Interview With Roger Linn

daftmunk wrote:^ i heartly disagree.. a lot of people in this forum & other hip-hop centric places are sleeping on the Tempest.

I dont class the DSI Tempest as a Roger Linn product although he worked with Dave on it. Linn is on record saying the Tempest was Daves project while LinnDrum II is his. The fact Tempest is analogue and doesn't sample is testament to this.

sorry to say but you're wrong...roger designed it, david engineered it. just like the mpc60/3000 with akai. the sequencer is entirely roger, he still has input in it's current development. he also said in numerous interviews he took his favorite tricks out of all his drum machines to put them in tempest as well as numerous ideas he had for linndrum II.. roger linn's signature is on tempest btw and the machine is listed along his other products on his website, here's what he even says on the product page:

"Tempest has turned out much, much better than I originally expected. In fact, I ended up putting most of my best LinnDrum II design ideas into it."

as a Tempest & MPC60 owner myself, i see a lot of similarities, especially the mega fast workflow. the legendary Linn swing & feel are also present. again though he really outdid himself with certain features that i've never seen on any drum machine before definitely next level compared to the MPC rehash, dare i say de-evolution going on at Nukai year after year..

PS: the Tempest drum machine although 100% analog signal path does contain a digital section with classic drum machine samples including LM-1 & LM2!

If me being wrong makes you feel better that's cool with me. Everything you just wrote is common knowledge. The product is called DSI Tempest, the LinnDrum II won't be labelled DSI LinnDrum. We all know they have worked together and helped each other out.

It doesn't matter that much to me so you can argue by yourself.

dave did the synthesis.

roger did the sequencer.


id like more details on the sequencer functionality myself.

clint246clint wrote:If me being wrong makes you feel better that's cool with me. Everything you just wrote is common knowledge. The product is called DSI Tempest, the LinnDrum II won't be labelled DSI LinnDrum.

again you prove your ignorance on the subject:

"LinnDrum II is a drum machine I've been developing for a while now with Dave Smith."



it's quite obvious you not only have little interest in the product, but obviously know very little about it.. as an owner and fan of roger linn sequencers and drum machines in general i just thought i'd set the record straight. i also find it quite surprising you were basically insinuating roger was washed up when he's just released one of the most ground breaking drum machines of the decade. seems like you are kind of shooting yourself in the foot considering your recent book endeavers (good luck getting contributions from roger with this kind of bad judgment)

fobedafied wrote:id like more details on the sequencer functionality myself.

the basic workflow is like an mpc but then there is this mode called 16 beats where basically the pads represent up to 16 sequences, you can then trigger your patterns from the pads and even set quantized transitions (kind of like how you launch clips in ableton but better). you can also pitch or modulate any parameter on pattern level in this mode using the touch sliders, you can even use roll aka note repeat for instant stutter or play backwards using reverse. combine all this together and basically you've become the next aphex twin. there are many other things like step sequencing or clever event editing.. it's really forward thinking yet remains true to the roger linn legacy but honestly it makes any mpc seem rather rudimentary

MPC-Tutor wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:well, I dont think they are interested in innovating... they are into spending bucks in marketing, keeping manufacturing costs low, and repackaging/reusing old R&D (especially from companies they acquired) ... what innovations have alesis come up with since it was acquired by numark?

I agree. I've just finished doing a review of the Ren hardware (not software), I'll try to get the text version up this weekend while I'm editing the video. Basically while the Ren hardware itself has very good, solid build quality and the essentials are all pretty much spot on (e.g. pads, data wheel, buttons etc), there's nothing revolutionary about it, it's basically 'mildly evolutionary', which is pretty much typical of recent MPC development.

As for the design of the Ren, I'm pretty neutral in my opinion - it's not horrible, but it's not going to win any awards. It's another area where Numark need to pull their finger out.

with regard to the hardware design how to u rate its looks and build quality in comparison with the following:

2500
4000
2000xl

a product need not be revolutionary to be a good product the 2000 to the 200xl was not a revolution but the next logical step

as is the case with the ren moving to computer processing was the next logical step given the ubiquitous use of computers in the studio

jpeg wrote:
as is the case with the ren moving to computer processing was the next logical step given the ubiquitous use of computers in the studio

Logical in a way.But not forwardly thinking as you will lose the mpc s greatest strenth-Independance from an over complecated and never ending enigma which is the general household computer.It shows too.Whats wrong with having your mpc sitting next to the damn comp.Never been a problem for me unless im feelin lazy.Its those cables and the analog interfaces that add the grit too.Ok we will lose that more then likely.How about a tempest inside the pc.Will that be the next logical step for DSI lol and maybe the dsi Linndrum 11 will actually be a plugin!!!Roger??

dryad-66 wrote:

jpeg wrote:
as is the case with the ren moving to computer processing was the next logical step given the ubiquitous use of computers in the studio

Logical in a way.But not forwardly thinking as you will lose the mpc s greatest strenth-Independance from an over complecated and never ending enigma which is the general household computer.It shows too.Whats wrong with having your mpc sitting next to the damn comp.Never been a problem for me unless im feelin lazy.Its those cables and the analog interfaces that add the grit too.Ok we will lose that more then likely.How about a tempest inside the pc.Will that be the next logical step for DSI lol and maybe the dsi Linndrum 11 will actually be a plugin!!!Roger??

Preach!

m56p87 wrote:

dryad-66 wrote:

jpeg wrote:
as is the case with the ren moving to computer processing was the next logical step given the ubiquitous use of computers in the studio

Logical in a way.But not forwardly thinking as you will lose the mpc s greatest strenth-Independance from an over complecated and never ending enigma which is the general household computer.It shows too.Whats wrong with having your mpc sitting next to the damn comp.Never been a problem for me unless im feelin lazy.Its those cables and the analog interfaces that add the grit too.Ok we will lose that more then likely.How about a tempest inside the pc.Will that be the next logical step for DSI lol and maybe the dsi Linndrum 11 will actually be a plugin!!!Roger??

Preach!

very true. i think people tend to overlook the short lifespan computers really have in the big picture. think about it... people are still using the original roger linn designed hardware MPCs to this day... but can you imagine if those older MPCs would only work if plugged into a home computer from the time they were released?? do you know how much of a pain in the ass it would be to need a separate APPLE IIe [or whatever old ass computer] just to be able to use your sampler/sequencer... we've already touched on this topic plenty... but this is essentially just shortening the lifespan of akai's products...

m56p87 wrote:

dryad-66 wrote:

jpeg wrote:
as is the case with the ren moving to computer processing was the next logical step given the ubiquitous use of computers in the studio

Logical in a way.But not forwardly thinking as you will lose the mpc s greatest strenth-Independance from an over complecated and never ending enigma which is the general household computer.It shows too.Whats wrong with having your mpc sitting next to the damn comp.Never been a problem for me unless im feelin lazy.Its those cables and the analog interfaces that add the grit too.Ok we will lose that more then likely.How about a tempest inside the pc.Will that be the next logical step for DSI lol and maybe the dsi Linndrum 11 will actually be a plugin!!!Roger??

Preach!

how is it not forward thinking when computers are being used increasingly in production?

bare in mind that once the software is installed the ren runs pretty much the same as any legacy pc the only difference being that there is a usb cable and a power cable coming out of the mp and a few different menu options in the mp os.

if u dont like the ren then dont concern urself with it and just keep using the normal 2k or whateva else u have.

also pcs ive had the same pc for 6 or 7 years so u dont need to upgrade if everything works fine just have a separate pc for production and keep all the software the same.

so the short life span of a pc is not something to be considered as there is no obligation to continuously upgrade


also the whole point of the ren is some people enjoy the benefit of integrating the hardware workflow with the pc convenience, like if u have ur mpc1k next to ur computer can u browse all the sounds on ur hard drive from the 1k? no? precisely the point of the ren

can u select ur vsts from ur 1k? and have all the parameters mapped on ur 1k? hell no, this again illustrates the case for the ren.

JAH wrote:

crossings wrote:
what is there to prove when then first 3 MPCs ever built have HIS FIRST AND LAST NAME CLEARLY WRITTEN ON THEM!!?? now AKAI is currently still trying to cash in on the "MPC3000 sound" through emulations and you're trying to deny Roger Linn any credit?? you're delusional...

I have one of those MPCs. To the left it says Akai and to the right Roger Linn. His contract/partnership was still with a Japanese company decades ago. And even that Japanese company felt they didn't need to pay him.

So for sh!ts and giggles....what is he entitled to exactly? Akai Japan did bankroll the MPCs. Akai were already building samplers and keyboards. Does he feel the sequencer is his intellectual property? JJ OS is derived from his code. Does JJ and MPC Stuff owe him a cut? Is Roger Linn entitled to the name "MPC"? Plenty of companies using those three letters to help market their products. Do they owe him a cut?

Does Roland and Native Instruments owe Roger Linn a cut? Their products are based off of 'his' design.

Indeed, yes to almost all of your questions, JAH. It's called copyright infringement and it goes like this: if you own a patent, you're entitled to fair royalties for all the work derived from it. I supposed he owns those patents, by the sole fact that he said he dropped the case against them. No patent, no case to drop neither.

crossings wrote:

JAH wrote:I stand by my opinion. Roger Linn was in business with Akai Japan. Just like JJ was in business with Akai Japan. Is anyone here in possession of those contracts/agreements? I remember when his issue surfaced in the late 90s about royalties with Akai Japan. Now a decade later, its Akai USA.

If he is owed royalties and legally entitled...sue for them. Until then...I am not buying the sob story. If he had a case, I sure he would be going after his loot.

what is there to prove when then first 3 MPCs ever built have HIS FIRST AND LAST NAME CLEARLY WRITTEN ON THEM!!?? now AKAI is currently still trying to cash in on the "MPC3000 sound" through emulations and you're trying to deny Roger Linn any credit?? you're delusional...

crossing i know roger is a legend but in the past 20 years what has he developed that has any relevance to how the average producer works?


i have to agree with jah this dude seems like he still in the 80's for the most part, who in they right mind is making a 3 grand analogue drum machine in 2012.

jpeg wrote:

crossings wrote:

JAH wrote:I stand by my opinion. Roger Linn was in business with Akai Japan. Just like JJ was in business with Akai Japan. Is anyone here in possession of those contracts/agreements? I remember when his issue surfaced in the late 90s about royalties with Akai Japan. Now a decade later, its Akai USA.

If he is owed royalties and legally entitled...sue for them. Until then...I am not buying the sob story. If he had a case, I sure he would be going after his loot.

what is there to prove when then first 3 MPCs ever built have HIS FIRST AND LAST NAME CLEARLY WRITTEN ON THEM!!?? now AKAI is currently still trying to cash in on the "MPC3000 sound" through emulations and you're trying to deny Roger Linn any credit?? you're delusional...

crossing i know roger is a legend but in the past 20 years what has he developed that has any relevance to how the average producer works?


i have to agree with jah this dude seems like he still in the 80's for the most part, who in they right mind is making a 3 grand analogue drum machine in 2012.

if his creations have no relevance then why is AKAI still trying to cash in on the "mpc3000 sound" he developed for them decades ago?? many products he worked on changed the entire workflow of making music going forward. WTF do you mean it hasn't influenced how the average producer works!!?? the entire MPC workflow is his creation. find one producer on this forum that HASN'T been influenced by that creation.

jpeg wrote:
how is it not forward thinking when computers are being used increasingly in production?.

I don't like this logic, everyone else is doing it thus Nukai should follow? I think for alot of people including myself a strength of the machine is the streamlined in the box workflow without a computer! Granted I agree, users like me can just not choose a Ren as their work horse. But we still have a voice, and an opinion about it. I'm mostly dissapointed about the realization that akai/Nukai will probably never produce a machine I want to own. It's kind of an intense thought for me personally, the Ren sort of actualizes that.

I can also say, I've been using my 2k classic for about 6 months everyday and ive never had it act funny or crash. Throw a computer in the mix and even sandboxed programs can crash your machine... So to compare its stability is not a comparison IMHO. Yes a blank machine would be more stable, but I highly doubt the masses are attatching a Ren to a deticated/wiped machine. Even still not guaranteed stability. Atleast with analog gear the personalities in the machines are consistent.

So I really don't think you can make the argument that moving to a computer is an across the board upgrade. As far the whole roger linn, Atleast he's trying to innovate stuff still. I think you could count on one hand the number of people in the industry who are established & trying to innovate 20 years later. But to me, dude already landed on the moon, he dosnt need to goto mars to still have a reputation in this day and age.