DONE WITH MAKING MUSIC USING SOFTWARE

[sethdk]

been there homie. that what u mentioned, and it took me even more time to get trks to sound "right" in the mix.

I move so much faster & can get more complex w/ mpc as sequencer, motif xs6 as controller/synth, fantom rack, and other racks. scroll and layer quickfast. no load times and phat sounds out the box.

[peeder]

I track OTB and mix ITB. Only exception are some pianos and VSTIs.

[illynoise]

Faster to work on an MPC? That's crazy to me. In Logic I can track out a beat in half the time it used to take me. Sound? 100 percent better to me. It took me a couple of years to get it down, but having a fast mac helped out 1000 percent!

[DivineMusic]

i was pure hardware... now i'm pure software and don't plan on changing.
i works twice as fast and if i feel like this or that needs this eq,compression rever etc i have the best right in front of me.
battery 3 is a lot quicker for me than my mpc ever was plus i can any and everything i ever did on a mpc just faster.

i did plan on getting me the new motif xs and maybe a few mods again but i don't really need them

[ryst]

Originally Posted by DivineMusic

i was pure hardware... now i'm pure software and don't plan on changing.
i works twice as fast and if i feel like this or that needs this eq,compression rever etc i have the best right in front of me.
battery 3 is a lot quicker for me than my mpc ever was plus i can any and everything i ever did on a mpc just faster.

i did plan on getting me the new motif xs and maybe a few mods again but i don't really need them

Same here. I sold all my hardware and now everything I do is exclusively software. Battery 3 with Ableton Live is all I need. Rewire to Pro Tools for the mix, I'm done.

[ctms777]

I went software-> hardware -> software.
Yamaha sy77, Kurzweil K2600, EMU EIV weren't easy to programm either in my case (kept my An1x and ddrum3 though)!
Software really sounds better with the right libs., and it's easier to programm sounds. It was also a drag to have to manually load all the synths to the right patches. Now one click in Cubase and it's all there.

Nowadays I try not to use every feature of the software and not immediately try to fix every mistake. Using software it's tempting to "look" at music instead of listening. I had to teach myself to ignore the screen sometimes. Having NI Kore and hardware mixer helps ofcourse.

Still, if the MPC works better for you go for it!

[riecespieces]

Welcome to my world I left software and got on this hardware then bought a crap load of hardware now I widdled it down to my favorites and Im loving it almost combined the two but the computer part of it had a bunch of snafus so I let it go at the worst if theres a computer sound on one of my softsyths I like Ill sample it in to my asr an use it. It aint pretty but gets the job done the only thing I use software for now is to track and mix and sometimes ill use trilogy in protools on top of the wavefiles I already got if theres a bass sound that I think fits.

[riecespieces]

Originally Posted by illynoise

Faster to work on an MPC? That's crazy to me. In Logic I can track out a beat in half the time it used to take me. Sound? 100 percent better to me. It took me a couple of years to get it down, but having a fast mac helped out 1000 percent!

A producer friend of mine said the same thing to me last night when I told him how much im loving my new MPC 3000 I used logic for a little but it seemed slow to as far as getting in the way great program tho but I think its a different strokes for diffirent blokes thing loved the program an what it does tho but MPC is like ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rusty sheriff]

For ease of use, and i think many will disagree, but Acid (in it's various forms) has served me well. I've always been a software head, but Cubase, Ableton etc... have always seemed slow and difficult to get results with. I love Acid (sometimes! ).
I've recently bought an MPC to finally get more 'hands on' with my breaks, but I'm finding the learning curve for it to be silly! It just seems to take an age to put anything together. The MPC is great for knocking out some beats, but arranging tracks seems so much easier on-screen.

Sorry.

[F Major]

Its definitely a different strokes issue. I have made that same mistake in my time, thinking that it would be more convenient for me to use all software. Certain aspects of it were alot faster, arrangement was a bit easier as well. However you have to use what you are most comfortable with using. I am most comfortable with an MPC, doesnt matter which mpc (ok not the 500 yet), but as long as i have that and atleast 1 hardware rompler, Im pretty comfortable and my workflow is smooth in respect to basic track creation. Just do you, you cant really let everyone else's success with software force you into something you arent comfortable in. I definitely can relate to your situation though. Eventually you may want to integrate software and hardware in a comfortable manner which allows you stay current but still use instruments that you have mastered.

[KevWest]

i agree with you. both have their benefits. i use software because I know it better

[rallycapmusic]

I hear what all of you are saying. Im just saying that i feel hardware is faster for me to make beats on. With the programs its to much "mouse clicking" going on. I still use the Logic or ProTools (more so ProTools) to edit and mix the beat once its tracked in.

[deuc647]

Im so glad people are starting to see the diff strokes thing, i am all hardware except when i edit and mix, to me, its just more gradifying to turn on modules and keybards and my mp and asr and to lay down tracks, i saw a couple of my boys work out of software and TO ME, it is a totally uninspiring way to work, music is about a certain vibe, if the vibe is there, u can churn out some bangers, if its not, its one of those tracks u save and never use, we all got em. but i track a lot different than most cats i know, i have all my modules going in my ASR and my MP as the sequencer, i lay drums snare clap hi hat cymbals crashes, basically all percussions in first and all the rest of the things like piano strings synths E pianos organs, i play the chords into the sampler of the ASR, then use the pads on the mp to trigger them. A lot of people tell me it takes too long, but i like not sequencing everything to perfection, im a piano player so i have pretty good timing , peace.

[swisha31]

i've sequenced and tracked joints in cakewalk, nuendo, and PT using software(more nuendo and PT the past couple years) but i got a korg triton studio, motif rack, and a mpc 3000 also and for me i feel like i can do both just as fast BUT i love workin around on the mp. just goin to chop somethin up and search thru sounds, create sequences, and then create your song from the sequences just feels easier. it just feels like everything is just convenient when using software and thats it. id rather walk in to a lab, turn on some equipment, and do it that way but to each his own. just blaze incorporated battery into his production for when he needs somethin portable and he said he liked it too so it's whatever for whomever.

[illynoise]

Originally Posted by riecespieces

A producer friend of mine said the same thing to me last night when I told him how much im loving my new MPC 3000 I used logic for a little but it seemed slow to as far as getting in the way great program tho but I think its a different strokes for diffirent blokes thing loved the program an what it does tho but MPC is like ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See how long it takes to recall modules in an MPC, try to edit something in the MPC, it's so cumbersome it's really pathetic. Its actually way easier to sequence on everything else I've ever used.....ASR, EPS, MMT8, Fantom, Motif.......... I can do everything so much faster with Cubase and Logic. But to each his own.......

[MrHope]

Yeah I used to run only hardware and I did make songs a heck of a lot faster somehow, but I had fewer overdub layers. I miss my old drum machine and sequencer. I never should have sold them. My old keyboards were pretty good too. Damn. Oh well, those are the breaks.

[JDN]

you can always use both, a lot of the major pros here in LA use the MPC as their sequencer but battery and their favorite softsynths as their sound sources. It truly is like having an instanately awesome recallable rack of hardware synths in their computer. The only thing I don't get and haven't gotten used to at all is the slow load time on some of the more intensive softsamplers(Knontakt anyone?) However, there are tons of virtual analog softsynths that sound great and you can easily scroll through patches and tweak till your little hearts content(Imposcar, minimonsta, the new jupiter 6 emulation ESPECIALLY)

[deuc647]

Recall? Are we that pressed for time that we couldnt commit to anything without being afraid that we cant do it again? Edit, as in ASDR,efx,filter envelope,EQ, shorteninf the tail of a snare or cuttin a kick? C mon, faster isnt always better, and i dont care what anyone on this board says, a trigger finger or MPD16 or 24 or korg is not gonna make ur software feel like an MPC. For the price of logic and the pads, u could buy an MPC, sorry illy, this wasnt directed at you, im just ranting

[beingmf]

Funny I thought about exactly this topic yesterday... How'd I explain my approach to analog production? I think - for the sound I want to achieve - it takes 2 min to get the sound by using analog gear, and maybe 1 hour to get the sound by ITB. But: it's not the same of course. I just think by using YOUR analog gear your tracks will get YOUR sound, and not the sound producer XYZ also could recreate my using millions of library CDs.
My (momentarily / may change ) to-go approach is: use Logic as Midi sequencer only, sample in (oldschool) hardware or use analog synths/drum computers, patch the hardware into high(er)-end gear, tweak it all, record it, and then maybe edit in Logic again. Sometimes takes 3 hrs to have it all set up and recorded, but then the whole track is finished within 2 hrs. Same in all-ITB: 2 days, and still not completely convinced...
Recall no problem, since almost everything important is recorded...

BTW. why I thought about this: hardware compressors! never got a really kicking bassdrum - the way I want it to sound - with software (UAD!) comps.

[androne]

Same here.

I have a Kurz K2661 with sampling module and while I know my way around its hi-res sequencer I am SUPER-fast in composing on.... my beloved low-res 01Wfd sequencer.

So I think just compose with the 01W, make it sound about right and then start tracking into the computer and do the mix ITB with addition of some HW compressors indeed cos EQ are quite easily emulated these days but comps? No.

I tried using Ableton Live and such since I am already working all day long at a computer I just want to avoid it in the composing and leave it all to the mixing stage.

Whatever works for you ay

[beat you down]

yo, that banner is hurting my eyes.
very myspace-ish.

[yaboicheeze]

Originally Posted by beat you down

yo, that banner is hurting my eyes.
very myspace-ish.

lol..........yeah im brand new to this forum......lol it looks like im tha only one with a flashy banner.........ill help yall out and take that sh!t off ......

[beat you down]

[LAVLAB]

I feel you Rallycap. I was strictly software for a while, but i found myself longing for the touch and feel of hardware and real instruments. So I dug up my hardware synths, effects, etc, picked up an MV-8000 and I couldn't be happier!

[DivineMusic]

Originally Posted by LAVLAB

I feel you Rallycap. I was strictly software for a while, but i found myself longing for the touch and feel of hardware and real instruments. So I dug up my hardware synths, effects, etc, picked up an MV-8000 and I couldn't be happier!

i use to love the mv but the load time to start a new projects just messed up my creativity. id have an idea that i have to get down before i forget. by the time the mv loaded up i fergot...
i have different templates in nuendo for r&b songs, hiphop, and down south crunk sh*t.. i now have a jazz template cuz i've been making som e really smooth songs.
i sometime mix software and hardware. i sometimes use just software or vice versa.. either way no one can tell the difference when i play tracks i did on the motif xs or oasys with an mp vs battery 3 and different vsti's.. i can.. i make every track in nuendo with colortone on the master and it just gives the track a sound.. can't explain it

[sethdk]

recall is never a problem. press save on mpc, press save on motif mix, press save on fantom mix, etc. name them all the same name. to recall scroll to ur saved mix in motif, fantom, and load mpc sequence or program. can do a recall in under 30 seconds. Its not 2 seconds like a computer but i can wait the eternity of another 28 seconds.

it is what it is. I did a tyrese record in reason but it took forever on the backend- "the mix" to get it to sound like a major level project. Ty's manager kept sayin i rolled in with the amateur night beat. But we got it right.

[F Major]

Recall is not really a problem, most modules keyboards allow you to save settings, patches and all of that. at that point you are just dealing with either loading up mix templates in the keyboards or using control changes on your MPC(easiest when using a MPC 4000/2500/1000). Plus total recall in software is not really that quick, especially when loading multisample based patches. So its just different strokes really, just figure out your method to work and handle it.

[rallycapmusic]

LavLab feel what im saying...i just got back from my boi studio and uses mostly hardware gear. he brought up a beat he did a few days ago, ALL MIDI, using the SYS EX. EVERYTHING came back like he left it. THATS WHAT IM TALKING BOUT.. I was SPRUNG.. all these years dealing with hardware? i NEVER used the SYS EX. Im convinced!

[HittMann]

Originally Posted by riecespieces

A producer friend of mine said the same thing to me last night when I told him how much im loving my new MPC 3000 I used logic for a little but it seemed slow to as far as getting in the way great program tho but I think its a different strokes for diffirent blokes thing loved the program an what it does tho but MPC is like ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really? ... good to hear that, casually that MPC was mine less than a week ago LOL... what up homie, this world's gettin smaller...