How is the maschine mk3 for creating sounds from scratch? I’ve had a mk2 and it felt like I was given thousands of presets and some macros to edit them, but no real tools to easily create my own.
That’s a HIT.
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still the same.
But as I mentioned, the simpler the plugin the easier sound design.
Monark for example is suited really well.
Other than that, the sampler is pretty full featured and polyphonic. You can create great sounds from samples
I got a bit tired of making everything from scratch. Adjusting presets is easy on maschine, and the preset browser is one of the best I‘ve seen
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I haven’t actually bought anything but I’ve had a few hits recently rediscovering things I already own:
Shruthi XT - I turned this on after a year of sitting in a box and fell in love with it again!
Fxpansion Cypher 2 - I opened this up while demoing some VST synth I was thinking about buying in a sale and realised how great it was and that didn’t need a new synth.
For me it was a workflow killer. I really didn’t like the presets it came with and it felt like I was browsing list after list of categories, synths, etc. The hardware was brilliant however, and I enjoyed playing those pads to live record (same cant be said for the rytm).
I tend to prefer a workflow that’s more centered around sound design though, which is why Ive gravitated towards bitwig/elektron stuff.
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True for searching by keywords/meta but saving/exporting samples, sounds, FX presets, groups etc is a real mess to me.
Been using Maschine for 5 years and still have that feeling…
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waiting for 3 more synths that are going to be hits: Waldorf Rocket and two MAM MB-33 Retro.
how do i know? because both don’t have presets, but i completely understood how to tweak them just watching youtube.
(edit: but if i really need presets, sort of presets is totally feasible via MIDI).
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Bought a cheapo viola for £25 on Facebook marketplace.
Semi-hit? I’ve played guitar for years but never anything classical, and the learning curve is pretty tough. Since it was so cheap I’ve been thinking about gluing in a piezo and drilling in an input jack, then getting weird with some pedals.
So yeah, more fun than a sample pack but much more dissonant in my hands.
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Spent this year trying to find new ways of working and finally found it. Sold a bunch of gear I haven’t used in years.
Misses:
Abelton Suite + Push. Coming from Performer, Logic and Pro Tools, I felt this went further into the same direction. Not worse, just ‘more’ and it’s not great writing music on my internet machine. After a few weeks I abandoned ship.
Modular. Three different setups over this year, lots of weird modules, cables and very little creative output. I love synthesis but that’s a lot of work.
Hits:
A4 mk2 + AR mk2. I should have tried it sooner. I’ve had the A4 for one week and wrote at least one finished song. It just ‘works.’ Had that “wait, what time is it?” and “How long have I been doing this?” feeling I haven’t had for many years last night and it was lovely.
I feel an OT in my future. That thing looks like bonkers fun.
Kawai ES8. Another wonderful upgrade. It’s such a joy.
Sheet music! Writing with a pencil on paper has been a joy. Elektron workflow is complementary. Loads of thinking about the music itself and what its purpose is from measure to measure rather than command v+p+tweak.
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Though I haven’t had much time for music, two things jump out.
Hit
Nord Drum 3. Sounds absolutely fantastic! Easy to get eighties sounds but also more. Everything has a naturalistic feeling even when totally synthetic. Hard to explain! Has to be a hit because you hit it, right?
Miss
Octatrack. Sounds grungy even when you don’t want it to. Really bad effects. Mixer mode that doesn’t let you mix. Bizarre choices everywhere. Learning the interface feels like debugging software. Though I’m good at that particular activity, it’s not how I want to feel when music-making.
Reminds me: I will need to get a proper sequencer soon.
Also, thanks to some posts in this thread, I now realise I need a labeling machine.
Thanks to all for sharing.
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Hits
Argon 8. I could go on for days about this thing, but I will limit it to one comment. Calling something a wavetable synth is a terrible marketing idea, IMHO. I think of modulated ambient evolving soundscapes and menu diving. Not my thing.
What is my thing? A synth that allows me to make the sound in my head with a minimum of fuss and sounds great at the same time.
Strymon Iridium: I just needed an great sounding box with a few amps and cabs, simple controls and a good, simple reverb, and this is it.
Misses: The DAWless workflow. In which I convinced myself that writing songs out of the box was a good idea. DAWs changed my life. They allowed my to write, record, arrange and mix a shitload of songs that I will always be proud of … in my living room.
With the DAWless workflow I created some loops that are OK.
Biggest DAWless workflow miss. The MPC One … made crawl on my hands and knees back to DAWland begging for forgiveness.
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This is the problem. The phrase- Dawless is a rather recent term. I find it a bit foolish to be honest. An artist should use everything at their disposal to make the sound they have in their head. If a computer works better for what you need to express, use it. If I were going to make music only on my computer, I would prolly just use my AH as a soundcard or buy a rme. In the end (literally) it’s about the converters. Good luck and- don’t believe the hype.
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To be clear, I mean using the DAW to record mostly external gear - vocals, synths, guitars, bass and the occasional shaker and tambourine. Partly this was driven by working from home, but over the summer I brought my work computer home and set up a separate music space about 20 feet away. Before that I experimented with various hardware options. I learned a lot about groove boxes, but I make indie pop with somewhat unusual song structures and I felt like I was flying blind.
turned to be super hits IRL.
MB-33 is absolutely fool proof. it’s totally impossible to get it sounding wrong when noodling with it live.
rocket isn’t too far from MB-33. once you’re familiar with it — it’s not easy to make it sound horribly wrong.
this makes them a joy to pair with a groovebox for live use.
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I did not have any solid misses in 2020. However, below is a summary of a few hit and unsure purchases:
Hit:
Dreadbox Typhon
Korg Minilogue XD
Modal Argon8M
Native Instruments Maschine+
Roland JU-06A
Unsure:
Arturia MicroFreak
Elektron Model:Cycles
Elektron Model:Samples
MAM MB33 Analog Retro
Roland MC-707
The Maschine+ has the most potential in regards to altering my present workflow, as it will eventually serve as my primary sequencer in the studio. By far, the best purchase I made in 2020.
I also have a Modal Cobalt8M on order, and I am sure it will be a hit along with the Argon8M.
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I would like to add two hits to my 2020 list.
Plugin alliance shadow hills. Bam!!! That’s what I have to say about this compressor (it’s actually two in parallel). This is by far my best compressor to date.
Xln audio xo. If you’ve never seen it in action go check a video on this thing. There is nothing like this I know of. Its brilliant.
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Hits:
Dreadbox Typhon (pure joy)
Digitone (sold it 2019 but missed it so much and I’m in love again)
Digitakt (My heart said OT, but my head said DT. It’s fun and fast)
Micromonsta 2 (sounds really really good, and it’s tiny)
Miss:
Arturia MicroFreak (I don’t like the Sound. I bought it cause „Internet“ said it’s great, but in the end, my ears said „no“)
Roland MC-707
Roland MC-101 (Sounds Great, but the Interface is just sooo clunky!)
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One more Hit to add:
Montreal Assembly Count To 5. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this one… definitely have to let it take the lead, but getting a randomly chopped up loop going, recording that into Mood’s envelope looper, which is then triggered by the CT5 loop, has been a blast and I’ve found myself doing hour-long ambient guitar sessions as a result (works well with synths too).
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Interesting feedback on the Octatrack
It is one of the first I hear which gives a more open and honest view
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so when people say they like it it‘s fanboyism, which is immediately destroyed by one comment about disliking it 
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