Processing Synths and Drum Machines through a Vintage Maxon Mixer

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A follow up to the Boss KM-60 mixer video I did a few weeks back: • Processing Drum Machin...
This time we're taking the analogue mixer test further with a vintage Maxon RM-60 and RM-100 EX to see how both synths and drums machines sound through processed through them.
Level 1: Simple
Synths and Drum Machines:
TR-606 (1981)
TB-303 (1981)
Roland System 500 (2016)
FX:
Boss DM-2 (1981)
Dr Scientist BitQuest (2014)
Strymon El Capistan (2010)
Control:
Arturia BeatStep Pro (2015)
Level 2: Moderate
Synths and Drum Machines:
Oberheim DXa (1983)
Moog Minitaur (2012)
Roland SH-101 (1982)
ARP Avatar (1977)
FX:
Maxon UE 303 B (1982)
Boss CE-2 (1979)
Boss DM-2 (1981)
Lexicon Impulse
Dr Scientist BitQuest (2014)
Strymon El Capistan (2010)
Control:
Arturia BeatStep Pro (2015)
Level 3: Full Beans
Synths and Drum Machines:
Roland TR-707 (1984)
Yamaha DX-7 (1983)
ARP Odyssey 2813 (1976)
Sequential Circuits Pro~One (1981)
Korg MS-20 Mark 1 (1978)
Guitar:
Ibanez JEM 7DBK (2002)
FX:
Maxon UE 303 B (1982)
Boss CE-2 (1979)
Boss DM-2 (1981)
Ibanez Tubescreamer TS-808 reissue (2014)
Dr Scientist BitQuest (2014)
Strymon El Capistan (2010)
Control:
Arturia BeatStep Pro (2015)
Korg SQ-1 (2015)
MOTU Midi Express 128 (2003)
Cubase
Social:
alexballmusic
Facebook.com/alexballmusic

Опубликовано:

1 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 264

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Stop jabbering and show me the results: 3:23 7:28 10:41

@theshyguy1580 5 лет назад

LOL!!

@MrKrisstain 5 лет назад

Thanks. Next time "shut up and show me the results" is even better

@d.a.v3danimationprod791 5 лет назад

😂😂..im saying the same thing,as im at the laundrymat watching this..."just get on with it"

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

@@d.a.v3danimationprod791 Ha. Well it's that thing that if I just showed the results then that would be meaningless because it wouldn't explain what was happening. But then the explanations take a couple of minutes each so it gets pretty wordy. Hence this quick link for people who have no use for the explanations.

@d.a.v3danimationprod791 5 лет назад

Thanks alex, keep up the good work👍👊

@spybloodjr 5 лет назад

The jam at the end was sicccccck. Would love to hear that with the mix on the guitar pumped up a bit. Regardless the filth was turned up to 11, and I'm living for it.

@richardhedderly 5 лет назад

"Regardless the filth was turned up to 11" - pmsl

@mightymike1978 5 лет назад

hehe, was going to comment but your comment was killing it to the max. so my comment is obsolete now... ;-)

@DanielHuman1996 5 лет назад

Wow, it sounds great. I used to work at guitar center in 2000 and remember when people were trading in their old analog mixers for comparative priced digital mixers, and hearing their mixes get worse.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Yep, better doesn't mean "better" I guess. These mixers actually glue things together very musically.

@bobafruti 5 лет назад

I imagine 20yr old digital mixers are now worth well less than the analog mixers they traded in.

@fender97 Год назад

@@AlexBallMusic Agree. The difference is night and day between analogue and digital gear. It's like when you have a valve and a transistor guitar amp, no contest. Nice work on the tunes.

@marklewis4024 Год назад

I agree!

@korbly 5 лет назад

Cant wait for that ARP documentary! 👀👀👀

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Coming together. Very exciting. :)

@SaumBodhi 3 года назад

Whats that?

@lucasc5622 3 года назад

@@SaumBodhi literally just google arp documentary. its not hard

@AlexBallMusic 3 года назад

@@lucasc5622 The ARP documentary was still being made when this video was uploaded and he's referring to a comment I made to that effect at 6:23.

@danjwatts 5 лет назад

Love it! I've been doing this for years especially on drums. I've an old spring reverb unit that was designed for a hi-fi (because spring reverb makes everything better!) that I especially love on piano. I often find using equipment in ways it's not been intended can bring great results.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Spring reverb for a hi-fi! Haha, what a simultaneously brilliant and terrible idea! Can imagine people soaking perfectly good recordings into oblivion. Great to repurpose it for music making. Agree, many sounds I love come from using equipment in ways it wasn't intended for.

@graxjpg 3 года назад

@@AlexBallMusic people used to put spring reverbs in their CARS!!! To make the AM radio sound better I guess.

@AlexBallMusic 3 года назад

I want a spring reverb in my car!

@graxjpg 3 года назад

@@AlexBallMusic I know a guy who has one from a rat rod he made in the 70s. It’s the biggest spring reverb tank I’ve ever seen! The size of a square mandolin case!

@t0xcn253 2 года назад

Making a career out of misusing equipment is my stated goal

@XavierRadix 5 лет назад

It doesn't just sound fantastic, it looks fantastic, too! Love those colored knobs.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Yeah, bright knobs and glowing VUs. The aesthetic is part of the experience.

@tactul7376 2 года назад

anyone any Idea, where to find those? My RM is lacking 4 of those and would look less thooth-less with them ^^

@wingflanagan 5 лет назад

Great video, as usual. I'm not nearly so much of a gearhead, but your enthusiasm is infectious. The irony of retro gear enthusiasm is that us old farts couldn't WAIT for digital to take over so we could get rid of all those pesky analogue artifacts and get a "clean", "perfect" sound. I suppose in retrospect, those artifacts actually did add something aesthetic to the mix. Hindsight is always 20/20!

@DarkSideofSynth 5 лет назад

So true! Noise floor, hiss, hum. cables everywhere, imperfect tuning, imperfect timing, 'cheesy' sounds, distortion.... Now they want them all back. I guess music and technolgy are a bit like fashion: what is in one day, is out the next and then it's back in years later and the cycle goes on and on... Who knows, perhaps in 8-10 years the 2010s will be retro and people will crave for 'old' plugins and sound libraries... or not ;)

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

It's like black and white photos or old 8mm video. Gives a hazy rose tinted view of something. If something is too clear we seem to dislike it, like it's a bit bland. Just look at Instagram with all those filters for a case in point!

@wingflanagan 5 лет назад

@@AlexBallMusic Yup. Perhaps it's best to think of them as adding "character". I must confess I like film grain in photos and movies, which sort of contradicts what I said before. Maybe it's because I was older and more set in my ways when digital photography became a thing.

@AndreasR86 5 лет назад

"driven a little bit, but not too hard" Allow me to disagree. But despite artistic disagreements, what it all does sounds nice.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Fair enough. It's subjective; some people have said it's driven too much for their taste and others love it.

@Lofyne 5 лет назад

I love the sound you’re getting from this gear! Reminds me very much of some early to mid 80s Cabaret Voltaire 👍

@AlexBallMusic 4 года назад

Thanks. Yes, I like what these mixers do to audio signals.

@NeuronalAxon 4 года назад

Does sound a bit CV-ish, yeah. 👍

@Pablo668 5 лет назад

That was really cool. Sounded awesome. That cable that was running in front of you in the last set up. I'd have forgotten that was there and walked through it, breaking the cable and pulling a heap of gear from both sides onto the floor. I'm clumsy like that.

@user-qf4zs6qj4c 5 лет назад

Compared to my rig the clarity, separation, and low noise levels are amazing. Maybe my Xenyx mixer sucks, or I'm too heavy handed with the reverb and delay, I dunno.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Is the Xenyx a Behringer mixer?

@benanderson89 5 лет назад

You'll be too heavy with the reverb and delay with/or too little compression and/or bad stereo seperation. Less is more with mixing.

@user-qf4zs6qj4c 5 лет назад

@@AlexBallMusic It is indeed. It's the 3.6 roentgen of mixers - not great, not terrible.

@user-qf4zs6qj4c 5 лет назад

@@benanderson89 Very likely. In particular I've never really applied compression except to the stereo mixdown after recording (I'm trying to work dawless as much as possible). Mind you I don't think compression was used here by Alex?

@llmrfantasticll 5 лет назад

Whens the album coming out?

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Two weeks ago: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sjgokIZYlHE.html

@MSM5500 5 лет назад

Soundcraft Signature mixers become interesting when it comes to their mid bell shape EQ knobs which can work as a band pass filter modulator.

@shufflephunk 7 месяцев назад

Love your work my friend, you heard of the new OTO BOOM Bebe cherie? Also seems to have an amazing soundquality

@janipashkvan797 4 года назад

I use the Ibanez RM70 for synths all the time, high and low mids eq, which is so useful. And they are very cheap

@JuanPabloVeTV 4 года назад

Super mega like! I've recently found a really really rare copy of a Boss Km6A, made by a strange company called Pro.2 It sounds AMAZING, one of this days, I will make a review video and send it to you. Thank you and cheers from Colombia!

@pkarvo 5 лет назад

Nice vid. Firstly, get yourself a good table bro, save your knees! ;) Secondly thought there was a tad too much saturation on that last jam, sounded good with bass n drums but a bit too mushy with all the tracks in. Though nice to see/hear those little steps of saturation that gives old music that sought after mojo.

@mrclaytron 5 лет назад

Brilliant as always! And hell yeah, that jam at the end was awesome! (Actually, all jams were really good!)

@alison_synths 5 лет назад

that DX snare!!

@titovalasques 5 лет назад

A.L.I.S.O.N Heavy A F.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

DX is a beefy boy. Probably my favourite drum machine that I own.

@TROGULAR10000 4 года назад

Processing and mastering is a bit if a mindfuck to me but one thing's for sure your musical examples are way cool, both in terms of textures and the actual music. I'm checking out whether you have any albums right now.

@anonymex22 Год назад

Full beans is just too much anyway round 1 and 2 sounds great! Analog sounds rocks as well as this mixer!

5 лет назад

I'll have to check out the Boss video first.. would rather see one with true effects loop and I'm partial to Boss stuff from that era. Very tasty high end results on that equipment.

@rippspeck 5 лет назад

Wow, beefy sound.

@mconstant007 5 лет назад

Why does this sound so much better than... Anything 😭 Now everything else is ruined.

@ringtangting Год назад

Gosh, that 606 is sounding righteous! Any post-processing?

@kikkirow 5 лет назад

That was so epic! I would like it without guitar in the end though.

@THEREALDATALORD 5 лет назад

Nice demonstration. Lovely seeing this vintage kit shown off. (tune your kicks lower)

@THEREALDATALORD 5 лет назад

The second jam at the end was proper. No tuning needed.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Cheers. The DX is the only drum machine with tuning from the three I used and it gets quite aliasey in a bad way when tuned too far down.

@lorenmorgan1931 4 года назад

I think Alex just went full one Reznor here! on the second demo! Add some super white noise distorted guitar and you have a PHM tribute song going!

@michaelluciano1980 4 года назад

10:45 remind me a bit of Alive 2007 dooooope

@Angelstarscotland 5 лет назад

This is great, I’d love to see you your processes you used for making your album, which I love btw top of my lists for listening to.

@Kj16V 4 года назад

Is this what an ECG of Daft Punk's brains looks like?

@santiagobielboatas3033 5 лет назад

What a party you're having there, man!!! I'm glad you have great fun doing music having done so many great tracks. Hugs. Santi from BOF

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

👊

@THEREALDATALORD 5 лет назад

That last jam reminds me of Chemical Brothers. Respect.

@timburdsey 2 года назад

That first acid jam had me reaching for the pingers! 😳😉😂

@tim_arterbury 5 лет назад

The JAMZ 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@focus5766 4 года назад

I keep coming back to this video for the first track, and I can't stop...

@JulianDoe 5 лет назад

Awesome! Love the new editing! another must-share video!

@baddriddimworkshop 6 месяцев назад

Damn I love this guy...

@theinternetseekers2436 5 лет назад

Sounds infinetly better than working in a daw

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Has a sound for sure.

@richardalldredge9129 5 лет назад

Been listening to that new album of yours. That thing is amazing!!! Do more!!! If you could do one using like more vintage modular machines, that would be amazing!!!!!!

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Thanks. There will be more vintage modular when I'm able.

@dbosten 2 года назад

I have the exact same mixer, but it's an Ibanez

@AlexBallMusic 2 года назад

Yep, Maxon made them, Ibanez badged them. I now have an Ibanez RM-80 as well.

@cooloutcoexist 2 года назад

@@AlexBallMusic Love your channel, Alex. Can you confirm they are similar in sound and overdrive? Is the send/return setup like in the Boss km-60? Thanks :-)

@MarcioSilva-ssiillvvaa 4 года назад

Amazing sound! I'd dance the night away to that music.

@bossasupremo5879 5 лет назад

Ye, though they gazed with great scrutiny upon the finalé, the people of Utubea saw that it was indeed Grand for it did not suck in any way. And it came to pass that the compliments bestowed upon him numbered more than the birds of the air, or the lilies of the field.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Bless you child.

@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene 5 лет назад

How in the world do these old mixers still function. I have 2 year old mixers ready for the trash can.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Think they've probably had work done to them to keep them going.

@AppaBoy 5 месяцев назад

Compression on the dx?

@garygluebag 4 года назад

As soon as u pressed play, I shouted out yesssss. The acid line is dope. All sounds wicked

@gibafilm 5 лет назад

Love this mixer - it is the same like ibanez rm 60, in addition I have the rm 80, which is even better with parametric mids. Wire a feedback loop with an old midiverb /-fex and you have a synth already 8-)

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Nice! Didn't know there was an 80. As I understand, Ibanez badged the Maxon mixers outside of Japan, but they're identical. Does that sound right?

@gibafilm 5 лет назад

@@AlexBallMusic I guess so. For sure Ibanez badged their pedals Maxon, and it seems also the rm 60, because it looks identical. The 80 has not the toy-like colors, but it has semi-parametric mids and 8 channels each with send/return. I didn't know there was a rm 100 expander. As always cool demo Alex, looking forward to your Avatar documentary

@tactul7376 2 года назад

@@AlexBallMusic Totally right! I got hold of the schematics and be it Maxon or Ibanez, they are the same. Have to agree with Giba, the RM80 has some great benefits, especially the indiv. send/returns, but optically the RM60 is way above, the 80 also is quite fiddly as they placed the 8 channels into the same casing as the 60

@alexjung5129 5 лет назад

I love these videos, it would be great to see you do something similar with maybe some more common/inexpensive mixers from boss or otherwise. Again, it's so cool to see you do this stuff although it would also be really cool if your viewers, who don't have the deepest pockets, could go out and try it for themselves without spending a lot of money!

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Yeah totally understand. It's more a question of the character of something. If an inexpensive mixer just has a straightforward sound with no colour then great, but it's not going to make for an interesting video (in my mind). If something inexpensive does something in particular that takes a sound somewhere then that would be perfect. Will have to keep an eye out.

@gorillabraudcast474 5 лет назад

Sounds freaking amazing man! We run a very simular set up for making rap beats very similar textures.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Nice. Actually you've made me think, I bet live drum loops sound great through it too. Perfect for hip hop etc.

@muralist_ 4 года назад

Shiiit. really love the shit you make!

@deejaynoizecph 3 года назад

5:00 for the gentle knob caress *sighs*

@johnpaullovetek1809 4 года назад

Que som tão cristalino e ao mesmo tempo poderoso! Eu queria fazer-te uma pergunta? Eu comecei à pouco tempo na eletronica e só tenho uma Groove box Novation, e estava a pensar comprar uma arp odissey, será que consigo ligar a groovebox? Desculpa eu estar a escrever em português mas eu não sei falar muito inglês!

@michaelwheeler3123 3 года назад

you've got serious talent

@michaelrhodes9178 4 года назад

The one man band nice✌🏾2020

@NicholasBryantBonzaiSequoias 3 года назад

Like the design of that mixer/expander pair, it would make sense in contemporary project studios - expand when required without having to replace. One trick I used when I got my first mixer (all 6 channels of it!) with Fx and Monitor send.. Use the monitor (pre fade) send with a delay (no feedback on the delay itself) that is returned to a channel. This allows panning, eq and feedback via channel monitor send. Good for dub FX as you can eq in realtime.

@retrosound72 5 лет назад

yes :D

@PerryCodes 3 года назад

Sounds just like the same thing through a DAW with a few plugins... But I bet it smells better :)

@WorksopGimp 5 лет назад

More is always better then

@steviewondek 3 года назад

If distortion and noise is your thing alright, otherwise there is a reason most of these old dinosaurs ended up becoming dust collector/door stops or rusting at the rubbish tip.

@AlexBallMusic 3 года назад

Subjective, absolutely.

@jesseanderson3835 2 года назад

Hey Alex, love your content. Any chance you have a workflow video of how you get your drum patterns setup in your DAW? I have a couple old drum machines with patterns I'm digging but finding it difficult to rebuild them one sample at a time or create interesting fills when in the box. Would it be best to record a few patterns as a whole then chop them up and arrange them as needed? Cheers from TX.

@jamesfindice2871 4 года назад

Yo, loved the video and sounds! How similar soundwise is the maxon rm804x to the RM-60?

@DustyEktpo 4 года назад

You should definitively make a feat with Look Mum No Computer! Your work and sounds are amazing!!

@brendanlindsaywebb4932 4 года назад

Awesome. Thanks once again. Hey Alex, if I wanted to replicate mixer distortion on Saturn2, would I use the Transformer settings? Is that the same type of distortion?

@jeradpettus 4 года назад

Are 5here any other mixers you would recommend for this type stuff

@AlexBallMusic 4 года назад

There's quite a few of these little analogue mixers from that era. Basically keyboard mixers. Tascam / Teac, Maxon, Ibanez, Boss, Roland, Sony, Korg, Yamaha, Tapco etc. If you check out Sound Gas they're often restoring and selling various models.

@Synthchaser 5 лет назад

Really, really good songs! I can't wait to see what you do with all the ARPs!

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Cheers Nathan :)

@RobertDorschel 5 лет назад

Wondering what, pre-mastering, that noise floor sounded like. Probably a seashore at the in-tide

@DAVIDGREGORYKERR 4 года назад

The Guitologist is looking for the modules for a guitar synthesizer to fix a guitar with missing module, I think you have a club hit on your hands as I could see people dancing to that.

@lymangreen5020 4 года назад

You got a lot of great equipment!! And kinda look like Howard Jones!! 👍👍👍

@psiklops71 4 года назад

reminds me of rebirth

@arayapokey 5 лет назад

Fuck yeah dude, always pumped to see one of your videos.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Cheers!

@RichardDenRooyen1973 5 лет назад

i need a neighbour like you.. got the Ibanez RM60.. and some keys.. .. :P

@calderacollapse 5 лет назад

damn dude

@pappyprimetime7510 2 года назад

Mackie cr1604

@photovore099 5 лет назад

Damn! That mixer is hot action!!

@ordemeprogresso5429 4 года назад

Brazil thanks

@payt01 5 лет назад

Hmm .. I love the gear, but kindof a shame how you're distorting everything to hell and back, which to me makes it sound like a floppy mess. All of the punch and character of the original instruments just becomes a homogenic goo.. lol. I guess that's fun too, as I used to do it too when I first discovered distortion :)

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Perhaps a bit trigger happy in hindsight. I just like the sound of the saturation from that mixer, but appreciate it's overboard from some people's taste.

@toono21 5 лет назад

y geeks dont get gals

@sonnyobrien 5 лет назад

well done - you would make black moth super rainbow happy

@SamKenzo-ww4ko Год назад

🎉

@evilscientistrecords 4 года назад

Phase II has that awesome Gary Numan / Tubeway Army vibe, great stuff!

@NPrescott 5 лет назад

Amazing video and production! I love all the retro gear you have on display and in use. I have to say that the 2nd performance was my favorite; Although all were top notch! :)

@romanryabinkin4306 4 года назад

Spiffing!!!

@nicolassterncompositeur-so2125 3 года назад

;-)) 👍🙏😄

@kernalkarma4752 3 года назад

Fun fun fun .

@jawoody9745 3 года назад

Happy to see you using the "SL' Avatar" Alex!

@pedalpukus Год назад

Dude!

@napkinshoplifta5163 3 года назад

dope

@jokkejens 3 года назад

Dope!

@amonster8mymother 5 лет назад

Ok lets take a look at the Silliometer and....SILLY. Yes there we go. 😁👍🇨🇦

@cdwhiley 3 года назад

I didn't know you dabbled in the acid-esque 4x4 world. I like this. Thanks Alex.

@AlexBallMusic 3 года назад

I have been known.

@bobz1736 5 лет назад

Awesome Alex... blow your whistle!!!

@Basslcal 5 лет назад

Great video as always, I really look up to this channel for inspiration and as a great learning tool! Would love to know the tabs for that little guitar noodle bit

@Firing_Order 5 лет назад

Was that first demo just some sneaky 12 bar blues!?

@vaspers 5 лет назад

Very nice video. Great music you make!

@DAVIDGREGORYKERR 4 года назад

What about the EHX Ring Thing

@AlexBallMusic 4 года назад

Not tried one and don't have one. Any good?

@RichardDenRooyen1973 4 года назад

god, need a neighbour like you.. could be so handy to get things running here :P

@nocode881 5 лет назад

Great videos. I can’t tell ya how helpful your short explanations are. I love hearing about routing and effects. Please keep them coming and I’ll keep watching. Thanks again for your time.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Thanks. I never know whether it's useful or just irrelevant blathering so good to know.

@nakanda 5 лет назад

I loved that!!! sounds a little bit saturated, but I looovee that!

@theodorecupier5920 5 лет назад

Yes, I've got a tip for you; use the overdrive/distortion sparingly. 😛 It's a nice effect, but when you've got it on everything it sounds like something is wrong.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

Fair enough. I do like that sound so probably pushed it more than others. A taste thing of course.

@paulwomack5866 5 лет назад

I'm hearing the effects,not the mixer, but I suppose the mixer is allowing the effects to be used.

@AlexBallMusic 5 лет назад

All the distortion and saturation is from the mixer, there's no distortion pedals anywhere (apart from on the guitar at the end). The EQ is also from the mixer.