These weeks I decided to refresh my non-modular gear. So among drum-machines or samplers I sold or plan to sell out Korg ESX-1, Polyend Tracker, Roland TR-8, Elektron Digitakt… I already bought used Octatrack mk.1 and thinking to buy used Soma Pulsar 23… This could be sequencing from Octatrack or Beatstep Pro… I’m not sure 100% if I’m right. Maybe my improvised techno (laso ambient or ambient techno) setup should look like: Octatrack+Pulsar 23+ MC-101 or Octatrack+Pulsar 23+DFAM or Octatrack+Pulsar 23+ Quadrantid Swarm or Octatrack+ Pulsar 23+ Behringer 2600 + Blofeld…
Also I’ve got modular setup and Pulsar 23 could be good addition. No doubt. But I look for more compact solution… One bass voice from Pulsar 23 - don’t know if it’s enough for me… So Pulsar 23+ one analogue mono synth+ wavetable or analogue polysynth for pads and 3-4 sample voices including drums from Octatrack could be minimalistic structure.
Among other table synths I’ve got Modal Skulpt (maybe I should change it for Blofeld?), Typhon, 0-coast, Neutron, TB-3, Crave., Minilogue. If I need new analogue one, this could be Swarm, DFAM, East Beast (only for sequencer, maybe it’s not so good, there’s not much information) or maybe I shouldn’t add anything analogue? For pads there should be poly: MC-101, Blofeld, Virus B…
Other radical idea: Octatrack+Pulsar 23+Solar 50. Dream machines But so much weight.
Other simple idea: Octatrack+Syntakt+ Virus B… I have read so many things about Syntakt, but the only thing I’m not sure is lack of individual outputs. And I’m not sure Syntakt has fast workflow as Octatrack, because Digitakt is rather slow, especially for sample management… Or Octatrack+Analog Rytm+ Model Cycles… Not bad.
So many emotional impulsive ideas for live improvisation… But the wallet is rather thin.
Do you plan to use it as a drum machine or an experimental sandbox m… if the latter then it’s perfect. If not I would get something else… maybe. Nord drum 2 or something
The Pulsar 23 is one of the great drum machines of all time–a future classic. It’s an experimental beast though, that takes a lot of attention. It fits well within a small group of instruments, but I don’t see it as a drum machine that gets tacked onto a medium or large live setup. Unless you have a highly sequenced modular setup, it’s a challenge to play a modular and a Pulsar 23 and do both justice.
I don’t have an OT or DT, but the Syntakt is fast and easy to use. It looks way more straightforward than the OT and your issue with the DT is probably the loading of tons of samples. Loading one of the limited numbers of machines and tweaking to taste is simple.
For playing live with modular, I really love the Syntakt–especially using it for percussion and chords and to sequence the modular. It’s small and does a lot, and leaves bandwidth to play the modular.
I’ve been trying to talk myself out of it and can’t think of a reason other than cost (and maybe track count and maybe because Perkons exists). But its cost seems very reasonable when you try to build something similar in Eurorack. But even cost (for us Amreicans) is now a good bit less thanks to exchange rate if we buy from overseas.
The reason why I look at Pulsar 23 is a bit of spontaneous drive for improvisation, it seems to me I could play 2 more hours with 2-3 devices setup… My modular GAS is over and I talk more pragmatic thinking of more semi-modular instruments as like 3-8 modules at once and cheaper in the aspects of its speciality on kind of unique… Anyway I’ve got modular drums and modular synth voices enough for many hours lives and streams, but it’s another problem of transportation and preparing for lives. Not so quickly as 2-5 assembled instruments
Crocodile clips are a terrible idea, you will rue the day you bought the thing. No patch memories and a brutal range of sounds at best. A work of art and a fascinating plaything but not something you can use to compose anything on. Awkward, messy and confusing, you’ll have more fun with a Crave and a Neutron.
But so much weight.
