volume pedal. tremolo. flanger. maybe more than one delay or reverb so they can cascade into each other.
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Ambient/Post-Rock/Textural bass playing thread
- Thread starter ttasselm
- Start date
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
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- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
My Dirtywave M8 tracker came in yesterday. Tough to wrap my head around, but I’ve played along with a couple tutorials and am starting to get the hang of it. Build quality is terrific and it sounds great. So far, there’s not much on it I can’t do on the Octatrack (except the M8 has 3 built in synth engines), but it’s a small handheld device that has a battery and I’m thinking it could help pass the time on the road. Just learning basic arrangements and resampling now but the possibilities are pretty nice
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
A bit more on the tracker saga. The M8 is pretty popular over on the Elektronauts forum, so I’ve been pummeling those poor folks with stupid, basic questions. Most have been very gracious and patient except for the chip tune police. There’s folks who really feel there’s a certain way and style/aesthetic to using a tracker, but for me it’s just a super advanced, quirky sequencer. I like the really good chip tune producers using crazy advanced techniques to make extremely silly music 
All this to say, so far I do recommend the M8, especially if you want something small/portable for traveling
All this to say, so far I do recommend the M8, especially if you want something small/portable for traveling
Chip tunes tracker police.A bit more on the tracker saga. The M8 is pretty popular over on the Elektronauts forum, so I’ve been pummeling those poor folks with stupid, basic questions. Most have been very gracious and patient except for the chip tune police. There’s folks who really feel there’s a certain way and style/aesthetic to using a tracker, but for me it’s just a super advanced, quirky sequencer. I like the really good chip tune producers using crazy advanced techniques to make extremely silly music
All this to say, so far I do recommend the M8, especially if you want something small/portable for traveling
That's the saddest most nerd-ta-cu-lar thing I've heard in years.
Ugh, don't even get me started on chiptune. I hated those sounds when they were current.
:::scratches head:::
:::Googles "chip tune":::
pause
:::scratches head again:::
:::Googles "chip tune":::
pause
:::scratches head again:::
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
It’s even worse than I’m described, sadly
I didn’t pay much attention back when that was a thing and had no idea it was still a thing. I dunno, I like the silliness and the fact that so many are using those old sounds to make incredibly elaborate music, but I can only take it in tiny doses. Too bad because the M8 is such an amazing groovebox in a tiny/portable package (rivals the Octatrack in many ways) that the chip tune emphasis could hurt the sales of an otherwise amazing piece of hardware. I got it because I spend so much time traveling and am very glad I did
That comment made me self reflect a lot.
Maybe it’s in reaction of never having the feeling of “fitting in” certain musical contexts?
Like punching my way out of “the box” of “rules\conventions”.
It most certainly has roots in me dropping out of college during the last year of my bachelors degree in jazz bass playing.
And the fact that all the hip hop beats I ever made SUCK!!!!
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
That comment made me self reflect a lot.
Maybe it’s in reaction of never having the feeling of “fitting in” certain musical contexts?
Like punching my way out of “the box” of “rules\conventions”.
It most certainly has roots in me dropping out of college during the last year of my bachelors degree in jazz bass playing.
And the fact that all the hip hop beats I ever made SUCK!!!!
Haha! Since I make my living playing pretty conventional music, my hobby is trying to do unconventional stuff. Leaves some of my friends scratching their heads
I can sooooo relate to that.Haha! Since I make my living playing pretty conventional music, my hobby is trying to do unconventional stuff. Leaves some of my friends scratching their heads
I think the chiptunes thing is all tied up with other nostalgia music movements like vaporwave and 80s revival. Not my main thing but it's cool that it exists. The internet has brought all these odd subgenres into contact with anyone who might like them and that's cool. Something for everyone.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
Managed to get far enough with the M8 to make a full tune of sorts. If you haven’t seen the device, it’s about a 1/2” wider and a 1/2” shorter than an iPhone plus.
Using the hexadecimal system to sequence takes a little bit to wrap your head around, but you don’t have fully understand it to sequence (good thing!). It has 5 engines to sequence with
1. Wave Synth (all those chip tune sounds)
2. Macro Synth (mutable braids, I think)
3. FM Synth (sounds really good)
4. Sampler (pretty full featured and powerful)
5. MIDI (sequencing external stuff)
I stuck with the FM synth for my first track, for no particular reason.
The tune starts out super basic in every way, then gets a little glitchy at the end. It’s gonna be quite awhile before I’m fluent with this thing, but it’s good to know you can get started relatively quick
Using the hexadecimal system to sequence takes a little bit to wrap your head around, but you don’t have fully understand it to sequence (good thing!). It has 5 engines to sequence with
1. Wave Synth (all those chip tune sounds)
2. Macro Synth (mutable braids, I think)
3. FM Synth (sounds really good)
4. Sampler (pretty full featured and powerful)
5. MIDI (sequencing external stuff)
I stuck with the FM synth for my first track, for no particular reason.
The tune starts out super basic in every way, then gets a little glitchy at the end. It’s gonna be quite awhile before I’m fluent with this thing, but it’s good to know you can get started relatively quick
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
You can sample directly into it via audio or USB. It also has a micro usb card so you can drag and drop samples from the computer to the M8 or vice versa.
The little tune I did today, once I felt ok about the arrangement, I just rendered each track stem, then pulled them into Logic to mix. Easiest thing ever
Just took a stroll through the M8 manual. Braids is nicely implemented, especially with the addition of a filter. I'm just trying to get my head around a few things -- the phrases look like parameter modulations or subsequences(?) I love that you can treat samples like oscillators. I wish more samplers had that option.
It is my imagination or is the M8 actually more powerful than the Polyend Tracker in terms of its synthesis and sampling capabilities?
Happy American thanksgiving.
It is my imagination or is the M8 actually more powerful than the Polyend Tracker in terms of its synthesis and sampling capabilities?
Happy American thanksgiving.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
Happy Thanksgiving!
There’s a kinda fun youtube channel called All My Friends Are Synths. The host is pretty funny, very Scottish and a bit too into the hipster chip tunes side of things, but he is super knowledgeable with trackers. He has the Polyend Tracker and the M8 and goes over the pros and cons of each, from his perspective. He said these days he loves the Polyend Tracker for sequencing external midi instruments and eurorack. Doesn’t use the PT stand-alone much. The M8 is what he uses as a stand-alone groovebox kinda deal.
For me, there was really no contest since what I wanted was something portable to use while traveling. No brainer, but I’m very happy with my purchase and it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be to learn the basics.
In certain ways (again I’m brand new to this, so there’s much to learn), the sequencer is more advanced than my Octatrack, but not quite as performative. I’ve seen folks use the M8 ‘live mode’ to good effect, but I’m a long way off from that. The first thing I stumbled onto that I love is the way the chance (probability) command works…
Sorry for the crap pic! On the left hand side you have note, volume and instrument number. To the right you have 3 FX rows that can all be changed per step. So when you put in a Chance command in FX slot 1, you get to choose a percentage going left (to the note on/off) and a separate percentage going right to FX slot 2&3. That’s huge for evolving semi generative sounds
I’ve been checking his stuff. He’s almost talked me out of and into the Polyend Tracker a few times.
What's the simplest way to create synth-type pads or drones, and maybe some really simple little riffs? Do I need an actual synth keyboard? Is there a good software option? Something else I'm not even thinking of? I'd want to maybe run it through effects pedals and/or my Line 6 unit.
