monomachine vs. sunlight
I’ve had several hours to mess around with my new synth/sequencer since it showed up on Thursday. I think I just might be able to make some music with it. The reviews for this thing did it justice, though I was a little leery when I opened the box and everything wasn’t quite as I expected it. Alot of that had to do with all the hype around the box and my extremely high expectations of the actual design and presentation… strictly superficial.
I basically figured this thing would be like nothing I’d ever seen before, instead of the very stylish and immaculate box with medium-to-high quality buttons and knobs that it was. I wanted everything to be untouched but it looked like it had been handled a little roughly. (Read: “I’m anal retentive and the plastic sheeting protecting the face plate was a bit torn, the cardboard box had a few holes in it and the literature was scuffed.) Regardless, everything is in fine working order and after getting warmed up with the buttons and arrangement of the interface, I definitely like the way this thing works. There must be a good deal of tech in there because this little bugger feels hefty.
The sounds this thing can make are ridiculous and, sound-wise, it is exactly what I was looking for. The possibilites seem vast and I hope I can get the basics down regarding manipulating parameters and combinations of effects, filters, LFOs and synthesis. Essentially this machine is built to be exceedingly flexible with the sounds, filters and effects it provides.
The only thing I’m really worried about are the percussion sounds but maybe after making some tracks I’ll have no worries. The cool thing I patched up today was routing my turntables/mixer into the Monomachine to process the signal using effects etc. My lack of familiarity with the interface, options and parameters makes me wonder about live use in a DJ format but the thing can do crazy things when processing the sound. I better go buy some RCA cables, various adapters and maybe a midi interface or two.
I’ve only run the stock patterns, tweaking the existing sounds and kits along with the previously mentioned effects tweaking with my DJ setup. The sounds that have come out so far have been pretty fun and exciting but the best part is recognizing those crazy sounds and effects that are a part of some of my favorite electronic music (Towa Tei, Dadamnphreaknoisephunk and others). I wonder how other folks are putting their’s to use? It was really cool to take an existing soundtrack (some Stan Getz/Laurindo Almeida bossa nova and SoleSides tracks) and morph it with all the parameters and filters.
Maybe it’s no different than any other number of hardware/software effects or synths boxes and I’m just slap happy because it’s all new to me. Something tells me that this thing is a special combination of electronic music fun wrapped in a little metal box that should be perfect for me if I can figure out how to use it. The big disappointment is probably going to be my innate musical ability – or trying to find whatever I have that comes close to that.
Oh yeah. Sunlight. The grooves will have to wait until I finish the garage art studio today. Sunshine and fresh air at last!
12 June 2004, 13:36 ::
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— alogic 2004-06-14 05:28 #