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first synth/groovebox or...ipad?
Hi everybody,
I was considering buying a groovebox like the new electribe, and was intrigued by the novation circuit but... what about an ipad? it seems to offer a lot of virtual instruments, synths and they seems to be pretty cheap on the applestore.
I have no hardware instrument at the moment, and it is pretty expensive to build an equipment, I thought to start with a groovebox to use with logic pro, which I actually use for everything.
is it worth to invest in an Ipad (air 2) as an instrument?
Comments
I had a play around with the Circuit , it was fun but a bit limited really . I'd say get an iPad - so much you can do , be you a pro musician or a hobby noise maker - the choice of virtual synths , groove boxes , drum machines , DAWs , samplers , DJ decks is mind blowing - Have fun !
Maybe instead of a groovebox, have you tried a MIDI controller with Logic? Something like Akai's MPD series, or a Novation Launchpad. Would probably be a cheaper option and give you tactile control over Logic, which itself will have deeper options than almost any hardware groovebox (Alchemy Synth, for instance).
An iPad is great. My personal recommendation is to try out some hardware first and get a feeling for that, if you haven't before. It's fun and a great way to learn.
If your planning on getting a groovebox, my best advice would be an iPad with korg gadget!
If you're deep into Logic Pro, and want something really tactile and 'hardware' to deeply integrate with Logic, then I think @CalCutta's advice is good advice.
If however, you want to explore all sorts of other, less traditional, sound making possibilities beyond the desktop, then I'd say buy an iPad.
I am 100% iPad - never really go near a desktop.
However, now is an interesting time (I'm sure people will give you more info on this) to integrate iPad music making into desktop DAWs because just recently you can quite easily push iPad audio and midi through a USB cable straight into a Mac.
Link from Ableton also means you can perfectly sync tempo. But unfortunately that's not for Logic.
IPAD!
thank you guys for the advices.
about the controller, I'm actually using a poor behringer umx49 wich is good only for playing something but doesn't control so much. the fact is that I find hard to invest in something that's just a controller, and to have a great controller you have to spend a lot...I saw the Nektar panorama p4...just wow...but it's 370€ here, and I thought "for that price I should take something that sounds by itself..." so I took a look at electribe 2 sampler, circuit, also the blofeld, just to start with some hardware, but I really don't know when I can buy other hardware in the future, so it came this idea of the ipad, yes maybe more expensive than a 400$ groovebox but with more possibilities.
does someone use logic remote?
You make many good points. In a relative price range, you can find a cheaper controller than a Nektar (those look amazing). Craigslist can be good for finding a controller second hand. Like an Akai MPD24, for instance.
The Blofeld always looked like a killer synth. Always wanted to try one!
Logic remote is nice, but thumbjam/chordpolypad/fugue machine or patterning can do so much more for me (I use logic too)
And then you have gadget/sector/samplr and hundred of apps that are either not available on desktop or much more expensive
And soon Kirnu cream and modstep !
Logic remote has the interface of the iOS garage band
Blofeld is amazing, but in iPad-land there is Nave which is quite similar at a fraction of the price.
Which brings me to Attack Machine which pushed me to sell a MFB Tanzbar.
Said that, a lot depends on which type of integration you are aiming.... Personally I m going more and more in-box since there are so many things to go nuts.....as hardware I just keep something I cannot have virtually.... A Moog, and plenty of different type of midi controller which helps me to express in a different way.
iPad 100% nailed on. I have had most (almost all) the grooveboxes in my time.- now I only have two.... because of the iPad.... You can buy a huge amount to experiment with for a little money and with a huge choice. The Electribes are proving to be a bit of a pain for most- have a look at the Korg Forums Electribe and you will see what I mean. There is word of a new Roland all singing/ dancing (and all the rest of it) sampling groovebox for 2016 so it may be worth waiting for a look at that- to see what they come up with.
Incidentally the two grooveboxes I have left are a Yamaha AN 200- amazing , and a Novation Circuit which I recently rushed out to buy- but have been left feeling a tad underwhelmed with it...... sadly
Yeah Blofeld is great. Still miss my Waldorf XTK, even with all the iPad wavetable apps.
Waldorf also make a Euro Rack Wavetable module. Been seriously considering a Eurorack with this module and an analog filter. Problem is I kept adding units and it quickly got out of my cost range lol
If you're looking at hardware grooveboxes, don't forget about the Roland JD-Xi (I'm pretty sure there aren't any rule saying a groovebox can't have keys instead of pads;) . Switched my E2 for it, very happy I did. My first choice would be an iPad though. In the end, that thing will get you the furthest. And yes, Blofeld is awesome, have one on top of the master keyboard. Wouldn't exactly compare it to Nave tho.
@robosardine I'm curious about that rumored roland groovebox...as i'm not going to do this "upgrade" to my setup until 2-3 months (I want to see the new ipad air 3) I wish there will be some news also about that.
so the ipad appear to be a good choice (it would be also useful to work with at university, writing, mails, ecc...)
to those who use it, what are the best synths and apps you use?
Here we go...
I personally think the days of hardware based groove boxes are counted for. In terms of functionality they mostly are lacking features you'll get from software or Apps for much less money.
What they do tend to emphasize is the analog appeal or gearlust factor. I mean as much as I like the small concepts like Volcas etc. They are way to expensive for they can actually do in a production set up.
I would tackle your questions like this. The thing that kind of can give you a direction to go is wether you plan on creating music live, via Jams, Looping and Layering or If you want to produce music the oldfashioned Sequencer based way.
Depending on what direction you want to go there are different options.
My advice for beginners:
get an iPad mini 4 and 150 $ iTunes Store Credit for the first apps, and a CME xkey 25
My advice for intermmediate or aspiring semi pro's to pros':
Get an iPad Air 2, get a decent Macbook Air and load the Air 2 with your favorite apps, get a copy of Ableton Live Standard, get a CME xkey 25
I havent booted into my Macbook Pro DAW Setup in quite a while
I'm going to be the contrarian then I guess, and vote for the groovebox. Having hands on control when you're just getting started tends to make it more fun I find. And both the electribe and Circuit are limited enough that it'll force you to really take your time crafting your sounds, a skill that pays back loads later on.
The Ipad is certainly more powerful, but that can be a fault too. Too much to focus on, and with apps being so cheap it's too damn easy to jump ship to something new before you fully learn what you were using before. Saying grooveboxes are on the way out seems odd to me, given how many new things have been released in just the last couple of years from Roland, Korg, Novation, etc. If anything, I see a resurgence lately.
Just my $0.02 though.
Get an MC303 and relive the '90s.
Get a second hand iPad Air or iPad mini2. I've owned many many groove box / samplers (like more than 10) and the iPad offers so much more. No joke.
I have an sp303 and volca sample at the moment, just bought another iPad, and sold my Electribe EMX and e2.
I love my iPad, it's my main instrument. I have of late, been hankering for some knobberly and sliderlishious fun.
Cheap mono synth time me thinks
Agree 100%
I'm with Tarekith on that the limitations imposed by a hardware groovebox can be a very good thing. I'm getting a lot more done on the jdxi then with the iPad. The jdxi is limited to 2 supernatural synth parts, 1 drum part and 1 analog monophonic synth part. So 4 tracks. And 4 bars (altho u can obviously spread that out over multiple patterns/programs). So safe to say it really is limiting in contrast to an iPad with Cubasis, Auria or whatever. But then again, I am getting a lot more results out of it then with the iPad..
The hardware groovebox market is only going to get bigger (again), just look at all the success with the electribes,jdxi,circuit,volcas,pocket operators and so on.
I'd still recommend an iPad, unless you already have a desktop DAW, just try to keep the appoholism in check and you should be fine;)
I agree. Personally, my long-term goal is to move to actual instruments and utilize the iPad as strictly a DAW.
I'm with @Tarekith on this one. Both for the limitations/focus and the tactile points. And by "limitations", it's not like full songs can't be made on something like an Electribe. Also, for the cost of an iPad Air 3, you can get like 4 used groove boxes!
I used to have an Emu command station. Kind of miss it
Got a great deal on one of those a couple of month ago. Turns out it was because a lot of the knobs no longer worked so had to return it. It's a really fun box though.
Had an Emu 6400 too. Hell to program, but it sounded so good. You could put samples onto one of the cards inside and then put it into the Command Station.
groove boxes are definitely coming back, and it's because the promise of all of the so called state of the art software groove boxes haven't kept their promises of futuristic nirvana. Take maschine for example you can't even automate tempo, time signatures, or record mutes on it and despite it being larger than a millennium falcon most iPad sequencers put the maschine sequencer to shame, not to mention there are 20 year old hardware groove boxes that can do the things that maschine cannot do....... it's actually maschine that has ushered in this new era of hardware groove boxes and the iPad and a hardware groovebox make a great combination. You can get something like an mpc-500 used for a couple hundred, or an mpc-1000 for not much more. Paired with an ipad mini 4, link, and be in heaven.
I used to run the Command Station mailing list for the guys at E-Mu, that was a super fun box for sure. Shame that the hardware didn't last as well as the synthe engine.