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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

#141
The plot thickens. According to our neighbor, who is a close friend of the former owners, the terraced gardens were engineered and built under a permit that stated they were sufficient slope mitigation to move the 15' buffer to the bottom of the terraces rather than at the top of my backyard. We've reached out to the previous landscaper and architect for the property in the hopes that they can produce the permit documentation that the city seems to have forgotten was filed. With a little luck we'll be able to get this rectified and then get back to work. This is particularly frustrating because I took a week off of work to give myself time to construct the block walls necessary to create a level building pad. I put the delivery of the blocks on hold until I can sort this out, and am now burning vacation time for seemingly no reason other than the city is being a butt.
 
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#144
Here's a quick update for everyone: I'm STILL battling with planning department on this. Still... Yes, still. I feel like we're finally getting somewhere, although there's likely to be one more hurdle that includes paying a geotechnical engineer to do some investigative work. More to come. Stay positive out there in TB land. I'm trying to... :smug:
 
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#147
DPD isn't budging. Their determination matches the Seattle Municipal Code to the letter, so I can't fault them, but it certainly doesn't pass the "make sense" test. Did I mention I work for a municipality doing civil and environmental engineering, so my opinion comes with real world AND municipal policy experience?

Moral of the story for today: I started discussions with a geotechnical engineering consultant this morning.

If you hear something zoom by you in the greater Seattle area it's just money leaving my bank account.
 
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#149
Marial said:
Ouch... sorry man. :( Well, my own project is going so slowly I suspect you'll be open for business before I'm ready for mixing anyway.
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I've got a counterpart (out of state) that does wonderful mixes for the same low low prices I'll be charging when I'm up and running, so if you're ready to go before I am let me know and I'll put you in contact with him.
 
#151
My suspicion is that it's a manual operation on the SQ-1. I don't think there's a way to send tempo information via MIDI in that sense. In fact, MIDI needs to be reported tempo-free to function correctly in a lot of ways. How does the SQ-1 connect to your system? Is it a MIDI in/out jack, or does it connect via USB? If it's via USB it might sync through another route that happens to be carried along the same cable that's providing the MIDI information.

We also still need to meet up so you can play around with my new Anadime Bass Chorus :o
 
#152
"
Interface-wise, the SQ-1 is simple on the surface so as not to get in the way of performing/ programming but there's a lot of functionality provided.

On the front you have two independent sequence rows (Channel A and B), each with eight sequence buttons. These rows can run alternately (per step), in parallel (forwards), in parallel (forward then reverse) A then B (up to 16 steps), in random mode, with CV outputting on A and slides on B, with CV outputting on A and Duty (note length) on B and finally with random CV on A and Duty on B.

You can also set the CV output voltages (1V, 2V, 5V V/Oct or 8V Hz/V options) for interfacing with different equipment by holding function and specific step buttons, so even more eclectic CV/Gate gear is accommodated.

Further to this, the SQ-1 works as a MIDI>CV converter. You can send MIDI notes from your DAW to the USB input on the SQ-1 which then converts the incoming MIDI to CV/Gate data to send to whatever equipment you like. The beauty here is you can address two connected instruments independently (or the two oscs separately on the MS-20M for example).

The timing under MIDI clock is also tight and it's great fun controlling DAW software instruments from the SQ-1 too. Note that when first powering on the SQ-1 you might think that the speed control doesn't go fast enough but, under the global settings, you can set the resolution of each step globally to quarter, eighth or sixteenth notes."

And yes! I definitely need to check out the Anadime!
 
#153
Marial said:
The timing under MIDI clock is also tight and it's great fun controlling DAW software instruments from the SQ-1 too.
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This is the bit that I think is a little misleading. The sequencer will provide MIDI notes into the DAW and will definitely play the associated VST living on whichever track is accepting the MIDI data. I'm good with all that. The problem is then playing back that information within the DAW. If you input the the sequencer to provide a series of quarter notes at 120bpm, but had your DAW set to 60bpm, the result when playing it back in the box (i.e. with the sequencer not part of the playback anymore), you're going to have a series of eighth notes rather than quarter notes. I'm not sure the math works out as cleanly as that, but you get the idea. That said, if you set the tempo of the session and the sequencer to match the results should be predictable and repeatable.

Also... The Anadime is just too sweet. I was using it on bass and guitar last night, and it sounds fantastic.
 
#154
Okay, that's what I was thinking... question is, can I use the DAW to start/stop the sequencer? Or, since they'd be set to the same tempo, I can just lay the track (SQ-1 controlling MS-20 ---> DAW) and then shift it over later?

And I can only imagine. Everything I've watched/read about the Anadime tells me it's exactly what I need as far as chorus goes. I'm also looking at the Empress Nebulus, it's vibrato function is stellar. Chad has one at the shop if you stop in and want to check it out. Now that I mention it, its chorus effect ain't bad either.
 
#155
Marial said:
Okay, that's what I was thinking... question is, can I use the DAW to start/stop the sequencer? Or, since they'd be set to the same tempo, I can just lay the track (SQ-1 controlling MS-20 ---> DAW) and then shift it over later?
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You should be able to configure that through CC to have the two start simultaneously. This would be no different than using something like a Mackie MCU-Pro or Euphonix MixControl unit with an external playback button. It might take a little tweaking since that's not the intended function of the sequencer, but my guess is that it will be totally plausible. The one issue I see occurring is that every time you started the sequencer your DAW would start as well provided they were still connected via USB. You'd need to reprogram the CC every time you wanted that to not be the case. That said, the folks at Korg are certainly smarter than me and may have a more streamlined solution to this.

If you're looking for grid-perfect quantization of the sequence produced by the hardware as it enters the software, I would personally look for an in the box solution rather than an external one. You could also just set the pre-roll on your record function to be a measure or greater so you could start the sequence on the corresponding down beat and not care if things are a little off the grid.

Marial said:
And I can only imagine. Everything I've watched/read about the Anadime tells me it's exactly what I need as far as chorus goes. I'm also looking at the Empress Nebulus, it's vibrato function is stellar. Chad has one at the shop if you stop in and want to check it out. Now that I mention it, its chorus effect ain't bad either.
Click to expand...

Chad's shop is just a couple minutes from my house and I need to stop by just to check in if nothing else. I really like Empress products, so I imagine it will work great. That said, the Anadime has killed my GAS for anything in the chorus realm.
 
#157
Since the end result will be MIDI that's not dependent on the sequencer itself; A pre-roll setting combined with editing in post would likely be just as easy as programming something effective in CC. Whenever I'm doing pop stuff I'll trigger the drums, record as MIDI, and then adjust/quantize in post to get everything perfectly on the grid. That metronomically perfect sound is a big part of certain genres and not some evil thing like a lot of people tent to carry on about. If you were sequencing something for a jazz tune I wouldn't sweat a little rhythmic drift as long as the groove still lands in the right spot. If you're doing truly electronic music I would focus on getting sequenced or rhythmic sections to be as perfectly grid-aligned as you need since you'll likely be building all of the more fluid elements on top of that.
 
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#158
I'm doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Some of it is gridless, but I want to be able to be on-grid when I need to be. Pre-roll and then match to grid seems the very simplest way to go. It won't be MIDI because the signal chain will be: SQ-1 -> MS-20M -> DAW. I'll just hit go on the sequencer and then shift it to match the grid after I'm done with the track. Only thing going into the DAW will be pure audio from the MS-20M. Hopefully 105 bpm in the DAW is the same as 105 bpm in the sequencer, of course.
 
#159
Since they're both digital units, and 105bpm is easily expressed mathematically by both devices, you should be good to go. The only thing I would confirm is that any stages where you pass through a D to A converter all have the same sample rate as the interface going into your DAW. This could result in differences in time, but more importantly, unmatched sample rates tend to make things go wonky in all sorts of bizarre ways.
 

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