sammybee

45 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Good points about the drum brute and tomcat . I do like the tomcat nevertheless , but no cowbell 🐄 .

Price wise , not more than £200 if I can help it . I did consider the volca kick , but not sure . 
My creations are only recording at home onky on GarageBand ,  one day I may be brave enough to use logic .

I use moogs , Waldorfs and a few iPad apps when I'm in the mood . Bass guitars of course , playing along to drums with various effects etc . More often than not I go for ambient stuff like tangerine dream / klaus schulze etc . Then the inner headbanger in me makes me play bass and drums etc . I also have a couple of boss sp samplers ..

Could you stretch to an Electron model samples? (£285 at Andertons) They get a lot of love & it's a sampler too

Have you thought about the Behringer RD-8 (TR-808 copy) or RD-6 (TR-606 copy)? nice analog boxes with a lot of hands on control and some modern embelishments? Both easily within budget for a mint used one. With the rest of your gear I think the RD-8 would fit in quite nicely, esp for ambient type stuff

31 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

Thanks for confirming! (How can you tell?)

Theres a date of manufacture slapped right in the middle of the photo!

1 hour ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

The mini drum brute appeals , and I lost out to someone on fleabay for the akai tomcat

 

Tbh, I want something independent and not another zoom box ( although that was a good shout 🗣️) 

I just want something easy to use , compact and not expensive . Any more ideas appreciated ..

A lot of people don't get on with the Drum Brute(s) - which is why you see so many for sale - same with the Akai Tomcat/Rhythm Wolf (they are really marmite pieces)

What's your idea of not expensive, and what style of music are you creating? Those two bits of info would help the suggestions

Currently I think I have six

Isla Instruments S2400

Akai MPC Live 

Akai MPC 2000xl

Behringer RD-9

Behringer RD-8

Behringer RD-6

(there maybe a couple of others in storage)

In the past I've owned the following

Roland TR-808

Jomox X-Base-09

Roland TR-606

Roland TR-707

Korg - DD1

Yamaha RX 15

Yamaha RX 5

Boss DR550 Mk1

Boss DR550 Mk2

Akai MPC 3000

Akai MPC 2000

Ensoniq ASR-Pro

Novation Drum Station

Roland R-5

Roland R-8 

And probably a load more that I've forgotten about - the ones listed were the most memorable and ones I regret letting go. They all had very different sounds, whats called nowadays 'workflow' and vibe!

Do you need more than one... probably not - I could live with just the Akai MPC 2000xl .. But I like variety, and I'm really into my rhythm boxes  If you ask a guitar player 'do you need more than one bass' - they'll probably say 'all you need is a precision', ask a bass player - well we all know the answer to that!

Lots of people are really happy using software drum machines, which is great; but I prefer the hands on approach that a dedicated instrument gives you

If I was in the market for a single machine, it would depend a lot on the style of music I'm trying to create - what kind of music are you trying to make with it?

37 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

So, the hunt is on for an 88 key keyboard and sustain pedal, preferably fully weighted and under £200. Has anyone got any ideas on what fits the bill? There a Alesis Recital Pro near me 2nd hand for £150 - which seems like a good deal, so I may well go and check that out.

I don't have direct experience with that model, but I've had Alesis' synths in the past and they have been, solid, reliable bits of kit. At £150, you'll get your money back if it doesn't work out. Just make sure it's all working as intended

Sustain pedals are cheap... I got a Donner one recently for £13

34 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

So do you reckon I could learn on 61 and then move to 88 if I get into it, or will starting on 61 be prohibitive from the off? Wouldn't I just be able to learn the line and then just not go to as high an octave as the original song? Or is that silly?

 

And same for the pedals, would i be able to get by without them for learning, or would you suggest using them from the off? 

 

Good point on the Leslie cabs. I guess that's another thing I can look at if I get good and look at playing properly.

What do you want to learn - piano or organ/synth? To me, they are requiring 2 different approaches. If organ/synth - you'll be better off with a 61key board with synth action, if Piano you'll be better served by a 7x/88 key weighted keyboard

If you're learning piano you'll want a sustain pedal at a minimum

MPC Live, with PSU, USB Cable, Decksaver and 256gb SD Card (with a few expansions)

I bought this a while back, but I own several other Akai samplers and another MPC which get all the use in my studio. So this has only been used to record a couple of songs. 

Blurb is at https://www.akaipro.com/mpc-live 

This is functionally the same engine and software that is in the MPC Live 2, MPC One, MPC Keys etc etc. Updated and running latest firmware

£400 collected from Northampton. Happy to demo. Postage always an option

ps you're selling that MPC Keys far too cheaply at £800

I'm sure the laptop/keyboard is fine when it works! Trouble is, you're setting yourself up for a whole world of pain if it ever goes wrong! Especially if it goes kaput on a gig

Once you start getting into bomb proofing your setup like the photos above it starts costing money/time. Of course if you are needing backing tracks/click/running the DAW as part of the live show it makes more sense... but just to generate sounds I'm not convinced it's worth the outlay

I'd keep the Keyboard if you like the way it feels and spring for the Reface CP (it has a MIDI in on a breakout cable)

What exactly are you trying to achieve? Does it not make more sense to buy a sound module if all you are doing is using the laptop to generate sounds?

Sorry as a Stingray player, I find these just look plain wrong. It's a no from me

6 hours ago, bigthumb said:

In a 90 day period my wife has sold 140 items on eBay, the vast majority sent with Evri. The only issue was one item delivered a few days late.  

We have a similar experience, although our ebay volumes are considerably higher.. Very, very few complaints from customers who have their parcels shipped to them by Evri. Our customers can select Royal Mail if they like - RM generate far more problems

If anyone else is curious, GAS got the better of me & I pulled the trigger on one just before Xmas. It is an absolute beast of a Drum Machine/Sequencer/Sampler/Looper. Modelled on the revered EMU SP1200, it's a classic machine with many modern touches. Connected to my MPC 2000xl and Akai S900, my Stingray and Korg Triton - I'm all set for House and HipHop heaven! It is also really easy to use, easier than an MPC IMHO and the online video manuals are great to dip into if you get stuck

On 10/01/2024 at 10:23, Fishfacefour said:

Victor wooten - The music lesson 

 

Not just for bass. 

That's a really fun story to read! I'd add 'Effortless Mastery' by Kenny Werner as recommended to me many moons ago

If it were my kid/grandson/grandaughter - I'd really consider investing for them in a decent year of birth bass (something from 2006 if they're 18). A USA Fender or Precision - or a bass in that ball park. Bit like premium bonds, except the bass will rise in value - and they'll have lots of fun playing it!

56 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Because of this thread, or because you messaged him?

He reached out to me after my initial comment

4 hours ago, theplumber said:

Why?

Just to update. I messaged Will from Bass Bros, and the misunderstanding I had was cleared up

5 hours ago, SumOne said:

How many people under the age of 30 have commented on this thread?

 

I can't speak for them either, but I don't think many young people want to be in bands that are basically using the same music formula that their parents and grandparents used (Bass, Guitar, Drums, Singer - promote by travelling around to gigs in a van). Technology and society and popular music has moved on - they don't expect to make a lot of money from selling an album, plenty don't even do albums, but will be quite focussed on getting a lot of Spotify streams and Instagram and Tik Tok followers and getting to a level where they are sponsored to endorse things, that is where the audience and fame and money is and they know it.

 

It's potentially a great time for music where most 16 year olds can now access a cheap computer to make music and record their vocals and a use a phone to record videos and self-release and market their stuff to a global audience. It's just different to how their parents and grandparents did it.

 

Older people writing off music like rap and Electronic music as they are not using the same formula as they did must be quite similar to how parents reacted to rock n roll.

There are some absolutely fantastic (young) musicians producing some great music these days. It's a great time to be a musician - there are so many channels to get your sound out there, the cream will rise to the top as it always has done.... And the price of gear... it's so easy and cheap to access great sounding equipment compared to when I was a lad. 

1 hour ago, Ian McFly said:

why is that

Not a commission sale, but I did sell a bass to Bass Bros before Xmas. There were some positives to the experience, but the episode left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth

21 minutes ago, Beedster said:

I messaged Bass Bros a week ago about a consignment sale and had no reply so I’ve opted to go somewhere else

You had a lucky escape!

Looks like a lovely guitar! Enjoy!!

Reaper is great, it does everything I really need from a DAW... but on a Mac, you cannot argue with the value Logic brings to the table. I bought my copy in 2012, and since then haven't paid a bean more; but I get very frequent updates, and more high quality content & plugins than I could ever really consume. 

I paid £169 at the time, Reaper costs $60 - but only provides updates for 1 or 2 versions before you have to shell out for another licence. I would imagine over 11 years Logic is probably marginally cheaper on £

Horses for courses I guess

Bought a Focusrite interface from Joe, smooth and prompt communication, posted quickly and arrived in tip-top condition faster than expected. Thanks Joe!!

I have an MPC Live (which is the same machine under the skin just with more I/O and a battery for portability) and use it sometimes like you describe. It's great for that. Up to 8 Audio tracks - which is more than enough for a couple of Guitars & Bass.

I haven't found any problems using the MPC like this. Most people use them to make 'hip-hop/trap beats' so that's what all the youtube video's will be geared towards.. I found it really intuitive to set up and use & only had to consult the manual a couple of times.

My effort is a cover of Tom Misch's - It Runs Through Me recorded by my daughter and I earlier this year (she did the hard work on Guitar, and I played the bass and (terrible) piano line. It's a live looping thing done with an Akai MPC used like a loop pedal. Neither of us were brave enough to sing so you just have the instrumental to 'enjoy'