alternative groovebox / slicer that's sort of like Maschine

[kensuguro]

can anyone recommend a good vsti groovebox / slicer that does auto slicing and also has a step sequencer? I really like Microtonic's interface, but want to be able to use autosliced samples. I'm surprised I'm not finding a bunch of these things.. Maschine is cool, but it's got hardware. I wish I can get all the elctribes in one.

[ChrisWerner]

Maybe not exact what you want but worth a look I think.
Izotope Stutter and Turnado from sugarbytes

I don't remember if you use Reaktor, I am sure there will be an ensemble that does what you need.

[kensuguro]

unfortunately I don't use reaktor. I see in many places that Reaktor is recommended for something like this, I'm guessing Massive, in particular. Are there any other notable grooveboxes in Raktor? It seems like with Massive, I'd still have to prep the samples one by one, instead of using an auto slicer

[jksuperstar]

If you happen to use ableton, it has a built in feature called "audio to midi", which is basically slicing audio, then mapping each slice to a midi note..

[ChrisWerner]

Well maybe another try:
http://illformed.org/plugins/glitch/

and for Reaktor:
http://www.toxonic.de/#toxonic_live

Maybe you can use it with the free Reaktor player only?

[kensuguro]

hmmm, maybe I need to describe the mc 808 a bit better..
It's a combination of a sampler (which I want the slicer for), analog drums, a basic 303 type synth, and a pattern sequencer. mc808 also has built in effects, but that doesn't really matter for what I'm looking for.

Reaktor's Massive comes very close in feature and workflow.

[garyb]

hey! that's what you want. and they already make it.....

[kensuguro]

well, it's not really just the mc808, it's that "class" of grooveboxes. They all have a similar workflow that you see sometimes in vsti (like microtonic) but not too often. But ya, the stuff's been around for years. Surprised there's no vsti emulation of it, considering how over emulated access virus is.

[next to nothing]

Kontakt does a good job of slicing/mapping if you dont have Live.

[garyb]

there's something to be said for a thing that does one function really well. even cubase can beatslice, but it's not as nifty as some of those little roland and yamaha boxes for doing certain kinds of things. one of my clients found the kernals of five of six pretty good albums of work from a little yamaha box.

[kensuguro]

agree.. as can be seen by the sudden trend for making mpc-a-likes with pc integration. -> Machine, APC These are not just controllers, but a carry over from the mpc workflow. It's interesting how the focus is on carrying over a workflow, rather than a specific set of functionality or physical controls.

[ehasting]

would be nice to see a mpc emulator on the scope platform, which maps perfectly to a mpd controller .
That would at least cover your need (scope or vst)

I use my G4 mac with Peak and Recycle for slicing of beats which are then moved over to the external emu sampler..

Don't know what other tools that are out there.. regarding slicing.. i owned a MC909 which you could slice and map rather easy.. except roland didn't sounds anything close to the emu e6400 ultra.. so.. it had to go..

I would suggest using a regular audio editor or recycle (which is the best tool) for slicing, then map it up in any sampler (sts X000..?)

Rgs
Higen

[astroman]

inspired by the thread I just made a small experiment and loaded Phatmatic (probably known) and tried to apply it on some tracks.
Quite nice how it found it's marking points, detected notes and put segments to keys.
While that's unquestionably efficient to get something out when in a hurry, I found it rather boring and uninspiring and somewhat clichee.

Usually I open the track in SAW Studio, zoom in and out 'interesting' regions to set end marker points (B and E-keys), hit the N-key, new Region dialog pops up, type in a short identifier (like D-01 for drum 1), hit return and that's it.
This quickly fills a list of snippets to arrange and could also be handled on the fly while the track is running with final precision cutting later if due.

The important difference (imo) is that you're really into the source and detect cool parts that an automation would overlook.
It's VERY quick in handling the screen stuff (almost effortless), scaling done with marker centered by the mousewheel.
When the (a longer) region is marked I check the loop transition by clicking short before the end, as it doesn't rewind as standard.

For variation of loops in the native world I found Devine-Machine unbeatable.
It has some extremely smart processing including the timeline, hard to describe, as the (usual) direction is tilted upwards on the screen... The software doesn't seem to get much support anymore, not even from the developers. At least that's my impression.
But if I had to spill out 200 different loops on a single afternoon (from just 3 minutes of audio source), it would be my tool of choice.

cheers, Tom

[Neutron]

dblue glitch is free, maybe it will be enough.
in combination with your host.

also "molar" which is meant to be used with a monome, but can be used as just a VST. it can slice and dice all over the place.

[kensuguro]

well.. Glitch has nothing to do with grooveboxes... it's not so much about just slicing, but also the whole pattern based sequencing, sequencer interface, and many of the more contextual things surrounding prepping the samples. I'm actually surprised how unknown the groovebox workflow is.

[jksuperstar]

I'd like Korg to make a nanoKontrol or naoKey sized device, that just has the sequencer from the electribe series. Match that with a DAW host and/or VSTi, and that would be a lot of fun. Realtime workflow, but the expandability of software.

[astroman]

... it's not so much about just slicing, but also the whole pattern based sequencing, sequencer interface, and many of the more contextual things surrounding prepping the samples. I'm actually surprised how unknown the groovebox workflow is.

I'd like Korg to make a nanoKontrol or naoKey sized device, that just has the sequencer from the electribe series. Match that with a DAW host and/or VSTi, and that would be a lot of fun. Realtime workflow, but the expandability of software.

that's pretty close to a quintessence (of the situation), given you figure out what 'expandability' of software really means.
It's fine to have the latter, but what does it eventually lead to usually ?

some hardware devices are severely limited compared to a DAW sequencer, yet they establisdh something worth calling 'workflow', while most PC software piles up just a million choices, often clumpsy to operate.
I followed some of Neutron's links above and was quite surprised to find 'Molar' a product of Steve Duda who's also one of the guys behind Devine Machine and the concept of FXpansion's GURU. ( short interview explaining his live setup )
At the end he mentions his new 'Nerve' plugin, which can't deny it's heritage, and now includes midi support DM (painfully) lacked.

On the other hand Nerve lacks all the cool performance editing in DM and THAT was something outstanding.
At least the loop 'under your mouse' was treated by a highly intuitive and powerful set of tools while playing.
Unfortunately the rest of the environment wass less fun to use.
A tiny display on hires screens (possibly because Duda uses a Lemur Controller...) and some stuff rather obscure or in a strange screen representation.

But Devine Machine had the potential to become a true MPC alike tool in software, but as it doesn't exist anymore... nevermind.

To be honest I found it a total relief to operate VDAT with the BRC Controller by Alesis.
As not ready to switch to 48k atm, I stopped using it (the controller displays wrong time values at 44.1).

Anyway, the point is about accessibility and workflow and THAT was improved.
Mostly by an Alesis feature to track down multiple takes in one go.
and yes, you guessed it...
the screen implementation of Scope's VRC does NOT cover this feature - while mimicking everything else perfectly...

cheers, Tom

[ChrisWerner]

Another try for Ken:
http://www.livelab.dk/liveslice.php

[kensuguro]

wow, this thing looks awesome. It's looks like an all round slicer.

[astroman]

yeah, it's not 'only for Ken' ...
really smart device, almost no glitches in live mode...
I have not idea WHAT it is performing exactly, but the result is damn cool.
slices to single outs and midi cc to slice processing

thanks and cheers, Tom