Introducing... (sp1200 emulation)

[Stupid American Pig]

I dont want to rain on anyones parade(as I used to really want an sp-1200 mesself), but IMO emulating the sound of the sp-1200 isnt really that hard. The mda degrade( and some sorta of gentle satruation plugin can get the sound down just fine. The only cool thing about the SP-1200 was the onboard sequencer and its shuffle. If those are not emulated correctly then this plugin would be pretty much useless IMO.

again Im not trying to be a c**t here, Im just saying that the "sound" is not tough to nail, and its the whole package that would need to be emulated properly to make it desirable. Further, just about any host out there is a better sequencer than the SP-1200. Like I said before the unique sounding shuffle and ability to put notes anywhere was cool/unique for a drum machine, but this would be tedious at best with point and click programming, and not much different than a piano roll in yer host. I am still insterested in what it will come out like though.

[dx-9]

i agree... i have an S950 sitting in my kitchen collecting dust. i have no desire to send samples back and forth to the CPU.. this software could save me a lot of trouble. thanks to the developer

you're welcome.

[jones-y]

As for grit, here is what lionel (the sp1200 owner who so generously helped us by contributing an impulse of his machine).

But there is something that I'd like to try to explain. Although, the SP has 10 secs total of sample time, the memory is arranged in 2.5 second chunks. So this means that you can not sample anything longer than 2.5 seconds. In order to get around this, and to make the most of the total sample time, people would pitch up the sound before it is sampled, then pitch the sample down using the SP's pitch shift capabilities. This is where the real grit comes from. The SPs are actually quite clean sounding until you start pitching things down on them. I have tried to get an impulse of this effect, but the sine sweep is so distorted that the results have been unacceptable, thus far. If I ever can get that pitched impulse, I'll gladly send it to you.

I've seen, or rather heard, it in action. My friend (the guy who inspired me, btw) would speed up his turntable, sample the section that he wanted, and then pitch it down within the SP. It was like taking the sample, putting it in a toaster, and slappin some butter on it. Nothing in the software world comes close to that sound (yet... hopefully).

[reprznt]

if u tried the turntable trick with a vst sampler... would u get the same effect (gritty sound)? or is it just that the pitch shifting creates a degraded quality in the SP1200? I was listening to a DJ premier mixtape at lunch today... and i so much wanted to have an MPC60/SP1200 to make some of those beats...

[dx-9]

synth is both! some samplesets are recorded like that, or from hardware thru effects.. the synth has a overall-shifting option, every sound will get one own to!

[Stupid American Pig]

As for grit, here is what lionel (the sp1200 owner who so generously helped us by contributing an impulse of his machine).

But there is something that I'd like to try to explain. Although, the SP has 10 secs total of sample time, the memory is arranged in 2.5 second chunks. So this means that you can not sample anything longer than 2.5 seconds. In order to get around this, and to make the most of the total sample time, people would pitch up the sound before it is sampled, then pitch the sample down using the SP's pitch shift capabilities. This is where the real grit comes from. The SPs are actually quite clean sounding until you start pitching things down on them. I have tried to get an impulse of this effect, but the sine sweep is so distorted that the results have been unacceptable, thus far. If I ever can get that pitched impulse, I'll gladly send it to you.

I've seen, or rather heard, it in action. My friend (the guy who inspired me, btw) would speed up his turntable, sample the section that he wanted, and then pitch it down within the SP. It was like taking the sample, putting it in a toaster, and slappin some butter on it. Nothing in the software world comes close to that sound (yet... hopefully).

I dont think that is necessarily true- its just a very aliased gritty sounding sample.

[No name]

Pitch shifting it and pitching shifting it back down in a 12 bit machine is what made it a bit grimey. He notes that it is actually quite clean until you do such a thing like that. I'm sorry to say that there will be no sequencer, we had one going but it's just not going to work at all. The sequencer will not even work for some reason (we've been trying to get it to work now for over a month). We're trying to do everything possible to make it as great and usable as we can though. Maybe we'll figure something else out in the mean time, but don't hold your breath.

[peterpiper]

I've heard that thing bout pitching before and its true. I once owned a Casio FZ1 and when I played a sample in the low octave the sound was great (even with the Lo Pass Filter and some resonance)

I tried yesterday to get a good lofi sound on PC. I played a Saong in Winamp (with the DSP Plugin Pacemaker and a Speed set to +26 wich is like you would play a 33 1/3 record on 45 RPM). I recorded that in Audition with 8bit/22Khz mono. Then I used the Odaku2 (without tube) and after that i used the mda degrade.
Still its not like the things I heard from the Sp1200 but I think its a good LoFiSound.

I got the feeling that the SP1200 punches the peaks but make the lower levels a bit quiter. Sort of Compander. Tried to get this with the free Transient PlugIn dominion but its not the same

I cant wait to get the SP2100 from you and try it! Thanks.

[foosnark]

I know some people do, but I almost never use sequencers in plugins, preferring to just let the host take care of things. (Easier to copy/paste grooves to/from other instruments, and make use of the usually much more sophisticated MIDI tools in the host.)

[dx-9]

def. right! this was my very first thought too...
now its for shure: NO sequencer in the plug.

greets
y.

[stale bread]

lots of hiphop cats might like the sequencer, especialy if they want to use it standalone and not focus on the host...n e way, imho it would be great if this instrument was created from the roots of the ethics that popularized it so much. in reality its the spirit that makes the instrument and by that i mean the interface, all of those instruments the sp, mpc, sequential 44o, roland 950, ensoniqs, and on and on have one thing in common regarding their popularity and that's the spirit of the cats that use them, the way they interface with the kit.

[sinkmusic]

sequencer would take cpu for not so much...

[peterpiper]

lots of hiphop cats might like the sequencer, especialy if they want to use it standalone and not focus on the host...n e way, imho it would be great if this instrument was created from the roots of the ethics that popularized it so much. in reality its the spirit that makes the instrument and by that i mean the interface, all of those instruments the sp, mpc, sequential 44o, roland 950, ensoniqs, and on and on have one thing in common regarding their popularity and that's the spirit of the cats that use them, the way they interface with the kit.

Yes its not just the sound its the WAY to get music out of these machines. Its also the boundaries in it. 10 Sec. Sampling (one Sample can be 2,5 sec) ?? But some guys in the early 90s get the ish out of this 10 sec.

I would have no problem if there were only a standalone Program. I tried the FXpansion Guru Sampling/Sequencing Prog. and liked its user interface very much. It was a big difference between Cubase SX and Guru. The feeling was more like programing a beat with a hardware Groovemachine (with a big display ).

[tek_ra]

I wanted to update you all on the fact that we have the impulse and it will be implemented into the drum machine. So this is as close to the real sound as you can get!

Sweet...

I forgot about this plug and just saw it when it floated back to the top. = )

Can't wait to give her a spin!

[dx-9]

two weeks to go! :p