Roots Archives Forum

firebun wrote:Im not a fan of reason, at all, pick up a real instrument, get rid of your midi nonsense.

Clearly you are not a fan of Reason - it is not a midi sequencer and although it has some midi features, it is more a self contained hardware replicator for those of us who can't afford a £20000 studio! I use it as a collection of instruments and FX that I couldn't otherwise get to use due to cost, the only sequencing I do is the drum riddims (sorry fireybuns I fall short at only playing bass, guitar and keys - and composing and handling complex looking software )

Why not cast off your Luddite chains and use the real instruments and the cool software (or does it all just look a little too complicated?)? ;D
Stops me needing to get a drummer - apart from the fact they are strange people who are difficult to get on with ( ) it means I don't have to hire a practice room and can record in my home studio.

Perhaps King Tubby shouldn't have used a Space Echo - he could have done it with tape loops or, better still, get the players to play the repeats manually. How far do you take this anti-technology stance - perhaps nothing should be allowed except acoustic instruments - or just the human voice?

MightyZ

Listen to the combined sounds of Reason and real instruments:

www.last.fm/music/mightyz
www.myspace.com/mightyzallstars

Guitar (mainly acoustic finger-picking blues; occasionally electric blues) and blues harmonica.

I play in a band and i DJ so theres a bit to work with..
I play percussion which includes weird instruments from around the world, including a few djembes which i love.
Im also a scratch dj, which means i end up using my decks to add sound into our live band act, i do that inconjunction with a few other gadgets to spice up the live sound.

Used to play the drums as a kid, one day i'll learn the guitar and might get around to singing..

I've played hand drums and percussion for a while now (my nyahbinghi drum being my favorite).

I'm just beginning to learn to play the melodica. I've never learned to read music before, and it's kind of hard to start as an adult!

I also DJ, but I've never counted my turntables and sampler as instruments. There are some DJ's who have brought it to the level of an instrument, but I mostly just hit buttons.

mighty z,

ive worked with reason before. its capable of doing some nice things and stop me if im wrong but it is intened and works best with w/ a midi keyboard.

Either way, if electric power lost, reason na go run!

what dem a use to make music then? i cant depend on a computer to allow me to make music.

Dont get me wrong, i dont hate on digital in the slightest. i love echo,reverb and all dem ting.
i payed about 125 US dollars for an nice little FX/ECHO rack. i prefer the hands on feel, being able to turn the knobs myself is key, without using a mouse.

firebun - I agree with you more than you would think - I too prefer hands on hardware - but reason makes up for the hardware I can't afford. I also feel you are incorrect about it being intended for a midi keyboard. It has powerful onboard sequencing, so midi keyboard is just one option for entering note data.

'Either way, if electric power lost, reason na go run!'
True, but you didn't think this through did you? Neither would my bass and electric guitar make a whole lot of noise either and my multitrack wouldn't work to record it?
How much totally accoustic reggae do you know (I'm sure it exists, but the stuff we know and love needs an AC power socket to run!).

You seem to have missed the fact that I play real instruments too - I don't rely depend on a computer, it just makes the recording a whole lot easier!

MightyZ

www.myspace.com/mightyzallstars

Hi Guys

Firstly, I must point out that I grew up on Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk so have absolutely nothing against midi, synthesisers, mellotrons etc, but there is a total purity about acoustic music I love. AND, let's face it, there is absolutely nothing to hide behind.

Regarding acoustic reggae check out "Beats Of The Heart - Roots, Rock And Reggae".
All of the Jack Ruby auditions are with acoustic guitar and vocals and how about Joe Higgs singing "There's A Reward"? Absolutely unbelievable. In fact, if anyone knows an albums worth I this stuff I would buy it immediately!

This thread is about what instruments we play, be they acoustic or electronic.

Let's not split hairs over what is and what isn't an instrument, that's another discussion entirely...

Indeed Leggorocker - sorry if the point had strayed. The point I was trying to make is that Reason is just one of the instruments I play - and I do play it's sounds in the traditional way as I fully back what has been said about the feel of real instruments, played by human hands - much more suitable than over sequenced stuff for Roots Reggae.
Having used and loved Reason for many years now, and made so much music on it, I tend to get pretty defensive when people make such misguided generalisations about it! Sorry

MightyZ

www.myspace.com/mightyzallstars

No problem MightyZ, just thought we needed to get back on thread here before the dummies got spat out...