My music production center

My music production center
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stevennb @ 15th Aug 06:40PM:
My music production center

So I'm finally getting my music center up and running.
Or rather together. :)

The setup so far:

Behringer XENYX 1222FX Mixer
Future Retro 777 Analog Mono Synthesizer
Korg MicroKorg
Korg ER1 Drum Machine
Korg Kaoscillator - neat little pocket Synth.
Yamaha CS1X - Digital Synthesizer
MidiMan - 4x4 midi sport

Compaq F761US - 160 hdd w/ 2 gigs of memory

Proview Monitor - Not bad for something I found near the
dumpster. Nothing wrong with it, other than it not having a power cable.

Boat Anchor Imac - essentially useless.
Older AMD 2400+ Tower - eventually I'm going to turn this
into a file server.

The desk - another dumpster find. (as you can tell). :)
--
"They moved my desk 4 times already this year and I used to be over by the window and I could see the squirrels and they were married, but then they moved my desk and they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler.

mab631 @ 17th Aug 12:50AM:
Re: My music production center

nice boards only thing i would say is get rid of the pc and get a mac for the music production
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djpcraze @ 17th Aug 06:08AM:
Re: My music production center

How does the USB interface on the mixer work for you? I have often wondered if it was as good as they chock it up to be...

Is there any advantage to the USB mixer over a more traditional 2 input 2 output 24/192 sound card? Does it support multi-tracking into the computer for something like Audition or even Audacity (eg each mic recorded as a separate track) or even multi-tracking out through the channel inserts for output to a multi-track recorder or another mixing console?

If it has even some of the functionality I mentioned above, I may consider upgrading to a mixer like this instead of the Pro Tools rig Ive been looking at.
--
»www.1015jamz.com/
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TomS_ @ 17th Aug 09:58AM:
Re: My music production center

Theoretically a USB interface should be able to produce better quality sound than multiple analogue in/outputs. As it is a digital interface there is no degradation of the sound being transmitted over the wire, since it is transferred in digital format, and if you use USB 2.0 which has a maximum theoretical througput of 400mbit/s you should be able to transmit and receive quite a few channels at any one time (1250 channels at 320kbit/sec).

You probably wont get that many through, but it gives you an idea of the scale that it is possible of.

Then, the only place sound quality can be degraded is at the DAC, amp, and/or speakers. :-)
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MackMarvel @ 17th Aug 11:10AM:
Re: My music production center

It looks like he does have an old iMac sitting on the floor.
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braden @ 17th Aug 04:52PM:
Re: My music production center

CS1x was my first synth. :)
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fatmanskinny @ 18th Aug 10:16AM:
Re: My music production center

What kind of music do you like to create?
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yock @ 18th Aug 10:29AM:
Re: My music production center

A few thoughts.

•Console controls are convenient, but have you considered replacing your mixer with a multi-track I/O module for your PC? You'll get a significant boost in sound quality, as Behringer components really leave a lot to be desired.

•Is that an Alesis digital 8-track on the lower shelf? That's another component I'd hesitate to keep using in a PC-based setting, as you're just degrading signal quality.

•Are you going mostly virtual? I see one synth, two drum machines, and a small midi controller (the MiniMoog). No doubt you know those drum machines can be controlled from your PC and can be out of your way. A simple PC midi interface would be handy here.

Don't take this as criticism, you should see the abomination I use at home. That being said I've always favored minimizing my peripherals and recording midi control information over the actual instrument output. It's easier to manipulate that way and I can recreate the performance precisely using different instruments later. That's a nice capability to have in conjunction with my Trinity.
--
Laughter is the closest distance between two people. --Victor Borge
Lynch All Liars
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stevennb @ 18th Aug 11:58AM:
Re: My music production center

FatmanSkinny- What I'd like to make is Acid House. :)
Right now it's alot of noise. :)
So maybe I'm leaning towards the industrial end of the musical spectrum. hehe.

Yock - No it's not a Alesis, it's a old Boss 8 track mixer.Old as the hills.
--
"They moved my desk 4 times already this year and I used to be over by the window and I could see the squirrels and they were married, but then they moved my desk and they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler.
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fatmanskinny @ 18th Aug 12:26PM:
Re: My music production center

Gotcha. I didn't see a sampler so I ruled out Hip Hop. Lol! You know those hip hop artists ~~always~~ never sample. They have live bands in the studio or come up with their own stuff. ;)

I am actually thinking about going back into DJ-ing for fun and maybe, side gigs. However, I don't want stacks of vinyl records or CDs in my house.

So I am looking at "virtual" scratching programs like Serato and I may do some beats and tracks for fun. Serato allows you to "scratch" songs off of your computer like vinyl.

I use to work at Sam Ash Music Stores in New York City (Forest Hills, Queens location) and on my lunch break, I would play with the drum machines and recording gear. I really got into it.

--
Addicted to Broadband Reports.
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JollyStomper @ 18th Aug 09:33PM:
Re: My music production center

Very nice setup there.

Reminds me of when I used to "do music". I was a DJ and beat junkie for a number of years (and I still have some of my record collection). The crates used to take up one wall in my room from floor to ceiling. The gear I used to have was

Akai MPC 60 II with the upgrade (like the MPC 3000)
This was my main sampler and sequencer

Akai S-2000 rack mount sampler
Korg 707 (used for a midi controller)
Roland TR-909 (wish I had never gotten rid of that thing)
Yamaha DX 100 (excellent synth and bass tones and worked well with a vocoder too).
x2 Technics 1200 MKII turntables (in anvil cases) with the shure 500 needles (excellent for mixing and scratching).
Vestax 05 pro mixer
some cheap, off-brand 16 channel mixer for tracking.

Had to get rid of it all when I came to the conclusion the money was good when it came but wasn't steady and my new wife was expecting. Also, the scene was starting to get physically dangerous.

Yes, I was into Hip Hop (big time).

Fun times those were. I'll have to dig up some pix if I can...
--
"As I was sayin' buster, this planet ain't big enough for the two of us so... OFF YA GO!"
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stevennb @ 19th Aug 12:12AM:
Re: My music production center

A Tr-909?
Awesome drum machine!

A friend, back in late 80's went to a pawn shop and got a Tr-909 and a I think a 808 for really,really cheap. Mint condition too.
Lucky SOB! :)
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JollyStomper @ 19th Aug 12:34AM:
Re: My music production center

said by stevennb :

A Tr-909?
Awesome drum machine!

A friend, back in late 80's went to a pawn shop and got a Tr-909 and a I think a 808 for really,really cheap. Mint condition too.
Lucky SOB! :)

True indeed. If your friend still has 'em, he better keep 'em: he's sitting on gold...

For those who don't know, the TR-909 is the staple for almost every house and techno track known to man. It's kicks and snares are legendary.

The same goes for the 808: It's where the "boom" comes from...
--
"As I was sayin' buster, this planet ain't big enough for the two of us so... OFF YA GO!"
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stevennb @ 19th Aug 01:57AM:
Re: My music production center

That and the legendary TB-303.

The future retro i have emulates it perfectly.
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gabeman @ 2nd Sep 12:31PM:
Re: My music production center

How is the ER-1? I have the ES-1 (I don't really use it anymore), but its sample time and functionality were too limited. I bought an MPC 1000 and it's infinitely better.
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RiseAbove @ 25th Sep 11:50PM:
Re: My music production center

You have a 777 that's awesome. I use to hang out with the guy who created and still owns Future-Retro.

I did some production back in my day, had a 777, 808, Access Virus(I recommend everyone get one of these they are unreal and can do so damn much), and some Korg's. Man I had so much fun. Wish I still had some of the stuff.

If you are wanting to get more stuff I say get a Virus keyboard you won't regret it. Especially now that you can hook it up to a PC and do some massively cool modular synth stuff.
--
Need some IT work? Hit me up, I'm now in IT recruiting and looking for ways to give back to the DSLreports community for all the years of support.
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stevennb @ 26th Sep 09:15AM:
Re: My music production center

The virus series is nice but a bit too expensive for my meager wallet.
That being said , have you seen the new Dave Smith Instruments Mopho? It's like the evolver (desktop synth), real Analog as well and around $400!

»www.davesmithinstruments.com/products/mopho/
--
"They moved my desk 4 times already this year and I used to be over by the window and I could see the squirrels and they were married, but then they moved my desk and they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler.
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Julio @ 4th Oct 11:54PM:
Re: My music production center

said by mab631 :

nice boards only thing i would say is get rid of the pc and get a mac for the music production

Why? Windows works fine for music production.
--
Join the BBR MLB 2K7 League
The internet is a series of tubes..
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yock @ 5th Oct 09:29AM:
Re: My music production center

It's more the hardware platform than anything else. Now that Macs and PCs both use x86 hardware the differences are pretty much all software-related now. Some of that software is more mature on the Mac platform, but even that's changing pretty rapidly now.
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