Some gear is often described as ‘record ready’, in that it requires very minimal or zero processing. Recently I’ve started to appreciate gear for its basic tone or sound quality, rather than its complexity or features. So I’m looking for more things that have this elusive ‘record ready’ quality.
Things I own or used to own that fall into this category include the SSF Ultra Kick (perfect techno kicks), the Juno 106 (perfect soft pads), and the Erica Zen Delay (which makes other things sounds record ready to me with lovely stereo widening and fuzz). Things I’m curious about that might have this quality would be the UDO Super 6 and the Oto Boum. Things which definitely don’t fit in this category to me are the 909, most soft synths, and (although I love it) the Digitone.
Please fill in the list!
For me it’s a list of devices that I will never buy - nothing is worse than a device that sounds good straight away. Because most people who have it then use these presets. Zero learning curve required…
Boum is just a processor so not sure how it could be “record ready.” It depends on what goes through it. It’s also fairly noisy so not sure it would even belong in this category.
A friend of mine who happens to be a top notch sound engineer for live tours and studios told me the sound coming right out of a MachineDrum needed very little (if any) processing.
Needless to say I concurred.
analog heat (mk1 for me) - makes my modular sound better than finely tuned tracks coming out of ableton with an extensive mastering chain. hipass with q on the low end is just
The kick of the MFB Tanzbär sounds like it’s already mixed. Of course it depends on what you add to it. The whole sound set sounds very good without processing.
I’ve used the Boum with my Alpha Base for awhile and I found it to be a little harsh. It was to easy to push it into distortion and it just didn’t sound very good to me.
The Jomox Alpha Base has this quality, that sense of air and separation. The Prophet 5 is another one, not to say that it doesn’t require mixing, though it just sounds good without too much work.
All the workstations sold into the “Worship” market (churches).
Anything buskers and lounge artists play.
A lot of restaurants and hotels in Japan have live music, so I try to scope out the gear they leave lying around when I’m traveling. Lots of Roland. Some Yamaha and Korg.
The problem is they all have a certain kind of vibe that is probably not what you are looking for if you are asking here.
I suck at mixing, but Roland synths always seem to fit into a mix without any effort. 101 for example only needs some FX, but it’s so easy to make the bass or lead from it fit, easier than with anything else I’ve used so far.
Elektron’s seem to have a quite balanced sound overall that makes it easy to fit many tracks together without sounding off.
Don’t know if that was the question though, sounds a bit like “fattest” sound.
Edit: @obscurerobot said the same using different words.
