Question recording a synthesizer in 2KXL

Hello all,

Im thinking about the buy a MicroKorg, so that brings me up with a little question. Hope you guys can help me a bit.

Lets say that I have played/recorded a loop with the MicroKorg into the MPC 2000XL (MIDI).
Do I have to turn on the MicrKorg always when I want to listen to the sequence/loop ?

Whats the best way for doing/recording this ? I dont want to resample the loop by recording first in the samplemode.

buzina8 wrote:Hello all,

Im thinking about the buy a MicroKorg, so that brings me up with a little question. Hope you guys can help me a bit.

Lets say that I have played/recorded a loop with the MicroKorg into the MPC 2000XL (MIDI).
Do I have to turn on the MicrKorg always when I want to listen to the sequence/loop ?

Whats the best way for doing/recording this ? I dont want to resample the loop by recording first in the samplemode.

Yes you will need to turn the Korg on to hear it.

You do want to record it in sample mode since the Korg is a mono synth and that will allow you to get more mileage out of it.
If not you should at least record it into your DAW or recorder.

midi does not contain anything you can hear - only controllers data.

if you want to use midi and you want to hear it, you have to have it connected to a sound source.

you can get really creative with your sampling - you don't have to sample whole 'loops' - you could sample very short pieces and recreate the synth line using small samples. this will give it a unique sound anyway.

Hey mates thanks for the suggestions. Appriciated !!

Does some of you have any experience with synthesizers ? So which one would you recommend around 250 USD ? I want to use the synth for the bass.

You only have to listen to some records do realise that Analog Synths is the proven and original Synthesizer.

Monophonic is always the choice for good bass lines , you need sub frequencies and a method for creating overtones (oscillator tuning, VCA control and a way of routing these differently) the overtones can then be swept of cutoff by a VCF (filter) the filter is the foremost important part of a synthesizer and will make the room shake when Resonated

For your budget you may think you will never get to the MOOG, OBERHEIM, SC, ARP level but there are a couple of Magical instruments that give this actual circuitry without all the expense of hand built wiring looms and expensive potentiometers (Pots/knobs/sliders/ribbons/matrixes)

My personal favourite is the Oberheim Matrix 1000 .. this is entirely Analog in its Signal path and does have 6 voices ... which pack a punch if used in UNISON (all voices consisting of 2osc per voice , thats 12 oscillators in total to make one key if played in mono ... The Matrix1000 has legendary Presets giving a good start point for the type of sound you want .. and 200 user presets for storing your own Patches ... I'm assuming you have already googled a picture of this and are thinking "what it looks like a digital rack synth with no knobs!!" well it does look like that , but now google the Oberheim Matrix 12 or Oberheim Matrix Expander ... yes these do cost £2000 puls these days and not with out good reason !!! They have been used by most of the recordings from the late 70's ,80's 90's and their predecessors the OBXa etc have been used since late 60's early 70's
So if I told you that the |Matrix 1000 has the same exact sound board as the £2000 Oberheim Matrix would you believe me well the matrix 12 has 2 of these boards but the Expander has One like the Matrix 1000 ... but if you were to get more than one say 6 you would have a stupidly powerful Analog Studio (Aphex Twin uses them for his source sound ) but to get 6 Expanders well that would be near on £20,000 so to get your foot in the door by one Matrix 1000 with a view to getting another for the ability to play more than one sound at a time !!!
Even though I'm talking about using it as Monophonic with all voices in Unison .. it is of course a full 6 voice polyphonic Synth and most famed for its mid range pads .. but I am just highlighting the mono unison features to get a powerful method for bass !! Analog!! and heres the best part .. Full Modulation and patch creation facility via computer hookup , yeah you can see the entire guts of the sound board right on the computer screen.

google "Midiquest Matrix 1000" or "SynLibMx6" to see the editor librarians for PC there are Mac ones too but I'm using PC ..it was orinally shipped with an editor for Mac O.S.7 i think.. and was designed to be a cost effective method to get the analog boards out there to the market during a time that japanese, taiwanese factories were wising up to cheap labour and build costs of US companies .. hence the start of many Japanese digital synths flooding the market.

the latter is really designed for the OBERHEIM MATRIX 6 which again is the same sound board and processor as the 1000 but is stereo output and allows for 2 split sounds to be played at a time in mono (one output) each these cost around 400-600 and are worth the stretch , but give me 2 x 1000 any day for the same price and one dedicated to bass the other to pads!!!

So the Matrix 1000 for 250-300 bucks is a must ... the only let down is that more than 4 realtime controllers can flood the processor , which is a smaller processor than the Matrix 12 / Expander that is the main difference on the design of the oberheims !!! the amount of realtime MIDI modulation !!

Don't pay attention to some forums websites that say you only have one realtime Modulator as I have 4 programmed on mine plus pitchbend and aftertouch so thats 6 in all ... which is just enough for me on one sound , given the Matrix is named so because it also has an internal matrix to make various sources (Velocity,LFO1/2,VCA,ENV1/2/3, etcc) control many destinations (VCF,LFO,VCA,OCS1/2/mix,RES,FM..etc.)

the possibilities are endless and the sound so pure you can "physically smell/hear/sense" the clarity and nuances .

--------------------

Other synth worth checking especially if you need that Moog filter or SEM or Arp Filter sound is the Analog Tone Chameleon ATC-1

They go for about 400-500 but have the actual Analog filters built on optional cards and ships default with the MiniMoog famed Ladder Low pass filter ... again the synth looks like a digital rack synth but is completely Analog in its sound signal path ( when i say this I mean "only the parameters are controlled via digital" the sound signal is pure analog though) saving you all that cash !! to get the chance to chain up more than one to make a motherlode Analog studio .

------------------------------------

There are other good analog synths , albeit new ones like the Arturia Minibrute advertised everywhere ..excellent for hands on creativity but not my favourite for bass (clean bass) good for dirty sounds etc..

The Novation bassStation has a new model mk2 , hav'nt tried this but I own the mark one which is amazing and was used on a lot of recordings in the 90's De La Soul "Stakes is High" LP yo name one ... This appears in rack form and keyboard form ..I believe the rack is 4 part mulit (don't quote me though) but yeah the bassStaion does exactly what it says in Analo too !

--------------------------------------

There are many to chose from so best to rersearch the recordings you love to see what they were using and if its an analog synth its probably an Oberheim or Moog ...hence my reason to mentin an get the MATRIX1000 or The ATC-1

--------------------------------------

theres a lot of funk records that sound like synth bass but actually are bass guitar processors / pedals / synth pedals / or in some amzingly creative cases bass guitar through moog vocoder/ moog filter / or analog filters ... the ATC does allow inputting through the filter whilst having envelope followers contolled with midi etc...

-----------------------------------

I personally am getting the NEW Moog Sub Phatty soon ... which offers all the above and the ability to get inside the parameters via a computer ...very exciting thing indeed ..fatter than the other moog phattys due to the addition of a sub oscillator but these are 800 bucks in UK money so thats what 1100 in US.. but worth getting in time but are just monophonic yeah!! so I will still be using the Matrix for pads and midrange ...

wow I can go on when people ask good questions ...

hope that helps ,

back to playing now ,

" its Saturday a Saturdaaaayeeyaay "

JZA

The Matrix 1000 or the Matrix 6 that most of us had before there was 1000 sounds good but lacks user friendliness.

Honestly $250 is a short for something really serious but that doesn't mean you can't get something useful.
Since you are in the learning stage you have some options.

Something like the Micron, MicroKorg, MS2000, Bass Station would be good looks.
They will give you the hands on that you need to learn synthesis then once you grasp it then you can go for something like the Prodigy.

Prodigy is still my favorite synth.

...the prodigy got no midi....

so does the korg monotribe...but the monotribe is easily pimped to midi for fifty bucks...
the monotribe is the only real anaolg synth you can get for that money...
and the freshest, tightest and strongest bass you can find...

and a perfect match in handling and setup with a mpc....

on top the monotribe is also a pretty decent drummachine....and it's a big advantage to have external midi drums always wired to your mpc....

and everyone who thinks this little black box is not more than a toy, has never heard it on big soundsystem....no punch is that raw and powerful...

and sorry, a matrix 1000 might be good for many things...but not for bazzzzz....

and no one needs a synth these days, that you can't tweak....

It has cv/gate and you can use a cv/gate to midi converter if midi is a requirement.

Can't see lack of midi as a short on an analog synth, that's like saying a Rhodes or Wurly lacks midi.

Unfortunately I can't comment on the little Korg units I have no interest in devices like that so they don't even get a test drive.

See that's much nicer than calling them a toy.
They o have a use for the right individual just not sure who that is.

Lampdog wrote:I know I'm gonna get yelled at by hardware heads, but if ipad, iphone or itouch is involved Korg iPolysix is a great synth.

Not really.
The problem is people forget about the variables that makes different types of users.
iOS works for many but it's a bad experience for many.
Softsynths like Massive or Omnisphere work nicely if you can find a controller that fit you personally.
The synths like the MicroKorg, ION, Micron the Roland JPs etc are good because they have the proper interface for learning and understanding synthesis while also being able to create some useable sounds.
No doubt that true analog is desireable but thanks to the Internet the prices are astronomical.
When I look at how cheaply I was able to purchase things like the 808, 303, Prodigy, Matrix 6, Juno 60 for compared to what they sell for now, it's criminal to see.

A person just has to do a juggling act between cost, usefullness and their intented use when making the selection.
Or they need to at try things out for themselves to see if it works.

iOS has been the biggest fail for me of any music related purchased, but I know why I can't stand it.
Little things like Monotribe are just to compact for me interact with and I'll never be a fan of downsizing.
Analog hardware is the sound but depending on the level of control or automation you are after may be more of a headache than you need.
Something like Massive gives good sound, control to dream for but you are computer reliant.
That means whatever is good or bad about your computer is now your synth as well.

Nothing really a deal breaker about any of these options but more of a person choice.

...whatsoever.....for the rest, ios apps are THE endless SAMPLESOURCE....

since almost a year all new samples for my mpc comin' straight from the ipad....

an animoog for example is a real synth...and a unique one, too....there's no hardware synth you could play that expressive with two hands only as this one....

and it's 25 bucks......
animoog is only one example for an app that would cost you as a plug in more than hundred bucks....

an ipad is a serious tool for producing music....no doubt.

and the korg apps are killers!.....polysix and ms 20 on ios are almost even better than the real thing....

and real things get cheap first.....and then they become cult....that's what you pay for....

somewhere I have a floppy disk for an mpc beat I did with the google moog...

mr_debauch wrote:somewhere I have a floppy disk for an mpc beat I did with the google moog...

Thats a good point ... I end up with a lot of my monophonic sounds in the MPC ... if ya can get a good source , or get sampling separate hits ..then that can be so creative . the tiniest moog blip can make an excellent bass ... especially with the mpc f/x / filters ... I got to say it , when it comes down to productivity ... MPC on its own gets it done everytime ... given you have good sampling skills and library or music collection .

jazzur wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:. I got to say it , when it comes down to productivity ... MPC on its own gets it done everytime ... given you have good sampling skills and library or music collection .

No doubt, as long as you don't come from the computer mentality of unlimited resources creative sampling is a great tool.

Most people unfortunately are caught out there in that realm, seems to go right along with the instant gratification people desire.

reeloy wrote:...whatsoever.....for the rest, ios apps are THE endless SAMPLESOURCE....

since almost a year all new samples for my mpc comin' straight from the ipad....

an animoog for example is a real synth...and a unique one, too....there's no hardware synth you could play that expressive with two hands only as this one....

and it's 25 bucks......
animoog is only one example for an app that would cost you as a plug in more than hundred bucks....

an ipad is a serious tool for producing music....no doubt.

and the korg apps are killers!.....polysix and ms 20 on ios are almost even better than the real thing....

and real things get cheap first.....and then they become cult....that's what you pay for....

But I would rather pay more than $100 for a plug that I could use in Maschine, LIVE, PT or even standalone in the computer, than pay $25 to let it become yet another App I don't use.

iOS works for some but for me, it's just web and some FIOS TV.
No matter how inspired I am the minute I grab iPad it's over.
Really wish I could get my money back on the Apps I have invested in.