and MC-909. Both are pretty good, especially the Electribe for building drum/synth patterns fast. The only drawback is that, without a decent internal EQ, you'd have to record each part seperately into your recording software then EQ them individually there, which i feel would be very time-consuming. I started out producing with just hardware (Triton LE at that!) and man I wish I had known about Reason (or any soft sequencer) back then...would've gotten much further much faster.

I actually have a virtual soft synth with lots of trance synths

and this grrove box would just add to my soft synths and help me with other genres like trip hop,pschy trance,breaks,drum n bass ,techno etc.

they have this on demo at the sam ash in paramus im gonna go check it out and see if i like it eventually i would ad a real hard synth to go along with my soft synths ,and groove box too. in the near future.

Dude, you got to get E-Mu command station - what a fucking brilliant piece of gear! I'm just in that mofo 24/7 and that bad boy has a kick to boot! also it's expandable, has amazing midi capability and sick arps (not even mentioning what you can use that bad boy for - like controlling other synths or creating real time sequences).

srsly, consider it - you can get one dirt cheap. there are three modules available:

px-7 = protean drums (comes with protean drums lib)
xl-7 = dance extreme (comes with Xl-1 lib)
mp-7 = mo phat (urban rythms) (comes with mp lib)

same shit every one of them, just what rom is installed in slot 0 at the factory. you can yank it and put something else. mad fun... now, if it only had sampling option - this would be akai killer.

get the cheapest one and then buy the rom you'd like to go with it - you got 4 slots (total, one occupied by "native" rom). the rom chips look like old style (72-pin) ram chips. recommended roms:

1. beat garden
2. vintage instruments
3. world rom
4. xl-1

Hi, I just bought the Korg legacy bundle. It's not the first I used. I have a Roland Jp 8080 and a Jx 305. In fact it sounds really great, especially for the price. Given the fact You quoted a lot of Korg stuff, I'd go with these to start with first, and combine it with Fl studio XXL, a halfway decent computer, your resources on kvraudio and some simple mixer, an emu card, a good pitch correction module, a cheap tube preamp, and some cheap behringer mic. Oh, and don't forget some flat sounding nearfield monitors

Almost sums up my setup. I still think I'd do it again.

If You have cash floating around: buy some new moog synth and one of the latest hardware synths, a tc powercore dsp, a system from digidesign and the best pc and composer combination, a true valve mic, some pro voicetools, a finaliser and a vacuum tube compressor that only sounds as fat as it costs You dearly. Much fun finding Your answer

i just noticed that its only one polyphony for each part and no eg

so i think the mc 505 is a better choice

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