ilovefuzz.com

The Beatstep is great — did you get a Pro? That's the one I have, so I'm not sure about the differences between the two models.

Just go over the manual and you'll find that it's a super intuitive little box, and it's VERY useful. The only remote PITA I've experienced was routing it to control different MIDI instruments simultaneously in Logic, but even that turned out to be a lot less complicated than some quick Googling initially suggested.

You can use that to sequence your Pocket Piano for sure—just plug it in and it'll probably work without any fiddling or assigning of specific MIDI channels, etc. I tried that with my Organelle (now sold) and it worked right away. Lotsa fun.

A brief clip of the setup in action:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJRyFgJDOYh ... vultureatx

Just the regular beatstep. I think a little less functionality and features than the pro. I figure it's a start and can always upgrade later.

Thanks for the clip. That's neat.

Finally got it all working (had to transfer ownership to me).....well, the MiniLab Synth and SparkLE drum machine working alone.
Dorked around with them for a while. drum machine is super easy to work with. MiniLab made me realize I may need to watch some youtube piano lessons.

Haven't done anything productive yet, just working with the interfaces and seeing what sounds are out there.
Next will be figuring out how to use them and record them in a DAW.

Also haven't really figured out what the beatstep is for yet? lol

Welp, absolutely hate soft synths and working in computer programs. It's all quality, don't get me wrong. endless sounds/tones.
My gut told me I wasn't going to dig it from beginning but I ignored it.
It's more of an annoying pain in my ass, and discourages me from wanting to use it.

I just want to plug in and go.

I think of it like this....in regards to guitar playing............If guitar pedals were software based, I probably wouldn't use them.

Gonna either store it all or sell it......get some straight up hardware. Synth and drum machine.

GAS KING wrote:Welp, absolutely hate soft synths and working in computer programs. It's all quality, don't get me wrong. endless sounds/tones.
My gut told me I wasn't going to dig it from beginning but I ignored it.
It's more of an annoying pain in my ass, and discourages me from wanting to use it.

I just want to plug in and go.

I think of it like this....in regards to guitar playing............If guitar pedals were software based, I probably wouldn't use them.

Gonna either store it all or sell it......get some straight up hardware. Synth and drum machine.

Soft synths have terrific sounds/options but the features have diminishing returns. The complexity can become a big mess and you end up configuring more than playing. Plus the aren't cheap and are limited by your hardware which will eventually need to be upgraded. Computers don't last that long. Will the new computer support your software or will you have to get another? Hardware synths, even digital hardware synths, that are decades old still haunt Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-DX27-Dig ... SwEzxYb9LL

The DX27 was originally released in 1985 ...

Truth.
I'm looking at the Korg Ms-20 mini or microbrute for synth.

The SparkLE is OK for a drum machine....even if it is software with hardware controller.....but I'll definitely be looking for a stand alone hardware drum machine again. Possibly the alesis previously discussed in this thread.

GAS KING wrote:

lost in music wrote:Inspired by this thread, I just bought an SR-16 for hella cheap on ebay. I've never fucked around with a drum machine before. Should be fun.

Nice!
I must have missed that one.

Lemme know how it works out for you.
I'll keep hunting....

The seller either sent me a drum machine that was either non-functioning to begin with or it was damaged in transit by his lousy packing job. I had to get ebay to intervene for a refund. It's been a real hassle. You dodged a bullet.

lost in music wrote:

GAS KING wrote:

lost in music wrote:Inspired by this thread, I just bought an SR-16 for hella cheap on ebay. I've never fucked around with a drum machine before. Should be fun.

Nice!
I must have missed that one.

Lemme know how it works out for you.
I'll keep hunting....

The seller either sent me a drum machine that was either non-functioning to begin with or it was damaged in transit by his lousy packing job. I had to get ebay to intervene for a refund. It's been a real hassle. You dodged a bullet.

Aw man, that sucks. at least you didn't get screwed............just a pain in the neck.

Keep on trucking tho.
I ended up ordering a Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator PO-12 Rhythm drum machine. it's not a full featured drum machine, but it's pretty cool for quickies.....which is what I want. quick easy idea/riff generation.

Actually, I heard they're on sale for $30 at guitar center right now........so if you're near one, buy those and a 2nd to sell to me. neat little devices.

I am super excited by the new PO-32 Tonic and will probably get that for my hardware drum machine needs.

Have you considered a sampler? You get allll the drum sounds you want, whereas a drum machine only has like 1 kick, 1 snare, etc. There are so many free samples of classic drum machines online.

actualidiot wrote:Have you considered a sampler? You get allll the drum sounds you want, whereas a drum machine only has like 1 kick, 1 snare, etc. There are so many free samples of classic drum machines online.

I have. the Electribe. ES-1. seems like what I should have gotten in the first place.

Update:
Due to a little cash influx from selling other gear, I went a little nuts. lol

Totally unhappy with my initial purchase of Arturia Beatstep, MiniLab and SparkLE package (they're fine products, but I wanted hardware...not software.).
I forced myself to try and create with them. Spent a few hours on a saturday trying to create a track or at least something with it all.
Thought it was going well.....did what sounded like a section of movie background soundtrack mixed with synthwave......but had major issues with the SparkLE drum machine sequencing.
recording in Ableton, assuming it was recording the MIDI and the sequence changes. It showed that it was recording the pattern sequence changes.
When I exported the audio the drums were stuck on 1 pattern the entire track.
Spent at least 2 hours trying to figure it out unsuccessfully and gave up on it.

Decided it was time to move on. Box it all up and store it away until I understand things better.

Watched and researched nearly everything on the internets about synths, sequencers, controllers, etc.....

Picked up a Korg MS-20 Mini. Really awesome and complex analog mono synth. Well regarded as a classic. Figured I could grow into it.
Been having a lot of fun learning how to use it, patch it, and get what I want out of it.
Note: the beatstep works really well as a sequencer for the MS-20 Mini.

Stumbled across a good deal on a used Roland JD-XI and seemed like a great all-in-one box.
Multi-synth, drum machine, sequencer, FX, and vocoder.

Seems like the perfect beginner kit. Jack of all trades, master of none, but I don't really have any tonal/interface/feel preferences yet.
Went for it.
Arrived yesterday and was instantly able to create (I had been reading the manual prior) parts to songs and manually chain them. That's probably the biggest complaint I've seen online. Can't automate a chain of sequences. Have to manually change them by pressing buttons. which is fine I guess.
The interface is familiar since I had used a GT-6 and GT-8 guitar multiFX pedal for so long. It's menu diving, but not complicated after referencing the manual.
What I learned with the MS-20 Mini made using the synths fairly intuitive as well.

So happy ending I guess.
I'm now able to create music and/or drum beats easily. no computer shit unless I record it.
Going to spend some time taking online piano lessons, since I've never played a synth/piano before and try to learn some theory (scales, chord construction).....and lastly just jamming and writing various shit. I just want to get it out and move on.

GAS KING wrote:Update:
Due to a little cash influx from selling other gear, I went a little nuts. lol

Totally unhappy with my initial purchase of Arturia Beatstep, MiniLab and SparkLE package (they're fine products, but I wanted hardware...not software.).
I forced myself to try and create with them. Spent a few hours on a saturday trying to create a track or at least something with it all.
Thought it was going well.....did what sounded like a section of movie background soundtrack mixed with synthwave......but had major issues with the SparkLE drum machine sequencing.
recording in Ableton, assuming it was recording the MIDI and the sequence changes. It showed that it was recording the pattern sequence changes.
When I exported the audio the drums were stuck on 1 pattern the entire track.
Spent at least 2 hours trying to figure it out unsuccessfully and gave up on it.

Decided it was time to move on. Box it all up and store it away until I understand things better.

Watched and researched nearly everything on the internets about synths, sequencers, controllers, etc.....

Picked up a Korg MS-20 Mini. Really awesome and complex analog mono synth. Well regarded as a classic. Figured I could grow into it.
Been having a lot of fun learning how to use it, patch it, and get what I want out of it.
Note: the beatstep works really well as a sequencer for the MS-20 Mini.

Stumbled across a good deal on a used Roland JD-XI and seemed like a great all-in-one box.
Multi-synth, drum machine, sequencer, FX, and vocoder.

Seems like the perfect beginner kit. Jack of all trades, master of none, but I don't really have any tonal/interface/feel preferences yet.
Went for it.
Arrived yesterday and was instantly able to create (I had been reading the manual prior) parts to songs and manually chain them. That's probably the biggest complaint I've seen online. Can't automate a chain of sequences. Have to manually change them by pressing buttons. which is fine I guess.
The interface is familiar since I had used a GT-6 and GT-8 guitar multiFX pedal for so long. It's menu diving, but not complicated after referencing the manual.
What I learned with the MS-20 Mini made using the synths fairly intuitive as well.

So happy ending I guess.
I'm now able to create music and/or drum beats easily. no computer shit unless I record it.
Going to spend some time taking online piano lessons, since I've never played a synth/piano before and try to learn some theory (scales, chord construction).....and lastly just jamming and writing various shit. I just want to get it out and move on.

Look at my sig - looks like you're going for the JereFuzz sound! In all seriousness, I thought the jdxi was a bit limited with the various digital synth sounds UNTIL I started digging into the menus! There is far more "under the hood" than meets the eye. What I love about the jdxi is that you get great Roland string/pad sounds relatively cheap. If your sound was missing the "Roland" this fills that gap.

JereFuzz wrote:Look at my sig - looks like you're going for the JereFuzz sound! In all seriousness, I thought the jdxi was a bit limited with the various digital synth sounds UNTIL I started digging into the menus! There is far more "under the hood" than meets the eye. What I love about the jdxi is that you get great Roland string/pad sounds relatively cheap. If your sound was missing the "Roland" this fills that gap.

Ha! Totally rippin' ya off.
You got a bunch of cool stuff!

It would seem that most people aren't willing to dig too much deeper before moving on to something else.
In contrast, I would agree that having dedicated knobs for crucial parameters would be better.

Speaking of, I saw this today. which could be really cool. Hook the beatstep to the JDXI to control deeper parameters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdUSyv2pOnc

I wanted it because it was an all in one "beginner" synth (bang for your buck), which really helps me since I'm in the early stages.
Hell, I'm having a hard time using the keys, since I never have.
Plus, I didn't want to have to rig up a synth, sequencer, drum machine, etc just to hash out simple ideas and create full songs.
JDXI is just sequence and save.

GAS KING wrote:

JereFuzz wrote:Look at my sig - looks like you're going for the JereFuzz sound! In all seriousness, I thought the jdxi was a bit limited with the various digital synth sounds UNTIL I started digging into the menus! There is far more "under the hood" than meets the eye. What I love about the jdxi is that you get great Roland string/pad sounds relatively cheap. If your sound was missing the "Roland" this fills that gap.

Ha! Totally rippin' ya off.
You got a bunch of cool stuff!

It would seem that most people aren't willing to dig too much deeper before moving on to something else.
In contrast, I would agree that having dedicated knobs for crucial parameters would be better.

Speaking of, I saw this today. which could be really cool. Hook the beatstep to the JDXI to control deeper parameters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdUSyv2pOnc

I wanted it because it was an all in one "beginner" synth (bang for your buck), which really helps me since I'm in the early stages.
Hell, I'm having a hard time using the keys, since I never have.
Plus, I didn't want to have to rig up a synth, sequencer, drum machine, etc just to hash out simple ideas and create full songs.
JDXI is just sequence and save.

Cool stuff with the beat step. I have a behringer b-control bcr2000 so I'll create a program patch for the jdxi. The reface dx has the easiest menudriving scheme. The jdxi and mininova aren't so easy ...