As far as I understand it, the MC-50 is basically the same thing but with the OS already in there, so you can boot without a disk. If you want that way of working, maybe look for one of those - they're very common and pretty cheap. And buy yourself a USB floppy drive, they're so cheap it's a good id...

Thanks! I've been getting some good drums out of the Phatty lately... there's a lot to be said for rolling your own.

The cheese factor is because of all these people using lame preset sounds over and over again Agreed - even a humble 4-op is capable of decent sounds if you know what you're doing. My first FM synth was a TX81Z, and I started by tweaking presets - after many years of abandonment in the darker corne...

I currently have a Command Station and was leaning already towards buying an Octatrack as a main sequencer. I really like the micro-timing feature which is similar to the Command Station I think (where you can edit individual step time). so I think if I get the Octa, I won't need a drum machine seq...

I think it also depends whether you want a sequencer, a drum machine, or a synth that can do drum sounds, maybe even just one at a time. All you really need for good percussion sounds is a couple of oscillators and a resonant filter, noise source, and a couple of envelopes. Even a simple-ish mono or...

ApolloBoy wrote:oscillator sync to the envelope

Rogue has that as standard - check the schematic, it should be a pretty simple thing to add.

I don't see the need to mod, myself - I get lower pitches than on the keyboard by using external CV control - either a sequencer, or a bigger keyboard, routed via a CV/Gate convertor if necessary.

I did fit my Rogue with a proper mains inlet though.

Just use a 2-osc poly and pretend it has no memories. Only ones that spring to mind immediately are something like the Vermona Perfourmer, Oberheim SEM-based polys, or (hahaha) the Korg PS-3100. I know what you mean though - I have both the Juno 6 and 60, and for some reason on the 60 I tend to make...

I decided to educate myself, and cover Depeche Mode's Any Second Now from the album Speak And Spell (1981). All parts courtesy of the Moog Little Phatty - including the drums. I did run an external white noise source into the audio input for the downward swoop, but otherwise it's purely Phatty. Reve...

Totally random S&H might sound a bit too synthy. I agree about using a resonant filter though. How about adding an envelope sweep and fast S&H to a carerfully modulated original cutoff? Here's a quick effort that took me just a couple of minutes to put together. I set up a self-resonant 24dB lowpass...

Nice list! I used to have a Groove Electronics MIDI-CV convertor with a Sync 24 output. Philip Rees also made a MIDI-Sync 24 convertor box. Roland's system is often called Sync 24, because it ran at 24ppqn (pulses per quarter note - ie, crotchet). Korg implemented a DIN socket for their sync system ...

Yeah, people seem to forget that an arpeggiator is a performance tool as much as a one-step route to repetitive octave parts.

Rick N Boogie wrote:Electro Harmonix Black Finger, if you don't mind pedals, (I use one on a board, right after a 4 channel mixer), but it's mono, so you'd need 2 of them if you go stereo. Awesome comp, otherwise.

I quite like the White Finger too. Fiddly to get used to maybe, but good sounding.

Before it starts, let's not let this get to be yet another digital vs analogue shitfest. Gear is gear, stuff sounds how it sounds, does what it does, and the only way to go is to use what you like using because you like using it. Whether that's software, hardware, or two chickens in a pillowcase tie...

So I'd run a midi out from an interface into the synth Yep. ...then then the midi output back into the interface? Only if you want the synth to be able to send patch data back to the computer for storage, or if the editing software requires it (some do, some don't). It's pretty simple once you get ...