BassTractor

Bah! You're only commenting to keep this thread on top! 😡

These days, I'll only enter a music shop with the intention to buy, but I do remember the guilty feeling when using up their time when I was only preparing for a future purchase, like gathering info and hands-on experience. Guilt for wanting to buy there! Oversensitive youth! That said, different shops spawn different characters, and I once annoyed a shop-owner very much when not purchasing the OSCar synth I'd tried, and instead buying a Fostex 4-track that I hadn't tried ... I was less experienced back then, and he managed to induce guilt in me. Or I managed.

Well done, @Clarky. Now we need to keep also this thread at the top of General Discussion, by commenting. Clarky, could you please also add the justgiving link to the OP? Makes stuff quicker. Also, can you keep this fundraiser open for a week or more? best, bert

Great stuff, and IME most singers would do that naturally ... .. sadly with the exception of my ex-girlfriend, who had a great voice but who'd sing the 3rd in a VIm just like the 1st in the I chord. Ground my gears, that. 😀

Thanks, Douglas. I should've investigated just a bit before hitting Submit. Very weird system, and to my mind also rather musicality-defying. I'll not spend time on such a system.

Edit: read @Dad3353's reply. My post is wrong. I'll still leave my post here as it contains notions that I think are important. First, it's best to let go of the very idea that one sharp "means" G major. One sharp in the notation means only that: one sharp. It's not a key signature and it could go for a number of different keys, regular ones and weird ones alike, G major being a known one of those. As you say, this is E minor. You then number the chords according to the key it really is in, and in this case Em / C / G / D then become Im, VI, III, VII. In this notation, the numbers show a type of harmonic functionality. Say: traditional music will normally end in a V, I, and you wouldn't wanna write that down as III, VI (which would belie the true functionality).

Doncha think that Alan Holdworth c.s. and those who love 'complicated music' all actually lurve both Count Basie and 'when it swings"? I'd say: Carrie Underwood one day, Count Basie another, John McLaughlin a third, and Iannis Xenakis a fourth. It's all good, and addresses different sensibilities/sensitivities. I hope your experience in that record shop hasn't closed you down for Al DiMeola c.s. My received musical lessons, all of them important at the time, and changing much for me: - "As to phrasing and timing, sing along (in your head or out loud)." - "Support your phrasing through well-chosen fingering, so it flows naturally." - "You're not ready." (he was right, and I needed to hear it) - "This is garbage." (composer about a piece I'd written, and that other composers ill-advisedly had given top marks; he was right, and I needed to hear it) - a composer of extremely 'technical' music confirming my claim that he too overrode "the compositional system" when its results didn't sound musical to his ear. It's all about the ear.

Yeah, originally it was one of the best threads in BC's history, and now it's gone. 😥 I'll sorely miss it.

OK, I'll attempt to address these points. Sorry for the length. If you need to watch a video, it might still be the "near perfect" synth for you. As I've said, the 2600 may just be one of the close-to-ideal learning synths, and everyone from beginner to advanced user can get something out of using it (and the Behringer also adds niceties that lacked on the original). Better learning-synths simply must exist, but then there are these other parameters like price-point, hands-on experience, visuals (sliders vs turning knobs), the layout-induced workflow ... As to your "to get a sound out of an ARP2600": yes, everyone can literally get sound out of it, but most also need to get to know the thing, and need to learn what I called the "panel language". Acquiring knowledge by other means than looking at the panel seems OK to me. The vid that @Cairobill linked to is just part 1 of a whole series exploring several aspects. Not weird that Part 1 should contain that basic stuff. Haven't watched the series yet, but trust the recommendation. As you say, default routings are on the panel. Everyone who buys a 2600 knows this, but they still needs to get acquainted with either beginners stuff or the 2600's finer points, remembering where stuff is, and finding out what the panel language actually means, and why. For example: - Exactly why is the AR -> VCA pot a linear one and the ADSR -> VCA one exponential? Is that just about the pot (why?), or are we in fact talking about linear vs exponential envelopes? One needs to learn what is meant and why, and how it actually works. - Patching with another unit: what voltages are we talking about in the 2600 (high ones!), and can a sequencer's low 5V trigger actually trigger the 2600, and how to solve it if it doesn't. - What the Flying does the Clock Switch graphic mean? Is that an arrow or a circle down there? Hm! - Do the ring modulator's inputs switch or mix? Panel doesn't tell, but what's the logic here? - etc. etc. Me too, I need to get my head around this thing. As to the dedicated LFO, the Behringer version spawns the one from the ARP 3620 keyboard. Nice. I'd agree with a third envelope, but then again, one often likes "more of everything", and personally, I can vividly see me buying a second Blue Marvin. I'd not call the 2600 "limited", but of course "less limited" synths exist in abundance. Personally, I've either used, taught with, owned or still own more advanced synths, and yet lurve this Behringer thing. I hope this wordiness helps for something, especially if someone is on the fence about any 2600 or about the Behringer version specifically. I'd say: at least have a sniff at it.

Ooohw! "We will be exploring both east coast tonal and west coast avant-garde uses of the synthesizer" That looks great, and especially the West coast bit interests me. Though, as indicated earlier I've forgotten more than I've ever learned. 😁 Thanks for pointing at this channel. In the mean time, each half hour I spend with the Behringer version, I get more impressed with it. It sounds soo good, and as said I'm being transported back 50 years. Another aspect I find compelling is how easy it is to dial in stuff. Those pots seem to have very good ranges, and I can see why artists used the thing live. I also get the feeling that, despite its slightly confusing panel layout, it's actually good for teaching and learning, once one gets one's head around the panel, and actually remembers where stuff is and where those 33 pre-wirings are. Me, I'm still searching the panel, which is slow. At any rate: glorious machine. Melurves it.

Aye. Me, I had the Korg keyboard version, and the Odyssey too was about old love. I'd used that too back then, but never owned one. Edit: an unfinished post was suddenly posted; I guess I must've hit a key combination for this to happen. Anyway, I love the sync too, and was happily surprised to see that the Behringer spawns hard sync on the VCOs. As you can see, I hadn't studied the B before buying; to me twas just a 2600 at a price point I could afford, and then I got lotsa positive surprises after buying, like for example the stuff from the 3620 keyboard being on the panel, and the inclusion of both 4012 and 4072 filters. I had no idea. Lurve it, and am so happy I made the plunge. Now to remember where everything is, and exactly what to expect from everything. This time, I think I'll actually read a manual for once, as the original ARP one is lauded universally. I'd read that 50 years ago, but have of course forgotten most of the non-basic stuff.

Whilst it sounds marvellous, I do think a substantial part of its appeal is of a psychological nature, it being the beast I never quite could control. With this Behringer thing I can finally deep-dive in the long-coveted synth that had always bugged me. (Used it in the 70s, but never bought one and never got to understand its intricacies.) I suppose most other people too will need to spend time with it to get its panel layout under the skin, as well as the 33 (IIRC) pre-wired connections and the exact meaning of the panel language (lines, symbols, text). It's quite unlike say a Minimoog or a Sledge, or even a Blofeld. Me, I'm enjoying the experience, and don't miss my whiteface Odyssey in the least. 50 years or conditioning also mean I still (after more than a week of ownership) expect there to be a block to the left of VCO1 as per the original, so when I work on "VCO3", its Resonance slider ... er, WtFF? ... Rats, I did it again! 😁

Bestest: TRBX 174 EW (and 2600 and Sledge) Worstest: zilch, as the pic shows the whole year.

Yeah, the website's computer translation from English, literally translated back to English by me so as to share the joy. The "Wristwatch Swap" is the clock switch - denoted "ELEC SWITCH" on the panel.

You got a Behringer too, or something more erudite? I noticed the minijacks on the B are printboard-mounted, as expected, but I reckon that it should be an easy job to re-solder those when the time comes. I read that the Korg version (the M, I presume) has fake nuts, which I feel is more off-putting, though I have no idea about how well-made the Korg really is. BTW, I also rejoice in the fact that, according to the shop's website, that thing yields: - enhanced Attack/Liberation ratio (and personally I hope for a lower number 😉) - Try to Hold module - Letterwrapper Follower - Wristwatch Swap Whodathought? 😂

Just wanted to share in case someone's on the fence about these. IMHO it sounds great, feels great and seems to have been a serious project for that unnameable B company. From first impressions: melurves its lush sound, great depth and quirkiness. Well-recommended! I went for the Blue Marvin variety, with the spring reverb that is often regarded as being of lesser quality than the digital reverb in the standard 2600, and I have to say I don't mind its noise and quirks; its sound brings me back 50 years, and of course I could always add another reverb. Well-chuffed! (borrowed pic to show its monochromatic leds)

Yeah, and with "Nigel Dennis' ", I did mean one of the symposiums or other gatherings in Holyhead. If she was there between 2004 and 2014, I may have met her. Haven't met Martin Rickard AFAIK. Have heard of him, I believe. Anyway, that's strictly off topic. Still, a glorious boat. I mainly paddled NDK and Rockpool. 😁 Back to the girlfriends, I now realise I've been with more musicians than I thought. Bar one singer, they've all owned way more expensive musical instruments themselves, like flutes, oboe, double bass ... a harp even. These people know where it's at.

I had both the sea kayaks (including a fabulous Explorer like your wife's) and the musical instruments, and that's possibly where I went wrong ... However, a previous girlfriend played the flute. Not only was she incredibly supportive (this must go both ways, and it did), but she'd also throw herself over my synths and start creating new sounds. She also picked up the bass as well as the double bass and made those important parts of her life. Luvverly. BTW, Len, is your wife on a Greenland expedition or somesuch in that pic? She somehow looks familiar to me, and I wonder whether I've met her at Nigel Dennis'.

Karn only needed 34. 😉

Attractive music to my ears (despite my tastes normally being elsewhere), and very well executed. Kudos and congrats!

On my Win10 laptop, near the top of the screen there's a Shop one can click directly (no need to respond to the drop-down menu). On my Android 14 phone, the Shop is in a menu in the top right corner (three lines; not Android's three dots). 18 quid these days, I believe.

@Geek99, Items Wanted is for paying members only these days, so that probably explains the grey.

Rats! That's The Squiers - Modified Classics, Vintage Vibe out the window then.

... the science derived from these observations then being that your Orba is just like my Kaossilator. Totally unrelated in other aspects, but during train travels I've had far greater success with my Lights Out game - people nearly not wanting to hand it back. Er ... IOW I don't have problems until I start making sounds. 😄

Have a good think. Would you really want to buy from the type of person who can get bored of "wheee-ooo-waouh-eee-ooh"?