ha-ha
nothing like a spliffed up beatmaking session

let us know how you go

the 404 is the supreme weed machine!have fun.

well i got my 404 a week ago and i feel i have finally played with it enough to give a quasi-informed opinion. quick capsule review...

I LOVE THIS FUCKING MACHINE!!!

i hardly even know where to begin. it occurred to me that even if i never made one song with this it would be worth the money just as a toy, it's that much fun to play with. at the same time, you'd almost have to try NOT to make music with the thing it's so freaking musical. and addictive. i have to stop myself from staying up with it 'till dawn every night. i played sax for about a decade and keys off and on and this is my #1 instrument of all time. a complete production lab for the kind of music i love the size of a college dictionary. and it runs on batteries. you could take the 404 and a decent size ipod (and cables and headphones and batteries) and head off into the wilderness, hitchhike across the country, take a wilderness retreat camping in the mountains, whatever, and be making sick raw shit the whole time. this is the one device i would give up all my other things to keep if it came down to it because it opens up my soul. yeah cheezy i know but it's the truth. you spend hours playing with this awesome sonic toy and when you're done you actually have something impressive to show for it.

people sometimes make a big deal about it's supposed limitations. here's the deal: i love working this way. no visual waveform editor? who cares! music is audial, not visual. i've made entire albums in soundforge for christ's sake, and visual is not always better. it's been said before, but i enjoy not having every possible option when i'm trying to create. having a feature set with edges (the only limit is you) shows what the creator is capable of, not how much (s)he can spend. take reason. you want to make a beat, so you look for a kick, and there's like a hundred to choose from. how the hell am i supposed to listen to all hundred and still remember the first one by the time i get to the end? when you find a phat kick digging, and sample it in, you can't wait to use that shit. not to mention it (reason) feels like cheating because not only are you not playing the instrument, you didn't even find the sample, you just spent 500 bucks and there it was. weak. now i've spent many an hour playing with reason and it can be loads of fun (especially the synths) but you see what i'm saying? dedicated hardware just feels better. if you go to propellerheadz' site they even have this big thing about how hardware samplers are dead. well fuck that. (elegant aint he?)

my only real improvement would be a built in sample / pattern copier and a real time stretch. i can't even imagine why they gave it the one it has, what a joke. that and maybe a mouth mounted on the bottom so i wouldn't have to spend so much 404 stealing time with my girl. =) other than those minor beefs (and maybe four more pads... good hard velocity sensitive pads) this box is fucking perfect and when i die they better bury it with me.

peace.

lol...werd up brutha... enjoy it

funny shit, man. glad it lived up to expectations. it's an amazing machine, very versatile.

i completely agree with you in regard to limitations. too often i'll be on my computer with literally every possibility open (VSTs, multiple effects, a thousand drum samples) and all you get is option anxiety and end up going nowhere. the limitations of the 404 actually assist in cutting back the bullshit and focusing on the craft of production. all the glitz can be added later when you know what you need.

exactamundo mi compadre. btw did you get the book yet?

yeah man, came two days ago
it's so well written, i thought i'd be confused but it's made so clear
gonna buy some equipment this week
and start hunting for toys


edit: have you seen this one?

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/20 ... kachu.html

haha nice i love how they made the contacts look like two horns and a goatee. that book is so easy to read it's a joke. you fly through it.