Noisetheorem

I almost pissed myself:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic/104-9962952-3935127?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=carbon+haze

I am almost tempted to place an order for them, just to see if I
somehow get a check…

Years ago, I found my perfect piece of music software: Frooty Loops by
Imagineline. It was only at version 1.0 then, but it was the first
piece of music software to make me feel I didnt need a hardware
equivalent..at least for a while. If you use anything on *ever*
project, sooner or later it starts to feel a little bit tired. So I
moved away from it, trying hardware and software drum machines of all
kinds.

Eventually, I came across the Korg EMX-1. This was my dream machine
for quite a while – I could bang out a beat on that box fast. I also
got in deep with customizing the drum sounds to really make it my own.
I had found heaven.

Recently, the EMX took a dive. most of its LEDs no longer function,
and some of its buttons have gone all fiddly. Something happened in
the move that I dont think its going to recover from. Sooner or
later, Ill replace it – probably with its Red sibling, which would
give me the ability to load in my own samples. But in the meantime,
whats to do?

Well, you go back to the beginning apparently. Now on version 8.0, FL
Studio (as it is now called) is a monster, and not just for beats, but
for banging out an entire arrangement quickly. I started with it last
night, and I have to say that I am amazed at how quickly I was putting
together a track with it. Its got a few odd ball aspects to its UI,
but after a short while, they begin to make sense. I started working
with its environment, trying to test it out in a DAW like capacity and
was really surprised. I am particularly amazed at just how low the
latency is, even when mixing external signals through its inputs. I
dont here *any* latency, even on very snappy bass patches, which
usually give it straight away. It also seems to be ultra CPU
efficient, as working with several inputs and a number of soft synths
at once barely showed up on the CPU meter. Also, despite very low
latency, I didnt here any of the crackles or pops I here in Ableton or
Cubase when I try to drop the buffer too low.

I dont know that I could actually mix a whole track using just FL. My
mind is a little bit to stuck on the idea of a big arrange window with
automation lanes and such nice things. Some people do, however, use
it as their only DAW. I used to say the same thing about Ableton
Live, and it has become my tool of choice. As a way of firing up the
creative juices with a great beat and bassline, FL studio is
definitely worth looking into.

I am looking to broaden my soft-synth collection, and was wondering if
anyone has had experience with the Arturia plugins? Yeah, i know they
dont really replace the analogs the claim to emulate, but I am looking
more for some additional sonic variety rather than a hardcore
emulation. I am particularly interested in the Arp 2600 and Moog
Modular stuff.

This last week I picked up the update to VazModular 3.0. I have had
2.5 for a long time, but hardly made used of it due to its processor
needs on my old system. On my new computer, I can do some serious
patches AND get polyphony out of it to match what I would get out of
the G2's dedicated hardware. If you are a windows user and into the
concept of modular synthesis, I cant recommend this software enough!
It makes light work of things that take forever to do in Reaktor. The
tradeoff, of course, is that Reaktor lets you get into a lower level
of design and has a broader series of modules prebuilt.

Also on the synth front, Korg released a bank of patches for the
radias (actually 3 banks) which I am digging a lot. They converted
the factory programs from the MS2000, MS2000B and MicroKorg. Having
owned an MS2000 (which had a few really killer presets) this was
really a great thing for them to do! I have never really liked the
programs that were included with the Radias – they went far to much
into the shitty techno area. It can do wonderful things, however, and
the MS2000 patches actually show that off a little better I think,
being a little bit less specific.

Going though the patches, I was able find some of my favs which I
edited into the versions I most adored on the MS2000. Having 20 extra
voices of polyphony also makes many of the sounds, particularly the
pads, about a gazzillion times more playable.

so the TI is soon to be gone..I found a buyer. Now its time to look at options..

On the one hand, I'd really like to get that modular setup going. the
gear sale rasied enough proceeds to see me into a decent Doepfer or
Synthesizers.com setup. It would also be a nice down payment toward a
Genoqs..

however, with the band planning on doing live shows, and (as always)
the technical problems of how to pull it off are on my shoulders, I am
thinking that I need to get an old fashioned boring workstation.

I will not take a laptop with software live – I know many musicians
do, but I just simply wont do it. Partly because of the fact I dont
trust computers, and partly because I wouldnt want to use my work
laptop for that purpose – its far to valuable. Buying a laptop just
for live does not make any sense either as I'd either have to go cheap
with it, or I'd be spending as much as I would on a workstation
anyway…

The way I am planning to run things is pretty much the modern
equivalent of how I first ran things when I was in Carbon Haze way way
back – songs broken down to loops played back by a sampler with my
controller running a sequence to play the backing tracks. In the old
days, that meant a *ton* of gear going on stage with us, because you
needed a couple samplers, an automated mixer, and your keyboard
programmed to controll it all along with all the cables and setup
hassles and snafus that come along with that. Now, though, you can
have all that gear in one box, and that whole setup is actually a
scenario they are designed with in mind.

There are currently 3 candidates for this job: Yamaha Motif XS6,
Roland Fantom G6 and Korg M3. Of course they are all roughly
equivalent but none of them perfect.

The XS has a really nice sound, good FX and a very very easy to use
interface. It also has the largest possible RAM (up to 1gb). It
also has Ethernet for transfering files, which is a great idea and way
past due on musical instruments. Its also built like a damn tank,
and has a very nice control panel.

Its downsides? PC integration is basically limited to studiomanager
through cubase or mLan. I dont use cubase as my primary tool anymore,
and mLan is only alive because Yamaha doesnt want to let it die..

the M3 has the coolest look, and in many ways the most intesting
interface. The touch screen as a controller is awesome, and the
keyboard has a great action. I also have a long history with Korg
gear, and its always consistantly been my favorite of the big 3. Its
got good computer integration via a VSTi control which will work in
Live, and it also has the ability to have a radias card installed,
replacing my radias rack and allowing me to take that synthesizer
power live.

Its down side is dramatic, however. Its only got 320mb of ram
possible, and the only sample rate it supports is 48khz, which means
each track is going to be bigger. That means smaller loops and
tighter memory management and a lot more work re-sequencing the
backing tracks. Maybe I am just being lazy, but I would prefer to
have a larger RAM.

the last option is the Fantom G6, which is not out yet (due in april).
Its manual has already been released, however, and I poured through
that to look for solutions. I used to have an X6, and I am imagining
it will be physically very similar.

The G6 has the most features that match my requirements, in fact it
seems like it was designed with exactly what I want to do in mind.
Its got 24 audio tracks along with 128 MIDI tracks in its sequencer.
you can plug a mouse into it, and working with it is almost like
working with PC based sequencer. Its the first workstation that
allows you to have an insert effect per patch in the sequencer. I am
guessing that its got the same or similar keybed as the X6, and I was
very happy with that. Also, via the roland voice structures, it has
the most potentially interesting synthesis architecture. Similar to
the M3, it also has a VSTi control software.

Its downside? its not actually out yet, and its ram is only 512m.
that MIGHT be enough, though. I am also not thrilled about having
that HUGE display lighting me up like some freak telling a ghost
story. supposedly, they have made it more streamlined to work
with…but I dont know that I can trust roland to make an easy to use
system – its not exactly what they are known for.

And thats how it plays. I keep going in circles on which one I think
will be the best long term fit. What I really need to know is how
much RAM I need per average track, but I really dont have a clue. Ill
have to break down a few tracks, I guess, and experiment. if I can
get a whole track in, say, 32mb of RAM then the M3 becomes more
possible an option. Thats the synth I *want*.

So if you need a boring workstation, what would you buy?

I was in LA for 3 days last week doing a network migration/build out
for work. 3 consecutive 12 hour days, with two red-eye flights on
either end of it meant I got about 11 hour sleep in those three days.
Yes..I am still feeling it. Ive been so tired and useless since I got
back its rediculous.

While I was away, I took delivery of a Yamaha FS1r. I have long
thought that the FS was one of the 'synths that got away' – I sold it
when I needed the money. I got this one in trade for some hardware I
wasnt using, and while I do have NI's FM8 the FS has far more than FM
to its repertoir. The formant synthesis is quite uniqe and the wild
glassy digital pads its capable of I have never been able to get
elsewhere. Its going in the rack with my TG77 and A5000 samplers as
the best of yamaha classics.

the band and I have been exchanging a lot of ideas via e-mail. We had
a meeting a few weeks back (cant remember if I posted it) and agreed
to get something going. We decided to work on both old material I
have and older material Sean has to come up with an album and live
set. We talked a bit about how we would do things live, and I am
still not into the laptop on stage idea. I know others do it, but I
have never had a good experience with it. We tossed about a few
ideas, but right now I am pretty set on a (roland/korg/yamaha)
workstation with as much RAM as possible playing back the songs
(either broken down to loops, or simply stereo backing tracks) while
we play over top of it.

Running the numbers, the Motif XS has the most potential RAM (1gb),
while the Fantoms have 544mb. the M3 has only 320mb of RAM, which is
absolutely unfortunate because its my hands down favorite of all the
workstations. I prefer the Korg sound, and the ability to put a
Radias inside it would reduce the need for anything else live. I
could squeeze a full set into it, I am sure, by breaking down the
songs into sections and repeating the sections to make maximum use of
the onboard RAM, but…I am way lazy.

Of the other two, I am not very fond of the look of either, nor am I
in love with the sounds/synthesis methods. I already *have* the
roland sound in my V-Synth with things a Fantom just wont do. The big
bonus, however, is that I dont even need the newer fantom or motif -
the previous generation should do fine. I could probably pick up an
X6 dirt cheap, and I am already familar with its workings. the older
Yamah might be nice too..and I do like the Yamaha sounds better than
the roland…

But I really want an M3, so maybe I can make that work..and I could if
I went really back to how I did my first shows: Break down the whole
track to individual loops, then rebuild the arrangement using the
sequencer. in olden times, I had to do this with my S3 sequencer and
my EMU E64 sampler, and I got through an entire set with only 10mb of
RAM per song, using a MIDI command to tell the E64 to load the next
bank between tracks. If you extrapolate that out, I should be able to
get an hour long set into 320mb…is just a lot of work…and I am way
lazy.