That too. When I started looking, aside from the general reviews of gear, I also thought I’d take a look at what people were making. I noticed that lots of people were achieving something resembling the swing/stagger and general vibe with Electron gear and the Polyend so that probably made me gravitate that way a bit in my thinking. I have heard plenty of people go with the MPC as @chrisroland says. Tactile box. Away from the computer(ish). Portable (ishh?) As a standalone piece it’s interesting, but also interested to see if I could sculpt the sounds in that direction.
Which one?
It’s nothing too fancy but the M-AUDIO Oxygen Pro 49. Works for me!
It has some cool features and misses some. I just use it over USB/MIDI out (for the DN) and purely for MIDI (no DAW stuff, even though it can). I went to the store thinking I was getting an Arturia Keylab 49 but they sold it before I got there and this was there so I decided why not (was cheaper and I really wanted to try out a bigger keyboard with semi-weighted keys). Glad I did
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CR is the sampler one, so you can load whatever sounds you want into it, it has slice mode too, so chopping up is pretty easy. Like the Polyend Tracker and Digitakt it is 8 voice mono samples, so quite enough to get ideas or even finished tracks done.
Oops. No I get you now, my bad. I keep getting them mixed up, and they look the same as well! I didn’t take a look at this one in depth, so I might have a second glance at it.
Just throwing it out there. Reason Studios is pretty dope!
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If you can get your hands on one the new Roland SP 404mk2 would be perfect when you are starting out. From what ive read and understood you would love it.
I think the OP has some good options going. Of the original list I would suggest:
Polyend Play 689GBP (probs no cash left for anything else after this!)
Elektron Digitakt 639GBP (+ midi keys fed back into the Digitakt)
Elektron Model Cycles & Samples 550GBP (I’ve seen people do really nice ambient/house on these)
Polyend Tracker 479GBP (+ export track & use midi keys to build track in the DAW)
In each case you have a capable sample player, or sampler. Then you could use some plugins to get some pads or other synth sounds going, to either record into the DAW as a separate track/s, or record separately as samples and load into one of the machines. Of course with the Cycles, you get some synth sounds, so that is a plus there.
I’ve used all of the boxes on your list, and they are all capable. So I would go with one that either has the features you want, or one that has the workflow you think you would like, or both. I would also suggest getting one of the sampler players/samplers first. Use it for a little bit, and then see what/if you feel like something is missing at that point.
Thanks Sabana, that’s a new one on me.
This guy seems to have the vibe I’m into down on this machine
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Yes, similar to @Octagonist this is more or less where my gut is leading me at the moment. It would be an initial hybrid of hardware & soft synths which would be plenty to be getting on with. Of those 4 options you’ve used, would you say that any of them would be more or less intuitive, in terms of feeling like you regularly want to grab that machine/machines to jam out some ideas?
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The Model:Samples is just a super fun machine. It is quick and easy, and I have banged out many tracks just using the M:S alone, or the M:S with an accompanying bass synth. It is somewhat limited compared to others on your list, but I think that is reflected in the lower price. I also think that because of the lower price, and because it is relatively easy to learn, it is a great entry into these types of machines.
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the digitakt can get you pretty far, but i recommend going straight to a DAW + midi keyboard for your purposes. DT is great for banging out ideas but doesn’t offer velocity sensitive buttons or keys. if you don’t have any requirement for hardware these days, skip it. you can’t get any more flexible or portable than a laptop. whenever you’re away from the midi controller, you’ll still be able to work out ideas. with any hardware, you’re looking at further complicating your setup with gear just to record back to a DAW anyway (unless you’re going straight to tape or something, in which case, bless you).
i got back into music in much the same way: buying a bunch of cool hardware and then realizing i’d have to make it all work together somehow and have a space for it. i enjoy it for what it is, but when i just want to mess around and whip up tunes, ableton gets me where i want to go most easily. in my case, the hardware is kind of a longer term goal to master them over time.
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Here are a couple tracks I did that was - Model:Samples Stereo Output>Audio Interface>DAW for final edits and processing.
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I don’t think any of the hardware is great for making proper tracks. Honestly a DAW is best. Obviously you can make patterns and jam it out but it’s less than ideal.
YouTube search Digitakt Garage, there’s a guy on there who’s done some great stuff, he has loads of videos and a lot of them are DT Garage.
FYI I have a DT, Eurorack and other hardware, it’s fun to use but making tracks with it is a bitch. I know I could just do it in Ableton but that’s no fun for me. I already stare at a computer screen for 50 hours a week being a designer.
You have a clear goal musically… and these hardware options are not suited to it.
DAW plus a softsynth is 100% the way to go for the styles listed. I recommend Kilohearts Phase Plant as a softsynth, others will suggest Serum etc. Doesn’t really matter which DAW.
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Yeah Burial used a basic audio editor like Audacity or Sony Sound Forge with no quantization and a bunch of Metal Gear Solid samples lol. I laugh to stop myself from crying.
But seriously if you needed to incorporate a piece of hardware for that kind of thing the Octatrack might be the best suited to the task, but really you could get it done for about half the price with Ableton Suite.
As others have said the music you want to make doesn’t lend itself to hardware. UK bass music has long been very computer driven.
I’d recommend a good midi controller so you can be as musically expressive as you like within a DAW, with good keys for all things melodic and pads for programming beats with human feel. Something like the Novation Launchkey?
Additionally I do think an analogue synthesizer would be great to make some of the more expressive, weird, experimental sounds you might like to draw on when making modern UK style bass music.
Something from Dreadbox maybe, or one of the Make Noise desktop units, or an Arturia Microfreak (not analogue but expressive and weird).
That will give you something more to play with physically and inject a bit of character into DAW music that can sound (or feel) a bit flat sometimes.
This is my humble opinion from someone who is interested in similar music and has had far more success with a DAW than hardware setups!
PS - if you’re not so concerned with the finished product and just want to play with hardware that’s fine also, and if you plan on paring it with a DAW i’d go for an instrument like the Digitone rather than a sampler/sequencer like the others you’ve mentioned
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Very solid post.
MPC One + OPx-4 is a very powerful combo
You’re gonna need a DAW, frankly; otherwise spend an absolute fortune and a lot of time mastering a lot of hardware. (I like Bitwig. It has a learning curve, like all DAWs, but you’re unlikely to get the fairly slick sounds you reference without one; but take your pick of DAW, really, they’ve all got strengths and weaknesses.)
You want some hardware good times? Me too. From your list, I’d pick the Digitakt. Sounds good, and in a pretty sweet spot where it’s very limited compared to DAW but totally enough to build 90% of a track in. Overbridge is useful for recording DT into DAW too, if your computer is well-specced at least.
So I’d suggest: get a DAW, a MIDI keyboard, and a Digitakt if you can afford one after that. Get some random interesting samples into the DT, make some beats and learn sample manipulation —> into DAW and use software synths for synth parts and recording vocals etc to finish things off. I love my Analog Keys, but knowing how to to program the sound you want is far, far, far (can’t be stressed enough) important than software vs hardware. Almost all modern soft synths, including the ones built into DAWs, sound fantastic if you know what you’re doing.
Go DAW + controler (if you like the idea of playing your own rythm/melody by hand). Then maybe add a cool piece of hardware for its specifities, but if you goal is to make song you’ll end up limitated by starting with HW.
Hardware can add interesting stuff to your songs, but, if your not afraid of computer ofc, DAW will be a million time cooler to make songs than hardware. Mostly because you can use a mouse and keyboard shortcut, that will save you a lot of time for making music.
Edit : I wont agree with myself if it turns that you only have a slow ass computer, then you may consider a daw-in-a-box like MPC.