@lettuce: Have you ever considered using Reaper? Again, you can rewire Renoise and program fluent patterns alongside long recordings of guitar…and you can move things around, too (you’d have to record the Renoise patterns for that or move the patterns around within Renoise). It’s cheap and simple + you can test it for 60 days with all the functionality.
@Renoised: I thought you wanted to keep the Volca Sample? And yeah, I’ll probably get an 8-track at some point, perhaps with some MIDI-features…Unless I get bored of cassette recorders, but I love the vibe of them…It’s quite different from recording stuff in Reaper…Can’t wait to combine it with Renoise somehow.
By R8, I thought you were talking about the Roland R8 drum machine. On that note, I’ve heard it’s quite an interesting machine. From what I’ve heard, it’s got some weird “error”-feature to make it sound more human. Autechre used it on Flutter and other stuff. 808 State, too. Has anybody here used it?
On the real R8: I was eye-ing those as well before I got the cassette multi-track. Same with the Boss-unit, but it doesn’t have the same feel to it, I think. When I read it had a sampler I got really excited, but then I did some research and realized it’s not what I imagined it to be (thought one could just get a drummachine and control the sampler in the unit like a real one, then record guitar at the same time and sync it all via MIDI…how awesome that would be! All in one…the only thing missing would’ve been the strings)…The predecessor unit has MIDI tho (the HD16), but it’s still not the real deal in terms of what I was fantasizing about. Just my thoughts on it.
@Renoised: Reading your post on the other thread, you remind me of me. Thomann probably thinks I completely abuse their return policy as does the Musicstore…So much gear returned. You look at my purchase-history and my room and there is almost no comparison.
Yeah, I’d love to get a reel-to-reel type for that vibe, but it’s too expensive and too hard to maintain…Will never do so. Concerning your setup: When you use the QY700, A3000 and the 4-track, do you sync the QY with the 4-track? I’ve seen people do it on youtube using MTC/SMPTE converters…
WHen it comes to old gear, I’m also more attracted to it for several reasons. Unless it’s practical stuff like audio interfaces etc., I always prefer old stuff due to their referential depth (if you can call it that) among other reasons. Those pieces of gear have proven themselves worthy and great music, in a way better music than today at times, was performed on them back in the day, so why get anything new?
And btw, the reason why I didn’t wanna get the ESX-1 isn’t just the price, but that it’s ugly. Yeah, I’m pretty simple, but if I use it all day, it has to be nice to look at. x)
Have you ever used the DR880 just as a sequencer for other gear or samples in Renoise? If yes, do you think that would be beneficial? And what are your thoughts on its predecessor, the DR 660 that Squarepusher used until 2001
I just read up on the user manual of 660 and it stands well on its own. It’s got 255 sounds and 7 preset kits and 32 user kits. Two banks of A and B and sounds 33-55 (technically bank C) are playable only via midi controller, with A and B having 16 sounds each. It does not have any bass module or synth inbuilt but it has a flam button and a roll button with configurable quantized intervals similar to the Note Repeat feature in MPC. The pattern editing and song writing modes are very drum machine like and just like in an MPC you list out parts with pattern numbers. For a sound bank comparison it’s less than half of DR 880, and no bass module or a guitar bass FX and tuner module either. Memory is also comparatively less with DR 880 having 500 slots for preset and user patterns. There are 3 banks in each drum kit for the 880 and all are playable via the single pad button to toggle between them. The DR has no roll features or flam button but that’s fine though. In my opinion unless you are really sold on the realism or playability aspect of 880 or for the guitar fx it might not be the best machine for your needs unless you try it first and see for yourself. 660 stands well on its own as a dedicated drum module and Squarepusher used it too so it’s for that IDM reference 
btw 660 has an internal battery that stores the patterns and user stuff and it’s given in the manual that it last for 5 years and requires change after that.
Akai also has a drum machine XR 20 which is more geared towards a stock hip hop and dance oriented sound rompler and not much for realism but for that stylistic oomph sounds. It’s a lot like buying a drum sampler plugin. I don’t have this but I think it would be great to play with and do some productions with onboard sounds.
As a midi controller for Renoise yes I did wire it up via USB and enabled the midi mode of 880 and it sends midi but it’s keypad layout is something more akin to the one in MPC pads too and it’s not chromatic as you would expect. So some amount of internal remapping needs to be done in Renoise or via pad assignments on the DR 880. Since I use it for hardware and have other pads and controllers for laptop midi and also MPC Element whose pads are really awesome and the MPC1000 and 500, I don’t use this for midi purposes with laptop.
If 1000 does not work for you becos of its rather archaic pads and upgrade issues I highly recommend the 500 becos there is no compromise on the sampler and sequencer section and it’s got a Q link too and super portable and runs on 6 batteries and apart from easier sample chopping visual style as on there 1000 pretty much the rest is very similar. It is done via sample numbers and trim start and end parameters via Mode->Trim on the 500, everything else is pretty much there unless you are looking for those additional JJOS stuff which no doubt is powerful on its own as a feature set but honestly speaking I use the 500 way more because of its tough build, smaller size, lighter weight, full sequencer and excellent audio hardware. The 12 pads and 4 banks are not an issue for me as my workflow uses those key features mostly and for obvious reasons I actually enjoy doing the sample editing by ear and sample offset numbers rather than a rough LCD graph waveform like in the 1000. The time it takes it really nothing more than some pad presses on the Pad 10 ‘Sample loop’, Pad 11 ‘Play To’ and Pad 12 ‘Play From’ functions and I can edit any sample in seconds. Remember to use SHIFT and the right or left cursor keys to move through the number columns for more granularity and just move the dial on larger digit places to the left and for fine tuning move one place or two to right, fine tuning done in no time. The Edit->Extract feature does the pad assignments from the extracted sample from the original audio capture and it’s very intuitive if not too easy. If you enable Autonormalize in the Mode->Record parameters you don’t have to do any post Normalise in the Edit menu items, saving any gain related manual time spent.
The 500 has no mixer though but the program parameters have all the gain and pan and pad assignments and FX routing in one place and selection is done by dial or by pressing the bank and/or pad to reach your destination pad. Tracks are 48 and each sequence has 48 of them. It’s alot of data that can be entered and played with and it’s a mini powerhouse that really engages you if you give it some time. Pads are not the best though. For any other MPCs the recent ones are dope and older Studio and Renaissance still require the laptop at all times pretty much negate the hardware setup to begin with, much like Maschine.
@Lettuce: MPD218 is a very capable midi controller and with MPC 2.0 you should have no issues working with the MPC software workflow via the plugin in Renoise or standalone. I have the MPC Element from an earlier purchase and it’s pads and backlight is also very workable and solid. It fits with the MPC software very tight too. It’s not meant for full hardware use since it’s a pared down version that gives just the pads mainly as the midi interface and other buttons for transport etc but it does the job admirably and way cheaper than the Renaissance or Studio if laptop linkage is still a thing. Plus you can use it with iPad too for the iPad MPC apps and even as a regular midi controller from the MPC software menus. I know it’s not very well recieved but I totally appreciate it and am glad I never got the Studio or other similar controllers, they are all going defunkt anyways with the legacy standalones and the modern standalones taking centrestage for the most part… Plus I got the real MPCs anyways.
You should check out the Beatmaking labs videos on YouTube and their site they use Akai controllers for their social work round the world.
iPad used to be cool but honestly speaking even a phone gets bulk of the job done.iPad has space issues but a phone can have an external SD card, I got a 64 GB one from Samsung and it holds a lot of sample packs and other stuff. As a sound source and sequencer and guitar tuner and FX module, drummachine and audio editor it pretty much does everything you need from a portable computer. To enter data into MPC I can just record right off YouTube or play a sample from Caustic synths and drum sequences programmed into Caustic or use a drone Synth app and do some minor edits of an audio and feed it back to record it…options are endless, and unless the rather high quality apps on iOS are not the only reason to get the hardware for sounds itself through phone and an internet connection and high capacity SD card is all you need to outrank the iPad. But one thing iPad excels at is it’s touchscreen and practically zero latency. Also apps are higher quality than on Android. Some apps like Korg Gadget will not even run on a phone. Korg Electribe is another good app emulation of its hardware counterpart. Beatmaker is a very powerful app and directly mimics the MPC features and making its own too. Lots of audio mastering apps and Auria for a full fledged Protools like audio recorder setup. iRig had some excellent guitar amp apps, Notion is really good on the iPad for sheet music, some good transcription apps, Guitar Pro, Sunvox on iPad and by now you can do all the Beatmaking and production you want. iPad actually is very powerful for media creation even if the hardware support itself is dismal in things like space and ease of access. Phones don’t have a chance on that kind of firepower as of yet. GarageBand app on iPad is really productive too, and the guitar and bass simulations are good and physically playable too, which is darn too difficult on a regular phone.
have you tried rx-16 for mac?
seems a bit older, was written for the mpc 2000 XL.
would like to know if that works with the mpc 500 or 1000
@encryptedmind: Thanks for all the info! The MPC sounds attractive, very simple and cheap. I’ll keep that in the back of my head. For now, I’ll stick with Renoise + Reaper and will continue trying to master that. No real reason to surrender that yet.
In terms of the 660 sound as being a reference to Squarepusher, in terms of sound I wouldn’t say it is. Afaik, he didn’t use the sounds, but midi-ed the DR up to an Akai S950. Here his thoughts on it:https://youtu.be/knnLsJ37PLI?t=28s:> I might be wrong on that, but I can’t think of an early Squarepusher track that doesn’t use old breaks from records.
@Renoised: Oh yes, I forgot it was an 8-track. Problem with those MIDI converters is that, in my country, they’re pretty hard to find. I tried looking for the Yamaha unit and the MTS 30 with no luck yet. But I’m not even sure if Renoise and Reaper support that anyways, perhaps the MPC? I’ll do some research on that.
Well, I’m 23, so for me it’s also not really natural to be driven towards analogue. What I like about it a lot is that it’s physical. You can see tape running and your music is on that tape, there is movement. It’s not 0s and 1s. And I say this as a computer science student. I love the sound of it, too…Not just the sound of the recording, but also when the tape stops, plays or is being fast-forwarded…
I’ll keep the Electribe in mind, too. Perhaps some day it’ll be a useful addition to my setup. x)
Btw: It’s kinda funny that in this picture http://dt7v1i9vyp3mf.cloudfront.net/styles/news_large/s3/imagelibrary/S/Sq_10.jpg?itok=SGczy8DT you can see how Squarepusher uses his QY700 (depending on how much dust has accumulated on the buttons).
@Renoised: raises hand For “Insert” (F6) and “Delete” (F5) in the Event List Editor? It’s the one he mainly uses. Or did you mean something else?
@random :
For MPC500 AND MPC1000 I would recommend MPC-MAID :
“Simply drag and drop your samples files onto the pads, and it automatically assigns them, one on each pad or one on each sample layer”
http://mpcmaid.sourceforge.net/
I should really give reaper a try. Its sounds great, everyone says it is good.
MPC2.0 as a plugin might just solve my audiotracks problem for free.
Also I was really hoping Cubasis would be released for windows.
(( sigh )) …
@Wangboi, just trying to be helpful. I’m aware you decided not to go for a BR-800 anyway (if that’s what you mean).
The wording is just a figure of speech, it’s really there to prevent others making the mistake of buying a BR-800
You’re not the only person I care about, I care about the well-being and wallets of all Renoise-using peeps!
@Renoised: just asking, exactly as where is this @Wangboi character of yours in this thread, I hope I am not hallucinating like you!
Don’t say shit like that, you’re just trying to make fun of my rare mental condition
There is a Wangboi posting in this thread cause I saw him!
Ok sorry 
@Renoised: Alright, that sounds interesting. x)
@lettuce (aka Wangboi?): You could also, I think, (if your PC supports it) sandbox Mac and run Cubasis on that virtual machine.
I’ll just stick to Renoise and Reaper now. I’m not even sure if I’m interested in those hardware boxes for the right reasons, maybe it’s just a distraction. One has to be careful with that.
Not trying to sound weird or artificially deep, but to me, a piece of gear (software or hardware) is like a woman (or a man or anything in between, depending on your interest). You can be one of those people who look for something new as soon as the initial excitement wears off and things get a bit more difficult. It’s nice, because things are always exciting (and dramatic). Or you stick with it for the long-term, even if that means you have to master the plateau, but it’ll be more fulfilling in the long run (+ you’ll be better at it). I prefer the latter even if my instincts sometimes want me to indulge in the path of least resistance (the first choice). 
YAMAHA TX16W
Invented during the Galactic Civil Wars by the Rebel Alliance to bypass the voice security protocols of the Death Stars
commander Grand Moff Tarkin; failed the Mission in Due to its low resolution & overall S/N Ratio, was then abandoned
to Planet Earth in the late 70s together with the Atari 2600 System & A Betamax Video Tape; released to public in 1988.
@El°HYM: I heard that one is Aphex Twin’s favourite sampler (while everyone else seems to hate it). He’s got several of them, too. He uses that Typhoon-OS on them (“it’s a work of art”). Reminds me of the TX81Z, one of my favourite synths to date.
@ Renoised :
Don’t address me as wangboi, old bogan. I suggest you exhibit considerable reform in your forum posting activities pursuant to an easing of tensions regarding those concerned. I will certainly be giving further consideration to the issue. I believe that your statements, in many respects, often display a simply unacceptable and pugnacious attitude. I bear no malice and yet I have made my position manifestly clear. On several separate occasions you have been charged with serious allegations of innappropriate behaviour. Claims that have been furiously denied by yourself. I put it to you that your comments directed towards myself amount to nothing more than an unscrupulous character assassination. Let me reaffirm that my unshakable commitment, iron discipline and strategic patience may leave you in a position of knowing that you are indeed responsible for your own downfall. It is a fiction to suggest that I have been named wangboi at any time. I am hoping you will not repeat your strong rhetoric which I regard as unnecessary and incendiary. As a matter of principle and fairness I must inform you that you should become willing to accept that your behaviour, presently and in the past, has fallen below the high standards that the ‘dr660 vs Reniose’ thread requires. I hope you are aware that most likely I will be personally responsible for the serious and swift response that this issue demands.
@lettuce: This reminds me of Lord Bullington’s speech right before Barry gives him that punch on his bottom in a moment of furious anger. Great scene.
@ Renoised :
Don’t address me as wangboi, old bogan.
@lettuce: 40 is not old as 30 is the new 20 and thus the practical age is around 30, especially for men, since we don’t have menopause or high amounts of estrogens This is a rather personal attack mentioning someone’s age or gender or caste or creed from the outset which is not a healthy way of communicating anyways. If someone started a comment with ‘Yo nigger’ I bet it will be deleted from any thread. It’s tantamount to calling a woman a ‘pussy’. Many won’t take it well becos it is derogatory. @Renoised has demonstrated considerable poise so this is not on him.
Oh, lettuce, are you that guy who hijacked my last thread and got into that big argument with Renoised before the moderators took care of it? I thought you guys made up at this point. Because that was like 3 months ago which in internet-time is like…3 years.
Anyways, this time I forgive you, because you did actually contribute to this thread quite a bit (up until #71), but don’t let this end up like my last thread. I wouldn’t appreciate that.
Back to topic a bit: Concerning longer audio tracks/recordings, are there any good workarounds and techniques to do so in Renoise (that aren’t a pain in the ass)? I’ve tried a few things, but all of those solutions are really a pain. Ideally, an easy and nice way to use the sample-command over several patterns (longer than 256) automatically without me having me having to measure it all concerning the offsets (depending on BPM, pitch etc.). Perhaps there is a script for that?
…and dont post about abusing prostitutes and keeping women in confined spaces all over the renoise forums.
Only thing that comes to mind other than what you already tried is to break down the recordings themselves, just think more in terms of Renoise when you record your audio in the first place. Vocals for example, don’t record them in their entirety, split the recording into verses or even sentences, whatever gives you the most appropriate creativity. Same with guitar, just record in sections rather than one long take. Think about how you could re-use certain parts, so you even get to save on disk space.
Basically just do that for all audio recording, get used to thinking in terms of recording in smaller takes rather than entirety.
Yeah, I’ve thought about that, too, and perhaps something different and unexpected arrives from that process! I also got myself a cordial cable to connect my Mac to the 4-track…Can’t wait to record my Renoise-stuff into it and smash it around + play guitar over it!