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Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:01 pm
by ThurberMingus
So I've recently discovered how fun it is to make really happy-nosiey music a la Dan Deacon and Animal Collective and whatever (go ahead and recommend some rackety catchy shit) and I'm having a little trouble pulling it off.

Right now I'm running a shitty Casio keyboard into some pedals (LA Metal!, delay, stuff like that) and a Boss DR-3 into my RC-20. The idea was that I could use some of the stock beats/little ditties in the Casio, fuck 'em up with pedals, and then layer in the DR-3 so I can have a nice clear drum sound. The only problem is that my drums don't sound nice and clear at all. They just make super haggard broken shit noises, which is totally cool, but I want to be able to have a solid beat to keep the mess under control. I'm just not sure how to do that.

I know I'll be needing a mixer somewhere down the road (sooner rather that later) because I do want to utilize effected vocals as well to add to the sonic palette. Would that clear up my problem with the clipping that is happening at the RC-20? My other idea is to record the drum and bass onto my computer and just use like an mp3 player to add that in and just use the keyboard and mic to make other crazy type sounds.

I know that noise music is all about being obnoxious and abrasive, and I definitely like that, but I want to keep a fun sense of melody in the sound. I really want to play shows like this so I need to know what is the best way to do this all cohesively in a one-man-band setting.

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:16 pm
by Ben79
Kind of expensive but maybe an Akai MPC would be good for you for sampling and sequencing loops and individual drum sounds.

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:18 pm
by ThurberMingus
Yeah a sampler or MPC would really help out my situation, but I don't really have the scratch for it now (unless somebody wants to do some trading!). The only thing I think I could muster to buy at this point would probably be a cheap mixer, but I'm not totally sure how much that would help me.

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:36 pm
by cedarskies
I'm all about crazy noises and sounds tamed down into a pop song setting.

Animal Collective use the Digitech Vocal 300 for vocals. Go for about $50. XLR input.

If you aren't averse to using a computer, it would be good to just make your beats on there. Probably keep those cleaner than you would like (on their own) so that they cut through the other noise. I always hate clean electronic beats on their own since they seem so sterile but then in context they can work really well.

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:41 pm
by ThurberMingus
Sounds definitely doable! I was using my brothers M13 last night on vocals, making beep-beep-boop-boop sounds and using the half speed function loop function. It was awesome. I'm gonna do some tweaking and see if I can't get a better drum sound going.

My only inhibition about using a computer is that I am real slim in the DAW department. Using Audacity and the world's shittiest interface, the Line 6 Guitar Port (got it for super cheap). I'm also worried about live loops drifting off from the pre-recorded tracks. I'm gonna get back to my rig and see what happens!

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:38 pm
by IEatCats
Just go OG Dan Deacon and burn a CD that has the beats on it, then put it into a portable CD player from 1996 and run it into a mixer.

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:43 pm
by ThurberMingus
IEatCats wrote:Just go OG Dan Deacon and burn a CD that has the beats on it, then put it into a portable CD player from 1996 and run it into a mixer.
Yes.

On an unrelated note, does anyone get hyped when you're listening to a CD and it starts skipping, and if you're lucky it turns into Minus the Bear? My friends are always confused when I get hyped on things like that.

Anyway, looks like a mixer will definitely be my next purchase!

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:52 pm
by Seedy
I get what you're doing. Buy this for your current setup. It is a great start from which you will evolve.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Nady-MM-242 ... 1153424.gc

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 8:38 pm
by futuresailors
I thought this was going to be about a DS1/Rat and DD3/RV3/Holy Grail. :mope:

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 10:20 pm
by ThurberMingus
After some jamming and attempts at recording, it's not good. I think I'd rather go the Rat/DS-1, Holy Grail route. Turns out I'm really bad at keys and it's only cool if it's 3 AM and I'm drunk at least I can sorta play guitar :facepalm:

We can talk about guitar noise pop too. Right now my rig is looking like Fingerprint clone>Vox McCoy Wah clone>Algal Bloom>DE7 or Echo Puss>Holy Grail. Toss in a tuner somewhere and I'm set.

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:08 am
by spacelordmother
ThurberMingus wrote:
On an unrelated note, does anyone get hyped when you're listening to a CD and it starts skipping, and if you're lucky it turns into Minus the Bear? My friends are always confused when I get hyped on things like that.

Anyway, looks like a mixer will definitely be my next purchase!

Oh my -- you need The Party Van: http://www.rodrigoconstanzo.com/the-party-van/

Midi controllable MAX app with looping, granular synthesis, effects, CD SKIPPING MODULE, and more! It's amazing.

Image

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 6:18 am
by phantasmagorovich
This thread is relevant to my interests / current affair with making solo songs.

Edit: Huh? Why you give up the great plans after 1 day?

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 3:12 pm
by ThurberMingus
I just had a particularly uninspiring "recording session" and it just turned me off from the idea. I'll keep at it though, I'll just try again when I'm more inspired. What are you currently using?

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 4:17 pm
by phantasmagorovich
ThurberMingus wrote:I just had a particularly uninspiring "recording session" and it just turned me off from the idea. I'll keep at it though, I'll just try again when I'm more inspired. What are you currently using?
Basically a TR-707 drum machine and a guitar. I use a moog ring modulator to "mix" the guitar and the drum machine. The drums are modulated by the guitar signal which means I can tune them with my playing. I split the guitar, so that the drums get the clean signal and the audible guitar gets lots of reverb and delay, so it rings out even when the drums don't. I'm still experimenting a lot with the setup. But the basic idea of tuned drums to accompany the guitar is crucial and works quite well.

It's not fun music though, more like the depressed songwriter approach.
(I just tried to record it too, it sounded pretty bad, so I will sleep before I try again.)

Re: Noise pop gear questions.

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:19 pm
by futuresailors
COnsidering shittyi noise pop is my shit, I'll ay that computer beats (aka garageband)+live guitar works out really well.
I think the last conder I went to involved tehse guys: http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/195
And they totes had a mac for drums an dshitt.
I don;t really remember,
but I've seeen a bunch of bands with premade computer beets and they've all been really fun.\