WHAT SHOULD I BUY? PLEASE READ!!!!!

[pisces7378]

Hello, I am in desperate need of a Multi-purpose Drum Machine, Sequencer, and Synthesizer.... all in one unit. I have found the ROLAND MC-307 (Groovebox). It is marketed for DJ’s to be used in conjunction with turntables etc... Does anyone own this machine or know someone that does. I am not into Hip Hop, Techno, or Dance. But this machine has (or atleast it seems to have) everything together. I am an American that works and lives in Munich Germany and my co-worker owns one but he speaks only German. I am not good enough in German to REALLY talk with him about this stuff. I heard a Mini-Disc recording he did and it sounded GREAT. He has the ROland VS-1880 recorder and the Groovebox (MC-307). It seemed to cover every instrument I wold need. However, I need and extremely flexible machine with many realistic drum sounds. I am forced to work alone here and due to “city life” here in Munich, I would be arrested in 2 seconds if I tried to play real drums. But I do work exclusively with acoustic drums under normal cercumstances. This is why I am so inexperienced in this department. Also I work with real Bass Players etc... But I need a machine that can lay down a solid realistic Bass line THAT I PROGRAM IN MYSELF!!! I want to be able to have complete freedom and program in every note myself. My songs always have many time changes and crescendos. So I must be able to control that. And it has to have as many sounds as possible. Both drum sounds and other instruments. I want it to have convincing Violins and Cello (Orchestral type instruments as well). Is this a good machine. And If it is not then what IS a good machine for a full fledged Production. I will sing and record my guitar parts myself. But I need drums, bass, and full range of synth. material at my desposel. What should I get? Please remember that the MC-307 is around $800 in Germany and I do not want to go too much higher since I will not use it in 3 years when I come home. PLEASE come through for me on thsi one guys, I can barely stand it not speaking this damn language but needing so much technical information. I am a baby at homerecording in general but an EMBRIO at Drum Bass and Synth machines. Thanks for the advice in advance.


Mike

P.S. What EXACTLY does “MIDI” mean? Does it simply mean “Fake Instruments?”

 

[regebro]

I have to MC-303 which is a precursor. It's very nice, but what it really lacks is a floppy to save the sequences and songs on. I think the 307 has more memory than the 303, but sooner or later you will have to erase stuff.

If somebody has a program for Windows 95 which allow you to save and load to the 303 I would be very happy...

 

[pisces7378]

What Type of Music???

Regabro, What type of music do you think this machine is good for? What I mean is, I know it is marketed to appeal to Hip Hop Clubby Dance type people (DJ's). I want a machine that can handle rock music. I would like to experiement with some "stranger" sounds than typical drums. But I want a REAL DRUM SOUND. Can this machine sound like a real typical drum kit? I am not worried about having to delete anything. I work song by song. I will not use this thing for playing live or anything, and after a song is recorded then I will have no real need for it. But really in your honest opinion, will I be able to tell IMMEDIATLY that this machines is just that... a MACHINE, or will it be at least a bit convincing as a real drummer?

Thanks for the Feedback.
Mike

 

[Sabith]

if I remember correctly........

Musical
Instrument
Digital
Interface

I think thats it............

Sabith

 

[regebro]

The drum sounds are not craeted to sound especially real, no. The best way to sound real is to use sampled loops, IMO.

 

[DavidK]

Hello Mike,

The MC307 is'nt going to do all the stuff you
want to do, no way. It's not going to do the
Orchestral sounds, the sequencer is not that
advanced for intense editing, crescendo's, etc.
It is for techno stuff, and it probably does that
pretty well, but if thats not your thing, stay
away from it.

I suggest trying out the Roland JV1010 sound module.
1000 patches, Lots of drum kits. I have owned lots
of synths, and I am really impressed with this
little box.
It does not have a sequencer, and is not a drum
machine. Why dont you get a computer-based
sequencer? A sequencer on a box like the MC307
will not compare to a software sequencer, and
you can get one very cheap, like Cakewalk
Home studio or cubasis. For drums, loop stuff
is easy to do, drag n drop drummer etc, and the
drum sounds of the JV1010 will be used. They
are quite good.

The Jv1010 does some really cool panning effects,
and has some multi-timbral basses (hit a key
soft, sounds like bass, hit it hard, slapping
bass). I do classical fusion stuff, very
complex, it does great.

Find the Roland Europe web site. It has demo's
you can download of the jv1010, and if you
are skilled it WILL sound like that.

The JV1010 is $390 here, I dont know what it
would cost in Munchen. A software sequencer like
Cakewalk Home studio or Cubasis is about $70
here, and if you were so inclined, a midi keyboard
controller (wise idea) can be had here for $100.
Again, dont know the prices in Deutschland,
but that setup is $600, so I bet you could
find it for less then $ 800 in Munchen.

Midi is a bit tricky, but it aint rocket science,
and if you dont speak German and live in
Munchen you probably got some free time!!

The setup I mentioned, once you get the hang of
it, will kick the MC-307s Ass, especially for
your needs. Go hear a JV1010, it is great for its
price, and some patches will compare to a synth
of ANY price.

Feel free to email me if you have questions about
midi, I am getting good at describing it in simple
terms.
Also, I speak (almost) fluent German, so I would
be happy to translate anything, and keep my
German Chops up. I tour Germany every year for
a Month or Two, playing violin with an
Orchestra. Munchen is a great city, and while
you are a fish out water, ride the U-Bahn
(Subway) as much as you can, then when you
come back here, go to Chicago and ride the L.
You'll be missing Germany so bad that you might
want to go back (Well, except for the shopping,
why cant those people keep their stores open
past 6 and on weekends). David

 

[pisces7378]

WHAT SHOULD I BUY PART 2!!!

Thanks Everyone for the advice so far,
It really is so frustrating for me over here. I have roughly $3,000 to start my home recording project. And I just can not afford to go and buy something that I will not like in 2 weeks, simply because I thought it was one of those “All inclusive” machines. Now in your posting you said that the Roland JV-1010 had 1000 “patches”. And “Lots of drum kits”. Well it is quite a coinsidence that you mentioned this machine, because I finally worked up the nerve to go into a music store here in Munich with my kindergarten knowledge of German and ask some question the best way I could. Well the guy didn’t speak english at all. So I walked in there and saw the Roland MC-307 in this sound proof room marked “DJ Zentrum” (DJ Center). I am very far from a DJ, so I was of course thinking, “oh great.” I knew that it was marketed towards DJ’s, but I just figured that it was only a merketing thing and it would be good for any style. Well I was wrong. I said, “Ich suche das Roland MC 307 Groovebox”. His eyes lit up and he had me in that room showing me at 90 miles a minute this machine. Then I said, “Normaleweise spiele ich Rockmusik. Ich bin kein DJ.” Then he said, “Kein Problem. Ich bin auch kein DJ.” Then he said, “Ich glaube, daß diese machine auch Rockmusik machen kann.” He fiddled and fiddled with it for a while looking for a rock setting and never found one. I must admit it did sound nice. It is not a bad machine, just geared for something other than I am right now.
Anyway, then he said, “Vielleicht brauchst du das Roland JV 1010.” He showed me this little box and told me that it costs 1000 Marks, (roughly 850 Dollars but this was the msot expensive store in Munich and ever he said the they haggle the same way as in the states). Then he played it. It sounded wonderful. I only heard a few sounds from it but it had rich warm sounds. It made my mouth water. But I am so dumb about these kind of things. I need a PERFECT drum machine. The Drum machine is much more important to me than the synthesized orchestra sounds. I also need something that has a nice bass sound. An electric bass. A Rock bass. Not a stand up Contra bass, or a “Debbie Gibson, New Kids on the Block” R&B bass. The Drum and bass must have only 2 characteristics. TOTAL PROGRAMABILITY, and SUPER REALISTIC SOUNDS!!!!! See, I have PLAYED instruments all my life. I play a lot of instruments with a modest amount of profishency. And so I just can’t imagine some little drum machine just blopping out some pre-made pattern that is flat and without realism. My songs have MANY time changes from 60 Beat/minute to 120bpm and then back again. I switch patterns from measure to measure. In fact it is RARE for me to ever play the same beat for more than 4 or 6 meaures. Please do not get in your head that I play “typical” rock n roll music. That is only the term I have used on that website (www.homerecording.com) and in music stores because it is the closest to the truth. It ain’t jazz, it ain’t classical, and it ain’t fushion but a mixture of all that I like. Anyway, I’ll spare you the record review <smile>. I realize that I am writing you a lot of stuff in this e-mail and I hope that you don’t think that I am taking advantage of you. It is just so nice to actually have someone to “talk” to about this stuff. It is all in my head but I have no one I can ask and no one I can just talk to about it. So excuse the length of this e-mail.
Well I will try to sum it all up...
- Does the Roland JV-1010 have drum sounds too or is it only “tonal” “musical”
instruments?
- If it does have drum sounds, are they fully programable? Can I somehow feed in the drum parts or do I have to bang them out on some keyboard keys (I hope NOT)!!!
- What is a keyboard that I can use with this machine? It must be cheap. I don’t even know what to look for. All the keyboards that I have seen already have sounds programed into them. Why buy a keyboard with sounds and then ANOTHER external synthesizer? Just better sounds?
- Can I program the bass guitar part for a whole song ahead of time and then play it back into a hard-disc recorder (Roland VS-1880) and that be track 1, and then I come back and record the guitar parts over top of it? What I mean is, do I have to physically play the bass guitar parts on the keys or can I just program it step by step and then step back and listen to the whole bass line. This is what I need for song writting.
- Now a DRUM MACHINE. I think that I need a drum machine. I want to have one to just practice and write songs with. I want one that I can PROGRAM COMPLETELY and EASILY. I really don’t care how complicated it is to learn, I have the time <smile>. I just need to know which one is the best. I have looked at the ...

- YAMAHA RY20 Rhythm Programmer (it had “program” in the title)
- BOSS JS-5 Jam Station (I just saw that it was a bit expensive but looked thurough)
- BOSS DR-770 It was and looked cheaper.

If you know about these machines or an even better one PLEASE let me know. Right now I am leaning towards the BOSS JS-5 Jam Station just because it looked to have the most stuff. It was the most expensive by almost twice the price but it looked good and thurough.

Now about the computer aspect of your responce. I really can’t stand the computer. I know that I sound like a DINOSAUR. And all logic (no pun intended) tells me that I am stupid for being so stuberned. Everyone tells me, “You know that for the prive of all that hard wear you could get a full production software and have your completed CD burned in 1/8 the time and cost.” But I am first a group musician. I play in and woud like to record BANDS. So I don’t want to spend one single dine on computer software. I know that it is possible and probably better to try to intergrate computers and hardware, but right now I would just like to stick to my faders and knobs.
Now keyboards...
Which one do I need. I don’t need a full sized grand piano. But I don’t want some 2 octave shitty thing with those little keys that so many children’s keyboards had growing up. I want a good inexpensive keyboard to play the JV-1010 through. Which do you recomend? What are some things I should look for when I go into a music store?

Well I better bring this e-mail to a close. Believe me I could write and ask all day. I do appologize for the length of this e-mail. If you want time to think it all over then just send me a short, “thinking about it Mike” e-mail so that I won’t think that you just told me to piss off. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for suggesting that I e-mail you. I hope that I don’t bugg you with this e-mail.

Very Appreciative,
Mike
pisces7378@hotmail.com