I’m mulling it over. I don’t have as long a history with the OT, so maybe it would be best to dump it before we get married. On the other hand, I see so many people re- and re-re-purchasing the OT…Plus, it won’t be updated for quite a few years–if ever–that maybe it’s best to keep it in storage.
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Completely agree.
I have this same relationship with the OT, with the difference that I rarely end up with something resembling a finished track. But just moving about, exploring new areas, ending up in strange places … that is a lovely thing.
For many, I think the idea of the OT is stronger than what they actually do with it. I might be in that camp myself.
But I do need to find an alternative to live gigging if I lose the OT. The Blackbox won’t stand for longer shows and is sliiightly unreliable from time to time, enough that I wouldn’t take it on stage now.
I’m not ruling out the new MC 707 for that purpose. If switching between projects is smooth enough, six minutes of stereo sampling per session is plenty enough for me. I have also considered the Toraiz for this purpose, but damn is it expensive. It does seem to be in the same camp as the Blackbox, though. Very defined, not loaded with features, but gets the sound and performance parts just right. And the workflow’s lightning.
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I have a habit of taking a break from new gear that I’m getting attached to, and go back to old favourites with the idea that I might’ve learned something on the way and found new ways to approach old kits, and therefore perhaps realise that this new shiny thing isn’t really needed, but was just a learning experience.
So I’ve taken a few days off from the Blackbox and returned to the OT, thinking “All the Bbox can do, the OT can do, too, and some of it much better.”
After this brief hiatus, I’m now back on the BBox. I haven’t rationalised this yet, but whatever’s going on, the BBox gets me results way faster. I’m approaching the skeleton of a small live set now.
Fluiditiy is one component. The Blackbox is just damn fast, once you get to know it. So’s the OT, but even when you move like lightning over the Elektron, some actions just have an inherent complexity to them which means I’m taking different paths in terms of ideas, when I work it. Loading, saving, swapping samples, just juggling things and ideas around, is perhaps the primary one, replace clips and samples just to try out new ideas. I guess it’s a bit like drawing a sketch on paper, just ripping out page after page but never letting the pen go, as opposed to sketching out on a computer, which is slower but does allow the idea to take other paths in terms of complexity and depth.
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I guess you need to judge them for 3 workflows
Writing music , melodies , songs.
Making stems / samples of that music
Performing … playback , muting , fx of pre written stuff.
Both need very different workflows and different amounts of preparation.
I’d guess both are capable of the 3 , but perhaps bbox is a little more constrained when it comes to mangling , which in some respects may keep you more focused and productive.
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Well put👍
Slightly off topic but seeing as some were comparing it to the iPad is their a sampling app that slices samples to play back and sequence in a host daw?
I know beatmaker 3 does it but I prefer cubasis and was looking a sample slicing auv3. I got reslice but it’s more of a mangler than a slice to pad type app.
Basically looking something similar to how the blackbox samples and slices. This little box is definitely on my wish last, looks awesome
Thanks
iMPC pro is a great app for sampling, chopping and sequencing.
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Egoist by SugarBytes is AU, but don’t know how well it plays with Cubasis. I’ve used ita few times in AUM and it worked fine.
Post over in the iOS/iPad thread and you’ll probably get some other folks chiming in.
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What are the odds of a 1010 Groove box that has some synthesis engine and live looping style recording in addition to clip launching?
Would that be possible as alternate firmware for the Blackbox, or would there need to be new hardware?
Anything is possible in firmware within CPU limits. I hope they stick to the knitting though and focus on the sampling, fx, workflow and external control side.
Synthesis would be an odd direction, though perhaps a subtractive sample-to-wavetable osc tool would make sense.
I’d say a separate hardware box that does only synthesis, would make sense. I doubt we’ll ever see a synth engine within the Blackbox itself.
Yes please, cc options for start and stop points, grain position. I can’t find panning, but that too 
The 1010 Synthbox is alternate firmware for the module this sampler is based on (that’s right this used to be a eurorack module) so my thought was maybe there was a convenient way to split the difference between the two.
I would just like to see the 1010 music equivalent of the MC-707, because I really like the interface of the Blackbox.
I think it already supports panning, using standard midi channel padding (cc 10)
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Aha, see I was going by standard, but I could only find pitch.
Ok, so one thing that’s starting to get to me now, is that the Blackbox don’t hold larger bodies of work. As great as it is for complete songs or slice-based live sets, now that I got a few things going and am starting to have ideas on stringing them together for a larger set, the Blackbox just can’t do it. Obviously, it’s never stated that it can or that it’s that kind of device, but it makes me aware how important that is for me.
In this regard, the Octatrack remains safe, for now. The exploring continues. But scenes, like on the Toraiz, that would really do the trick. One scene holds a setup of sixteen sample slots and sixteen patterns. Throw in sixteen scenes, if you wanna stay on that number, and the entire game changes.
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I’m having a mixed experience with the Blackbox. On one hand it is super easy to sample and use. On the other it’s really buggy. Right now I’m having issues where it’s not responding to Midi Clock (from both my Square Pyramid and Octatrack). I’ve tried via Midi, via USB, different cables etc. Nothing. Just fixed on 120bpm - I can even manually change the BPM whilst it’s under Midi control from another device which is weird.
I like that they’re improving it all the time, but at the same time they’ve got to get the basics right.
I’d encourage you to file that info to 1010. I really want this thing to be stabile above all else I’ve had no trouble with sync, luckily. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, of course.
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Had zero issues of the kind. Might be your unit that’s flaky. I use it with external gear all the time, and have applied it both to an OT and a Pyramid. Worked 100%.
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