making music

[mark vaughan]

Hi there , I am wanting to be able to create my own music , by that I mean some sort of synth / midi controller that I can does create some on the fly rythms and sequences , I am learning to play keyboard and piano , but having played drums in the past I have always fancied being able to create some music electronically , I don't really want to hook it all up to a pc and spend hours producing and altering stuff , I just want to have a bit of fun setting of loops of drums and sounds etc and just playing around , I have a fairly good sound system that I would like to connect it too heavy bass is a must

what do I need would a synth be enough or some sort of stand alone controller ?

I am a bit of a techno phobe so I don't want to get anything too complicated to hook up

if I could record what I created would be good too

I have a korg pa 300 and a kawai es 100 digital piano the kawai has midi connetors I not really fussed whether it goes through them or not

any advice would be great

 

[happyrat1]

What's your budget and what kind of sounds are you looking for?

If you're looking for synthy type sounds candidates include the Casio XW-P1 or XW-G1 or the Roland Gaia or the Novation Mininova or the new Korg MS-20 Mini.

Those all sell between the $400 and $700 mark. Otherwise the sky's the limit if you're looking at Moogs and Prophets and other high end synths.

I assume you're looking for synths since the PA300 and the Kawai pretty much have the PCM basics covered.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Actually on second thought perhaps what you are really looking for is a modern drum synth like the Korg Electribe or Volca Lines?

Give us a little more to go on as to what you really want to accomplish musically.

Gary...

 

[mark vaughan]

thanks gary , well being able to loop what I create is important , I thought the korg pa 300 would have that function but it dosent seem to have

just rhythms and drums kind of nice bass rhythms and drums mixed with different layering of instruments little riffs and runs I can build up and ideally record but I want to avoid going through a pc if I can I just want to create on the fly

hope that helps no haven't got a lot for budget as I have spent a 1ooo pounds on my piano and keyboard over past few months lol

 

[mark vaughan]

also I want to be able say create a rhythm set it going and then keep adding different layers maybe a funky drum sound then alter sounds rhythms adding taking away changing etc etc and then play sounds over the top of it does that make sense ? sorry if I not explaining myself clearly lol

 

[mark vaughan]

intuitive and easy to use are important

 

[happyrat1]

I would say you need some kind of drum machine beat box.

Take a serious look at the Casio XW-DJ1 and the companion Sampler Unit (whose model # escapes me at the moment) which was just released at this year's NAMM or the Korg Electribe 2's which were released last year. There's the Electribe 2 and the Electribe Sampler 2. These units were all designed to be complimentary to each other. If you can live without the sampling you can easily bring them in for under $400 Street Price.

Watch some Youtube demos to see how well and easily they create a beat.

There are also dozens of standalone looper pedals and consoles out on the market you could check out with a quick Youtube search.

Otherwise though, I'm not really a D&B player so take my advice with a grain of salt.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

You might also be happy with a used Electribe EMX or earlier model that you can find going cheap on Craigslist and eBay.

Gary

 

[Mayo]

also I want to be able say create a rhythm set it going and then keep adding different layers maybe a funky drum sound then alter sounds rhythms adding taking away changing etc etc and then play sounds over the top of it does that make sense ? sorry if I not explaining myself clearly lol

Mark Look at the Kurzweil Line up

I have PC 361, it does all you are asking for.

The newer workstations may be PC3 K or LE. You can create drum tracks, or import computer based or downloaded?

Than you can continue to record on the next 16 tracks on the sytnh...if you really want. And the sound on the Kurzweil is...excellent .

Regards

Mayo

 

[happyrat1]

The guy said his budget was limited. A Kurz would be way out of his league.

Gary

 

[mark vaughan]

thanks for replies , cant find the kurz on google in uk . happy rat I will look at the casio , I also been looking at the roland vr09 that seems to tick a lot of boxes , I am thinking of selling my korg pa 300 , cant seem to get on with it the manual frustrates me there is some good stuff on it if you want to spend your time arranging songs the styles are really good but I think I would prefer something with a little more on the fly creativity , I got hung up about having to have a accomp section and built in speakers but I think I will be able to create some good rhythms and it has a rhythm section and I have some beats headphones and a great home sound system to plug into
heres a link

I know its a roland video but after the cheesy intro the young guy demonstrates it well , especially the looper section about 7 minutes in also in that section he presses something with his foot ? maybe a looper pedal ? bit confused what he is doing there , I know sometimes they adding extra stuff on these videos to make it seem like the basic functions are better than they really are ! I find a lot of review videos frustrating for keyboards etc as most of the time they keep droning on and over majoring the different piano/organ sounds without going into other stuff like what the rhythms sound like but in this vid he just gets on with it

 

[happyrat1]

The pedal is probably an assignable switch pedal. Meaning it can be assigned to other functions than sustain, such as program changes or triggering riffs.

No doubt about it. the VR-09 is a very nice machine with very modern features.

The Casio XW-P1 can be had for a lot less though.

As for the Kurzweil, don't worry too much about it. I own a PC3K8 which sells these days for about $3500 USD and it's a beast to program. Incredibly powerful keyboard, but lots of deep menu diving to fully exploit its features. It's also about 3 or 4 years old. I managed to pick mine up as a dealer floor demo for about $2400 CDN plus taxes.

It's way over your budget at any rate.

The PA300 is technically what's called an "arranger keyboard" while keyboards like the Kurzweil and the Roland are known as "Workstations."

The XW-P1 is also a good little keyboard, though Casio classifies it as a "performance synth." It's also been around for about 3 or 4 years now. Check out some of Mike Martin's tutorial demos for the XW on Youtube to get an idea of how it works and how to program it. There's at least 3 or 4 - 1 hour tutorial vids out there at the moment.

The Roland would cost about twice as much as the XW-P1 but the final decision will come down to your judgement and budgetary considerations.

Gary

 

[DJG$$$1]

You might also be happy with a used Electribe EMX or earlier model that you can find going cheap on Craigslist and eBay.

Gary
Can the Electribe sampler 2 accept input from a MIDI keyboard for sequencing or are you stuck with using the drum machine style pads?

 

[happyrat1]

As far as I know the Electribes are fully MIDI compatible but when it comes to scaling the notes over multiple octaves I don't think it can manage that.

ie. You can play the note as a one off by assigning it to a key like a drum kit, but you can't play a whole range of notes from a single sample.

ie. One note per sample.

For full range you need a sampling keyboard like the Juno DS or the Kurzweil PC3K.

Gary

 

[DJG$$$1]

As far as I know the Electribes are fully MIDI compatible but when it comes to scaling the notes over multiple octaves I don't think it can manage that.

ie. You can play the note as a one off by assigning it to a key like a drum kit, but you can't play a whole range of notes from a single sample.

ie. One note per sample.

For full range you need a sampling keyboard like the Juno DS or the Kurzweil PC3K.

Gary

To clarify, could I plug a keyboard into the MIDI In port of the Electribe and sequence a chromatic scale? I

 

[happyrat1]

Only if you saved each note of the 12 as a separate sample. I'm not certain the electrtibe can manage that many samples.

I've never used one of the sampler models.

My advice is to download the manual and read up on the specs.

Gary