/ Audio/ MC-505 Tips/ Recording or Pattern Creation Tips |
RECLOCKING [Pev]
Im sure no-one gives a toss, but heres what I found out after some playing last night - Reclocking happily doubles and halves the tempo of patterns up to the max res of the sequencer (i.e. a few times!) Taking a snare pattern on the Max scale I think I was able to reclock about 3 or four times to get a *very* fast snare roll. the problem with this is that you have to write the pattern over many measures and then reclock so you cant hear it at the tempo while composing. Also, you cant reclock a single part or area of a part, but only a whole pattern. So its limited, but it does work. The other sod is that once re-clocked, you cant step edit - This is a blunder by roland as it wouldnt have been to hard to get the step sequencer to scale even tighter than 1/32th notes.
MAKING NICE SYNTH LINES 2 [Rutger]
This one is even better with a software sequencer. Cut, copy, paste or delete the notes you don't like and play with the velocity values. In Cubase you can copy the velocity values from one track and copy it onto another, the notes will be the same. I had some great results with this one.
Another thing I do when I have no inspiration is downloading a (jazz) midi from the net and play it over the 505. If you listen well you sometimes find a killer bassline or a great rhytm part. Then edit the notes in Cubase et voila....a new track is born. I did this ones with the Thunderbirds tune as well. Oh man I love that snare roll:)
MAKING NICE SYNTH LINES [Pieter B.]
For complex synth loops make a drum loop (preferably a breakbeat or something complex), then copy it to one of the seven rhytm tracks, choose an instrument, if it's necessary change the gate time, now, if you're lucky you've created a massive, excellent synth part note : this doesn't work everytime, but if it does, it kicks ass.
MISC. WRITING TIPS [rEalm]
I did a post on this a little while ago, concentrating mostly on using the offbeats to give a track more "lift" if you will. Check the archives (www.coolcoolcool.com/mc505.com) for the full run down, but here's a few tips really quick:
-place a BD hit on all of your offbeat locations (ie 3,7,11, and 15). But, make the velocity around 30 or even less. The real key here is to make the drum barely audible, just loud enough to help push the track some.
-Use your bass sounds the same way as above, only make the velocity much higher. This is a standard in the trance genre right now.
-The sounds you use are always important. I can make all of my tracks the same tempo (actually, i usually do to facilitate live performances), but some sound slower depending on what sounds I'm using. Sure, pads are dreamy and smooth, but if you don't have something hard to balance that, it can make the track drag. One thing to do is use harder sounds, with shorter decays on the AMP envelope.
-Use the Shift Clock function. Take a drum hit like an offbeat cymbal and push it forward 3-5 ticks. Same with any type of short stab sounds, or even the bass from my second example above. This helps to "rush" the track a bit. Or, do the opposite and slow it down some by pulling your hits back 2-3 ticks. Becareful though, too much and it'll sound like Dj Keoki just got on the decks (ie, the beats don't match at all).
ARPEGGIO TRICK [i m A g e]
i created the swirly part by setting up an arpeggio and tweaking the arp's range (press FUNC and twist the ARPEGGIATOR button). the arpeggio will rise and fall an octave, depending on which way you twist the knob (twist right to rise an octave, left to descend an octave). creates a nice melodic flow, methinks...
PATTERN CREATION METHOD [i m A g e]
the following sounds dopey, but it worked for me:
for ''code fixer,'' i created in my mind a comic book world. a scientist is all pissed off because the public voted to kill the government project he was working on and spend the money on social service programs. to get revenge, he goes around altering the genetic code of unsuspecting poor people (i don't know/don't care if this is scientifically possible. imagining this world helped me create the mood of the song). so i created a few bars that served as the theme for my hero (''code fixer''). then, using TRANSPOSE, i re-created the effects of genetic deterioration. i also created a few bars that sounded like ''code fixer'' rushing to the aid of the latest victim. and i created a section that sounded like ''code fixer'' and the scientist kicking each other's ass, with ''code fixer'' emerging victorious, only to hear another call for help.
after creating those patterns, all that's left is to string together the different sections in whatever order i choose, depending on how i think the plot is developing... it doesn't matter if listeners hear the same tale that i wrote. it's more important that i'm trying to create patterns that form a song with movement and flow, rather than a cool beat that you might not want to hear after one or two listenings...
JUNGLE WRITING TIPS [i m A g e]
a couple of my jungle tips, some of which might be obvious:
BASICS OF HIP HOP / TRANCE [Sleeper]
Just posted these yesterday, but here they are again. Keep in mind that this only works if you use a monospace font like Courier. If the spacing is all screwed up, copy it into a word processor and change it to a monotype font. BTW, if anybody has a better idea for notation, please publicize it. I know that this method isn't the greatest but it's all I can think of.
These two patterns when played at 75-90 BPM are the building blocks of hip hop. If you double the speed (150-180 BPM), they suddenly turn into the basics of jungle.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Snare: - - - - X - - - - - - - X - - - Kick: x - - - - - - x - - x - - - - -
Variation 2:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Snare: - - - - X - - X - - - - X - - - Kick: x - - - - - - - - - x - - - - -
Also, I don't mean to knock trance or other forms of techno, but if you listen to it closely, the drum patterns don't (typically) have much "groove" to them, unlike jungle/D&B and hip hop. There will always be exceptions, but 90% of the time it's a straight 4-on-the-floor beat. What makes it good is adding effects and having cool drum patches to begin with. One slight variation to this that's used pretty heavily in trance is by just slipping in a kick on beat 15, but it sounds best if you use this as a 2-measure pattern, the first measure being just 4 kick beats.
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Snare: - - - - X - - - - - - - X - - - Kick: x - - - x - - - x - - - x - x -
Also keep in mind that the snare and kick are the real heart of any beat, but the should definitely be imbellished with hi hats and whatever else you can think of. Good luck.
ARPEGGIO FOR DRUMS [Loren]
Ya... you also get to know the different arp patterns and what they are good for... 1/16, Por.A and Por.B are great for hihats, Por.B and Seq.D are classics for bass drums & snares..... this is an extreme generalization of course... the arpeggio patterns are like building blocks... you can probably find just about any little pattern you can think of somewhere in the arpeggios...
complete beats, even when they aren't programmed this way end up being like fractal images composed of these little building blocks of rhythm...
ARPEGGIO FOR DRUM & BASS BREAKS [Loren]
Definitely. A good trick especially when playin live is to use the 1/16 arpeggio with any of the snares or even claps, like andrew said, rotating from right to left on the arp knob to create that classic long drumroll buildup... if you are quick you can even drop the arp into 1/32 right at the end as you mute the drum track before punching it back in... you all know the effect...
the snares & claps are always the 3 chics around the 2nd black chiclet from the left, on the first and second "-" octave..
ARPEGGIO FOR DRUM & BASS BREAKS [Drew]
arpeggios are EXCELLENT for coming up with some wild D&B breaks..
If you want to get some great Drill-n-bass snare rushes, try using the arpeggiator "Harp" on some of your snare patches. With careful attention, and some practice, you can get some great results. Also, be sure to tweak and rotate the accent knob on the arpeggiator, to get some cool variations. Starting from the right and moving all the way to the left, you can get some decent snare builds over a few measures.
PROGRAMMING REALISTIC SHAKERS/TAMBOURINES [Norsez]
I don't know about you guys, but to me those instruments will be programmed to sound realistic only by the means of "Swing." I do use tambu much myself, but not the shakers. Anyway, here goes my trick. (use fixed width font like Courier to see the diagram below.)
beat 1 - - - 2 - - - 3 - - - 4 - - - tambu (velocity =64) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
This, of course, doesn't sound humanic. So I add the "Swing" feel
by modifying some notes as shown below:
beat 1 - - - 2 - - - 3 - - - 4 - - - tambu (velocity =64) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x move -> by 1 or 2 ticks ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ move <- by 1 or 2 ticks ^ change velocity to 100 ^
This "Swing" feel is just an example, of course, you can be as creative
as you want when you modify those notes. I hope this will help your tambu line
sounds more satisfiable.
BIGGER BASS DRUMS [Ed]
I like slammin' Kick/Bass drums, it just seems that I can't always get the bass in your face effect that I am looking for, or it get's a little muddled or drowned out by my bass lines in another part ( My contest entry !!!).
2 things that can be done to help this:
I know, most of the old skoolers are going to laugh at these tips but I like to drown everything in base drums and maybe someone else does !!
WRITING A BUILD [Oliver]
I will try to explain how i do a build .I know it can be very tricky to program it properly.So lets say you have a snare fill on the drum part and you want to build it up from volume 0 to 127 over a pattern.
RECORDING MODE TIPS [J]
Just two tips I've decided to throw out today (because I thought of them :) )
1. You might not know this, but it is in the manual. When in Step Record 1 (the one more suited to "drum" editing) you can use the PART SELECT buttons to quickly select velocities. HOWEVER, you can also alter these preset velocity ... umm, presets by holding the PART SELECT button while turning the alpha-dial. Enjoy.
2. In the same editing mode, let's say you lay down a nice hihat bit over 4 patterns, then decide it's too loud. You can:
MARKING WHERE IN THE MEASURE YOU ARE & USING TAP BUTTON IN RECORD MODE [drK]
Drum grid has its uses but one of its problems is how to stay oriented when the pattern is more then two or so measures long. Its real easy to get lost in the loop, especially if you have no good audible cues.
So one trick I use is to place marker hits on the down beats of each measure with something different about each one. usually some odd percussive sound in the R track will do the trick or for simple editing out later consider just dedicating some part, like say one for this purpose.
Use grid mode to program each hit on the first position for each measure. Do something like vary the pitch to give you a good audible clue as to where you are. In effect you are creating a specialized metronome for your pattern.
Now when you programming in grid mode you can use a second somewhat less known feature of the MC505. The TAP button can be used to enter notes while the drum grid is in record. Merely tap the TAP button when you want an instrument to be. The currently selected instrument will be placed on the closest grid point to when you tapped. This feature plus your audible cue should be enough.
Personally I find that doing rhythm programming with the grid is great for getting the basic groove going but embellishments should probably be recorded in real time. Using a velocity sensitive keyboard can also add a lot of life to a percussive track.
HOLDING NOTES ACROSS A PATTERN & ADJUSTING STEP RECORD VALUES & INDIVIDUAL R INSTRUMENT FILTERING & A RANT ABOUT READING THE MANUAL [J]
> 1./ Can anyone PLEASE tell me why, when you're recording in real time
> mode, that they're appears to be a lag btn the end of the pattern and its
> beginning ie holding down a chicklet throughout the loop ie from 4th measure
> of 4th bar to the 1st measure of the first bar. I cannot seem to get a
note to
> hold down for a loop in real time record as there is always a small gap
btn
> the end of the 4th measure of the 4th bar and the 1st measure of the first
> bar. Does anyone know how to get rid of this gap or have a note hold
> throughout a pattern.
Yes but you have to insert a HOLD ON Controller message near the end of the pattern and turn it off at the beginning. RTFM the back of the manual (look for CC, or Controller Change messages), but a quick guide is to go to Microscope mode, and near the beginning of the measure put a CC#64 (I think) which should be called HOLD1. Set to 127 and insert it. Then go near the end of the measure and put a CC#64 HOLD1 but set to 0. Insert it. Voila. Held notes.
> 2./ Also, can you get a note to hold in step record mode for a certain
> amount of measures ?
You can adjust the GATE time in step record (RTFM about Record modes and look for Gate time) basically by pressing the PART MUTE and RHYTHM MUTE buttons (I think, you'll have to check). You can also use the sliders (again, I might be confusing the 2 record modes, so try it out). What you want is a really loooooong GATE time so if that doesn't do it, go into Microscope mode and increase the GATE time accordingly.
> 3./ And finally, can you apply filters to individual rhythym parts ie
> snare but not bass?
In real time or do you want to edit the kit? Anyway the key here is to be in PART SELECT R mode (means go to Part Select mode and select part R) then switch to TONE SELECT mode and then choose the Rhythm Part you want to alter. If you have HH highlighted, you'll be able to tweak the filter for the HH without affecting the other R part instruments.
I understand that most people will hate me for this response, but frankly I've seen too many of these posts, and while I know how it feels to not know something, it's also going to be a very poor explanation you get out of my mouth (as opposed to what the manual will tell you). I swear, read the manual more than once - you'll really learn stuff. I've read it now 3 times all the way through, and CONSTANTLY refer to it for bits and pieces that I've forgotten. There's just SO much to be gained in terms of knowledge (for the price of a little time) that it's a must that the manual be read more than once ...
ADJUSTING DEFAULT STEP RECORD PARAMETERS [J]
You probably already know that the Part and Rhythm Mute buttons can be used to quickly change velocity and gate values, but did you know these are customizable? Yes, just hold the button down and turn the Alpha-dial and you can alter these factory preset gate/velocity values to whatever you want. This isn't really a tip, its in the manual, but some people may have overlooked it. I recently re-discovered it while in Step Recording mode (wait a sec, I was thinking, can't I change these values somehow?? I seem to recall you can ... :) ) so I figured that if I had forgotten, maybe others too! :) (Then again maybe my brain is mush ... :) )
JUNGLE ROLLS 2 [Drew]
Here's a good tip for a jungle roll- Use the arpeggiator setting "harp", and do the same thing that guy said to do. That will give you some cool results. Just make sure it's fast.
JUNGLE ROLLS [WasburnGTR]
try using the arpegiator set at 1/32 ( or whatever spedd you want the rool to be ) and turn the knob all the way to the right, then at the speed of that you want the roll to progress turn the knob to the left, when you get it all the way to the left then you have a full blown crazy roll my friend.
FOUR-ON-THE-FLOOR OFFBEAT TIP [rEalm]
This one's geared more for the four on the floor crowd (sorry junglists). When your programming your drums, make use of the offbeat that's always present in this type of music. What I mean is this, next time your listening to some loud dance music when other people are around, watch them. Notice how they start bobbibg their head right? If you pay attention, you can see that people usually bob their heads down on the beat, and up on the off beat (chiclets 3, 7, 11, and 15 in step record mode). The same is true when people dance. Watch how people move in relation to the beats. Usually it's down on the beat, up on the offbeat. By placing hits on the upbeat, you give people something to go up to, as well as the standard down on the beat. So if you want to add movement, or create more energy to a track, place hit's on the off beat. You already see this a lot with trance music and techno. Offbeat snares are pretty common in music nowadays. But try using it sporadically to give lift to a track at the right moment. Or try something other than snares and cymbals. One of my favorite things to do is to place the BD on both the beat, AND the off beat. The secret to keep it from sounding like hardcore, is to use a MUCH lower velocity for the off beat BD. Something around 20 or so. This just barely gives the impression of another kick, yet add the same time, picks up the tune alittle bit, helps it be a bit more bouncy. Or try making other parts use the offbeat. Works really well if done with the appropriate bass patch.
TWEAKING PATCHES IN PATTERNS [Ed]
Actually, you can tweak cutoff/res when you hit record, but before you hit play, and it will save the tweakage!! This is what I do, play around with the sound, find what I want, remember the positions, hit record, and put the knobs into position, then hit play to record.
NEAT TRICK TO MAKING DRUM PROGRAMMING EASIER [Lucien P. - not listmember, posted by drK]]
A further thing is if you have also aftertouch for drumprogramming: Simply assign Aftertouch to the Amp in a way that it acts like velocity. Now you take the arp, the most simple one which allows you to repeat only the note you press. Now you can record for example HiHats very cool, the more you press the louder it is (or whatever other parameter). Like that you can emulate a feature of the MPC which i liked the most, the note repeat feature (the harder you press the pad on the MPC the more you modulate the sample in volume or filter or whatever).
DRK'S METHOD TO CREATING SONGS [drK] [and he even swears in this one! <gasp>]
Since I got the 505 I have largely restricted myself to just using it, in some cases keeping the rest of my gear completely off (except my keys). It is a good way to discipline myself to explore the limits and capabilities. Anyway, I have done a few derivative dance type numbers based on either canned patterns or RPS. Mostly this is because I have little personal experience in setting a groove for a crowd, though I know what I like. The canned stuff is a good starting point for a newbie.
My favorite technique is to pick a good starting pattern and then MEGAMIX it into oblivion. This coupled with changing the of mutes as well as tweaking the sounds (I am more of a sound designer then groove-miester). give some quick variety. After a bit of this I have half a dozen or so patterns that I like with further variations using the mutes. I then assign these to a pattern set and fire them off in realtime. Add some impromptu stabs, drones, and arpeggiator patterns, plus the obligator knob twiddles and it can sound goood! Oh, yes, I even do the Beam! (there, I said it out loud).
Something else that I did for grins when first getting into the machine was to record a "song" composed entirely on the fly by firing RPS patterns. That can be very fun. of course, maybe I'm the only one that would like it, but I did/do.
Finally, I had to prove to myself that the limitation of 32 bars/pattern would not drag down my attempts at more free-flowing ambient pieces (you know the ones that go on forever). These are my favorite styles to compose. This one is still in rough form but after starting with a new, from scratch, sound (made with four tones and all sorts of long envelops and LFO things going on - yummy!) I then laid that down as a bed track playing some slow changing improvised chords. Next came some little arpeggiated ditties. So far, so good. I am "stuck" now trying to figure out how to add proper tension/release using a very rhythmic track but so far my attempts at this are less then satisfactory (never played the drums as a kid). But if I can't get it I'm sure there are loops and such that I can grab and mangle.
Anyway, thats how I have been using the MC.
Its midterm grade is a high B, low A. Ya, I wish it did some things better, and I wish it had some features that it doesn't, but it is still the "funnest" piece of gear I have. I love to just go turn it on and play, sometimes for hours, using whatever is in the thing at the time. Its so immediate! (this has hurt my compositional discipline but I don't give a shit because its not like my job or something). I have also been pleased with the sonic palette. Frankly, I expected a lot less from the rompler. But it can do pretty well, though I never try to palm it off as the real thing to an analog lover.
EASY WAY TO MAKE BREAKBEATS [Albert S.]
I found a neat way to get breakbeats. This may be as obvious as the volume knob, but....
I was fooling with the two rhythm parts of the prs sets. I noticed that for most of them if you play one, then both, then drop the original at the right time, you can get a cool breakbeat thing. I started with the hiphop rps sets, but it works for many, esp. the rock set. Play with a little short delay slider...
SPICE UP YOUR DRUMS [?]
I made a fairly straightforward house rhythm one morning and quickly got pretty sickened by its blandness. So I started messing around with other percussive patches to try and smother some life into it. I made a new part for each percussion piece (eg D095 house snare, D097 rim shot and D100 gate kick - on a lowered volume setting), applied some of the melody changes I had in mind for the track and arpeggiated them - commencing them at one beat intervals apart. It created this pretty cool swirling motion like someone sort of falling around out of (but just in) control.
A BETTER KICK DRUM [?]
Play just the kick drum 4/4. Then bring in a bass , or other intruments. Notice how the kick starts to get lost in the mix??? This is what I do (especially if you are playing live with other people...Use track 1 or 7 or... for JUST the kick drum. record 4/4 for the whole pattern. send it to a different output, and leave it unmuted all the time. Now, you've got a constant kick in one of your mixer channels ALL the time, ready for the guy working the mixer to bring in, out, whatever. Going to a seperate channel on a half-decent mixer means that the kick will retain it's sonic integrity.
For 4/4 ddance music many artists put NO REVERB on the kick drum so that it will really cut through the mix. I often put the kick drum and main hihat on their own 505 track and try to do more with the sounds on the other tracks to make up for losing the channels.
DISTORTED KICK DRUM [?]
One fun trick for those with mixers: dial up a groovy bass drum on your 505. Now pull down the fader volume on your 505 mixer channel and crank up the gain so that the input is distorted as it comes into the mixer. This should give you a lovely hard BD dound with the 505 character but loads of extra punch. Sample it, assign it to a track in your sampler, and free up another 505 track!
REALM'S PATTERN CREATION METHOD [rEalm]
First, I'll have a few beers or other things to loosen up and relax. It also helps creativity, but some of my best patterns were written sober, so that's not always the case. Then I'll take some time to write some new patches. I like to use my own sounds in my patterns, but again, I don't always. Some days I'll sit down and just write a bunch of new patches so that when I feel creative and want to write a new pattern, I don't have to do that step. Then I'll set the tempo (135) and the record parameters (pattern length, quantize amount, etc.). I usually do pads first as they're my favorite, and I feel they lend the most feeling to a track. I try to organize all of my patterns the same way, bass on 2, pads on 6 and 7, trippy shit on 3, etc. It makes using Megamix that much more predictable and easy. So when the pads are done, and I'm getting a feel for where the track is going, I'll try to get a bassline. Between that and the pads, I can now determine what key it's in, and how the feel of it is going to be. Then I just go through the parts one by one, and jam along with the pattern while scrolling through the patches. When I find something I like, I'll record it and move on to the next part. Sometimes I do this in whole thing in record standby mode, but you have to write down what the patches are for each part, because when you done, the notes you recorded are the same, but the patches are all A001. When I'm done, I'll go back and erase any parts that don't fit with the whole track. My patterns generally get a different feel when they're done, so one of the earliest recorded parts may not be appropriate any more. When I'm happy with all of the parts, I'll save it one more time to make sure I don't lose anything cool. The last thing I do is the drums. I try to let them accent
everything else I've done, not the other way around. Plus, when I'm doing the other parts, I have these imaginary beats in my head. When I add the real drums in, they may not always line up like I thought they would, and usually this make the track more interesting. I usually use a 4/4 kick, as that's my favorite, but I may do different things. Usually the HH take me the longest, but they're my favorite. Next I'll specify the Sequencer output assign. All parts except 1 get set to INT. Part 1 gets set to EXT. to control my sampler. I also decide on a name at this point. Generally it's something frivolous that I see outside, whatever.
After another quick save, it's time to do the reverb\delay\EFX. I'll mute all of the parts and listen to them one at a time to add reverb that I've set up earlier. Then I do the same for delay. This is usually set to repeat at 1/8th note intervals. Lastly, I'll dial in some effects. I don't always feel that EFX would compliment a pattern so I don't always use them. But I'll at least use a little bit of ENHANCER to add some (sparkle I guess). Save it once more and then play it for my roommate for his opinion (but seeing how he likes house music, I don't rely on his opinion too much). I may go back later and tweak a part a little bit, but generally that's it.
FORMLESS' PATTERN CREATION METHOD [Formless]
My format for hooking up patterns (never do "songs") is start with the drums. I usually kick on one of the EFX usually Compressor love that squished deepness, also kick the Low up to about 5 or 6, and the High to 1.
Then I start trying to make my best rendition of a Hip Hop beat.
Once I have the drums in Record I go to Rehearsal then I go to part 1 use either a bass, or pad.
Once I have one of those two in I start looking for the noise sounds to add a little flavor. Usually Tone Dly or Jet, White Noise, Pink Noise...
Once I have about three or four parts and the drums I get out of record and tweak with the EFX settings delay reverb, possibly shift which EFX I am using then I go to my mute settings, and write.
HIP-HOP DRUMS [?]
>OK real dumb question, but what is the timing/set up of a typical Hip Hop beat?
75-100 BPM. Put the kick on beats 1,8, and 11 and you've got the hip hop formula that about 50% of all hip hop songs use. Beat #8 is the key. If you swap it for a snare instead of a kick, you've got the other half. Funny thing happens when you double the speed of either of them....you've the jungle formula.
For the conceptually impaired, here's a little help, 808 style:
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Snare: - - - - X - - - - - - - X - - - Kick: x - - - - - - x - - x - - - - -
Variation 2:
Snare: - - - - X - - X - - - - X - - - Kick: x - - - - - - - - - x - - - - -
ANIG'S PREFERRED PATTERN LENGTH [Anig]
16. Sometimes I start with 4, especially if I want to write a really hot bassline. But for my music to sound good, I neede 16 bars for it to move and turn a little. Then it gets much more trancey and spacey.
Usually the bass has the least melody and my pad sounds the most. Pad melodies sometime fill the 16 bars. Bass melodies may just need 1 bar. arpeggios and leads are usually 4 bars and each repeat (4 x 4 bars = 16) is a little different.
Finally you can do a lot of drum tricks with long patterns. For example put a kick break in the 9th bar. Something like...
Kick X---X----X--X-X-
If you play 7, 8, 9...it just sounds like a little variation. But if you play 7 [mute kick] 9 it will make the whole pattern sound a little breaky until you change something else. You just get more room to play around.
USING A COMPUTER SEQUENCER [?]
Try using a computer. I usually record stuff from the 505 and then hit 'split channel by note' in my sequencer - this breaks every drum intrument out to it's own sequencer tack and you can cut and paste to your heart's content. Then yoyu could put it back into RPS patterns. RPS and drum & bass seem made for each other.
ANIG'S PATTERN CREATION TECHNIQUE [?]
Start with a drum pattern on the 505. I often start out with s simple kick-hat combination, but usually I lose control and build the drums up to 6 or 7 layers before realising I have enough of them.
Add a bassline, also on the 505. This must be simple, rhythmically phat, and plenty deep-sounding. Sometimes I do one sub bass and another resonant sounding bass on top, one octave up.
At this point I may go off and program a complete pattern on the 505; certainly if I am after something melodic. If I am working on a percussive or psychedelic track, I'll just go straight to...
Stream the output of the 505 to every other piece of gear in the room to see what it sounds like. I start with whatever drum kits are sitting in the sampler, usually beefing up the kicks and snares with something really distinctive and tight sounds (I'm not crazy about the 505 snares). Pads and special effects noises are also favored. When I have found some neato sounds I may assemble them into a drum kit or I may just send the MIDI track out on several channels at once. Finally I stream 505 MIDI into the analog gear and knock out some really twisted sounds.
*** Confession: I can barely play ANYTHING and I'm not too good at writing music *** *** (So I play with sounds and search for the music buried in the sound itself) ***
Finally I fiddle about on the mixing desk adding EQ and sending some of the sounds through effects channels until things sound kinda tweaky and spacious. When I'm happy with the general sound that everything is putting out, I am ready to start work on the 'arrangement' of the piece.
Save everything.
Set my sequencer into record mode. Do the same with my cassette deck.
Roll a phat spliff and light up.
Hit play on the 505 and go nuts with the mix. Most used controls for this style are the mutes, the filter and the pitch knobs. I don't do fades etc. very much, that comes later.
After this I cut everything up into manageable chunks in the sequencer. Usually I split drum sounds onto individual tracks. Then i double up sounds with what sounds good in other instruments, eg I might send the kick pattern only to the sampler, the hihats from the 505 and the sampler would both be used at different times, the bassline would be a mix of the 505 bass and something on my Yamaha CS1x (which I might resample later but usually don't) and all the drums except the rimshots might be going through an analog patch that makes a 'sproinnnnnng-whak!' sound. Usually I'll stay fairly similarly strucurally to the live mix from the 505 front panel - maybe cutting out a few bars here, stretching a wild part a bit farther there, and so on.
Now I have some kind of arrangement saved, I'll start drawing in fades, adding extra drum fills, dropping out individual beats, and generally tweaking about.
Next I should record everything into the mutltitrack and do a conventional mix, but I've only got to this stage recently so I can't offer any pearls of wisdom as I am still working out some kind of method.
MASTERING IN SOND FORGE [Steve W.]
I usually use:
JASON'S PATTERN CREATION TECHNIQUE [Jason B.]
I'd like to hear about what others are doing too so here's my story: I've had my 505 for ~3months. My prefered styles are house to techno which is pretty much what I create.
I create my patterns the way I'd build up a track. i.e. perhaps a pad chorus first then a bit of rythmn then other parts & more rythmn etc. I record the rythmn part live and only use the [REC twice then PLAY mode] for fast hihats and tricky stuff. I like to use part 7 for arpeggiator style melodies - but I effect the hell out of them and use the cuttoff & res for a really fat build-up to the next level. My favourite FX are SLICER and TETRA and I like changing the FX type around while playing it live. When creating a track I search through loads of patches stuffing around while what I have is playing until something kinda fits. This way each new track is always pretty unique. Making a new track usually takes about 2-3hours then another 1/2hr of mixing. I'm going to add a recorder so I don't lose that 1/2hr of inspired stuff. I'm also adding my PC/sampler asap because samples done right are the shit.
CCBOY'S ANSWER TO "HOW DO YOU PROGRAM YOUR DRUMS?" [CCBOY]
House = 70% step record building up from th usual 4/4 like to use my own user kits which started from the Drum & Bass & jungle kits. remaining 30% real time record to get a more human feel
Trick****** Some times I add a velocity varying Hi-hat pattern at low volume on part 6 to add `movement' in the same way that some producers add a feint sampled loop over their programmed beats. If you then groove quantize this rather than the R track the results are usually cool. I For My `Acid Hop' stuff I start with a preset pattern (no wait don't diss me yet) transfer it to a user pattern use the `real-time' erase to strip it down the build it back up with a mixture of :- My own patches, step time record, & real-time record to make it my loop.
Almost always doing 16 measure loops (create as one measure to make it `feel' like TR style programming then copy 15 times to same pattern) I always put with a flourish or `breaky bit' at measure 16.
P.S. In my local shop I hooked up a Novation drumstation to an MC505. Result? Realtime controls over the individual drum sounds!!!!! Yeah I'm looking for a second hand one right now.
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