Your thoughts on Geist 2

[Dasheesh]

I keep losing the undo function and it’s really annoying to have to go digging for it.

My $.2 is the folks that say “if you have ableton there’s no need for it” are dead on, but if you prefer using a DAW as a multi tracker then it’s really nice to have. It does have a learning curve though.

People who say they prefer v. 1 are perfectly valid. I was a v. 1 user who just auto updated to 2 when it became available because 1 was not going to be supported much longer anyway. I know a some guys that stick with GURU to this day though. Version 2 is a completely different experience so people who were using v. 1 in a certain workflow probably got frustrated with 2. They are different in focus.

This is a huge philosophical debate that is coming to a head with software. Dave Smith was probably the first guy I heard say “you can take these things as far as you want, so how far is far enough”? Now, with software, the devs come on here and ask people what they want, and of course they get the response... EVERYTHING! What happens is the instrument loses it’s identity and it tries to do everything and winds up doing very little.

Dune3 is going through this process now. All we can do is hope for the best because we are hopelessly outnumbered by the edm mainstream, who want every instrument to be the same, and every track to sound the same, and every musician to sound the same, and do nothing well. U-he is good at recognizing and developing to an instrument’s identity in the software world. They get recognized for it.

Back to giest2. I like it, I use it; but that’s because I don’t use ableton, and it fills that functionality in a multitracking environment. It does take some getting used to though.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Geist 2 is on sale 50% and might be a good buy.

What are your thought on Geist 2?

The sale ends on February 28th, so maybe just forget this thread and go find out for yourself

https://fxpansion.com/products/geist2/

[tapiodmitriyevich]

Dune3 is going through this process now. All we can do is hope for the best because we are hopelessly outnumbered by the edm mainstream, who want every instrument to be the same, and every track to sound the same, and every musician to sound the same, and do nothing well.

So much yes. EDM is like a zombie plague. Another hyperhypermegasupersaw, anyone? 50000 new supersaw presets for Avenger (which still is an awesome instrument).
Good call about U-He.

[DuX]

There used to be synths, samplers, rhythm machines and sequencers.

I still prefer it that way. And I prefer them to be the top of the line at what they do. Geist is trying to be three of those. Not good.

Why not have a great sampler, drum machine and a sequencer? We can combine them freely in our DAWs, no problem.

Many rhythm machines have sequencers and some are good, like Roland X0Xs. But trying to be a DAW within a DAW is too much. There are hundreds upon hundreds of plugins that can do some things better and a DAW is a kind of modular environment where it's possible to combine them. It's also quite important to keep in mind that the less features/code a plugin has, the more stable it is, or at least it is easier to make it stable. Nobody likes to see crashes in the middle of being creative.

Or maybe make your own DAW, FXpansion?

They should let a drum machine be a drum machine. Focus on a reasonable set of features, sound quality and resources and CPU usage. 100% stable. No stupid software that installs software, too. We are able to download software and install it, thanks.

[bharris22]

I am new to Geist 2 (having bought it second hand at the end of 2017), and liking it a lot so far as a sketchpad. Does anyone know of any video tutorials (whether on YouTube, Groove 3, etc.) that go over the main functions and show how to get a good pattern going?

Thanks!

[DuX]

I am new to Geist 2 (having bought it second hand at the end of 2017), and liking it a lot so far as a sketchpad. Does anyone know of any video tutorials (whether on YouTube, Groove 3, etc.) that go over the main functions and show how to get a good pattern going?

Thanks!

See? Try a demo of D16 Nepheton [TR808] or Drumazon [TR909] and you won't have to ask questions like that.

[Saukar30]

I just bought Geist 2. Glad it went on sale because I have been looking for a drum sampler with the sequencer & effects & such already.

I can understand where other users may have their gripes about 2. It is kind of daunting if you want to do something simple. However, for me... I guess I like to do complicated things with drums & synths. I like all of the options Geist 2 has. I can slice in it, sample in it, 8 engines, a crazy amount of GOOD FX, modulate like crazy if need be, separate outputs, AND its low on the CPU on my computer.

Since most of my music is Hip-Hop or drum based, this is perfect. I have other samplers but none have the integration of Geist on as easy of a level. Not to mention.. I already have a sh**load of drum samples & FX & synths. I needed something that stood on its own as an instrument that could do a multitude of tasks with a low footprint... at a low enough price. Finally, I can setup my drum-kits, make some Addictive Drum midi based kits (for triggering) & be content on1 thing that is specifically rhythm based.

I think Geist is just its own thing. I'll admit I didn't bite on this for years at all... even after trying demos. After I have gotten some more understanding of how most people approach synths & it going on sale, I'd say for me this is a perfect balance of functionality & complexity.

To each their own.

[Winstontaneous]

Well, the intention of Guru (Geist's predecessor) was to be a great in-the-box Akai MPC replacement and the MPC was a sampler/rhythm machine/sequencer. Geist just continues that progression. Use Battery or something else if you just want a sampler/drum machine.

There used to be synths, samplers, rhythm machines and sequencers.

I still prefer it that way. And I prefer them to be the top of the line at what they do. Geist is trying to be three of those. Not good.

Why not have a great sampler, drum machine and a sequencer? We can combine them freely in our DAWs, no problem.

Many rhythm machines have sequencers and some are good, like Roland X0Xs. But trying to be a DAW within a DAW is too much. There are hundreds upon hundreds of plugins that can do some things better and a DAW is a kind of modular environment where it's possible to combine them. It's also quite important to keep in mind that the less features/code a plugin has, the more stable it is, or at least it is easier to make it stable. Nobody likes to see crashes in the middle of being creative.

Or maybe make your own DAW, FXpansion?

They should let a drum machine be a drum machine. Focus on a reasonable set of features, sound quality and resources and CPU usage. 100% stable. No stupid software that installs software, too. We are able to download software and install it, thanks.

[Muziksculp]

Geist 2 is quite a deep, and flexible tool. It does require studying the user manual, and understanding how it works, it's quite a powerful tool for generating unique rhythm tracks. It takes some time to adapt to it, if you don't put the time, and effort into learning it, you might not like using it.

I wonder if FxPansion are developing it further, i.e. will we see Geist 2.5 or Geist 3 in the near future ?

[OneOfManyPauls]

folks that say “if you have ableton there’s no need for it” are dead on.

I mostly use ableton live suite, but the polyrhythms within a single piano roll, per-sample-per-step probability and, most importantly for me, the ease of semi-autosampling in geist 2 make it a very cheap way to fill in the gaps in live.

I'd also add that the choice of 2 free "expanders" contain .wav./.aif files rather than some proprietary sample format. So there's value in that free content beyond geist 2 too.

[plexuss]

I ignored Geist when it went on sale but this time around decided to try it out. I played with the demo for a couple hours and started to realize the potention of it for me. Initally I thought it was just for "loop producers". I bought it on Friday and after a few hours of playing around with it, created this track. It's Geist, full 8 engines going, with some extra tracks done in Logic. So with no exposure to Geist in the past or even any other loop software, this is the result. Not ready-for-prime-time but an example of what a few hours exposure to the tool can conjure.

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/my ... mo/s-tWStv

And here is a shorter track that I was able to throw together fairly quickly

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/a- ... mo/s-94UUW

[wagtunes]

I ignored Geist when it went on sale but this time around decided to try it out. I played with the demo for a couple hours and started to realize the potention of it for me. Initally I thought it was just for "loop producers". I bought it on Friday and after a few hours of playing around with it, created this track. It's Geist, full 8 engines going, with some extra tracks done in Logic. So with no exposure to Geist in the past or even any other loop software, this is the result. Not ready-for-prime-time but an example of what a few hours exposure to the tool can conjure.

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/my ... mo/s-tWStv

And here is a shorter track that I was able to throw together fairly quickly

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/a- ... mo/s-94UUW

I really like this. But here's the thing. And maybe I just don't get what something like Geist is for.

I'm not hearing anything here that can't be done with any drum machine and/or samples and/or synths. At least not sound wise, albeit probably with a lot more manual effort. So is the point of something like Geist essentially to automate a lot of things going at one time, with relative ease, so you're not creating tracks and tracks of patterns with multiple instruments?

In other words, speed and convenience.

[plexuss]

I ignored Geist when it went on sale but this time around decided to try it out. I played with the demo for a couple hours and started to realize the potention of it for me. Initally I thought it was just for "loop producers". I bought it on Friday and after a few hours of playing around with it, created this track. It's Geist, full 8 engines going, with some extra tracks done in Logic. So with no exposure to Geist in the past or even any other loop software, this is the result. Not ready-for-prime-time but an example of what a few hours exposure to the tool can conjure.

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/my ... mo/s-tWStv

And here is a shorter track that I was able to throw together fairly quickly

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/a- ... mo/s-94UUW

I really like this. But here's the thing. And maybe I just don't get what something like Geist is for.

I'm not hearing anything here that can't be done with any drum machine and/or samples and/or synths. At least not sound wise, albeit probably with a lot more manual effort. So is the point of something like Geist essentially to automate a lot of things going at one time, with relative ease, so you're not creating tracks and tracks of patterns with multiple instruments?

In other words, speed and convenience.

Correct.

If I were to try and do this in Logic, it would take a ton of time. In fact, I don't think I could do it because Logic doesn't have tools to work with loops and REX files like Geist does. These tracks are just various loops brought in and layered over each other, different combindations of them (scenes) and then me actuating the various scenes.

Once I work out how to work with other features like different pattern track lengths and modulation, Geist will be able to create more moving, modulating rhythms which should be really cool, something Logic can't do. Maybe all this Ableton can do, but I don't use Abelton. To be able to do this kind of stuff with a plugin inside Logic is really great.

[Dasheesh]

In other words, speed and convenience.

Isn't that the purpose of most software? To make amateurs sound like professionals to the layman ear? Have you heard Justin Timberlake's new one?

[deastman]

I ignored Geist when it went on sale but this time around decided to try it out. I played with the demo for a couple hours and started to realize the potention of it for me. Initally I thought it was just for "loop producers". I bought it on Friday and after a few hours of playing around with it, created this track. It's Geist, full 8 engines going, with some extra tracks done in Logic. So with no exposure to Geist in the past or even any other loop software, this is the result. Not ready-for-prime-time but an example of what a few hours exposure to the tool can conjure.

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/my ... mo/s-tWStv

And here is a shorter track that I was able to throw together fairly quickly

https://soundcloud.com/musicofplexus/a- ... mo/s-94UUW

I really like this. But here's the thing. And maybe I just don't get what something like Geist is for.

I'm not hearing anything here that can't be done with any drum machine and/or samples and/or synths. At least not sound wise, albeit probably with a lot more manual effort. So is the point of something like Geist essentially to automate a lot of things going at one time, with relative ease, so you're not creating tracks and tracks of patterns with multiple instruments?

In other words, speed and convenience.

The point of Geist isn’t to impart some special sound. It’s a sampler, after all. I think it is best thought of as an MPC in software. It’s all about the workflow. I would say the target audience is anyone who likes doing a lot of their own sampling and slicing, then sequencing and playing those back from a pad-based paradigm. And the key discriminators are easy auto sampling and mapping, a flexible modulation system, and per-step probability. In that respect, it also competes with Elektron boxes as much as it does an MPC or Maschine.