I’m interested in the M:C “purely” as a drum machine - i.e. the Kick, Snare, Metal and Perc Machines. I really like a lot of what I’ve heard of these engines e.g.
I’d be interested in owners’ comparisons to other drum machines - digital, analogue, Elektron or other. Two outputs is a drawback for me. So what’s the internal summing like? Also I’d be interested to know if the Elektron demo above had any external treatment (compression or limiter).
I’ve been listening to the Cycles only music thread - great stuff in there, but not much in the way of M:C just as a drum machine - Anyone got tips of other examples of M:C just as a drm? Thanks!
Oh and one more question, have I understood right? One LFO per track and can only tweak one destination? If so, can a different destination b p-locked?
I’m using it almost entirely as a drum machine (also for just general weird sounds). but I use it in conjunction with samples and analog drum machines/modules as well. I prefer this approach in general, versus having all your drum sounds come out of one box. you get a more unique sound that way.
I’ve got no worries about the summing or compression, but I record out of it individually, then sum and process everything in a DAW. perhaps you have a different workflow though. I will say the distortion does tend to get a little over the top if you’re driving multiple machines “into the red.” so you’ve got to be a little careful with gain staging (unless you want that over the top sound, which is also great!).
yes it’s one LFO per track. I don’t think the destination is plockable.
I would want to use it in a live rig, thus my interest in its summing. I would almost defs run it through the compressor in my live setup, unless it really doesn’t need it (doubtful).
One thing to consider is that some sounds like clap are harder to synthesise. You can get a vast array of useful drum sounds but they aren’t always ‘typical’. I’ve had no issues with the quality of the output but always use compression in my DAW.
There are several claps, not too much, and yeah there are enough imho, but not 808 style. Honestly, if you look for 808 sounds style, this is not your machine. In the other hand, it would be good for you if you want go beyond TR style sounds, and that’s the hard point on this machine: a large range of sonic palette of drum sounds.
In my case, I love so much how easy is to get glitch percussion sounds, or micro drums sounds… and it sounds amazing in that way. it’s pretty easy to get experimental stuff sounds, I love for that.
Hah I wasn’t sure and I didn’t want to disappoint you. I can’t turn mine on right now but the trusty manual says it’s so:
The LFO menu parameters can be parameter locked. In GRID RECORDING mode, press
LFO to open the LFO menu. Press and hold a [TRIG] key, and then use LEVEL/DATA to
change the settings. For more information, please see “9.12.1 PARAMETER LOCKS” on
page 29.
Just my opinion: the kick is a beautiful beast, the snare needs the most tweaking to get a decent sound (style dependant I suppose), I like the hats and think it’s easy to get nice open and closed sounds. The snare is the weakest one for me but with a bit of work I always get a sound that I like.
I doubt you would be disappointed. If you do get one, I guarantee you will start writing synth parts as well hah there some lovely sounds to be had an the reverb an delay sound nice.
Thread title corrected. Probably coz of my coveting at some point Modal Machines I make the mistake Having a cycle of models sounds way sexier than cycling modals! Simultaneously … all the more so.
In the case I guess you could find a few “standard” sounds patches on factory bank sounds. Maybe not too much for you and maybe far TR style… I don’t know… but useless if you don’t mind the off-TR factor.
I agree, same for claps… so difficult to get that sounds from scratch. I always use the sounds on factory bank, when I need standard stuff.
Anyway, I usually use cycles for non-standard sounds, so I don’t regret .
Nah I’ve not really explored that but that would work pretty well I imagine! The metal machine has some really interesting textures. Even dialing the kick machine into it’s highest ranges and tweaking can get some clappish sounds.
Now it’s dilemma time. I’ve got three drum machines, two which I wouldn’t use live: Vermona DRM mk2, Korg ER-1, and an MFB Tanzmaus. One or two will have to go to justify getting another drum machine. MFB is great for live, it’s kick has got proper weight, but not so flexible. It would probably sell locally pretty quick (I’ve had the Vermona for sale for a month or so for a decent price too, but no takers )
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