K2000 wrote:The MFOS WSG look interesting to me too, although I haven't researched them deeply.
I have a small unit from Marbeau and Rucci and although they're not expensive - which is why I bought them - they are also fairly limited. You might decide it's worth spending a little bit more to get a mini synth with more features.
Yeah thats is exactly why I am looking at MFOS stuff and even the Modal Craft. I had a "Kind Drone" or something like it that I ordered on reverb and it was a 6 (if I remember correctly) oscillator box with pitch for each, a master and a low pass filter. I used it for 10min and sold it a couple of weeks later.
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:29 pm
by coupleonapkins
This ole thing? Looks pretty cool, but I'm going to echo the get a small mini-synth for what you wanna do - even the newish Korg Microfreak (way overkill, I know) can be had for about $250, and you'll have way more pastabilities than just a simple drone box (and more to dive into, if that gets boring).
However, simplicity is a great thing - the beatstep & a CV-ready device can really go a long way.
Or? You could just buy a bunch of buddha boxes and let 'em run wild together like this person did with a raagini:
coupleonapkins wrote:This ole thing? Looks pretty cool, but I'm going to echo the get a small mini-synth for what you wanna do - even the newish Korg Microfreak (way overkill, I know) can be had for about $250, and you'll have way more pastabilities than just a simple drone box (and more to dive into, if that gets boring).
However, simplicity is a great thing - the beatstep & a CV-ready device can really go a long way.
Or? You could just buy a bunch of buddha boxes and let 'em run wild together like this person did with a raagini:
Dude wtf are those buddha box and raagini ? I love that sound it would cover a good portion of what I'd like to do as far as drones goes!
Edit: found an app for tanbura and one for tabla. This might do the trick
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:04 pm
by cosmicevan
I've got a bunch of these and depending on what you are looking for, my favorites are from Moffenzeef...I have the msg ii
and the stargazer...
I also really dig the stuff from Mattoverse. The double gated drone is tons of fun as is the drone tone if you want to play along with it.
I've got a drone/bleep bloop board. Just updated it...
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:03 am
by CSCD
Not sure if this guy has been mentioned, but I've just come across his stuff and it seems pretty cool: https://metsn.bigcartel.com. The price range is sub-250eur, and you can apparently order stuff to be built for you. He's in Finland though, so shipping to Canada may be costly.
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 2:34 pm
by Dandolin
interested in that ELEKTR0 SM0K - wonder how it compares to some of the other bat sniffers out there....
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:27 pm
by Dandolin
I know OP is now looking at more full-featured synths, and more power to that - it's pretty easy to find great sounding, flexible affordable synths these days that can just as easily be harnessed to drones as Berlin School or House, but I still believe there's something to be said for drastic limits focusing intent and "technique" and encouraging modularity (run that dry, simple drone swarm through some pedlols yo), so in the interests of others snaxy about old skool drone boxes, I'll mention the Lumanoise series from Leploop.
point of interest - the "versions" of their synths in this line are more like separate entities that can coexist than revisions of one core idea (well, the core idea id drone, duh)
[youtube][/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]
one for the eurorack crowd (there is a tabletop version too):
[youtube][/youtube]
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:39 pm
by JTurbide
Yeah I think I'll go with a minibrute I found locally. Should meet the guy in a couple days and if that doesn't work I might look for a minilogue or something like that. Thanks all for the suggestions and feel free to post some more drone gear !
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:19 am
by K2000
CSCD wrote:Not sure if this guy has been mentioned, but I've just come across his stuff and it seems pretty cool: https://metsn.bigcartel.com. The price range is sub-250eur, and you can apparently order stuff to be built for you. He's in Finland though, so shipping to Canada may be costly.
That stuff looks good! Which reminds me I have a unit built into a plastic box by "Bent-It" that I bought on Ebay 15 years ago. A drone box with push button "step" capability. It's great! Except now the oscillators drift and it's hard to find a steady pitch. I've been running it through a tuner to monitor where I am. The inside is gooped so repairs are difficult or impossible. But it's a fun unit. I've tried to find Bent-It again and they seem to have disappeared.
One thing that maybe goes without saying... in order to keep these boxes interesting, you often need to interact with them quite a bit, which may interfere with whatever else you intended to be doing (like using your hands to play guitar for example).
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:54 pm
by cosmicevan
Running it through a tuner is such a brilliant idea...so simple, yet so brilliant.
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:41 am
by D.o.S.
Yeah, tuners are pretty key for drone boxes... you can tune it to itself obviously but lining up oscillators is never really "fun" if you're trying to get something down. If you're fiddling around it can be great though.
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:38 am
by K2000
The tuner was for playing live, because sometimes it's hard to hear what's happening if things get busy, or maybe something sounds off but you're not sure where it's coming from. It's good to have visual confirmation. I got a tiny Hotone tuner for this purpose.
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:33 am
by gila_crisis
I lately got an Electrograve Quad-Oscillator, and it's super powerful!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yjGhD02IY[/youtube]
Another good and wallet friendly one is the Mininal Drone.
Otherwise check out Exagonal Rooms' NANOMITE and the its new Drone Invaders
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-3ulK-2LDI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvtB8o1koA[/youtube]
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:35 am
by Confuzzled
gila_crisis wrote:I lately got an Electrograve Quad-Oscillator, and it's super powerful!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yjGhD02IY[/youtube]
Another good and wallet friendly one is the Mininal Drone.
Otherwise check out Exagonal Rooms' NANOMITE and the its new Drone Invaders
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-3ulK-2LDI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvtB8o1koA[/youtube]
I dig the exagonal stuff but their units don't have CV or sync?
Re: Drone thingy
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:40 am
by gila_crisis
Confuzzled wrote:
gila_crisis wrote:I lately got an Electrograve Quad-Oscillator, and it's super powerful!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yjGhD02IY[/youtube]
Another good and wallet friendly one is the Mininal Drone.
Otherwise check out Exagonal Rooms' NANOMITE and the its new Drone Invaders
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-3ulK-2LDI[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQvtB8o1koA[/youtube]
I dig the exagonal stuff but their units don't have CV or sync?
I have their White Fly Insecto #1. Normally these don'thave Cv or sync but you can write to Nicola and ask him if he can add this.
