Probably an oft discussed topic but here is my issue. I have an A4, and while using it with the Machinedrum they seem, off to each other. Like I can’t seem to get the mixing right so that everything gels together and sounds like a cohesive unit. I know with the RYTM I could be putting the A4 through it and using the global compressor so the mix gels a bit more, but I can’t really do that with the MD without compromising the sound quality of the A4.
Does anyone have any ideas as to make them play nicer together? I’ve tried overdriving the MD a bit in the inputs of the A4 and that helps a little bit, but I was wondering if there is any other tips people had.
Try this on your MD, in the dynamix, set it up to your liking, set mix to 100% dry (no effect), turn makeup gain to full and then back of the mix slightly (be carefull it will be very loud).
HAHA nice! That’s something I’ll keep in mind for my powernoise project ^_^[/quote]
No I think you missed my point. This is an answer to your question, it will make the MD sound more “phat”, using parallel compression sort of. Try it, don’t keep it in mind.
I always hate suggesting that someone buy something as a fix, but I find I like the sound of my Machinedrum much when I run it through the distortion on my Filter Factory and use the LPF roll off the highs just until I can hear it, then dial it back a notch. So maybe something like an EHX LPB 2UBE could be a nice solution for the MD to round off the digital edges. I also think it sounds slightly better if you record all the drums simultaneously through the main stereo out. I rarely use the individual outs on mine.
Another thought. If you have the UW why not make percussion sounds with the A4 and sample them to the MDUW???
Well, that isn’t the issue for me per se. More that when I run the MD through the A4, I have the MD and A4 verb and delay which sound DRASTICALLY different from one another, making the mix sound disjointed. Because the A/D converters on MD aren’t as good as the inputs on the A4, it makes the A4 not sound as good as it does on it’s own if I run the A4 through the MD to have everything using the same compressor, verb and delay.
I’m not running my MD through the A4 or A4 through MD. But I have in the past and I never noticed them “not geling”. That being said, I usually record them seperately into my DAW and I don’t have a problem recording both of them, using the FXs on each and mixing those in the same song. I don’t know if you have the ability to record them seperately, but that seems like an obvious thing to try.
Lots of people are using the A4 and MD side by side to make music and everything sounds great. I’m not doing anything special and it all sounds fine.
Have you tried doing a little post processing to get them to gel?
I can’t imagine this is the fault of the converters…that sounds like reaching for a reason to blame the machine.
Using two different verbs / delays is going to sound weird because that’s kind of a non-traditional approach.
I think you just need to keep practicing your mixing.[/quote]
I don’t even think using multiple delays is that unusual or problematic. Unless one has two or three very wet, characterful delays getting in each other’s way. Though using too much reverb or using two could easily build up into a muddy mess. But I’ll often use a plate or hall on several pieces of percussion and something more spacious on a pad or particular synth. No real issues.
That being said, I think the other two things you said are the real answer. I’ve recorded these two devices in all three possible routing configurations and never had any particular problem blending them into a track succesfully.
Well to put things into perspective, I returned the MD and got a RYTM. Day 1 of making a tune with just a pattern with some lfo play on sounds using the default kit, no samples, all synth and it sounds subjectively 10000x better. Also, it gelled better with my A4. The previous song sounded disjointed, like no amount of tweaking in the mixing (and trust me I’m not a mixing n00b) could fix it. 1 hour and everything I did just fit.
I don’t think the MD is a bad machine, it just wasn’t for me. If I was still doing largely computer music I’d have kept it, since it fit that category a lot better. But I think 2 analog synths belong together. Just as two digital ones do. Just my opinion though.
