are there any crazy tricks or workarounds youve discovered

[dman5000]

i got the emx so thats sort of what im most interested in but for the forums sake feel free to mention any model.
as an example of what i mean , on the sp 404 sampler you cant copy a pattern to another pad as a function of the sampler, but if you do a backup of the memory and then move the og pattern it ends up making a duplicate
any tricks with the electribe emx? any defaults you always change? unconventional steps you take with the machine? hidden functions or functions you can use to do things other than its intended feature? sorry i dont think i have any to share myself, ive only had it about a year
actually maybe heres one, i havent used it in a track but ive played with it, if you select the 808 bd and mess with the pitch then set the modulation to pitch and whack it out you can get a sort of bass synth out of it

[dman5000]

i thought of another one ive sort of been messing with to get over the monophonic aspect, to make i chord i would copy a synth part then change the notes in step edit to make up a chord. im not a synth expert or someone who can undoubtly pick out a particular note but its something, if you are either of those maybe you can confirm or deny this

[reddone]

man , are you on msn ? i pretty much know the mx inside out so i can help you with whatever you need .. i thnk LOL

A few key things to keep in mind are ...


Using the pcm drums through the synth pcm section , instant filters !!

synthesizing drums is also VERY much like it is on the Er-1 / Er-1mkII ..

Motion seq edit .. for tightening and tweaking lfo or other ..

step edit ( programming fully by hand than playing keys can be better ) ..

Drum pitching to correct qauntizing issues in accrordance with tempo ..

Swing value and swing off/on to correct and create unique grooves ..

Working in the best grid resolution to suit the groove qauntize ..

Use " last step " to set how many "steps/notes" are in each bar ..

Try working in odd-time signatures in conjunction with " last step " ..

Try swapping Arp type ( norm /reverse ) for different ideas ..

Breaking up your patterns into 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 bar lengths every track ..

Avoid clip/click/pop sounds when changing pattern by making sure there are no notes running at the point of change ( use step edit to shorten ) ..

In song mode grab your starting loop and put it in the first slot , then hold
shift continuously and input " insert pattern" 15 to 31 times( to make 16 or 32 slots ) depending on your loop length ... you can now simply change any of the slots to suit and your tune begins to unfold .


These are the techniques i use most of the time to make sure i dont have any problems in writing my music . synthesizing is a different matter and is pretty much something you have to learn ... getting to know the mx can take SOME time ...

... but stick at it , youre doing fine ... experiance is the way

if youre on msn add me , python4s@hotmail.com

[dman5000]

thanks for the tips, im not on msn, i dont think anyway, i have hotmail account but i dont know if that counts as a double... im familiar with most of that but i never used song mode and i couldnt figure out how to change the resolution (for that you mean like make it 32 steps insted of 16 right? ) when you use song mode can you make variations of the same pattern? like say a drum switch up or something? or is it just mutes and/or knob movements?

[reddone]

yes using songmode you can stitch up loads of differnt patterns of any length . Live play is fine .. but you can make MUCH better music in songmode , i just like to think of it as "big pattern" mode .

to change resolution you have the option of doubling the tempo ( or tripling )
.. and also by changing the "beat16 -beat32" .

Just now im playing with a 1 bar`length , 2 beats in the bar , 200bpm and im
set at beat32 ... im just making a noise just now but it is crazy .

basically , different resolutions offer different groove timing simply because the midi clock and sample play latency interact with each other .

Altho much dubstep is done at 140-ish , there is plenty dont at higher resolutions too .

also if you go upto 280bpm for dubstep , then when you motion sequence fro example a cutoff movement , the recording of data is more accurate because you have double the resolution .. so although the beat sounds 140 the 280 grid is givving the tight timing and better knob recording .

You can get some truly amazing warps going on at higher resolution .

[Dr Feelgood]

Not to much of a crazy trick per se, but a very useful one in terms of achieving a particular sound. Sometimes I find myself wishing that a sound had more of a 'bite' to it in its initial attack. Well I found a pretty cool trick to satisfy my tastes
Go to the LFO section and set the mod type to 'slope' and the mod destination to pitch. Adjust the mod type speed to -63, turning the knob all the way to the left. Now go back to the mod destination and turn the knob all the way to the right to +63. The end result is now a real thick sounding attack to the particular sound that you selected/modified. You can cut back on the mod destination value to lessen the effect or to increase it.
This particular technique really sounds great on certain kinds of synths, particularly bass patches etc....Its almost a 'chirpy' type of sound inserted at the attack point which can be modified to your taste, nevertheless it sounds great

Give it a try!

[dman5000]

cool tip dr. thats along what i was talking about, something sort of unconventional to solve a problem.

reddone- lately ive been messing with making dubstep in the 70 bpm range, motion seq the roll on the hi hats and get a little more usage out of bpm synced modulation in 1/24, 1/32.... ill have to re-try setting the grid to 32, i tried it one time and it didnt change anything so i never did it again, must of done something wrong..but 32 grid at 70ish would be my s**t

keep it flowing - post up any workaround type tricks you feel would be useful for any electribe user of any skill/knowledge level

[reddone]

32 grid @ 70bpm should give you more freedom .
I have just never liked going to 70bpm because the recording ( notable on cutoff ) isnt as accurate . Doing at 70bpm with a grid at 32 will be more usefull ..
but seriously , try going at grid of 32@ 140bpm or grid- 16 @ 280 bpm and you are able to get more intricate drum patterns , and if you go 280bpm@ 32 grid then you have ultimate flexibility in that you can program fast triplets without going into triplet grid-type .... also the cutoff etc tweak is MUCH more accurate in recording , you can cut sine waves very nicely .

At the end of the day tho its down to the " feel " you are after and whatever grid-type gets you there is the one to use .

Use the force !! .. lol ,

[Nastyjoe]

I really like playing around with the roll on snare drums, on pattern go down to roll type and make it 4 instead of 2 to get machine gun drums.

Also im always using osc sync, sin wave, and then you can twiddle with the osc 1 and 2 to get the most wicked sounds.

lately iv been using the auto twiddler at the top right, ill hit bpm then set it to either 1/4 or 1/8 to make the oscillators warp around the tempo.

play around wit the cutoff and res alot to get some cool sweeps and whatnot

And finally, motion sequences. for both the synths and the effects, you can do some wickedness with that. Ill usually motion sequence with the short delay effect to get that machine gun sound.

Other then that, i suggest tryin to recreate or cover a song by your favorite artist, thats my favorite thing to do. take an aphex twin bassline and go off on that.

Got a concert this weekend, wish my luck

[robosardine]

I like to go mad quickly entering notes in a random fashion at a high speed- twiddle/ record the knobs etc, then slow it back to your favorite tempo then keep using the move 'random' option until I find something I like- then isolate/ edit it... If nothing comes the try it again. You will nearly always find something you like.

[off]

to instantly duplicate your current pattern:

make pattern and then write it (say A.03)

then change to a new pattern, (A.04)

then go back to the old pattern (A.03) and scroll down to the "LENGTH" menu and change the length to double your previous length (from 1 to 2 for instance).. and the pattern will be repeated in the second measure.

[m4m]

you don't need to go to the other pattern
compose 1 bar, save, stop, change lenght to 2, 1st bar will repeat, modify, save, change lenght to 4, and so on