Starting making music on budget

The Lounge Other Gear
#24

RM1X comes to mind. they sometimes have malfunctioning buttons or knobs the sellers cant repair. So they sell them for around 150 €. currently there is such thing for sale on ebay Kleinanzeigen in Germany. He sells it as malfunctioning for 175 €. i had an rm1x once and as far as i remember it wasnt that hard to “repair” these things. buttons are often just malfunctioning because the terminal pad has dirt on it. or its corroded due to humidity. this is easy to fix. Other than that theres an ES-1 for sale on ebay Kleinanzeigen for 170 € at the moment. seems to be a good deal, considering that this is already a sampler.

i would not recommend him/her to get these lame apps. a tablet is not an instrument and will never be. its just a computer. it doesnt have a soul and a feeling to it. thats just simply it! scratch that really quick! :wink:

best advice would be however: he/she should save a little more and go into the market with around 300 €. for this money you can get some of the classics quite easily and he/she will definitely have much more fun with these.

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#25

just googled after this one and … this came up: Roland JS-30 :smiley:
Theres a seller for this on ebay Kleinanzeigen - he sells it for 180 €. Does someone know this thing? Does that even have a Sequencer? :slight_smile:

#26

The very first groove box I ever got was an RM1X, paid 200$ for it. It’s a very good box. The midi sequencing alone is a reason to grab one. I still have mine though it’s packed away at the moment.

Totally spot on about failing buttons, I’ve had to take mine in twice to replace a non responsive button.

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#27

second hand Novation Circuit.

They just can’t stop updating that thing and the used market is big.

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#28

i cut my teeth on cool edit pro and fruity loops. i recommend just downloading some demos and hacking out the sounds (if they’re time limited or export disabled)

fruity is fun as hell! demos are free!

#29

150? A computer with a second hand controller.
Don’t believe the hype!

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#30

I would also recommend a second hand circuit it’s a fun box to sequence virtual instruments as well. The synth on it is actually pretty deep with the editor.

#31

an extract of the Loney Dear interview here

Allegedly, you made your first album in a basement using just a MiniDisc recorder and a computer?
My first four and a half albums, actually! I was a traveling recording nomad in that era. With a bulky PC and super home-made peripherals.

#32

If he is ok to to work with a computer, I would just use Renoise : the free version has almost no limitation. And it is (for me) one of the best software ever made for music. There is a little effort to do at the beginning to get used to it. But then it is perfect !
Renoise includes everything that is needed to make music (super sequencer with a tracker interface, nice FX, a built-in sampler, phrase, macro, …). The GUI and the keyboard shortcut make it very efficient to use.

Of course, the best is to use a keyboard controller with 8 knobs (to control Renoise macro), or to buy an old synthesizer which has a keyboard.

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#33

Never underestimate the power of a micro/mini mixer + looper.

Especially if you will work together more often ( since you have invested in hardware already).

#34

Ummm… all the grove boxes/ samplers are computers! Such a useless point!

#35

I am going to disagree with the mpc 1000 idea. I have one and think it’s great, but I also have a huge sample library for it and use some hardware synths as well. The mpc shines in a hardware setup, with a keyboard and synths, not so much on its own imo.
An electribe might be good.
But really the best advice would be to save up way more for a maschine or something. I think it’s best to start on the computer, it’s easy to learn on, widely available (he likely already has one) and for the most part everything gets finished in one anyway (tracking, mixing mastering etc.)

#36

Agreed.
Has more to do with distraction/focus relationship with the devices I reckon.

#38

SP-303

Madlib, JDilla, Panda Bear, Oneohtrix, Four Tet…all inimitable artists making watershed beauty on that box.

#39

I have the RM1X and like the sound but not the workflow and its very limited.

maybe as a starting point because the sequencer and arpegiator. the e-mu command stations XLT sounds good especially the z-plane filters but a rompler and i think they´re pricey specially the roms. i have 3 of this machines boxed i didn’t use them since Elektron.

i recommend a used Machinedrum or a Digitak

so i think it depends on what you want to achieve on the long run or the style specially if you want to produce - remix tracks or music, maybe you need a DAW to organize all the stuff…… or just groove and make some beats and experiment with real hardware. honestly the fun part! try to get more cash to invest i suggest check the demo of Renoise as zite909 recommend and a quneo or a cheap controller and start…… i think the trick is make the first move and use whatever you have in hands.

#40

Eventually, yes, we all end up with a handful of pieces of equipment. But there are many things that affect this, age and income especially. For years the only piece of equipment I owned was my rm1x. Learned the box pretty much inside and out before finding other gear necessary or within budget.
The great thing about groove boxes is that they can provide a jump off point for those interested in composing with hardware. Generally they are cheap in the second hand market, a decent one can be obtained for 200-300$. I got my rm1x for 200$. This is about the same price as entry for a daw sans audio interface.

On the other hand fl studio and logic sit at about 200$ so if one is interested in the doing it on the computer as a starting point the option is available. I’ve done it both ways ITB and OTB and find both a good way to express myself creatively.

#41

Yes RM1X is good to start and Renoise i think is $75 and theres some good free plugins around

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#42

I did not realize that Renoise was so inexpensive, I remember it was THE tracker to use back in the day. Personally I have never been able to get into the tracker style workflow. Reaper is also available relatively inexpensive for a non-commercial license (50-60$). It has the more linear DAW interface that many individuals are used too.
You are correct, there are loads of free plugins and vst to be found online, many of which are pretty good quality.

#44

such a true statement. there is this fallacy that equipment x,y, or z will make one sound like their favorite artist. JDilla sounded like JDilla no matter what he was using (sp-303, sp-1200, mpc). :grinning:

#45

No, my point was not attributing it to the box…just your exact point, that people have made great things with next to nothing and that one still can make great work within a budget.

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