Recording Pitch Bends and Modulation in the Sequencer

[jgk]

I just want to get some input from you guys on how you go about recording pitch bends and modulation into your songs on the 606, since the sequencer doesn't register these control changes?

I guess one way would be to leave out the notes you plan to pitch bend or modulate, then record them as audio samples and "fit" them into your patterns the best you can. A little difficult, but definitely possible.

Any other suggestions?

[HxC]

Can't do it with the 606, as it's a phrase sampler.

Let us know the results of your interesting sounding experiment!

Best bet is to cop a cheap, old rack mount sampler by Akai, or E-Mu.
You'll still need a controller with a pitch bender to tweak it, but nothing beats the gnarlyness that comes with pitch bending samples.

[jgk]

hXc,

yeah, I was talking more about using a keyboard and bending notes that way. Not really bending samples, although that would be cool

So, yeah, my keyboard has pitch and mod wheels, but I guess its best used for what it is - a sampler. I'm looking into adding a yamaha qy70 sequencer to go with it, and make up for the limited sequencer on the 606.

They got some on ebay for $100-$150. The thing thats bothering me though is that for the 606 - $235, plus the qy70 - $150, I could've just got a used mpc1000 for about the same price, with a sequencer/sampler all-in-one

Oh well, I'll wait for the 606 to arrive and try it out, then decide if I want to add the qy70 or return it and get something else.

Thanks for your input.

[HxC]

Do you use any computer recording software?
If so do you have a midi interface?

If so, you might want to rethink relying on stand alone hardware sequencing.

Try:
Recording a drum beat or pattern into a computer DAW or tape 4-track.
Let it record for like 6 minutes, or just a few measures, then copy & paste-

Then go to your keyboard and jam over the recorded drum.
Listen back and cut & paste the part or parts that you thought were great-

if you use computer recording software you can make sequencing part of recording, then if you se a midi interface you can do sweeps with the 606 and end up with multi-tracked parts-

Then you can get really ill and record whole parts back into the 606, and effect those parts back into more tracks-

[jgk]

I have ableton live 6 (Lite version) that I got with an old midi controller that I returned, but got to keep the software at least

The problem is that my computer is pretty outdated. Its a sony vaio laptop pentium III 750mhz w/ 128mb ram.

I'm going to first try to use the 606 as an audio interface with my laptop and record everything as audio tracks into ableton. I don't really need midi tracks as I don't quantize anyways. I like midi for the fact that it doesn't affect the sound of your synth at all, whereas audio can have issues getting a clear sound. But, I've found that midi causes much more latency/timing issues than audio though, and for a software sequencer it would be unusable w/ my computer.

So I'll see what kind of latency I have with it as an audio interface. I'm hoping that it will be fine, that way I'm all set and I don't need anything else.

Its funny you mention a 4 track tape recorder because I just thought of that this morning. Before that was out of the picture since I couldn't get it from tape to cd without other more expensive devices. But, with the 606 I can just sample the output of the 4 track into it and export wav to pc.

I am still considering a 4 track as well as the qy70. I love the idea of getting that analog sound/feel in my music, except I'm leary of the sound quality of those machines since they so cheap - static/hiss/etc. The fact that the qy70 has 480ppqn makes it just about as good as recording audio as far as timing. Plus, no latency and no static/hiss because its midi.

I am really getting intrigued by the qy70. IMO its a better sequencer than the "almighty" mpc, for the difference in ppqn alone. 480 vs 96.

What do you think about the sound quality on like a tascam 4 track?

BTW, what are "sweeps"?

[HxC]

I proudly learned on a tape machine, but I prefer digital now because of the flexibility, convenience and sound quality.
If you use one of those tape recorders, you just have to keep it clean, demagnetized, etc.. and you keep having to buy tapes- I always thought they were better for rock & roll and other non-electronic music... and often when people fawn over the analog sound of tape they're referring to a big 1/4" or 1" thing that had reels and not the dinky tascam porta-studios.

By sweeps I mean:
You sync your recorder so that it activates MIDI on the 606, then you record (for example) just the KICK, then you mute/silence whatever the kick, go back to zero, and on a separate track you press play record on your recorder and record (for example) just the snare, on & on & so forth so on Abelton (or Pro Tools or whatever) you now have a bunch of individual tracks (for example: kick, snare. high hat, bass, sample, sample 2, etc.. ALL IN SYNC according to BPM) instead of all the elements 'smashed' together.
alls you need is a midi interface from your computer, then a midi cable going OUT from that interface to IN on your SP-

When I used a tape machine back in the day... you actually had to 'stripe' a track.... meaning you'd record an FSK midi signal to track 8, then you'd run that track OUT to an in on (for example) an MPC3000 or an ASR-10 w/a Midi sync box.. so when you hit play/record on the tape machine it would ACTIVATE the MPC/ASR whatever and get your tracks properly lined up individually so you could have a better mix and talk about it on forums many years later....

[enossified]

If all you want to do is sequencing, not audio recording, older computers will work fine.

[jgk]

If all you want to do is sequencing, not audio recording, older computers will work fine.

Audio recording is what I want to do, within a software sequencing program like ableton.

I really can't judge until I get and try it with my comp. It should be here tuesday, then hopefully I'll be satisified with the audio recording to my computer for now.

Then when I get some more money, I'll get the qy70 I've been looking at. At 480 ppqn, it'll be just as good as audio for timing purposes. Plus, I like the editing abilities of midi like being able to changes sounds after recording.

Thanks for all your feedback. I'll keep you updated and post some music when I get everything together.