Best gear for ‘jamming from scratch’

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Hi all,

I know there has been a fair few threads on the best gear for improvisation which is close to what I am after, but I’m stuck in a GAS cycle and still looking for thoughts on my specific usage needs - as outlined below.

I work from home and have my ‘synth desk’ set up next to my ‘working desk’ so that I can turn stuff on during the day and spend regular 10/15 min breaks jamming away.

I like to start from a blank pattern every time and just improvise on the fly in whatever direction I fancy. I’m a guitarist as well and do a similar thing with guitars in my room, just pick them up play, no set agenda and not playing ‘songs’ just jamming and seeing where it takes me. Once I stop I turn it all off, never saving the pattern etc, and start again an hour later from nothing…

In short I want advice on the best gear for turning on fast and creating interesting/varied stuff from scratch quickly, very much in a live looping kind of workflow. I guess I’m using it almost as meditation throughout the day if that makes sense.

TLDR

The synths/drum maschines/samplers I currently have are as follows:

TR8S - this works well for this - I just have a kit set up and the workflow is pretty good, the faders are great - but it’s sometimes a little ‘limited’. Maybe limited isn’t fair, as a drum
Machine I am pretty happy with it-which leaves me with the ‘melodic side’

Akai force - again works well on some levels for this, I just have a template set up that I like. But there are a few issues, I always feel like I am underutilising it as I only use about 5% of its features. Also it’s pretty slow on its load time etc. I’ve previously had a MPC live 2 and the Maschine plus - all 3 have pluses and minus points but all feel roughly the same in terms of how I use them (setting up a template with a few sounds, samples, midi) and live looping a pattern.

Microfreak - it’s cool and cheap and has some good sounds, I play and sequence it over midi from the Force. It works but is also a little ‘meh’ as I just end up surfing the first 10/15 presets and banging out a pattern.

SP404 mk 2 - this is new to me and sparked me wanting to explore options. I absolutely love bits of it, the sound, the ease of sampling, the size and speed of workflow,
The FX, It’s great. The problem is it seems that all the workflows involve ‘stopping’ to resample, record pattern etc-it just feels that it doesn’t ‘flow’ in a improvised jamming kind of way for the usage ive described above. I’ve actually taken to sequencing it from the Force, but using the Force as a MIDI sequencer compounds the ‘not using it deeply enough’ issue even more!

Feel free to recommend me any gear you feel would fit with this workflow or any tips on taking this way of working forward.

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#2

I always forgot how the Polyend Tracker is beast for those kind of quick jam until I grab it and just have fun with it and get a loop of a minute running and being destroyed by the performance mode.

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#3

Force and Microfreak are a deadly combo. Don’t worry about utilising only some parts of the Force…

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#4

Very personal, of course, but for me it is the Erica Techno System.

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#5

Digitakt

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#6

I’d say syntakt is a contender.

model cycles would be too but it may be somewhat limited depending on what you’re into.

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#7

I’m not going to suggest more gear to someone who has plowed through a Machine+, an MPC Live 2 and then bought the Force and still only uses 5% of it. You already have synths, samplers, drum machines and all in one production centers, so I’d advice you to double down on the one that feels the most rewarding at the moment and explore it more deeply, rather than looking for even more gear. It’s good that you’ve noticed your GAS. It’s really takes the fun out of jamming.

What kind of music do you enjoy improvising? Mostly drums or synth sounds, or both? It sounds like you want a looper OR a good sequencer that you can play back live as you’re jamming, along with some good drums and synth sounds.

This suggests to me that, out of the gear you already have, the Force or the SP-404 MKII would fit the bill. Arguably the SP-404 is the best choice because it’s simpler, more like an instrument, starts up faster, and doesn’t give you anxiety about under-using an expensive production center when you really just want something to jam on, like a guitar. Why don’t you embrace the step sequencer and/or the live recording features of the 404 and just let a pattern keep playing? Don’t worry about resampling so much maybe? Instead, fill it with samples you already love, and then just add them to the sequence by banging on those pads on a recording pattern until the 10-15 minute jam is over!

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#8

I throw the Polyend Play in the mix. I never came up with interresting patterns that fast. Randomising a sequence in several ways and then editing it a bit until i like it is easy and fun.
Though it could be that there’s something about the workflow that you might not like. For example loading up samples takes a bit of time. It’s not perfect but it does some stuff really well.

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#9

That approach is exactly mine.

I have a Digitakt, Nord Lead 4 and Nord Drum 3p (+ Bluebox and Blokas Midihub to get signals organised). My personal thoughts were:
For jamming from scratch I like to play hand drums for rhythm parts and of course a keyboard for melodies. So I have both taktile options combined with capable synth engines and together 10 timbres + sampling on the Digitakt. I’m happy with this setup.

But I give a +1 for djst…

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#10

Impulse Command.

#11

This topic is what often draws me to modular. I imagine something like the vermona melodicer or stochastic inspiration sequencer falls into that category, as well as euclidean circles or similar. Things that help you to come up with something, that gives you inspiration where to go next.

From the gear I own: my ipad has a few sequencers that are very nice for jamming from scratch.
I‘m also always getting quick results with maschine. The pads are just inspirational to play.

OPz was also a great from scratch device. Digitakt as well

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#12

I like the Digitakt for quick jams, but here’s one thing I’ve noticed: I spend a lot of time selecting samples! I could see that eating up my whole 10-15 minute break. This going be the case with any sampler.

If you’re thinking you’ll leave a project ready beforehand with all the samples selected, I think the DT is great. Otherwise, maybe a Syntakt? I don’t have one myself, but I know you won’t get lost in sample selection.

Personally I absolutely love samplers, but if I’m being honest, browsing through samples really consumes more time than I wish it did.

Sometimes I play a bit on a synth with a keyboard on breaks, but I’m a shit keyboard player (guitarist as well), so it’s not super rewarding. I can express myself better on a sequencer than on keys.

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#13

I’m in the same situation as you man. I’ve GASed through all the major standalones in the past years
Now I own a MPC One retro, MPC 1000 (that runs on batteries), Dirtywave M8, OP1 Field, iPad full of music apps…

But I do these 15 min breaks too while I work and I find the MPC One to be the most rewarding in the sense that it has a ton of samples, presets, and you can build a track pretty quick.
The M8 & OP1 F are sparking a ton of ideas too, but in the end I find myself looking at a ton of beat ideas and no time / mood to make them into a full track.

You say you already have a Force. I say you focus on that. It has great workflow for drums, samples, synths, and you can plugin your guitar too. I also play guitar and I find myself sampling it and chopping the riffs into diff stuff all the time.

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#14

The key with the DT is having template projects/patterns set up with different starting samples. If you do that, it’s easy to go super fast.

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#15

Yeah, that was my point. If you’re willing to leave it set up beforehand, yeah, it’s a very immediate instrument! Personally I don’t. I have different ideas for different sessions. Jamming on breaks doesn’t work well for me because I get sucked in and I lose track of time :smiley:

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#16

Model:Cycles

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#17

If your idea is to just have a self contained groove box, then a lot of people’s suggestions on here should fit the bill. IMO, Model:Cycles and M8 are probably the best for just zoning out and making something in one sitting. The M8, in particular, is really powerful because you can start out making a pattern with the built in synths, and then resample (render) them to be chopped up and further processed within a new pattern. I’m finding that this process is really great if you like going down a sound design rabbit hole. No matter how far you take it, what you come up with will still be structured into a “song” just because of the M8’s inherent workflow.

I’d also recommend the Norns and Grid by Monome, if you’re into making more experimental sounds. The pair doesn’t really lend itself towards making fully mixed songs, but they are very much “jamming from scratch” types of instruments.

If you don’t already know, the Norns is basically a compact sound computer that hosts music scripts which you can program from scratch. I’m not a programmer myself, but thankfully others have made some really powerful scripts that are easily downloadable. There are scripts for sampling, synthesizing, and even processing (and/or sequencing) external sounds. Norns has a digital “tape” recorder which can capture whatever is heard on the output. So for instance, you can start by recording a synth script, and then import your recording into a sampler script and jam out something with the Grid and then record that. Maybe you want to process the recording further with a warbled tape or granular effect. You basically do these things just by bouncing your recording from one script to the next. It’s a great way to capture a bunch of samples, which can be imported into another environment (daw or sampler) to be further developed.

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#18

Are you me?

If so, I see three main paths forward:

  1. More grooveboxes!
  2. Drone Machines
  3. Semi-modular / basic modular skiff

Others have covered grooveboxes well. Since you liked the TR-8s, you might also consider the MC-101/707. The Roland Boutiques could also be interesting. Exploring the Volcas might be fun.

I don’t know if you are into drones / evolving textures. If you are, the Lyra-8 or Grendel Drone Commander Pedal are good starting points. If you want something more flexible and powerful, the Mk1 or Mk2 Syntrx is a ton of fun.

On the modular side, I’ve considered both the MakeNoise set (0-Coast, 0-Ctrl, and Strega), or the Moog Sound Studio 3 (DFAM, Mother32, SubH). A single Serge panel would be interesting too - that’s the direction I’m leaning towards when I get back into modular. I’ve been avoiding learning anything new about Euro as I sell my modules, but there are plenty of threads here and elsewhere to get you started if that interests you.

Another option is something completely different: get into DIY of some sort. 15 minutes is enough time to make a cable or two, or solder in a few through-hole components or a lot of SMD. Ventilation is an issue if you plan to do a lot of soldering in an office environment. It is also not much fun to step on a bent wire that has been sharpened to a spear point with a pair of diagonal cutters.

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#19

Hmm. a Novation Circuit? If you intend to further pursue these jams later into full fledged songs you might wanna consider that aspect too.

#20

I’m gonna say, for me(also a guitar player), Polyend Tracker, OP-1 field, and Ableton Live. Separately or together, they always yield something from scratch.

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