Processing Synths and Drum Machines through a Vintage Maxon Mixer
Музыка
A follow up to the Boss KM-60 mixer video I did a few weeks back: • Processing Drum Machin...
This time we're taking the analogue mixer test further with a vintage Maxon RM-60 and RM-100 EX to see how both synths and drums machines sound through processed through them.
Level 1: Simple
Synths and Drum Machines:
TR-606 (1981)
TB-303 (1981)
Roland System 500 (2016)
FX:
Boss DM-2 (1981)
Dr Scientist BitQuest (2014)
Strymon El Capistan (2010)
Control:
Arturia BeatStep Pro (2015)
Level 2: Moderate
Synths and Drum Machines:
Oberheim DXa (1983)
Moog Minitaur (2012)
Roland SH-101 (1982)
ARP Avatar (1977)
FX:
Maxon UE 303 B (1982)
Boss CE-2 (1979)
Boss DM-2 (1981)
Lexicon Impulse
Dr Scientist BitQuest (2014)
Strymon El Capistan (2010)
Control:
Arturia BeatStep Pro (2015)
Level 3: Full Beans
Synths and Drum Machines:
Roland TR-707 (1984)
Yamaha DX-7 (1983)
ARP Odyssey 2813 (1976)
Sequential Circuits Pro~One (1981)
Korg MS-20 Mark 1 (1978)
Guitar:
Ibanez JEM 7DBK (2002)
FX:
Maxon UE 303 B (1982)
Boss CE-2 (1979)
Boss DM-2 (1981)
Ibanez Tubescreamer TS-808 reissue (2014)
Dr Scientist BitQuest (2014)
Strymon El Capistan (2010)
Control:
Arturia BeatStep Pro (2015)
Korg SQ-1 (2015)
MOTU Midi Express 128 (2003)
Cubase
Social:
alexballmusic
Facebook.com/alexballmusic
Пікірлер: 264
Stop jabbering and show me the results: 3:23 7:28 10:41
@theshyguy1580
4 жыл бұрын
LOL!!
@MrKrisstain
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. Next time "shut up and show me the results" is even better
@d.a.v3danimationprod791
4 жыл бұрын
😂😂..im saying the same thing,as im at the laundrymat watching this..."just get on with it"
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
@@d.a.v3danimationprod791 Ha. Well it's that thing that if I just showed the results then that would be meaningless because it wouldn't explain what was happening. But then the explanations take a couple of minutes each so it gets pretty wordy. Hence this quick link for people who have no use for the explanations.
@d.a.v3danimationprod791
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks alex, keep up the good work👍👊
The jam at the end was sicccccck. Would love to hear that with the mix on the guitar pumped up a bit. Regardless the filth was turned up to 11, and I'm living for it.
@richardhedderly
4 жыл бұрын
"Regardless the filth was turned up to 11" - pmsl
@mightymike1978
4 жыл бұрын
hehe, was going to comment but your comment was killing it to the max. so my comment is obsolete now... ;-)
Wow, it sounds great. I used to work at guitar center in 2000 and remember when people were trading in their old analog mixers for comparative priced digital mixers, and hearing their mixes get worse.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Yep, better doesn't mean "better" I guess. These mixers actually glue things together very musically.
@bobafruti
4 жыл бұрын
I imagine 20yr old digital mixers are now worth well less than the analog mixers they traded in.
@fender97
Жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Agree. The difference is night and day between analogue and digital gear. It's like when you have a valve and a transistor guitar amp, no contest. Nice work on the tunes.
@marklewis4024
Жыл бұрын
I agree!
It doesn't just sound fantastic, it looks fantastic, too! Love those colored knobs.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah, bright knobs and glowing VUs. The aesthetic is part of the experience.
@tactul7376
2 жыл бұрын
anyone any Idea, where to find those? My RM is lacking 4 of those and would look less thooth-less with them ^^
Brilliant as always! And hell yeah, that jam at the end was awesome! (Actually, all jams were really good!)
Awesome! Love the new editing! another must-share video!
Great videos. I can’t tell ya how helpful your short explanations are. I love hearing about routing and effects. Please keep them coming and I’ll keep watching. Thanks again for your time.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. I never know whether it's useful or just irrelevant blathering so good to know.
As soon as u pressed play, I shouted out yesssss. The acid line is dope. All sounds wicked
Amazing video and production! I love all the retro gear you have on display and in use. I have to say that the 2nd performance was my favorite; Although all were top notch! :)
Really, really good songs! I can't wait to see what you do with all the ARPs!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers Nathan :)
What a party you're having there, man!!! I'm glad you have great fun doing music having done so many great tracks. Hugs. Santi from BOF
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
👊
That was really cool. Sounded awesome. That cable that was running in front of you in the last set up. I'd have forgotten that was there and walked through it, breaking the cable and pulling a heap of gear from both sides onto the floor. I'm clumsy like that.
Amazing sound! I'd dance the night away to that music.
Very nice video. Great music you make!
Sounds amazing. Great work.
I keep coming back to this video for the first track, and I can't stop...
really enjoying your vids Alex
Love it! I've been doing this for years especially on drums. I've an old spring reverb unit that was designed for a hi-fi (because spring reverb makes everything better!) that I especially love on piano. I often find using equipment in ways it's not been intended can bring great results.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Spring reverb for a hi-fi! Haha, what a simultaneously brilliant and terrible idea! Can imagine people soaking perfectly good recordings into oblivion. Great to repurpose it for music making. Agree, many sounds I love come from using equipment in ways it wasn't intended for.
@graxjpg
3 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic people used to put spring reverbs in their CARS!!! To make the AM radio sound better I guess.
@AlexBallMusic
3 жыл бұрын
I want a spring reverb in my car!
@graxjpg
3 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic I know a guy who has one from a rat rod he made in the 70s. It’s the biggest spring reverb tank I’ve ever seen! The size of a square mandolin case!
@t0xcn253
2 жыл бұрын
Making a career out of misusing equipment is my stated goal
Love your videos Alex !
Awesome thank you so much for sharing !! I obviously loved the first part :p and I'm again astonished by your guitar timming ! Love your channel, cheers !
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Can't go wrong with a bit of 303. Sounds perfect driven and with the bass pumped. Guitar - cheers. Thought I'd mix it up.
@LouisSerieusement
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic This mixer sounds really good when overdriven with the 303, it's not always the case but here the distorted 303 sounds just perfect !
That was awesome so glad I randomly found this!!
Superb video Alex
Super mega like! I've recently found a really really rare copy of a Boss Km6A, made by a strange company called Pro.2 It sounds AMAZING, one of this days, I will make a review video and send it to you. Thank you and cheers from Colombia!
You are straight-up goals, man.
Fuck yeah dude, always pumped to see one of your videos.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers!
I love the sound you’re getting from this gear! Reminds me very much of some early to mid 80s Cabaret Voltaire 👍
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. Yes, I like what these mixers do to audio signals.
@NeuronalAxon
4 жыл бұрын
Does sound a bit CV-ish, yeah. 👍
Cant wait for that ARP documentary! 👀👀👀
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Coming together. Very exciting. :)
@SaumBodhi
3 жыл бұрын
Whats that?
@lucasc5622
3 жыл бұрын
@@SaumBodhi literally just google arp documentary. its not hard
@AlexBallMusic
3 жыл бұрын
@@lucasc5622 The ARP documentary was still being made when this video was uploaded and he's referring to a comment I made to that effect at 6:23.
you've got serious talent
Such a nice guy. Such great videos!
@MisAnnThorpe
4 жыл бұрын
I've met him - I sold him the Avatar - and he struck me as the kind of person I'd want for a friend. Unfortunately, I'm not!
I love these videos, it would be great to see you do something similar with maybe some more common/inexpensive mixers from boss or otherwise. Again, it's so cool to see you do this stuff although it would also be really cool if your viewers, who don't have the deepest pockets, could go out and try it for themselves without spending a lot of money!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah totally understand. It's more a question of the character of something. If an inexpensive mixer just has a straightforward sound with no colour then great, but it's not going to make for an interesting video (in my mind). If something inexpensive does something in particular that takes a sound somewhere then that would be perfect. Will have to keep an eye out.
Great demo!
Excellent programming! Cheers!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
amazing work
That first acid jam had me reaching for the pingers! 😳😉😂
Great video, as usual. I'm not nearly so much of a gearhead, but your enthusiasm is infectious. The irony of retro gear enthusiasm is that us old farts couldn't WAIT for digital to take over so we could get rid of all those pesky analogue artifacts and get a "clean", "perfect" sound. I suppose in retrospect, those artifacts actually did add something aesthetic to the mix. Hindsight is always 20/20!
@DarkSideofSynth
4 жыл бұрын
So true! Noise floor, hiss, hum. cables everywhere, imperfect tuning, imperfect timing, 'cheesy' sounds, distortion.... Now they want them all back. I guess music and technolgy are a bit like fashion: what is in one day, is out the next and then it's back in years later and the cycle goes on and on... Who knows, perhaps in 8-10 years the 2010s will be retro and people will crave for 'old' plugins and sound libraries... or not ;)
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
It's like black and white photos or old 8mm video. Gives a hazy rose tinted view of something. If something is too clear we seem to dislike it, like it's a bit bland. Just look at Instagram with all those filters for a case in point!
@wingflanagan
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Yup. Perhaps it's best to think of them as adding "character". I must confess I like film grain in photos and movies, which sort of contradicts what I said before. Maybe it's because I was older and more set in my ways when digital photography became a thing.
great work Alex!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers Jasper 👊
amazing sound bravo!
got subscribed on this one ! the track is fire !!
@AlexBallMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@JIDEHHIGHELEMENTS
3 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic where can I find some of your music to listen , thx
Happy to see you using the "SL' Avatar" Alex!
Great show. Thank you a lot.
final track was super gnarly!
This is great, I’d love to see you your processes you used for making your album, which I love btw top of my lists for listening to.
Been listening to that new album of yours. That thing is amazing!!! Do more!!! If you could do one using like more vintage modular machines, that would be amazing!!!!!!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. There will be more vintage modular when I'm able.
Sounds huge!!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Yeah, the compression from the saturation certainly fattens it up.
the last one is really unique...great tune
Phase II has that awesome Gary Numan / Tubeway Army vibe, great stuff!
Sounds freaking amazing man! We run a very simular set up for making rap beats very similar textures.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Nice. Actually you've made me think, I bet live drum loops sound great through it too. Perfect for hip hop etc.
Damn! That mixer is hot action!!
I loved that!!! sounds a little bit saturated, but I looovee that!
Totally awesome!
I didn't know you dabbled in the acid-esque 4x4 world. I like this. Thanks Alex.
@AlexBallMusic
3 жыл бұрын
I have been known.
Damn that jam at the end was disgusting. Love your channel man!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers. Your channel name suggests you'd like a track that. :)
@McN4styFilth
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Oh hell yeah man. I just came back to listen to it again!
Soundcraft Signature mixers become interesting when it comes to their mid bell shape EQ knobs which can work as a band pass filter modulator.
The JAMZ 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Nice demonstration. Lovely seeing this vintage kit shown off. (tune your kicks lower)
@THEREALDATALORD
4 жыл бұрын
The second jam at the end was proper. No tuning needed.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers. The DX is the only drum machine with tuning from the three I used and it gets quite aliasey in a bad way when tuned too far down.
Damn I love this guy...
very cool I'm so jelly
Shiiit. really love the shit you make!
Like the design of that mixer/expander pair, it would make sense in contemporary project studios - expand when required without having to replace. One trick I used when I got my first mixer (all 6 channels of it!) with Fx and Monitor send.. Use the monitor (pre fade) send with a delay (no feedback on the delay itself) that is returned to a channel. This allows panning, eq and feedback via channel monitor send. Good for dub FX as you can eq in realtime.
Great video as always, I really look up to this channel for inspiration and as a great learning tool! Would love to know the tabs for that little guitar noodle bit
Man love the sound of that over driven 606
bravo! bravisimo!
7:26 Level 2 is freaking awesome!!! thats really cool. :)
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers!
that DX snare!!
@titovalasques
4 жыл бұрын
A.L.I.S.O.N Heavy A F.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
DX is a beefy boy. Probably my favourite drum machine that I own.
Dope!
Love that dirty mixer sound - YUM
that was great
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks
Awesome Alex... blow your whistle!!!
You got a lot of great equipment!! And kinda look like Howard Jones!! 👍👍👍
5:00 for the gentle knob caress *sighs*
I use the Ibanez RM70 for synths all the time, high and low mids eq, which is so useful. And they are very cheap
That was so epic! I would like it without guitar in the end though.
You should definitively make a feat with Look Mum No Computer! Your work and sounds are amazing!!
that track in the background at :57 is so chill and excellent
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. I was trawling my archives and found that from back in 2007. Thought it would be nice as underscore.
@JohnEternal
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Is it available to buy?
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
@@JohnEternal I'll run off an MP3 and send you think next week.
Perfect!!!!!!!
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Cheers!
Yeah the good old day’s midi 👍🏿🎧
Hey Alex, love your content. Any chance you have a workflow video of how you get your drum patterns setup in your DAW? I have a couple old drum machines with patterns I'm digging but finding it difficult to rebuild them one sample at a time or create interesting fills when in the box. Would it be best to record a few patterns as a whole then chop them up and arrange them as needed? Cheers from TX.
Nice vid. Firstly, get yourself a good table bro, save your knees! ;) Secondly thought there was a tad too much saturation on that last jam, sounded good with bass n drums but a bit too mushy with all the tracks in. Though nice to see/hear those little steps of saturation that gives old music that sought after mojo.
Que som tão cristalino e ao mesmo tempo poderoso! Eu queria fazer-te uma pergunta? Eu comecei à pouco tempo na eletronica e só tenho uma Groove box Novation, e estava a pensar comprar uma arp odissey, será que consigo ligar a groovebox? Desculpa eu estar a escrever em português mas eu não sei falar muito inglês!
Some crazy shit going on, sounds dope as fuck!
@AlexBallMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Cheers!
Love your work my friend, you heard of the new OTO BOOM Bebe cherie? Also seems to have an amazing soundquality
Awesome. Thanks once again. Hey Alex, if I wanted to replicate mixer distortion on Saturn2, would I use the Transformer settings? Is that the same type of distortion?
I think Alex just went full one Reznor here! on the second demo! Add some super white noise distorted guitar and you have a PHM tribute song going!
Fun fun fun .
dope
I'll have to check out the Boss video first.. would rather see one with true effects loop and I'm partial to Boss stuff from that era. Very tasty high end results on that equipment.
yes :D
Samples of these would have been awesome!
That last jam reminds me of Chemical Brothers. Respect.
Rad!
Love this mixer - it is the same like ibanez rm 60, in addition I have the rm 80, which is even better with parametric mids. Wire a feedback loop with an old midiverb /-fex and you have a synth already 8-)
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Nice! Didn't know there was an 80. As I understand, Ibanez badged the Maxon mixers outside of Japan, but they're identical. Does that sound right?
@gibafilm
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic I guess so. For sure Ibanez badged their pedals Maxon, and it seems also the rm 60, because it looks identical. The 80 has not the toy-like colors, but it has semi-parametric mids and 8 channels each with send/return. I didn't know there was a rm 100 expander. As always cool demo Alex, looking forward to your Avatar documentary
@tactul7376
2 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Totally right! I got hold of the schematics and be it Maxon or Ibanez, they are the same. Have to agree with Giba, the RM80 has some great benefits, especially the indiv. send/returns, but optically the RM60 is way above, the 80 also is quite fiddly as they placed the 8 channels into the same casing as the 60
Yo, loved the video and sounds! How similar soundwise is the maxon rm804x to the RM-60?
Compared to my rig the clarity, separation, and low noise levels are amazing. Maybe my Xenyx mixer sucks, or I'm too heavy handed with the reverb and delay, I dunno.
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Is the Xenyx a Behringer mixer?
@benanderson89
4 жыл бұрын
You'll be too heavy with the reverb and delay with/or too little compression and/or bad stereo seperation. Less is more with mixing.
@user-qf4zs6qj4c
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic It is indeed. It's the 3.6 roentgen of mixers - not great, not terrible.
@user-qf4zs6qj4c
4 жыл бұрын
@@benanderson89 Very likely. In particular I've never really applied compression except to the stereo mixdown after recording (I'm trying to work dawless as much as possible). Mind you I don't think compression was used here by Alex?
well done - you would make black moth super rainbow happy
Whens the album coming out?
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Two weeks ago: kzread.info/dash/bejne/pZ6b0c2CirzSeKg.html
10:45 remind me a bit of Alive 2007 dooooope
Wondering what, pre-mastering, that noise floor sounded like. Probably a seashore at the in-tide
Cheers Alex, sounding great as usual, nice one! Or three as it may be. I am sorry though as I have had to call the Police about that last bass sound, it's clearly illegal.... :)
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
The Police turned up and Sting approved.
@chedhead3278
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic Then Stew Copeland disagreed and a fight broke out? (love his drumming tho) :)
@MisAnnThorpe
4 жыл бұрын
@@AlexBallMusic It was obviously a police sting!
Sounds infinetly better than working in a daw
@AlexBallMusic
4 жыл бұрын
Has a sound for sure.
god, need a neighbour like you.. could be so handy to get things running here :P