How fecking confusing can it get?

My setup is just getting outa control and what's worse isn't giving out any results at the moment - the main gear I've got is:

TR909 - main clock source, used for programming drum loops and also to trigger E-mu sampler and Juno synth through Ext Instrument mode (really basic midi spec - sends on one channel only)
Emu Sampler (can receive midi from the pc & the 909 via midi merge box)
Juno 60 (gets midi through a convertor)
TB 303 - synced to the 909
PC - can run Live and Cubase sx, can receive clock from the 909 and also send midi out

So I start off programming a synth line on the Juno from the 909 step sequencer, get it sounding good. If I wanna put another synth line over the top of that, I need to sample the Juno in to a) free up the 909 sequencer & b) cos the Juno isn't multi-timral

But to trigger the resulting audio loop in the sampler, I need to run Live in sync mode and have it sending basic midi to the sampler. This is kinda ok, but Live isn't too stable in sync mode and you get a lot of midi errors (missed notes, hiccups etc).

If I just put the sampled loop into the sampler (on the channel that the 909 fires it on), the new synth loop in the Juno will respond to that trigger, which is bad)

But doing this frees up the 909 sequencer (it only sends on one channel) so I can build new patterns on the Juno or the sampler (I have one midi channel in the sampler set up to receive triggers from the 909)

I mean this kinda works, but it's a long process and I was wondering if anyone with experience of using hardware setups and in particular the 909 could think of any other ways to go about using the stuff? Obviously you could say "ditch the hardware, use the computer for everything" and yeh that's valid but not the way I wanna work…

The other way of doing it would be to use Cubase, but of course they removed the option to sync to an external clock so you'd need to sample the drumloops into Cubase, but that's hard to get them spot on and get the timing back

At the moment even just sorting everything out seems like so much hard work and I just don't seem to be getting much fun out of it all, which is the whole point really. I've read this e-mail back and totally confused myself all over again...

Thanks for any advice, much appreciated :)

Urghh...


I was just thinking about the esoteric tangle of stuff that is my setup, with which I have comparable, if not similar problems...

I am looking at possible getting an MPC1000 - basically for more sequencing power and an extra sampler. That kind of thing may be an option - a decent hardware sequencer and maybe another synth. Depends obviously on your cash situation.

This is the problem with hardware setups - they do have limitations, so you think, what'll overcome that limitation and go get some more kit and the whole thing grows organically until you are the only person who has the faintest idea how it works and it also weighs a ton and is too big to take anywhere... ...(this is why I'm panic at the mo, trying to write a minimal set in 4 days to play a gig without taking the whole beast)

I have had very little success integrating my hardware with a PC - I tend to just record audio to create finished tracks.

It is frustrating and I do spend soo much more time on the PC than playing with my real babies, 'cos it is so much easier...

Have a break from it...

Then persevere, 'cos it can be so much fun...

(Sorry that's not really solid advice on how to solve the problem though...)

i'd say your best bet would be to stop using the 909 as your master clock. either get a proper hardware sequencer, or use the computer as a sequencer. i don't remember if the 909 can convert midi clock to din sync or not. if not, doepfer makes a little converter box that you could use to keep the 303 in time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Evil G

i'd say your best bet would be to stop using the 909 as your master clock. either get a proper hardware sequencer, or use the computer as a sequencer. i don't remember if the 909 can convert midi clock to din sync or not. if not, doepfer makes a little converter box that you could use to keep the 303 in time.

---

philip rees midi to din sync is stabler than the kenton or doepfer models
and cheaper ...i think its cheaper . about 60 quid .

i use th philip rhys mdi t sync 24 and its great no probs at all
cost me about 60-70 quid

yeh i've got the philip rees unit too, came with the 303 when i got it. interesting though as i was thinking about getting the doepfer box, guess there's no need now though...cool

actually got stuff working a lot better now, basically using Live to trigger the sampler and it's all sync'd to the 909 pretty tight

i do the patterns on the 909 and send midi to to trigger a sound in the sampler, record the midi from the 909 into live and then have that play the sound back, which frees up the 909 sequencer to make the next pattern - bit complicated but i guess that's what to expect when using a 20 year old drummachine next to modern day stuff

basically it seems to me that i've spend the last three years properly working out how to get all the gear working together, now i need to concetrate on what's most important - making music

thanks for the responses

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by auditory hallucinations

but i guess that's what to expect when using a 20 year old drummachine next to modern day stuff

---

He he... The Joys of it all!!