Comparable Gear Advice

[Mjpickerill]

Hi all,

I'm new here, but very excited to be on board.  I am a bedroom producer that is trying to move towards a more efficient song-writing setup that is simple and intuitive.  I have fallen in love with the Beatstep Pro, but I need a little help with the purchase of gear that will integrate smoothly and intuitively without much fuss.

I currently have an Analog Rytm, which I love, but have found its "workflow" or "playability" to be trumped by the BSP.  I'd like to play and sequence it via the BSP, or have possibly even considered selling it for the Vermona with CV add on so that it's just more simple and reliable.

I'd like to also invest in a rackmount synth that can handle the two monophonic sequences in one unit, easily and under $1000, and gotta have plenty of fresh user presets.  I also need a keyboard for chords, and I'm really loving the look and feel of the Minilogue, but the back order has me thinking twice.  Is there a machine that can handle both synth lines and some simple played chords?  Each with its own voice?  Or is that unreasonable or overly complex?  My group is mostly inspired by decades old synth funk and deep house music.

All in all, I have an Analog Rytm and about $1500 to put toward my new setup....  What do you think I should get?

Thanks gang, I really appreciate any and all input.

[megamarkd]

So you have drums, now you may want two monosynths.

I love my Waldorf Pulses, both the original and the Pulse 2.  The original is a rackmountable machine whereas the 2 is a desktop sitting at half the width of a 19" rack.  The sound the same mostly, but the 2 has some more advanced features to the original and a few different osc waveforms (and modes).  There were two originals, the Pulse and Pulse+.  The + could accept and send cv.  The Pulse 2 can send cv/gate but doesn't receive.  To buy both today would use your all 1500, maybe.

An original MS-20 in excellent will cost you about that too.  They work great with the BSP controlling their osc's and gates.  Old Korg cv had two different voltages depending on what it was controlling, so filter cutoff, for example, are only half controlled by the BSP since it doesn't do negative voltages.  Working around that brings some interesting patches out of it.

Dave Smith Evolvers rule.  They have been discontinued, but you can still find them new in stores if you hunt.

I have a Vermona Kick Lancet that I trigger with the BSP.  Really nice kick. I've added a signal booster (read as: headphone volume control) to fine-tune the trigger voltage as Vermona accept a variable voltage so to be able to send it accents.

Got my Rhythm Wolf synced to the BSP via a drum gate.  Good times there.

Not running any polysynths from the BSP, got a regular linear midi sequencer for that (actually many, but they don't all sequence notes).  Key Step may come into the set-up though, when it's out.

With regards to the Minilogue, I'm at the point of buying one, but just can't press "checkout" for some reason.  Part of it is the 4 note polyphony.  Apparently it's not too bad, though I have run out of voices on other polys often.  I'd see it as a complement to my digi-polys and use my monos to accompany it with a lead or bass line (with the Pulses so very able to achieve both).  The Minilogue has a basic sequencer on it also.  As far as the trend of releasing 4 voice analogue polys goes, I'd get a Monologue way before considering a Roland Boutique or Yamaha Reface.

So, I'll stop there before I'm accused of being a Waldorf rep by mentioning even more of their gear.  Perhaps someone using Arturia monos can give us an opinion?

Oh actually before I go, plug a BSP into a sampler for a bit of fun.

[Filterseducer]

Hi,

Sounds like you are about to choose your synths accordingly to your sequencer... not sure that's a good point: synths are musical instruments, seqs are basically tools; so I would say 1st go for a synth that fits your style and ears, then find how to make it sound.
That said, Mother 32 can give you a good taste of the moog sound; microbrute (not rackable) has a good voice with a good filter, fast LFO and a CV matrix bay for having fun with you BSP, you can also route audio in + some goodies and it goes for around 250E. If you are into cables and patchs a Korg Ms 20 rack could be an (expensive) option. And all of them are black!

I can understand about your elektron rytm feelings, but is a really good machine. Did you plug it in a decent PA+ sub system? And the elektron's clock man, plug a hotdog on it and it will be play in sync! CV and sample capabilities, audio in, class seq, 8 voices, memory, it's little and easy to fit in your rig, etc.

Minilogue could be nice. Poly + a keyboard that you could use to play other gear. Not sure that the key's size is a good option; if you really want to play keyboards then go for full sized keys.

Last I would say, if you are going for a full CV setup keep in mind that compatibility  between aaanalog stuff such as voltages, resolution, clocking (and the BSP is a real piece of crap for that) needs time and understanding. For some people patching and syncing their gear represents 90% of their satisfaction, but doing some good music is really what you want isnt' it?

Use the 1500$ and keep your AR for a while!  So good luck and have a good time, buying gear is always a cool thig to do