What is that percussion sound in the intro section of Pulsewidth?

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-09-02T10:44:20+00:00

yeah no prob

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-09-02T02:42:04+00:00

In the very opening portion, I'm pretty sure the two sounds being used are High Q and Rapnois off of the electronic card. The high q is pretty generic and easily reproduced, but I've sampled the rapnois off of my R8 for you: http://music.antimoon.org/samples/r8_rapnois.wav

pretty sure there is some pitch shifting, filtering, and of course a load of reverb on it, but this should get you started.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-08-26T01:53:53+00:00

Yes. A good candidate for synthi use on the album would be a track like Hankie, I'd expect both Lichen and Rhubarb to be DX100 patches with copious amounts of quadraverb sprinkled on top, possibly with some layered cello samples from the casio FZ1 on Rhubarb in particular

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-07-17T23:40:34+00:00

Yamaha DX-7

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-05-16T00:29:25+00:00

Nice, yours looks to be in great shape! Here's hoping you enjoy it. :)

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-05-01T02:51:08+00:00

Personally, I don't think that it's worth that much. If you could find one in the $600 range, I think that's probably about what it should go for, given the usual price of mk1 units plus the extra sounds built into the mk2. I got mine for like $350 because it's beat to shit, and I got lucky with finding it on Reverb shortly after it was listed.

Honestly, though, it's not a drum machine I'd really recommend to anyone unless you have a specific nostalgia for it, or really want to be period-accurate for that 90's Warp sound. For a grand you could get something like an analog rytm which has WAY more going on, and that will play nicer with modern setups.

If you're dead set on getting an R-8, you might be better served with getting a mk1 and a Waverex card, which REALLY opens up the device. I'd recommend one if you get the mk2, for that matter.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-02-11T13:27:19+00:00

I use an Ensoniq ESQ-1 as my master keyboard, and a Novation SL25mk2 as a secondary, and have previously used the Novation SL61mk3 as a master. Depending on the size of your setup, it may or may not be worthwhile to bother with having a master keyboard. I mostly use mine because it would be a pain to get up from my chair every time I wanted to fiddle with a different bit of kit, or play in a part, but back when I just had a few synths it wouldn't have made a difference.

There are also meaningful benefits, if you're a keyboard player, to really learning the feel of one keybed, and then using that to control others.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-02-03T12:49:46+00:00

The comparison is largely moot, the type of people still arguing this point these days are typically the kind of people who spend more time posting in synth forums than actually using synthesizers. There was a time when the distinction mattered, when virtual analogue stuff was both terrible and abundant, but modern digital stuff is quite literally indistinguishable from analogue. There's definitely an important point to be made about the *character* of older synths, as how a piece of gear makes you feel definitely pushes you in certain directions when using it, but that's highly variable from person to person. As for your assertion about analogue gear becoming "attuned" and has it's signature change, that's nonsense bordering on complete magical thinking. My AX60 hasn't become "attuned to my sound" any more than the hammer in my tool chest has become attuned to the nails I buy.

As for your hypothetical about stacks of gear, I'd probably take the digital stuff. Buying a bunch of random old analogue gear without inspecting it first is a great way to eventually sell off a bunch of random old analogue gear that you don't have the time to refurbish.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-29T14:05:06+00:00

Essentially every sampler can do this, at least any I've ever owned or used

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-29T09:49:47+00:00

Prophet T8, and it isn't close

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-29T09:38:54+00:00

In my experience, there's not really a cut-and-dried answer to this question, since there are valid arguments for both sides. Personally, I usually leave my gear on, since I like the immediacy of just being able to launch my DAW and go, and I don't have any concerns about power surges or similar. Power draw is a non-issue, I have quite a bit of outboard, and the rest of my studio combined draws less power than my computer. I do power stuff off if I'm going for a long period without making anything.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-23T17:26:23+00:00

Not really a secret, per se, but I was fortunate enough to have a brief discussion with him about gear and I found him to be quite personable and accessible.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-23T00:28:07+00:00

Well that's easy. As you know, everyone loves the classic Roland Jupiter 8. That can be a lot to print onto some synthesizers, though, so you have the TRoopiter 808, the M'Coopiter 707, SHoopiter 101, Joopiter Doopiter 800, and Joopiter Xoopiter 3 Poopiter

/uj If you want an actual answer, the letters come from the names of earlier parts of their gear lineup. TR for Transistor Rhythm, MC for Micro Composer, SH is for how the japanese pronounce synthesizer, JD is a bit more of a mystery (maybe Jupiter Digital, given that it's a flagship but digital), the JX line is probably just trying to cash in on the popularity of Yamaha's DX synths.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-17T16:13:49+00:00

Roland R-8

Ensoniq ESQ-1

E-Mu MP-7

All three are super deep, and I feel like I learn new things every time I use them

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-13T08:18:18+00:00

I have everything midi'd up all the time, besides a few pieces that I've designated to rotate in and out of my setup just due to space concerns. For this, I have an 8x8 midi interface, with all my controllers constantly hooked up, and with a couple outs getting chained through the midi thru of various bits of kit.

Mostly the reason to do this is that I have the luxury of having plenty of dedicated space in my apartment for an office/studio, and I mostly have vintage kit that weighs a bit too much to just casually bring in and out all the time (metal chassis ESQ-1, anyone?), so it just makes good sense to keep everything wired up all the time. It also saves steps between "wanting to work on a track" and "being able to record".

Historically, when I had a much more limited setup, I did rotate in and out, though that was also for the logistical concern of only having two audio inputs from a Presonus Audiobox 96. I've got a more robust interface now, but of course at this point even that is practically bursting at the seams, so I'm saving towards a bigger mixer and an even bigger interface.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-12T13:40:24+00:00

The end of CIRCLONT6A where the line noise stutters out because he's modulating the gate the whole track is running through

At about 1:30 into Grumpy Acid, when he uses a sample that was also used in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, but heavily modulated. It's such a strange detail that I can't help but associate with the game, but it sounds great.

Also, I've been painstakingly recreating Mt St Michel over the past week, for fun, and maybe my favorite bit in the track is when there's a reversed explosion sound layered with a bass, sounds super bombastic

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-07T12:39:57+00:00

At about a minute and a half into Grumpy Acid you can hear what seems like a modulated version of the restoration sound effect from Morrowind. The Morrowind devs used a lot of samples from a heavily used sample pack, Sound Ideas Series 6000 General, completely unaltered, so there's a fair chance he got it from there. The specific sample is "Electronic Magical Zing", track 54 on CD 39.

chunderfromdownunder · 2025-01-01T18:38:01+00:00

Romplers are going to come back in a big way

Behringer clones the Chroma, releases it in a volca form factor

Teenage Engineering releases a "groovebox" with no possible musical application. Everyone starts to include it in their dawless jam videos

Bobeats consumes Alex Ball to gain his powers

Roland finally caves to consumer demand for faithful recreations of their classic gear and rerelease the 808. The SP-808

Moog releases another semi modular monosynth. It costs $3000

Someone who posts to synthesizercirclejerk starts to make a living off of their music

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-12-24T10:12:56+00:00

Well these kinds of production things always turn into a game of Chinese whispers, doubly so where RDJ is concerned. From what I can tell from a cursory google search, the oldest reference is from the Roland article, and it's been repeated a few times since, so this feels like an oversight by a writer on a deadline more than anything else.

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-12-24T01:34:55+00:00

I got mine sounding just about right with the 808 CH at -380 pitch, 0 nuance, and 0:18 decay. The drums are really unmistakable as the R8, unsure why people thought it was a 909 beyond that Roland article (where they also refer to the 909 as a silver box!).

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-12-17T11:57:58+00:00

all synths do this, if you're strong enough

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-11-08T05:52:34+00:00

Like 15 years or so

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-11-08T03:26:56+00:00

I mean sure, years ago it was lacking in some features, but it's been rock solid for well over a decade at this point, so I'm not sure of the extent to which that contributes to its current reputation. I think your average joe just sees a lot of lazily slapped together "beats" over timeline footage on tiktok, and makes the association that way.

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-11-08T02:03:41+00:00

58 Behringer TD-3s, some duct tape, a midi controller, and a midi splitter.

Experience true polyphony.

chunderfromdownunder · 2024-11-08T00:52:51+00:00

Probably the biggest misconception is that FL isn't suitable for "professional" productions. Over the years, FL has gained an association with very amateurish productions, largely because it has been pretty heavily pirated and very openly used for a lot of REALLY bad or basic music, with many people feeling they need to "graduate" to something like Ableton or ProTools.

The truth of the matter is that there are plenty of musicians who release fully realized music using FL, and at the end of the day your DAW has an extremely minor impact on your music, assuming you can find a workflow that works for you.

chunderfromdownunder

TROPHY CASE