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At 3:20 AM 12/24/96, Dave Trenkel wrote:
>Kim Flint writes:
>>At 11:33 PM 12/17/96, JOHNPOLLOCK@delphi.com wrote:
>>>Dave Trenkel wrote, in part,
>>>
>>>>on another subject, does anyone have any experience with the cheapo
>>>>samplers that Roland, Yamaha, and (I think) Akai are coming out with?
>>
>>I saw some really hip demos of these dj oriented loopers at the Frankfurt
>>trade show. I haven't had a chance to play with them myself, but I think
>>they offer some interesting possibilities. A key difference from the
>>echoplex/jamman/boomerang loopers is that these were designed
>specifically
>>for dj/dance mix type musicians, and therefore they offer different sorts
>>of features and a different sort of control interface. I think some
>>interesting cross-breeding potential lies in there...
>>
>Could you be a little more specific? What was hip about the demos, what
>makes them more specific to the dance/dj crowd? I fairly interested them,
>but I haven't been able to get much info.
Well, after several 9 hour days of demoing at the noisy, smoke-filled,
overcrowded Frankfurt Musikmesse, my poor brain was not absorbing many
specifics. However, I looked a bit and found some reasonably informative
web sites:
at the akai website:
http://www.akai.com/akaipro/index.html
we have info on the Remix16, a "Stereo DJ Phrase Sampler":
http://www.akai.com/akaipro/Remix.html
The Riff-O-Matic "Variable Tempo Phrase Sampler":
http://www.akai.com/akaipro/Riff.html
and the MPC3000 Midi Production Center:
http://www.akai.com/akaipro/MPC3000.html
The Remix16 is the more interesting one. It offers 16 pads for triggering
phrases, a hold mode to loop samples, 4 track sequencer, monitoring to
audition samples in headphones while playing, tap tempo, disk drive and
scsi interface. It also has crossfade buttons to control input/output mix
and a bend/scratch fader. For a given phrase you can input the number of
beats and tempo and it will adjust the phrase to play it in time. It
appears to have an interface designed for fast, live work, rather than a
more involved menu-driven type. Also seems oriented towards syncing phrases
to a beat and each other easily.
It doesn't seem to offer overdubbing in the way we understand in from the
echoplex/jamman/boomerang loopers. However, I think you can achieve
something similar with the sequencing. So you might have a sequence using
phrases 1-4, sample something new into phrase 5, and add it somewhere in
the sequence. I'm not sure what the polyphony is, since the web page didn't
go into that. Or you could just jam over the sequence with other phrases
while scratching them and such.
>From Roland, check the little blurb on the DJ-70mkII:
http://www.rolandus.com/products/MI/MIprod_SS_S.html#DJ-70mkII
or the phrase sampler MS-1
http://www.rolandus.com/products/MI/MIprod_SS_PS.html#MS-1
>I think that there's a really interesting crossover between the equipment
>needs of the dance scene and looping. I've been using a Roland mc-303 drum
>machine/sequencer/tone module lately, which was designed specifically for
>the dance scene, and it's one of the best live-performance oriented pieces
>of midi gear ever. A fairly intuitive interface, lots of real-time
>controls
>(filters, envelopes, arpeggiator), and a pretty cool feature that allows
>you to trigger sequences from the keyboard on top of any playing
>sequences,
>kind of like a sampler, but the loops come out synched to the master
>sequence. It's definitely designed to allow a lot of real-time
>modification
>of sequenced material. And it also makes a great master-clock for the
>JamMan.
The MC-303 definitly has me intrigued. I think it was reviewed in keyboard
recently, and it looked very cool. It looked like a great way to integrate
a lot of techno/dance sounds and approaches into my music without spending
a fortune on samplers and funky old analog synths.
>>And since the dj subject has tentatively resurfaced, does anyone know any
>>dj types that would be interested in joining the list? There is a whole
>>world of looping in that genre, with an assortment of well developed
>>techniques not found in the soundscape/guitar-loop variety that tends to
>>get focused on here. I think some articulate dj types could give us a
>real
>>interesting (and probably needed) perspective.
>>
>The liner-notes to DJ Spooky's records have some pretty interesting
>thoughts on the african influence on the sampling/looping/manipulating
>esthetic. Would it be a breach of copyright for me to quote some here?
I think its ok to quote it, although probably iffy to reproduce the whole
thing. I'd love to see it. He doesn't happen to list an email address or
anything, does he? Maybe we could just ask him. Even better, maybe we could
get him to join the list....
kim
______________________________________________________________________
Kim Flint | Looper's Delight
kflint@annihilist.com | http://www.annihilist.com/loop/loop.html
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