software studio is hype???

[threesixty]

About 6 months ago I sold my MPC 2000xl and my Yamaha A4000 to go the soft synth route. I started using Pro Tools,Logic, Exs24, Pro 5 etc.. I used to do a lot of hip hop/r'n;b but then started doing alot more dance stuff, so I thought the computer would be perfect... total recall, big screen etc..

I'm starting to have HUGE second thoughts...

I dont know what it is exactly, but for all the convenience you get with the software route, stuff just doesnt sound quite as good. I find I have to work a lot harder to get things to sound as good. I dont find it inspiring at all to sit infront of a computer drawling lines on the screen, compared to banging drums out on my MPC. The filters (even the mooger fooger on Pro Tools) dont sound anywhere near as good as my a4000 filters. I find the eq's/compressors (especially VST stuff in Logic) sound kind of weedy as well. Its weird, but my mind is telling me its all the same and your just not very good at producing music. But my ears are telling me that the hardware sounded and performed better. The hardware was also more inspiring. Even the sampling actually done on the Yamaha/MPC sounds better than me ripping the cd digitally (maybe the AD converters sound better, maybe I'm just going mad!!).

There probably isnt any top 40 release that any of us would want to emulate that was done totally in sofware. SO maybe I've gone down the wrong route. Mixing in Tools is not bad. But the sound creation/sequencing part (what I use Logic for) just doesnt seem to cut it for me. Is anyone experiencing the same problems as I am?

[where02190]

Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby....

[threesixty]

Originally posted by where02190:
Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby....

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">yeah, I'm feeling that statement... [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[J Blazin]

Originally posted by threesixty:
[QB]About 6 months ago I sold my MPC 2000xl and my Yamaha A4000 to go the soft synth route. /QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Personally, I would have never sold those two pieces, but rather try to intergrate them together with the soft synth to give yourself more options and different sounds. I started on an ASR-X (wanna-be MPC) then went computer based with PTLE/REASON/MAC. 12 months later after learning how to work everything together I'm finally makin' tite beatz. I felt like you do now at one point but dont give in yet keep workin with it. I have a friend who uses Fruity Pro (old soft synth) exclusively and his beatz are bangin', I was once told by a pro its not so much what you use.....but how well you use it.

[threesixty]

What I've noticed is that the machines you use dictate not just the sound of your beats but the style also. The thing I miss most about the MPC is the note repeat button. Its the thing that no other sequencer has and thats why the alot of hip hop beats soudn the way they do. Computers make you do things quickly but they dont make you try any off the wall things. Also Logic stutters alot when you move between tracks and a soft synth is playing (like exs24). Its just not as rugged as a real sampler.

I think computers are great if you wanna copy something or do something you know how to do already. But they require you to plan everything you want to do in advance which kinda stifles the creativity that u get with playing a drum machine etc..

Basically I was 10 times more creative on an MPC/Yammaha than I am on Logic... And the sound was heavier...

[patrick eudeline]

the only problem is ... two years of everyday work just to LEARN how make the soft things sound as terrific than vintage wonders ... two years ago, i waw thinking the same as yours .
today i prefer some of my rtas plugs or my "vintage warmer " plug or the crystal vsti or the B4 ... to the real thing .
i get the both , i can tell you . and i never plug any more my ricken guitar in the vox ac 30 . sans amp and the new one from ik multimedia give me the same sound ...

[J Blazin]

Computer reliability is one thing and becoming user efficient is another. Not trying to be a smart ***** but as my platoon sergeant once told me you have to be smarter than what you are working with, you can get the sound you want and be just as creative but its up to you to make it happen. Dont like your sounds?....import some. You probably already have everything you need (except for the MPC! Ha! just kidding) you just need to get over the learning curve. Peace!