Whatsup guys, I’ve posted this in the s2400 thread but decided to give it its own thread as well: here’s the first album I did completely on the Isla s2400.
After some years of making beats on elektron gear (DT, ARmk2), I switched to the Isla last summer. The machine is way easier to use in some respects (chopping, loading samples), and way harder in some others (finetuning your sequence or sounds, applying live fx). All in all I really like the sound I get out of the s2400. Curious to hear what you guys think!
Ah well, finally found some time to give it a spin! Ended up listening to it twice in a row. As always, a really solid release which def bears your signature sound. And maaaaan, you make that s2400 sing: that warmth / punch / aliasing really go along nicely with your sound, it’s a time travel straight to 1993.
You’ve sold your AR, then? Can you tell us a bit about your process on the isla? That’s one bit of kit that I don’t know much…
I did sell the AR after 3 years of intensive use and 5 complete albums, though I really miss it and can see myself getting one again in the future.
The isla is now my main machine, and I decided to really dive in like I did on the AR. The workflow is very different to the elektron machines, and it makes me focus in different things:
With the elektrons a lot of focus went into finetuning every sound (p-locking all the settings, shifting microtiming per trig, applying fx etc). Its also very easy to get experimental, and to perform tracks using the control all, scenes, perf-mode etc.
On the isla the focus is on chopping samples and playing/layering them. It really makes you focus on the basics of your track, if they arent right you cant fix it with cool tricks like on the elektron. The machine has a great sound, but offers less options for sound design, and is less experimental overall. The exception to this is the live looper tracks which add a whole world of options using external gear to add layers to your track.
The isla feels a bit like my old mpc1000 but with better sound and more user friendly.
How about a good looper with the Analogue Rhythm? Ive gone the other way. Trading in the S2400 for the Rhythm as i want that sound design as it so creative. My biggest concern with the Isla was the Analogue filters which were useless unless you just use the Dynamic Filters on channel 1 and 2. The others just muffled the sound. Great music btw
Thanks! Yeah I miss the sound design a lot. The AR feels like a magical box, especially with combining analog with samples. I tried to use a looper with the AR but I never really got that to work in sync in a reliable way.
The s2400 is way better at the core of hiphop though, just sampling some vinyl and chopping that up. the upcoming dsp card will hopefully give us more sound design/experimental features.
I think another AR might be back on my desk in the future, but I wont sell my s2400.
Cool i get you. I spoke to Rob yesterday and may get the white version due this week. Its very handy for trying new things out quickly. And still a great price as the pound is doing well against the us dollar.
Ive also got the Mks rec1 on my radar and will end up with 4 boxes in the end lol.(sp1200 as well).
Sampling is fun. It helps that vsts have come so far that you can create your own.
