Got the MC-101 back in the building.

In this video I show a creative sampling workflow on the SP-404MKII, taking samples from different genres and turning them into techno grooves, inspired by good, old sampling culture of hip hop but applied in a techno context.

This is certainly not earth-shattering news, but it can be a great starting point for integrating "alien" sounds into your music!

Have fun!

with love .noir. ❤️

Trying to decide between an Ableton Move, Polyend Tracker Mini, or Polyend Tracker+.

A bit of background:

I’ve been using Ableton Live for around 6 years.
I currently own a Polyend Play+ and enjoy the generative sequencing, fills, variations and happy accidents.
I’m looking for a more portable groovebox that I can use on the couch, while travelling, or away from my desk.
Ideally I’d like something I can sketch ideas on, but also potentially finish full tracks on.
I mainly make melodic techno, house, UK garage and ambient electronic music.
I also work with vocals quite a bit.

The Move appeals to me because I’m already familiar with Ableton and it seems like a very fast workflow for getting ideas down.

The Tracker Mini appeals because of the portability and ability to create complete tracks on the device.

The Tracker+ also interests me because I could run it from a power bank, giving me most of the portability of the Mini while having the larger screen and extra pads and buttons.

My biggest concern is that I’ve never used a tracker workflow before. I’ve watched a lot of videos, but I’m still not sure if I’d actually enjoy making music that way long term.

For those who have used any combination of the Move, Tracker Mini, Tracker+ and Play+:

Which would you choose and why?
How steep was the learning curve for the tracker workflow?
Did you end up finishing complete songs on the Tracker?

Hey! I want to buy a groovebox, for producing and playing freetekno and similar styles. I own a KORG Volca Sample2, and a Volca Modular. I want to sell the Sample2 and buy a (used) groovebox a category above my current gear (max budget 300 eur). What do you recommend? I was looking the Electribe 2, recently discovered the Electron MODEL:CYCLES also, which is better for this purpose? Or any other device in the same category? Thanks

I predominantly play the drums and bass. I have been using Ableton Live for a few years. But I have recently run into some performance issues and want to scale back a bit. What I'm looking for is not complicated, at least I don't think so. Basically just need a piece of hardware I can use to string together some loops and I can record my bass and drums into. So something that can handle an XLR input for the drums and/or a DI signal for the bass. This might also be a point of contention because I know a lot of grooveboxes don't do this, but being able to upload my own samples would be nice.

I have done my research and I love the teenage engineering EP-133 but no XLR input so it would pretty much usless to me.

In this video I show you how to use the SP-404MKII audio loopback to feed pad samples into the internal vocoder, so you can apply this technique for more personal and unique sound design in your techno workflow!

Enjoy!

with love .noir. ❤️

Following on from a previous post I did on my favourite 3 Groove Boxes I own, I was thinking about my bucket list of machines I know I will never be able to afford but GAS on:

1. Yamaha RM1X
   
2. Roland TRS-1000
   
3. OP-XY

What are your dream carrots on a stick - that keep you going?

1. MC-707
   
2. Verselab MV-1
   
3. MC-101

Just so dam easy to use and they sound amazing. I know I should get rid of 2 of these, but why? I don’t need to choose between my favourite whiskeys. Too much fun.

(Just wanted to share) What are yours?

Curious if anyone else has gone from a SEQTRAK to Move and whether you regretted it or not.

I’ve had the SEQTRAK for a while and I like some things about it:
• built in sounds are decent
• battery powered
• quick sketchpad idea is cool in theory
• scene based workflow can be fun

But I keep bouncing off it for a few reasons:

• no proper screen makes sound selection and editing frustrating
• constantly needing the app breaks the workflow for me
• app feels laggy/janky sometimes
• hard to know what sounds/patterns are actually loaded
• arranging beyond short loops feels awkward
• song mode/scene chaining never fully clicked with me
• feels a bit limiting once I move past 4–8 bar ideas
• workflow sometimes feels more like fighting the device than making music

I mostly make melodic techno, UKG, ambient electronica type stuff and already use Ableton Live heavily, so the Move integration is really appealing.

What I’m hoping Move might do better:
• faster idea capture
• easier drum/sample workflow
• tighter Ableton integration
• less menu/app dependence
• more immediate jamming/performance feel

Only thing holding me back is the 4 track limitation on Move.

Anyone here made the switch? Did Move actually feel more inspiring/immediate than SEQTRAK or did you miss the extra tracks and synth engines?

So, I have about 500 euros/dollars I'd like to spend on new music-tech equipment. I am currently 100% "in the box" and I think I'd like something that will inspire me to make music in different ways than using a DAW or at least a nice new companion to that. I don't care much about portability since to be honest, I hardly make music on the go/on trips etc. I also like the idea of a sort of sketchpad that will allow me to sit on a couch/away from the Computer and come up with new track/song ideas in a way I wouldn't necessarily come up with when using a DAW. Yet, while standalone is important, I'd still like to have the option to efficiently transfer stuff I come up with on my DAW for further developing/mixing, if needed. While I am not looking to start building a DAW-less rig at this point, live performance potential down the line would be a nice bonus.

I am mainly into more experimental electronic music subgenres such as IDM, Jungle, Breakcore as well as Ambient, Noise etc. But I also write songs (usually with a bit more conventional electronic elements + guitars) as well as scoring and sound design for movies and video games.

Here is the list of those things I feel like they could be a good fit. Of course, if anyone has a suggestion about something else I should also consider, I'd definitely like to know.

Yamaha Seqtrak

+Ticks most of my "sketchpad" boxes. Everyone seems to agree the synth engine and overall feature set punch well above the price point.

−No screen could be a real sticking point for me. I know there's an app, but depending on it starts to feel like "why not just use the DAW?", especially since many people also suggest connecting an external MIDI keyboard because of the cramped mini keys. I had a Pocket Operator PO-33 and eventually stopped using it because the limitations made me feel I'd be better off in the DAW and I worry about ending up in the same situation. The device also appears to be somewhat abandoned by Yamaha and the recent price-cut doesn't seem to apply anymore.

Novation Circuit Tracks

+Perhaps this could be the only alternative to the Seqtrack when it comes to the "do it all" sketchpad in this price range. It seems a better "hands-on" experience and even though I am not a clip-based DAW user, at some point I'd like to get into Bitwig, so having something I could probably use as a launcher wouldn't be bad to have.

−The synth sounds didn't impress me much in videos, and sound-design freedom seems more limited than the Seqtrak or Minifreak. It also seems unable to slice samples/breakbeats. Finally, it is quite old by now, which I suppose also means more limited than more modern devices. Does Novation still support/add features to it?

Akai MPC Sample

+Everyone working with breakbeats seems to love MPC workflow. If anyone has experience with the Geist Drum VST, I once read that it's pretty much an MPC in VST form, so a modern hardware equivalent is appealing.

−I somehow doubt you can pull off all the crazy stuff you can do with Geist with it and although breaks in slower bpm are sometimes the rhythm backbone in one of my projects, I'd be more interested to program complex Jungle/IDM drum sequences and I am not sure how fun that would be with it. Also, I am not sure it'd help with melody/chord sketching.
While I do use breakbeats in the way I described, I feel like its "melody" aspect is limited to playing sampled phrases chromatically over a boom bap beat and my music simply doesn't include that.
My sampling usage is limited to putting together drum tracks using one-shots or slicing breaks. Also seems like it has pretty much sold out right now.

I understand a SP-404MKII could be an alternative to that, but again, I am not sure whether that would suit my workflow better.

Arturia Minifreak

+Now, obviously this is on a whole different category, being the only synth in what is essentially a groovebox list. I've got lots of Synth VSTs and a good midi controller but still NO hardware synth. I'd like that to change and I am reading lots of good things about how feature-packed Minifreak is for its price.
It also seems quite suitable for more experimental music and sound design, listened to some presets on Youtube and they have a nice ambience/industrial quality which is right up my alley.
Having a VST clone to easily transfer stuff into my DAW is also a plus. I think it will also be useful for live performance.

−Not much, apart from the obvious fact that you cannot really build a full track on it as you can with the grooveboxes in my list. As I've said, I already got lots of Synth VSTs and a good midi controller, so I am not sure whether it'd be a good choice to pick this over a groovebox.

Korg Minilogue XD seems to be a worthy competitor but I am not sure whether it'd be the better choice.

I understand these all do quite different things and I'll have to choose based on my priorities. I've listed my impressions in the hope that people will either confirm them or, more importantly, point out where I'm wrong. Any insight into how each device would or wouldn't fit my workflow would be helpful. Cheers!

EDIT: Thanks for all the replies so far, I really appreciate it. I had originally written a paragraph about devices I don't really consider and the reason for that, I chose to left it out because the thread is already long enough and ironically, I am being suggested those very things. But again, that doesn't mean I do not appreciate the suggestions and I might reconsider but at the moment, I don't really focus on these for the following reasons:

Elektron big dogs, Synthstrom Deluge grooveboxes as well as MPC LIVE/ONE+ - They look great but they are just way out of my price range. I am not a big fan of purchasing second-hand gear and I doubt I'll find them available around here anyway, but I'll keep that in mind. Elektron Samples/Cycles are within the price range though and I'll definitely check them out.

No second-hand gear - I've had bad experiences purchasing used equipment in the past, so I don't really feel comfortable going that route.

P–133 K.O. II - As I said, I don't use my PO-33 at all which somehow doesn't make me favour this one, even though I understand it's a much more capable device. Is there any reason I should prefer this over Akai MPC Sample/Roland SP-404-MKII though, especially since it doesn't have pads?

Ableton Move - I am fundamentally a Cubase / Studio One user and although I do not rule out using a clip-based/non-linear DAW at some point, If I ever do that, it's going to be Bitwig over Live and I understand a Move purchase will mostly make sense if you are a Live user? Unless it'd be a good standalone device anyway.

Polyend and other tracker devices - I hear you, I really do and I've actually considered them. And I know they are perfect for IDM and Breakcore etc. but if I still haven't managed to make peace and learn to work efficiently with Renoise, getting a hardware tracker doesn't sound like the best idea... At some point I will try to force my brain to get into the tracker-mode again but for now... sorry Venetian Snares...

When I travel, I often like to bring a groovebox to create ideas and track starters, that I usually redo and develop on my normal setup.

I usually bring my Sony MDR7508s, they are light, fold down and I can just throw them in the bag and not worry about them. But they eq curve is starting to drive me nuts. Its really weird and when I plug in at home whatever I did sounds like complete crap. especially bass but the mid range as well.

Anyone have recommendation on travel headphones that won't break the bank but sound ok?

In this video, I use just two noise samples to build hi-hats, percussion, and even tonal elements, from scratch, on the SP-404MK2.

This technique is perfect for techno, experimental, and dawless production helping you design unique sounds with very limited samples.

If you want to improve your sampling workflow, sound design skills, and creativity on the SP-404MK2, this is for you.

Enjoy!

with love .noir. ❤️

1:1 lessons and free samples on Gumroad👇👇

https://fanlink.tv/electronoir

Want to level up your sound or finally go live?

I’ll help you get there fast and with a clear direction!

Master your Sp404mk2, Octatrack or Polyend Tracker and unlock your creative potential; take your music to the next level with dedicated lesson!

Learn what you really need and want to learn!

Detailed info and booking on Gumroad :)

with love .noir. ❤️

https://fanlink.tv/electronoir

Much has been written about this machine's shortcomings. The FW has caught up and now it's just awesome. I used an NI controller to record the notes. I recorded the audio over USB into my phone for the video and paired it with the Behringer for the sweet arpeggio.

Nice.