I want to start working on more complex music using ableton live which i have on my laptop... but in order for it to run id need to pimp my laptop also i wanted to buy some proper moniters....

im also getting pretty predictible results from the mk and 303 combo....and whilst I know much more can be done with it, i feel as though software would be a better route to go...

so what are your thoughts?

sell my microkorg and buy moniters, plus improve my laptop or stay as i am?

i say keepit homie..
i actually kinda regret selling mines..

hi moki
if you don't have any other synth, maybe is better to keep the MK; if you're palnning to finish your studio than you can wait a little to buy used monitors (it seems that monitors are a good buy, they worth money to have a better correct sound recorded...me too i'm searching for them); if you just want to go with midi key+vsti then it's better to sell the MK, but my opinion is that hardware sound is different from software sound, so don't think you can substitute MK sound with vsti (even if some vsti are now well made, let's say it)....

dont go software, you'll go running back to hardware, and the microkorg is pretty cool. dont De-evolve. stay with the hardware, yo. monitors will come soon enough.

Dude your beats are sick, keep the MK.
My microkorg has a broken key and the vocoder mic input thing doesn't work but I would never sell it, just like I'll never sell my 303. You'll progress within your limitations like all living things, check out the shit Dibiase does on a 404 at beat battles, man he's killing laptop kids. Everyone has periods of feeling like they're great at making music and then times when you feel like you can't be as original or ground breaking as you would like to. If you continue making music through those feelings of duality you will eventually start to develop a solid understanding of sound/music theory, at which point you will enjoy making music with anything available because it's an expression of your soul more than a way to impress or entertain people.

They don't fetch much on the used market at all either. Cheaper to keep her.

i always hear of people selling keyboards or samplers when they start using something else more frequently but i could never do that.

i haven't touched my mpc or alesis micron in months but i would never dream of selling them. just in case i wanted them back!!

the possibilities for more complex compositions are made easier using software but it depends on the sort of music you want to create. i know it's not the tools but the workman but some tools are better for certain jobs.

when i create hip-hop styled beats or anything around the 80-120bpm range i always use my sp404. when i go into experimental dnb and breaks territory i tend to use software.

sometimes i make really simple music using software and sometimes i make really complicated (well from a composition stand point a lot would be going on when compared to my other tracks) in hardware. i sometimes try to create faster tracks with my sp404 and make it sound like i did it using software. when i do that i create numerous loops and arrange the whole thing on the computer.

the best of both worlds.

i'd keep the microkorg and find another way to make some cash for ur computer pimpage and monitors... As far as the software route... I say go for it man ---> this video just recently inspired me to try and mess around with ableton live. I, however, am braindead when it comes to midi so it will be a slow process... You could also keep ur microkorg as a midi controller could u not>?

That's where I'm at too. I did sell my MicroKorg, but only have the synths of my MC-808.

That's not too bad, but I do miss a true hardware synth, where the MC808 is more like a groovebox with sampling capabilities.

I think I might buy a Waldorf Blofeld or a Mopho in the future, but I did order a nice midi controller to make up for the lack of keys (I like MV pads a whole lot, but you can't really play multi-octave melodies comfortably across just 16 pads).

yes that's true
for now i play grooveboxes (an200 or D2 or mc09) with a midi keyboard (edirol pcr30, not bad), but i would like the juno 106...it's a little difficult to find not broken and it is not cheap...

Keep the MK, you won't get enough for it used to afford decent monitors. I've used only hardware and only software. There's nothing like turning on your keyboard and just screwing around. Booting your laptop, then opening your host, then choosing which softsynth can really kill your vibe before you even start.

I'm a supporter of software sequencing but using hardware audio sources. This is just me but during the period I was using ableton, it was some of the least "complex" music I made. Everything just fit too perfectly into loops. I'd say keep the korg, and download reaper. It uses the same elastique time stretching as Live if you want to be able to stretch stuff around. The main benefit of software sequencing is unlimited individual tracks and tempo maps imo. You'll miss your keyboard.

dont make silly limitations for yourself, keep it all and use it all

the best sounds are combinations of gear you would never expect, even if some of that gear is software.


that being said if you ask a software forum they tell you to sell the hardware and if you ask a hardware forum they'll tell you to ditch the software so what do YOU want.

MAAAAAJOR COSIGN. TRUTH

Thanks for the support/advice/wisdom guys its really apretiated...

i think im going to stick with hurlings advice and use everything haha...

im not really trying to be the next flylo/aphex twin/dilla etc, im just in this for fun and my own satisfaction....lately my heads just been at a diffrent place in terms of music and i have been enjoying making differnet kinds of shit outside of my regular moki stuff...

but that said....once i have knocked a few songs out using other equipment... i always wanna get back to the sp/microkorg and just make some messy beats, its fun.....

and at the end of the days thats what its about...

thanks again everyone.