Hardware Sequencer

Diapause · 2015-06-08T23:52:26.000Z

It’s really just a different approach. More midi tracks. Polyphony. Linear sequencing. Sequences longer than 64 steps. Playing drum parts just feels more natural to me, instead of sequencing them to a rigid grid. And probably a lot more that I’m not thinking of yet. Thus far, I’d say that the Elektrons are amazing as mangling and sound creation devices, while the MPC really excels at putting together full tracks. Not so much an either/or thing, but having both really expands your arsenal to overcome the shortcomings of the other.

^ THIS

Grids and step-sequencers drive me batshit.
On the other hand, Elektron has the best hardware for sample mangling with the OT and the best sounding analog synth, to my ears, with the A4.
Hell, if Elektron made a wavetable synth with analog filters like the Prophet 12 I’d have bought it instead, but I had to make do.

In this case, it’s not even about using one or the other, but the power to do both.
With the MPC1000 I can do full length sequences in realtime and use the on-board sequencers when that makes more sense.
Using the MPC for chromatic mode to make melodies and then sampling them into the OT and mangling that.
Jesus, the possibilities are endless and I’ll never have to see a computer to make music again.
At work is another story . . .

rex_mundii · 2015-06-09T01:46:20.000Z

Great. Now I’m gassing for an MPC…

WILL IT NEVER END??

Based on what I’ve read about them, maybe that’s the best option…

Diapause · 2015-06-09T02:50:38.000Z

WILL IT NEVER END??

Oh, dude, no.
You already know the answer to that.
The GAS is eternal.
Even if you made millions you’d start GAS’ing out over unobtainable gear like specific serial numbered Neve desks and one-off analog chorus pedals made in Austria in the 70’s and stuff.

rex_mundii · 2015-06-09T03:52:34.000Z

""Diapause"":

WILL IT NEVER END??

Oh, dude, no.
You already know the answer to that.
The GAS is eternal.
Even if you made millions you’d start GAS’ing out over unobtainable gear like specific serial numbered Neve desks and one-off analog chorus pedals made in Austria in the 70’s and stuff.

LOL.

Just bought an MPC1000 (with the free JJOS) for computer free sequencing. But now that I don’t have the burden of savings, my GAS should be controllable for a while…

It really does look like a superb sequencer! Couldn’t gel with the OT sequencer for some reason…

Diapause · 2015-06-09T04:56:15.000Z

It’s not uncommon.
The OT is a brilliant sampler, but I’ve just never been a fan of xox-style sequencers for percussion.
I realize how ironic that is being such a fan of Elektron devices.
It works for the MnM and A4/AK, but for percussion I just feel trapped in the pattern mindset.
I realize some people can work miracles with the OT, but for me it’s just easier to do a freeform jam for 4-5 minutes, edit, do some CC tricks in overdub, and call it.
Done and done.

The MPC-1000 with JJ OS2XL will allow for that and give me 16 extra channels of MIDI I didn’t even know I needed.

Awesome news on your purchase.
I’m glad this thread helped somebody else as well.

Shout out to andreasroman for the helpful advice, as usual.

andreasroman · 2015-06-09T07:48:17.000Z

""Diapause"":

It’s not uncommon.
The OT is a brilliant sampler, but I’ve just never been a fan of xox-style sequencers for percussion.
I realize how ironic that is being such a fan of Elektron devices.
It works for the MnM and A4/AK, but for percussion I just feel trapped in the pattern mindset.
I realize some people can work miracles with the OT, but for me it’s just easier to do a freeform jam for 4-5 minutes, edit, do some CC tricks in overdub, and call it.
Done and done.

The MPC-1000 with JJ OS2XL will allow for that and give me 16 extra channels of MIDI I didn’t even know I needed.

Awesome news on your purchase.
I’m glad this thread helped somebody else as well.

Shout out to andreasroman for the helpful advice, as usual.

Thanks, man. You’re very welcome. And to be honest, you kind of helped me too. I had my finger on the Pyramid, but have now decided not to go ahead. What with their take on the live aspect, it doesn’t become that sequencer whose songs stretch into the Midi horizon forever.

jamrod · 2015-06-09T13:53:23.000Z

Also, w/ JJOSXL you can do round robin triggering of samples from a single pad… Very nice if you’re interested in more realistic percussion.

AdamJay · 2015-06-09T14:53:30.000Z

[quote=“” rex_mundii""]
Great. Now I’m gassing for an MPC…

WILL IT NEVER END??

Based on what I’ve read about them, maybe that’s the best option…
[/quote]

It never will!
.
I just talked myself into an OT the other day, mostly for the purpose of sampling many other synths I want, so that I can use their sounds on stage without hauling them along. My old limitation of dismissing what won’t fit in my flight case has now vanished.
.
Just enjoy the ride, buy second hand, and thing of it all as investments that have returns. Far more productive than blowing cash on smokes and drinks.
.
MPC is a beast, though. The workflow flies right along.

rex_mundii · 2015-06-09T15:45:46.000Z

""AdamJay"":

[quote=" rex_mundii"]Great. Now I’m gassing for an MPC…

WILL IT NEVER END??

Based on what I’ve read about them, maybe that’s the best option…

It never will!
.
I just talked myself into an OT the other day, mostly for the purpose of sampling many other synths I want, so that I can use their sounds on stage without hauling them along. My old limitation of dismissing what won’t fit in my flight case has now vanished.
.
Just enjoy the ride, buy second hand, and thing of it all as investments that have returns. Far more productive than blowing cash on smokes and drinks.
.
MPC is a beast, though. The workflow flies right along.[/quote]
Thanks guys!

Seems like finding a way to translate the music in my head into something more concrete (without losing it) has become something of a holy grail - I don’t imagine I’m alone in that thinking either…

Here’s hoping the MPC will do the job. Got a decent price as far as the aus market goes (I think).

You’re right about the smokes & drinks thing - since quitting both, I’ve never had more better quality gear!! Good luck with your OT, that black box is the one thing that finally got me to stop buying SP808s

Accent · 2015-06-09T17:24:54.000Z

Good luck with the MPC! Some things to be aware of, that I am discovering:

It is easily as convoluted to learn as the Octatrack, imo. Fortunately, you should be able to figure out a majority by instinct, but it can be a very deep machine, especially once you install JJOS2XL. I think part of the problem is that you kind of have to learn the basics from the foundation of the Akai OS, and then try learning JJOSXL from online resources and the broken English in the manual. Be prepared to take some time to really just learn the machine.
Think about how you are going to fit it into your setup. I’ve got mine set up as a slave to my OT, but have had to spend the last couple of days just playing around with the routing so that I could still use the MPC sequencer without conflicting with the OT. Both sequencers want to be the star of the show, so it might take some effort to retrain one of them to play backup. For me, since I have kind of a convoluted setup, I decided to devote Midi Out B on the MPC to only my multitimbral gear, and set up my midi patchbays to only feed out accordingly. That also meant sorting out all sorts of other things so that the MPC and my Elektrons didn’t step on each other’s toes.
Get the fat pads. It’s so much more enjoyable of an instrument to play with them. If that means you have to do the pad upgrade, so be it-you’d have to do it eventually anyway.

Funny you mention smokes and drinks in this context as well, as I quit drinking and smoking (well, cigarettes anyhow ) about a month ago, and the money I’ve saved made it possible to get the MPC and all the upgrades. Not to mention that I physically feel so much better .

andreasroman · 2015-06-09T17:35:26.000Z

Now, look what you’ve done. Here you go all MPC:ing and whatnot, and boom there’s one for sale right around the corner where I live, where the guy’s practically throwing it after whoever wants it (it’s one of them MPC 1000s).

It is, actually, suspiciously cheap. Maybe it got one of them funky pad defects I’ve heard about.

Accent · 2015-06-09T17:44:34.000Z

If it’s a blue one, it almost certainly has the pad defect. If it is black…it still may. Mine was black, supposedly the correct build with the new pads, but it still had the old ones. Mine was pretty minty and all the original pads worked just fine, but I decided to replace them right away anyhow.

What is the seller asking, and does he mention any upgrades done to it?

djadonis206 · 2015-06-09T18:00:36.000Z

I’ve fallen pray to the lure of the MPC and ended up buying and eventually selling two of them!

My brain is too simple to go from the ease, comfort and speed of programming and manipulating beats and samples on the OT to the stop and go experience of the MPC.

In my experience, it took way too many steps to make simple things happen on the MPC. While the same can be said for someone in their first 30 days of using the OT; however, once you get the hang of using it, there’s no other sequencer/sampler that compares - IMO

Diapause · 2015-06-09T21:02:33.000Z

That’s why you should always buy your pre-Renaissance MPCs from MPCStuff.com . . .
They refurbish them and let you know if it has good pads or if they need a refurb.

FYI, for the MPC-1000, as serial numbers go:
Blue always equals bad pads unless they’re specifically stated to have been refurbished.
Black ones with serial numbers including BK may or may not have bad pads and one with serial numbers that have BK-N have good pads.

Flopass · 2015-06-09T23:43:18.000Z

Does the squarp sequencer do polyphonic sequencing? That would be awesome. The foreign menu system of of the MPC’s scare me away. I have an old Roland MSQ that I sequence my P12 with that doesn’t require thought or menus to use, but it is pretty limited since I can’t mute or change tracks on the fly. I’m still holding out for the perfect hardware sequencer (not cirklon), and this thread is water in a desert.

rex_mundii · 2015-06-09T23:47:48.000Z

Thanks for the tips. Tried reading the JJOS manual online and gave up, but it’ll no doubt make more sense with the unit in front of me. If not I’ve seen a few tutorials on setting up the MIDI.

I think it’ll be able to do what I want without too many dramas for starting off with scratch tracks & then I’ll be more than happy to get the DAW sequencer involved once I’ve got something concrete to work with. Gonna start with that single goal in mind. Exams will be over in 3 weeks so I’ll have all the time in the world…

Good work on the non-smoking!! The idea of becoming one of those sick old men with severe breathing problems is truly frightening…

zfigz · 2015-06-09T23:55:38.000Z

""Flopass"":

I’m still holding out for the perfect hardware sequencer (not cirklon), and this thread is water in a desert.

No one has mentioned the MonoMachine, though, not super advanced, it is quite the midi sequencer. I used one exclusively to sequence my gear until recently (now also using an AR for percussion/samps).

It’s super powerful if you dig deep to overcome its shortcomings (no microtiming, individual lengths etc). Song mode is incredibly powerful as well.

Flopass · 2015-06-10T00:24:39.000Z

Wow, I can’t believe the mono machine might be exactly what I’ve been looking for the whole time! whaaaaaaaaaaa!?! I only want to use it as an external synth sequencer though, is that crazy?

Diapause · 2015-06-10T00:33:06.000Z

I only want to use it as an external synth sequencer though, is that crazy?

Not once you’ve started using it; it sounds delicious.
It was one of my favorite pieces of gear before the A4 came along.
I would’ve bought another one, but the P12 filled the necessary void in my heart/soul.
The MnM sequencer is mono and only 64 bars?
Is that right?
The reasoning for the MPC-1000 with JJOS is the idea that you can hit record and go nuts as long as you want for 300,000 steps/control changes.
I need length.
I need to rephrase that last sentence.

As far as polyphonic sequencing on the Pyramid, yes, it can, but it’s still limited to a very short–IMO–bar count of 64.
When I saw it I was extremely happy, but then I read the specs in deeper detail and got extremely sad.

Now, I’m afraid it’s either MPC-1000 with JJOS or a Cirklon.
The MPC still wins for me because it does exactly what I want and gives me extra percussion options as well as the ability to play my OT like a Rytm.

zfigz · 2015-06-10T01:27:20.000Z

""Flopass"":

Wow, I can’t believe the mono machine might be exactly what I’ve been looking for the whole time! whaaaaaaaaaaa!?! I only want to use it as an external synth sequencer though, is that crazy?

That’s exactly what I use mine for, it controls everything that has to do with melodies/chords/etc…

I also used to use the MnM for drums, and that worked pretty well when you designate a track for each kind of hit (Track 3 for hihats, 4 for claps, 5 for snares, and 6 for kicks) so that you can mute your drums easily.