| Rich,
This is a topic that I have been investigating for some time. Your method
is what I was using when I had an S-50. What I have since done is to buy
enough (is there ever?) SGUs to attempt to have the entire "orchestra"
online at once. After a great deal of research, buying and selling
equipment, shopping around, and reading the mags/rags, I have decided to
purchase one more sampler; the new Ensoniq EPS. The performance features,
expandability, and price point fit in perfectly with my plans. I have not
wanted to attempt any serious projects until the "orchestra" was
complete. I would like to have all of the instruments and f/x online at
once, so that my MC500 or Mac can act as master sequencer. In this way,
using an 8 track recorder, only two tracks (L/R) contain the stereo
instrumental information. The main problem now is going to be having
enough outboard DSPs to get everything mixed perfectly via MIDI.
Fortunately, the cost of good DSPs is dropping rapidly thanx to Alesis
and Digitech. I'm sure that others will follow their lead. Although
this requires a lot of expensive equipment up front, it allows you to
tweek every single note of every instrument before you ever go to tape.
The sync-to-tape method is the other option, allowing you to accomplish
the same thing while reusing the same pieces of equipment for the
different tracks. The tradeoffs are interesting, though. What if...
Instead of laying out $2-3k for a good 8 track recorder, you buy a
Tascam 4 track recorder for say $1k, and spend the other $2k on SGUs?
Sound appealing? (pun intended). Having test driven about 100 different
SGUs in the last year, my choices for favorite equipment for my proposed
system are...
Approx Equipment
Cost
(New)
-------------------------------------------------------------
$1000 Tascam 234 or 244 4 track cassette deck, DBX built-in
$800 Roland M160 mixer, 16 chs., 4 f/x send/return, no EQ
$800 Roland M208 mixer, 8 chs, EQ, many buses
$700 Roland D110 LA rackmount SGU, 2 stereo mix outs, 6 ind outs
$2300 Roland S550 sampler, 2 stereo mix outs, 8 ind outs
$1800 Ensoniq EPS sampler, expandable, great performance features
$1400 Roland D50 LA keyboard SGU, 2 stereo mix outs
$500 Oberheim Matrix 1000 SGU, rackmount, 6 voice poly, great analog sounds
$1800 Kurzweil 1000PX SGU, piano, strings, etc.
$1800 Kurzweil MIDI board, master controller
$700 Carver 1.5L power amp
$500 near field monitors, JBL, Fostex, etc.
$400 DSP128 multi-fx DSP, or MVII, quadreverb, etc.
$400 Roland SRV2000 reverb
$1500 Roland Mark II sequencer
____
approx $16.5k new
Much of this equipment could be purchased used, on sale, discounted, mail order
etc. For about the price of a decent new car, you can have a fantastic
musical setup. Of course you can substitute in different pieces of equipment
in my list depending on your own preferences. The main idea here is how to
have an orchestra online, with full MIDI network, sequencer, and minimal
tape recorder expense. Later upgrades would probably include more DSPs, mics
and stands for vocals, other instruments such as guitars, etc. My intention
here is just to share my current approach to the whole thing. I earned the
money to pay for all this by years of gigging. Now I've "retired" to enjoy it.
dave
|
| Although I have no special techniques to discuss, the setup that I work
with offers an easy to use "scratch pad". That's what's it's all about -
how to get an easy to use scratch pad without having to resort to
any time consuming techniques.
My scratchpad system consists of a keyboard controller, a sequencer and
a multitimbral SGU.
I press record on any one of 64 tracks of my sequencer, select a MIDI
channel and SGU patch from the controller, and scratch. Then I do the same
for as many scratches as I want to make, while listening to previously
recorded scratches.
An important feature of this system is the dynamic allocation of voices by
the SGU, which presents me with 8 "virtual" instruments and a 63 piece
percussion set, each on a separate MIDI channel - easy to scratch upon
without any setup time. Another important feature is the cut-n-paste
abilities of the sequencer.
I like to think that I work with a MIDI pencil and paper scratchpad.
Controller: MKB-200
Sequencer: Master Tracks Pro
SGU: D-110
/Mitch
|