rumpelfilter
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Italy

H there! The more I dwell on this forum, the more I feel like increasing the chipsound part of my equipment. I currently only have a C64 with Mssiah, a Gakken SX-150 and am awaiting the arrival of a Casio VL-1 keyboard. (of course I have some other stuff in my studio, but that's too Hi-fi and doesn't really count)

So now the question: do you have any tips on what I could check out to expand my current set up? I'm in an experimenting mood, and I don't fear the little DIY here and there, though I'm not an expert in electronics (still working on that).

arlen
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You could build a midibox SID or something. That's pretty DIY and badass.

rumpelfilter
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Italy

yeah! Well actually I have already pre-ordered a sammich kit. Midibox had me a bit scared... you the sourcing for all the parts thing. Of course the MidiboxSID with all the knobs is still tempting...

I'm actually also quite intrigued by the Shruti-1 btw... but they still haven't revealed a realease date.

but what about some vintage stuff... like Sinclair Spectrum or something like that, can that be used for making music? I really can't find real info on the web about it.

gwEm
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London

try an Atari ST, its dead easy to load software on it - no need to build anything

Jellica
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England

I think that a more important question is do you know how to use what equipment you have already?

i wouldnt think of expanding what you have until you know how to use that C64 properly, its pretty damn versatile.

Last edited by Jellica (Feb 9, 2010 4:31 pm)

herr_prof
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Or lsiten to your music, and find the thing that makes the sound you miss most! Lots of people do great music with far less equipment.

arottenbit
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Milan, Italy

Hey Amico!

Where are you from!? big_smile

I could be predictable.. but a gameboy + lsdj is really powerfull, easy and cheap! smile

chunter
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Brunswick, GA USA

Perhaps a question to ask is, why do you want to expand your setup?  Maybe some Boss pedals will do.

rumpelfilter
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Italy

I forgot to mention one thing: if I'm going to expand I want something somehow portable, something I could use also live... I have some really heavy gear in my studio, like a Korg DSS-1 which is an amazing synth imho but I wouldn't take it to a gig, it's just too heavy.

first of all thanks a lot to everybody for your answers!

@GwEm: Atari ST sounds interesting, but not really portable, is it?
@Jellica: Well I'm still figuring out the C64. What I really like is the Mssiah monosynth. But that's a monosynth, you can't do a whole track with it. I could get a second c64 and another mssiah cart and use sequencer on one and monosynth on the other... but I liked the idea of addin something with a different sound to the setup. Anyway, generally speaking you have a point, maybe I should think less about buying gear...
@herr_prof: that's a good advice... will think about it.
@arottenbit: yeah gameboy... have been thinking about it... but I must admit that I'm a bit tired of the sound...
@chunter: well yeah, I somehow need just one more device... but boss pedals are a great idea nonetheless...

rumpelfilter
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Italy
arottenbit wrote:

Hey Amico!
Where are you from!? big_smile

I've sent you a PM... did you get it?

CMDR
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brighton, uk

Invest in some sort of disk hardware for your c64 and get tracking!
I reccomend 1541u, expensive yet portable!

arottenbit
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Milan, Italy
rumpelfilter wrote:

yeah gameboy... have been thinking about it... but I must admit that I'm a bit tired of the sound...

yeah.. i guess.. but using it with some other instrument (you already have) is really really nice. If you're doing dance-able songs gameboys has the most powerfull sweep kicks ever (imo).

rumpelfilter
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Italy
CMDR wrote:

Invest in some sort of disk hardware for your c64 and get tracking!
I reccomend 1541u, expensive yet portable!

yeah, I really need one of those... right now I'm writing down settings of patches I make...
C64TPC would be cheaper... but not really portable, since laptops don't have serial ports (although I heard something about having it work with USB).

arottenbit wrote:

yeah.. i guess.. but using it with some other instrument (you already have) is really really nice. If you're doing dance-able songs gameboys has the most powerfull sweep kicks ever (imo).

Well I have a GB lying around, could try it out... seems like a fun thing to play with anyway. I should probably mod it with pro sound...
I tried out nanoloop on the emulator and it looked sweet, don't know about lsdj

Sabrepulse
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London, UK
gwEm wrote:

try an Atari ST, its dead easy to load software on it - no need to build anything

i've wanted to try your dj software since watching the workshop at blip07, one of these days....!

Sabrepulse
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London, UK
rumpelfilter wrote:

@arottenbit: yeah gameboy... have been thinking about it... but I must admit that I'm a bit tired of the sound...

Put the time in, and you can make music that sounds nothing like a gameboy!

Jellica
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England
rumpelfilter wrote:

@Jellica: Well I'm still figuring out the C64. What I really like is the Mssiah monosynth. But that's a monosynth, you can't do a whole track with it. I could get a second c64 and another mssiah cart and use sequencer on one and monosynth on the other... but I liked the idea of addin something with a different sound to the setup. Anyway, generally speaking you have a point, maybe I should think less about buying gear...

seriously the C64 is fucking perfect, get a decent tracker and explore that baby a whole lot. its a bit fucking uncontrolable and random at first but persevere, that filter and ring mod are loverly and try multispeed for those tight sounds.