New LPII user

The Moog Forum Little Phatty & Slim Phatty Forum
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Hi guys,

I recently got SE05731 and I’m pretty stoked with it. It’s my first synth as I play guitar mainly. I was inspired to buy one after all the albums I’ve been listening to lately seem to indicate a need for BASS and droning sounds. I’m 22 and have a modest setup. I still need decent monitors but I use my Sennheiser HD25’s I got 6 years ago and it works great though gets annoying as it’s only coming out of one of the speakers.

I have a couple of questions. Two albums in particular being Thom Yorke - The Eraser and Bright Eyes - Digital Ash In A Digital Urn. When I picked this up, it was $200 more than a Microkorg so I saved the bit extra and have come across somewhat of a monster! Most of my rig is analog (fuzz factory>sho>ps-3>ad900) with the PS-3 being the only exception however I’m hoping some magic will come out of that and the LPII.

I aim to get a cheap drum machine in the near future too that I’ll be using with effects pedals (mainly reverb and distortion/fuzz) in hopes I can get a 6 track EP interesting enough to dish out to friends to enjoy.

Anyway, a rather pointless first post. Think of it as an introduction/random questions/any advice will be taken on board with much appreciation! Seems to be a wealth of information here and it looks like I have many hours of reading ahead of me.

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Welcome

Happy tweaking

Just in case you didn’t know, to get the LP to drone plug a dummy cable (a short cable hook up to nothing) in the gate input. Or you could use a normally closed footswitch.

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Thom Yorke - The Eraser

i like your taste :slight_smile:
and i hope your lp will help you to achieve your ideas.

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Hi and welcome to the forum! You picked an awesome “first synth”. The sound quality will spoil you. :slight_smile:

You said you had a couple of questions, but didn’t type them. So, what were you going to ask?

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For 200$ more than a microkorg, thats a steal!!! I bought my microkorg back when they were first released for roughly 800$ and I still paid 600$ more for my LP haha.

Thom Yorke, great taste sir. Hope you get a long well with the LP. BTW out of curiousity, what kind of drum machine are you looking for?

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Hi guys!

You’re all so welcoming! Well, first off… Eraser IS indeed great! My tastes vary (in fact the stuff I usually listen to doesn’t have any Moog) but I’m all about using the ear to obtain the end result. So far I’ve failed, ha!, but striving/dwindling along.

Secondly anoteoftruth: my thoughts exactly! I started out playing guitar and I got the hint a few friends thought I was snobbish for making the big leap for the first purchase. But a) it was my favourite after testing them in the store (second was the Alesis something-a-rather and finally the original Microkorg) and being only a little more $$$ than the micro and the same price as the Alesis, I couldn’t pass the opportunity up! Plus I got a free Freq Box with it too which was kind of cool but I sold it as I didn’t have a use for it.

And finally, the questions with the first already having been brought up:

  • Drum machine: Something cheap, simple, effective. I listed my influences in my initial post but I’ll expand on that with a few more notable ones: Tunng - Comments Of The Inner Chorus, Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth, Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion… BUT MAINLY, in regards to this matter…

BRIGHT EYES - A DIGITAL ASH IN A DIGITAL URN

I assume he’s running distortion pedals into some kind of drum machine? Would this require something with larger headroom? Does such a thing exist? Am I over thinking?!

  • The standby thing. Does leaving it on standby mean leaving it on without touching it for 10minutes whilst plugged into an amp? That’s what I’m doing at the moment… a cigarette lasts 7 minutes, the other 3 I’m tapping my toe in eager anticipation (not exactly a bad thing!)

  • Maintainence/etc? I’ve had a few errors pop up or it’s frozen when browsing menus… this was before I joined the forum and learned about standby etc. They really should have a standby feature for us non-manualreaderers out there!

And finally

  • The wooden panel replacements. I emailed a guy. I can get the tint I want. Are they retro fit/straight swap overs? I won’t have oodles of electronic hoo-ha bouncing at me will I?! :laughing: Sorry, I’m just old fashioned in my approach… the only digital things I own are my two Boss pedals the PS-3 and RV-3 and I refuse to touch the innards of those fine specimens!

Wow, second long post in a row. Hope you guys put one on to boil :slight_smile:

Cheers!

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Drum machine - check out the Korg ER-1 Electribe. They don’t make them anymore, so you’ll have to find one used. Thom Yorke’s solo album reminds me of the sounds you can get with it.

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I have the korg er-1, I have to say you could probably get SOME similar sounds as what your looking for.. but I would’nt recommend it being a persons only source for electronic drums.

I’d highly recommend getting a sampler. It pretty much cuts out any of the limitations a hardware drum machine will have. If you want to keep it cheap, go the route of the sp-404 or mpc500. You can find most drum machine sounds for free online, of pretty much any drum machine you want, plus they both come full with effects… (like that distortion you were talking about, they have tons of effects you could layer with, where as with a drum machine you would have to add effects pedals or modules after the line out)

If your intent is to make full songs, then I’d recommend a sampler before anything… drum machine is gonna cost you, and limit you as well. The ER-1 is more open in terms of modifying the sounds.. its pretty much a rythm synthesizer.. but having said that, mines collecting dust.

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BTW echodeluxe…

I can’t beleive you sold the freqbox! I want to get my hands on one and get the CV out mod… you coulda had a 3rd Oscillator!

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If your not afraid of floppies, zip drives, or scsi, and a maximum 32 Mb ram, check craigs list, I purchased an Akai S-2000 sampler for $30, it does not allow one to program sequences, but will play them, if saved as a standard midi file. Something newer is probably easier to work with, but for $30 it was definitely worth it, especially since my computer is a p.o.s. with a floppy drive and scsi, and thus gets along with such primitive hardware.

Any one have any zip disks laying around? I have a zip 100 drive, but no disks, meaning I am stuck saving all samples to floppy, which sucks, and results in the collection of dust, by the sampler.

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Hehe, hmmm I’ll check out samplers as well. Like I said, I’m very green when it comes to anything outside of the usual six-string element. I run a fair few guitar effects in my chain so I can always use them to expand my horizons.

But the Freq Box wasn’t as appealing for me as I’m only getting used to the two oscillators as well as all the settings. If I had another toy to play with, god knows where I’d end up.

A few interesting combinations I want to try are LPII+Fuzz Probe+PS-3 (set on detuned reverse delay) with the gate wide open. Especially on the 00 preset. It might be seen as boring to some folk, but after toying around I found that I liked the 00 preset (and some other one, I forget now) but I change them to oscillating mode, detuned and play a couple easy parts and make it sound really thick and luscious.

What are some things I can do with the LP in regards to pc’s? How would I go about recording? I play it through my Vox AC15 at the moment and have tried mic’ing it up but obviously lots that “OOMPH” that I could hear in the room (coming from the Moog, not the walls lol).

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to record it to PC all you need is a input to your PC… most desirably some sort of interface, like a m-audio fasttrack pro, or something that works as a interface/pre-amp. Then just run a standard 1/4 inch cable from the audio out to the interface.

If you don’t have a interface but your computer does have a mini headphone jack input for audio in, u can buy a little adapter for a 1/4inch jack to a mini headphone jack. It won’t be the most desirable for sound, but will get u started till u get something better.

A lot of people get confused with the USB, thinking you can use it as audio in.. I’m sure buy now you’ve figured out the USB is just for midi/software updates etc etc.. no audio through USB, but the MIDI through USB can do some crazy stuff!

Depending on what DAW you have and use, theres a ton of cool midi tricks your can do with it. I use Ableton, and some of the arpeggiator effects are sweet… can get some crazy sounds that’d be practically impossible getting manually on the keyboard.

The cool things about samplers is you can record any audio input, crop it and cut it to however short/long a sample you want, and then you can bang out beats and rythms/patterns with them on the pads w your fingers. For drums this is great obviously, cause your not limited to 1 set of sounds, or one kind of sound… you can upload as many kinds of sounds to each pad over and over again. They are great for some cool sound processing too.. meaning you can play a line or pattern from your LP, play it through the sampler, record it, loop it, add effects, record that, loop that, add other effects, record, etc… and layer it and layer it untill you get something really unique, that sometimes does’nt resemble the initial sound at all.

To put it in terms of stuff you’d know, Thom Yorke’s solo album, theoretically could’ve been entirely produced with a sampler. The beats I know for sure are, and a ton of stuff your hearing is just stuff that’s been recorded, cropped, and banged out in a beat w the pads. You can get some really really interesting sounds this way.. and the one’s I mentioned, either a Dr.Boss Sp-303, Sp-404 or Akai MPC500, can be found from anywhere from 200-700 for the latter in the used/new markets.

Actually, http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-SP404SX-Portable-Sampler-with-FX?sku=583432 400$ and portable (battery powered if desired) That one’s the big brother to the 303 which I started out with, and learned a TON about producing from.

Depending on wether or not you want to go the software route, there’s a ton of great software out there too… like FXPansions “GURU”… it’s pretty much a super sampler in a software version.

Ton’s of possibilities man if you want to learn how to make/produce/record all your own stuff. Just a heads up, once you start it’s hard to stop. It can turn into a addiction :wink: But a addiction I love :smiley:

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Haha, I must say we share a lot in common! I believe in some parts they call it GAS but mine isn’t gear as much as it is the sounds and the fact that I like to do things musically on my own. I like jamming, but never can see myself in a band situation as I like the experience and journey involved.

The sampler idea is starting to sound better and better. I was checking out the Roland SP-555’s at one point but they’re quite dear. I’ll check out the few you’ve recommended and see whether or not I could find a use for them and whether I can test em out at locals before importing one in.

I got a keyboard stand the other day and I was stoked… It’s already started! I think my recording setup will most definitely supersede my guitar rig. I used to own seven guitars, two amps and countless effects pedals but now I’m down to one working electric, one acoustic, one amp and a few stomp boxes.

So far… on my shopping list:

  • A sampler (I have a Macbook to use in conjunction with that as well as Ableton and Garageband).

  • Some kind of interface for the Macbook.

  • Once I sell my AC15 in favour of an AC4 (I’m moving to a small apartment) I’ll need monitors of some variety. I guess I could always pick up another cheap SS amp and use that, right? Rolands have a nice clean sound.

  • Looper if the sampler doesn’t do long loops?

Then I’m pretty much set.

I’ll be able to get drums/effects from the sampler, effects/bass from the LP, guitar and the dozen other instruments I have. Plus the most useful of all, the microphone! :wink:

Stupid question, yet again (I’ve had the past two weeks off so I’ve been playing a LOT and this is my only time away from the instruments so I want to cover everything lol) but how can I get the Moog to send a signal to the L and R channels of my Sennheiser headphones? It’s annoying after a while… I wont need monitors for the time being if I can figure out a way to get them both working and maybe I wont have a ringing in just one ear lol.

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sampler. akai mpc. you have a moog analog synth man!

do some electromagnetic magic :wink:

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My friends getting the MPC1000 apparently but he’s been playing synth for a while and it’s his main instrument of choice so I guess I’ll have one available but the price on those 404sx are really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDNLJ1pprQU

The drum sounds from that (to me) are bliss. Same goes with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68E_JSCOD_I

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If you already have ableton, I HIGHLY suggest even bypassing the sampler, and getting a m-audio Trigger Finger, coupled with FXpansions GURU VST. I switched out all my sampling hardware for that setup… has way more functionality, quick, easy to use, simple GUI. There are demo videos on FXpansions site that walk you through it, check it out to see if it peaks ur interest.

The m-audio Trigger Finger has better pads imo than the MPC1000. I had a MPC1000 and the pads were stiff and ridged.. frustrating sometimes to tap out beats. The Trigger Finger is soft and really sensitive… you can use it with any software u want.

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the first bright eyes song you linked = real drums with effects, could be looped, but the sound source is a real drum set. You could recreate this with a sampler sampling acoustic drum sounds and then processing w effects etc.


the second CocoRosie song you linked = lo fi drum samples. Pretty commonly found samples of drums sampled at a lo fi rate and filtered.

You could do both easily with a sampler/software that I mentioned.

But it’s be impossible to get the same sound with a drum machine. You could get something “close” to the CocoRosie song w a drum machine, after some effects processing maybe.. but it’d be a lot easier on a sampler/software

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I’ll agree with that. The main attraction of an MPC would be the sequencer. If you don’t need that, just get a MIDI controller. I have the Korg padKontrol and I think the pads on it feel better than MPC pads too. Never tried the M-Audio one.

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WOAH!! THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!! :slight_smile:

I much, much, much prefer that over any drum machine to be honest. I just need to get these sounds out of my head, I’m not an electronic musician by any stretch of the imagination even though I’d LOVE to own a collection like Moby’s drum machines. I’ll look at both M-Audio and Korg models to see what they offer. I thought most drum machines now days could do this (silly me) and samplers being samplers, I think I still prefer the idea of having something totally software driven as everything will be done during production anyway.

I just ordered some mahogany sides from Synthwood. Their customer handling is second to none and their communication is top notch! I wish we had that kind of customer service down here. I can’t wait till they’re done and installed and then I might even give her a name :stuck_out_tongue:

So on my shopping list now is…

  • Trigger finger/Padkontrol

  • Some kind of speakers (How can I set it up so that my LAPTOP, LPII and TV can use these speakers? All the gears in my room so yeah… there isn’t enough space to run separate stuff for everything as much as I’d love to run the LPII through a bass amp, laptop through monitors and TV through some cheap logitechs).

And I’m pretty much set. I can even start making demos and stuff.

Having a bigger read… the Padkontrol DOES seem pretty cool. Maybe I should start thinking about buying a mixer + cheap monitors and run the TV, LPII and laptop all through that??? I get paid my “KPI” next week and still living at home so I want to buy everything before I’m tied to commitments like rent, bills… ya know, the real world!

I’ve had the past ten days off and I’ve got to know my LPII quite well. My favourite setting is the Trippy and the 00 setting and moving from there. I’m sticking to 5 presets from different ‘ranges of sound’ and manually adjusting them :slight_smile:

Who said new gear doesn’t inspire one to play more?!?!

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It totally inspires! Especially a Moog.. It’s funny.. tonight I was just at a friends house, checking out his new Buchla 200 e series modular synth… sure he paid over 12000$ for it, and it of course is a very highly rated modular synth.. I understand its a huge move for someone to buy, but it didn’t peak my interest as much as his Moog Voyager RME next to it… which he’s selling to me. I could’nt keep my eyes/hands off the thing! There’s something about a Moog, sound wise, and interface wise, that just draws people in and traps them there in wonderment.

Definately check out both the Trigger Finger and Kontrolpad… see which one feels better to you.. they have basically the same function, whichever one feels better for you is a better fit.

And yes, although I would’nt suggest software for everything (especially software synths… they make me feel sick most times haha) I have to admit, software samplers definately have a huge advantage nowadays… with a hardware sampler like a Akai MPC, the only real benefit your gonna have is that its a peice of hardware u can touch and carry with you.. your still gonnahave it run through a computer, and have to record all the audio through a computer etc… might as well get a peice of software that does the same thing even better, and runs straight inside Ableton or something.

And you mentioned Moby’s drum machine collection… it is impressive for sure.. but just be clear, he does’nt actually use them all on his songs… the majority of them don’t get used.. he is a collector. When he does use them, he samples them to a sampler/software in a DAW and uses it that way on his songs.. but he does’nt actually use them directly (he has stated this in past interviews.) Plus just by listening to his music you can tell it is sampled drums.. drum machines generally can’t create those kind of sounds. (in of themselves, drum machines are extremely limited, and mostly go for high prices because of vintage status. Like the tr-909 and 808 etc.. you hardly ever hear music nowadays that uses them, but they are analog and vintage and right now there is a surge in this market, so they go for a hefty price)

You mentioned your looking for speakers/monitors… check out the KRK lines! KRK monitors are great! and affordable! (im making a random estimate and gonna say probably half the people here use KRK’s as is suggested in all the photo threads)