What are YOUR recommendations for great, affordable beginner hardware (under £300/$380, cheaper the better) - mixers, synthesizers, drum machines? They can be old, or new. If you suggest something, please also say WHY you think that would be a good choice for someone starting out - what is great about it, what are the drawbacks, what does it sound like?
I'm an Arturia fanboy. I went with Microfreak and Drumbrute Impact. Then my gateway into modular was the Minibrute 2S. All of them were had for way less used, which is another great tip for someone just getting into it. All of my stuff was virtually brand new from people who had more GAS than motivation to learn their new gear. Whenever the hot new thing is hyped on synth tube, wait 6-12 months and there will be a glut on the used market for a pretty penny less. PS: Would also recommend the Elektron Model Cycles as an all-in-one groovebox alternative to the DB Impact/Microfreak combo. It hasway more sound design features and built in melodic voices vs a straight up drum machine.
The Korg Monologue. - The sequencer is clearly visible to see what is happening and is completely interactive to turn notes on and off. Learnable and discoverable. Allows you to assign bass notes easily when working with other interfaces on other machines. - The overall UI on its panel is clean and simply laid out. - Navigating menus on it, such as they are, is simple. - The presets can be used to build entire tracks out of from pads to drums to leads and bass. - Adding a USB connection to it makes it nearly instantly work with a DAW. - Overall construction is extremely solid and will take hard punishment from drops and playing. - The small screen shows you how the waveform reacts to what you are doing, letting you understand how your actions are impacting the sound. - Diagonal pitch bend is designed for being played as opposed to being out of the way. - Sync in and out to work with decades of old and new hardware. - it can be battery powered long enough for a set or travel :) Cons: - It is mono, so polyphony and how that works can not be explored. - Knob indentations to indicate where a knob is turned is not clear due to color and indentation depth. - The keyboard width is smaller than many other synthesizers and fat-fingering keys is easy. Sound: - Korg sleazy filter of amazingness - The bass can strip the paint off a car with distortion.
For a monosynth, the Dreadbox Typhon is on sale for about that. Strong core sound, and Sinevibe effects if slightly awkward UI and noisy USB-only power. Or if you could afford a little more, or can find them second-hand, there's the PWM Malevolent, for a gnarly sound, though micro-keys. or Novation Basstation II because they sound good, have multiple filter options, and a small keyboard. Otherwise, the Arturia Keystep / Keystep 37 is really useful for not too much money because a keyboard and an arp/sequencer will get a lot of use. Mixer-wise, I like the Allen & Heath Zed 10. It's fugly, and doesn't have faders, but it sounds good and has two stereo inputs. Can't go to far wrong with something like a Cyclone Analogic TT-303 bass bot V2, because it's small, well made and a classic sound. When you are working with cheap/limited sources, then the other fun thing is pedals. There's lots and lots of cheap but good sounding pedals these days. Shout out to the TC Bucket Brigade delay, for about £50, sounds good, but mono only - so buy two? The Flamma FS02 is a nice sounding digital stereo reverb for about the same price. GFI Skylar is a fancier schmanier booteeq stereo digital reverb, sounds great, but only 3 algos, and over 3x the price - but still a bargain. TC SCF+ is a stereo out modulation pedal (chorus/flanger), but only mono in. Boss DC-2W Dimension is a stereo in/stereo out modulation pedal. Great for adding stereo interest, and is subtler less obviously cheesy 'chorus' sound though it's not _that_ cheap and doesn't have the best bass response. Walrus Mako M1 can do lots of stereo modulation, sounds great, but isn't analogue ... if you care.
I'd pick Volca Drums over Sample anytime. It's really versatile drum synth and you can quantize the pitch to semitones, so it can do melodies too (and some very limited FM stuff). Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators (~£90 and under) are pretty fun too. Korg Volca Modular is a cheap entry level for getting started in west coast-style modular stuff. Microfreak is unbelievably bang for the buck.
Bravo to you for infecting new generations with the endless joy of electronic music performance. Also, for your excellent teaching style. If I hadn't been at this malarkey for 3 decades I would be taking it up right now.
This is really one of the first proper basic and really well explained tutorials! Absolutely love how understandable you explain things! Keep them coming!
I got caught out by that! Was clearing out some stuff I didn't really use including a TB3 which sold for a fairly low price...less than a week before that video shot the prices up. And that is the PWM of life!
Always been a big fan of your channel and your role as a music educator. This is a great vid for those getting started, wish i had seen it 10 years ago
DAMN I love your other videos but being relatively new to music this one was extremely relevant and helpful! I was literally telling a friend last week that I want to start figuring out "how to make techno music" without even really knowing what I meant. When he asked that I clarify, I showed him one of your videos with the moog semi-modular stuff. So funny that you've now uploaded a wonderful, beginner friendly, and thorough tutorial laying the groundwork for EXACTLY what I was talking about. THANK YOU!
Been making hardware electronic music for over 20 years and I loved watching this. Sharing this simply because I'm so tired of laptop press play performances being called 'Live Music' being booked at a few local festivals and clubs. And the new gens (Z and Alpha) I find are less and less interested in hardware(except some very exceptional individuals). This is the type of accessible video that aspiring synth nerds need.
This was really helpful. Please do more. These are questions I’m to afraid to ask because they’re so simple. How to make drum pattern sound like music halp.
As you've mentioned already, the Korg Volcas are excellent value-for-money. I would also add that the Arturia Drum Brute and Drum Brute Impact are good alternatives for the Roland drum machines. Some off-the-wall ideas for expansion (especially on the MIDI side) would be to add the Arturia Keystep Pro or Conductive Labs NDLR to help synchronise and split out different MIDI parts to different synths. The NDLR is especially useful - two Motif arpeggiators, a polyphonic Pad part which can be poly-chained across up to four separate poly synths and a Drone/Bass part with three-note polyphony.
Great vibes, you are making it real easy to get into that stuff. Funny I watched this video yesterday and today my son asks if we can make a song and video on my Syntakt with video from his racing game. He was insistent on taking this on himself, I showed him the step sequencer for kick and snare and the mute screen and he came up with a banger in minutes. Then he produced a ruff idea for a simple melody on my Minifreak. I was so happy. He is 9. we will continue this in the next days, I hope 🙂
I've always loved the use of toms as a pseudo-bassline. I'm working out how to implement the TR8 workflow on gear I've got... No room at the inn for another drum machine!
Haha yeah share that T8 love! Technically here you have two drum machines and one synthetizer :D the T-8 is about the most fun you can have in that tiny footprint
Another excellent tutorial. I have just received a Torso-T1 - your tutorial clinched that decision. I will now get my TR8 out of it’s box, connect it to a Volca Nu Bass I have, and learn this video word-for-word to then teach my kids how to use them. Thanks!
You have a wonderful knack for teaching and bringing infectious joy to this subject. I have a lot of experience in this field and tip my hat to you. Your recommendations are spot on. My own journey started with a moog werkstatt and Arturua keystep and quickly escalated to bring in a novation circuit to add brilliantly intuitive drum and synths combined. But this wasn’t enough. It never is. Roland’s mc707 soon followed which has a great function of acting as a mixer for other gear as well as a huge soundscape of synths and drums all of its own. But I still crave and covet the t8 and the tr8 for the classic drum and acid combo. I’d love to have them (or maybe swap the t8 for a tb3 with its touch pad take on classic acid). Word of warning to anyone who watches this and gets the bug….beware the synth rabbit hole, just remember though, a lot of creativity and originality comes from limitations. Work with what you have and make it sing! Peace y’all - RetalsD 🤟✌️❤
Thanks! Genuinely the Deer Shed weekend me and Divkid spend showing kids how to use gear is always a delight - hard work and non stop, but totally worth it
I’ve seen many people say to not even bother with the TR8 in favour of the TR8S, so it’s nice to see the original have some love. I’m still in love (or in lust) with the 808 and 909, but for my own music I’ve seemingly settled on making my own weird crunchy sampled drums instead. As much as I love live-jamming with these classic sounds, I tend to think more about other people’s music than my own. Of course, who’s to say if that’ll last - I might get tired of that method or crave something simpler.
I actually just bought a tr8s because I missed my old tr8. Now I wish I bought tr8 again. Tr8s is too menu divey for me and I get a kind of feature overload. Not hating on tr8s but just my preference/opinion
Nice. Any of the TR Behringer’s for starters although I think you’d get more mileage from a TR8s. NORAND mono mk1’s price has dropped to around £350. That’s a lot of baseline for the££££
Hi there. I love the fact you call out Chicago and Detroit. There are only 2 types of electronic dance music, house and Detroit techno. That's a rather fruity statement 😜
Thanks!! I definitely think you could have a good time with it yes - there are dedicated buttons to select the various programming modes, as well as various shortcuts to access deeper functions (which will take some effort to learn with or without sight) but mostly it is a case of pressing a button to choose a sound and then programming it on the grid, with faders to adjust which of course let you sense what is muted or not based on feel, something not possible on most drum machines. Let me know if more questions!!
It’s worth mentioning the buttons are very smooth so you’d probably want to add a braille dot at whatever intervals suited you, so you could feel the positions in the beat without having to constantly count them. After that it’d be a bit like touch-typing on a keyboard for the real-time playing in of notes mode. And as Mylar mentioned the buttons which select the instrument in step mode are directly underneath the corresponding volume slider.
These children your trying to addict to Musical expression & possible G.A.S. Will never have any shoes ! 😊 Great to know your passing on your extensive knowledge on to a new generation Of creators 🙏🏼
Whatever you can snap up from CeX or Cash Converters for under £100. B stock Korg Volcas (OG Sample or Rhythm beats) and the occasional Behringer TD-3.
In terms of drum machines for beginners the drumbrute impact is really fun. One knob per function and the sequencer is simple, but powerfull and crucially for beginners separate from the pads, making it less confusing and more direct. In terms of sounds nothing beats the roland heritage. I’m intrigued, though by your choice of the tr-8 over the tr-8s. I have been eyeing getting either of them, but so far haven’t had a chance to interact with them. Could you elaborate on the choice, despite the latter being, at least on paper, a far more capable machine? Thanks!
Have you significantly changed how you record/EQ your voice in these videos? Not a criticism, mind. Just noticing how different it sounds now vs your older videos, like Metropolis or (my fave; I sometimes listen to it when I'm working and wish it was much longer) 28min DFAM jam.
Oh man, how hard were you trying not to sound like you're re-enacting the music intructor - hymn clip? 🤣 "Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to show you how to make a HIT record"
If tRoland had of made the TR8 with better materials, I think it would have been a better instrument to use, it feels cheap to me, I sold mine and have replaced with other gear. I recently got rid of my Jomox AB which was built like a tank but the UI is some weird shit that slows creativity. tRoland has good UI but bad materials, which is a shame. Only drum synth I have now is a Nord 3P drum, my synths do percussive for me now. Thx for the upload.
I get the joke on the cardboard though I feel it is a bit insensitive and misguided. Buying something with your money should not be seen as loss of earnings. It's ownership, it's investment in assets, not loss of earnings. It is misleading to tell people music production and buying into music is in somehow going to cause losses. You didn't lose anything, you paid for music equipment and now own music gear. How exactly do you see logic in telling people they will have loss of earnings from an improving interest in producing music?
It’s a joke mate, based on the fact most people will spend considerable money on this hobby. I’ve bought and sold more gear than I can remember over 25 years - don’t worry, people are aware they can resell things they bought! 👍
whenever I read comments on reddit which generally come from america, canada and australia; not sure why british people don't use reddit, can you use reddit? anyway, in the comments about styles of electronic music people like or dislike the most, Acid techno, is always people's least favorite music, just a heads up for ya there.
@@mylarmelodies no, I like acid music. It's everyone else. I'll listen to most music within the boundaries of good dance music electronic, not that anyone was asking.
Sorry to be a smartass, but as I’ve told my students, lay down a four beat and you could put a track of a woman screaming on top of it and people will dance.
