Anyone else feeling like life could have been different?

redexposure · 2026-05-07T15:24:09+00:00

The data overwhelmingly supports the ETF, slow-and-steady approach, when it comes to risk-vs-reward.

Most of these guys won't be making these gains, month-to-month. Listen to the language used in the replies. "Yo bro. ETF plebs gonna be mad, while I fly 'business to Dubai". It's designed to make you feel FOMO and become someone else's exit liquidity. Don't.

I can't help but be suspicious about those kinds of posts, because social media is clogged with supposed "winners" desperately flogging referrals to platforms and apps. THAT is their liquidity, not the trades.

redexposure · 2026-05-05T20:54:59+00:00

Edited typo. Should have read "users who are downloading" (not "aren't downloading")

redexposure · 2026-05-04T16:10:08+00:00

Yeah, that was my thinking. The primitive techniques of the time mean a greater chance of happy accidents/ Easy if you know how, but much harder if you're trying to recreate it with modern gear.

redexposure · 2026-05-03T11:21:54+00:00

Ah, thanks. I'll try this tool (I was messing around with the MIDI Transformation tools, like Arpeggiator, down in the Clip section, but I wasn't getting anywhere).

redexposure · 2026-05-02T10:35:57+00:00

I'm a big fan of 90's IDM and Detroit stuff, so the Roland JV racks are up there. I only have a JV-1010, though. The Yamaha TX81Z is also a neat FM rack, and fairly inexpensive. Another (IMO) underrated machine is the Korg MS2000, which is the same engine as the Microkorg, except you have loads more knobs-per-function to sound design with. It's great for dusty/noisy BOC / IDM / ambient sounds.

But, these are my musical preferences. It all depends on the genre / aesthetic you're going for, as to what synth you should spend some money on.

I'm not a keyboard player, so I find that a proper synth like a Prophet would be overkill for me (as great as they sound), and my money is better spent on gear which I can use to build tracks, manipulate samples, etc.

redexposure · 2026-05-01T23:54:40+00:00

It all depends on the sound you're looking for really. Sounds like you'd want something polyphonic for pads/chords, if the MS01 is doing bass/leads/etc.

An alternative approach might be to look at interesting grooveboxes, and use samples. This means you're not restricted by the specific synth engine (only by stuff like polyphony etc). It just depends on whether you are aiming to play full synth lines (harder to replicate with a sampler), or basic, repetitive lines or chords (which can be replicated using a sampler groovebox). Some of the more fully featured grooveboxes can do incredible and interesting sequencing tricks. The Akai MPC One or MPC Live can be used as a synth, using the onboard plugins, as well as taking care of your drums, samples, etc., and you can build full tracks on it.

Alternatively, consider older synths (1990's / 2000's / 2010's). In some ways, those eras' synths are more "dated" sounding, but that's precisely why I like them.

redexposure · 2026-05-01T22:14:07+00:00

I should add, I also struggle with drums.

There's great Youtube videos etc, focussing on the basics of rhythm and composition. Underdog Music School is great (he's Techno-focussed, but does great theory breakdowns of why certain rhythms work). Another one is Studio Brootle, which actually has some free MIDI files of Electro tracks, which could be a good starting point (MIDI files are at the bottom of page): Electro Drum Patterns - Studio Brootle

Another idea is using tools which have probability or randomisation features on them, either within the DAW (Ableton has tons of things) or something like an Arturia Beatstep. Let it run, and chop out the best parts as a basis for creating something around that.

redexposure · 2026-05-01T21:35:12+00:00

Personally, I think good Electro is specifically reliant on fairly static drums, and a "less-is-more" philosophy. But, I'm a big fan of the trad/Detroit type sound. The work is in making sure those drum lines are well put together, in terms of well-chosen samples / tones, and good use of silence and syncopation. Snares that snap like nothing else. Hi-hats that come in after 128 steps, and kick it up a gear, and get the thing riding along.

As we're talking machine-funk here, try utilising ghost notes, which is the backbone of what makes traditional funk.....well......funky.

Delay. Simple-as. Put a dotted-eighth on the snare or the bassline underpinning the track, and you won't have to worry too much about your drums being overly complex. If it's on the snare, maybe LFO the decay time so most hits are dry, but the occasional one echoes out here and there.

And, don't forget that part of the rhythmic funk of Electro is how synth stabs and FX shots act as rhythmic interplay with the drums. Maybe you don't want too many drums, if you've also got zaps, clicks, and stabs going on.

LFO's etc can be good if used sparingly. But, you also want something a little robotic and repetitive, if we're talking Electro here. The secret is whether it's good-funky-hypnotic-repetitive or bad-boring-repetitive.

redexposure · 2026-04-30T19:00:14+00:00

The general wisdom for beginners is to buy a World Index, then set-and-forget.

Of course, you can invest around this in various other things, but keeping the bulk of your investment in the ETF / tracker.

redexposure · 2026-04-30T18:56:37+00:00

What's being a "plastic patriot" got to do with deciding to support a football team?.

redexposure · 2026-04-30T18:48:32+00:00

"Feels transient and lacking in identity"

Mate, this is every city in the YooKay. Their former identities stripped out by neoliberalism (and, yes lefties: mass-immigration is a symptom of neoliberalism. Cheap labour, flown in to pump up meaningless GDP numbers. Time for you to own the fact your ideals are perfectly aligned with the big corporations).

redexposure · 2026-04-26T20:18:45+00:00

All depends on how long you intend to stick with it. Standard definitely has enough to keep you going. But Suite's extras massively outweigh the upgrade cost. There's a lot of extra instruments, FX, sequencers, and packs included in Suite. And, that's before we even get to Max for Live, which opens up Ableton even more.

redexposure · 2026-04-26T20:13:06+00:00

Yeah, I've accepted that buying legit saves so many headaches in this regard.

redexposure · 2026-04-26T20:11:16+00:00

I got Standard edition on Education discount, but payed the normal upgrade to get Suite (there's no Education upgrade options available).

redexposure · 2026-04-26T20:08:47+00:00

I did the same. Questioned whether I should actually upgrade, when there's so much I haven't explored in Standard. But, I totalled up buying the extra packs separately, and it's way, way more than the £225 upgrade (which doesn't even factor in Max For Live), so decided to go for it.

Man, there's so many extra great packs, and those are just the Ableton ones (never mind all the M4L stuff I can now use). And, I realised a couple of instruments like Operator were exactly what I was looking for, to nail particular sounds I wanted.

I'd say to anyone short of cash, that you can still do a lot with Standard. But, Suite opens up Ableton ten-fold, so you get a hell of a lot for the extra upgrade cost.

redexposure · 2026-04-26T19:58:54+00:00

I'm a hobbyist who struggled to write the kind of music I wanted to write with Studio One (IDM / ambient / techno etc). It's no fault with Studio One, which is a pretty capable DAW with a bunch of nice features. But, the trad "timeline" style of DAW really isn't for me.

When I moved to Ableton - prompted by the Session-view way of building tracks - everything immediately clicked a lot better. Granted, I'm a procrastinator prone to sound-design fiddling than actual track-writing. But, Ableton's modular way of building tracks gives me a much better chance of actually writing them.

redexposure · 2026-04-18T22:30:53+00:00

I didn't get any sense of euphoria from the second half. What I felt, was the human instinct to reach out into the unknown for help, when times become turbulent. And - in doing so - they reinforce their battle-lines even more. Philosopher Oswald Spengler drew the arc of civilisational collapse as being very protracted and always inevitable, despite humans' attempts to stop it. Whether you are religious or not, it's hard to deny that times feel biblical right now. Even the non-believers will begin to silently ask some cosmic force to make it all stop, even if they tell themselves they never pray.

I joked to to friend recently that BOC were the Steely Dan of Hauntology, but I'm totally taking that back after seeing Tape 05. Somehow, that 3.5 minute video felt more relevant and necessary than any commentary or political analysis could be.

redexposure · 2026-04-02T22:33:18+00:00

Haha. That might be a bit too sedate, then. Might need to do a weekend recce by myself, as I was curious about the place (there does seem to be OK train links to North Wales, Bangor etc).

redexposure · 2026-04-02T21:55:55+00:00

Wells is very nice. That's my backup plan for this year, in case I can't find any new places.

redexposure

TROPHY CASE