Making ‘electronic’ music....

I realise this could end up down a massive rabbit hole but bear with me. 

I was watching an Instagram Live video with John Mayer where he’s using some device - or devices - to make electronic music. He’s tapping little pads on it to lay down a drum beat and then doing stuff on the top of it - keys and some ambient kind of sounds. It just kept going in like an infinite loop that he kept layering up. 

What are these devices called? I know nothing about electronic music at all but he was getting some cool sounds out of it and I imagine you could have hours of fun doodling about on it and then noodling on the guitar over the top. 

He was using a small midi keyboard in addition to whatever this other thing was. Any ideas? 
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Comments

  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    Managed to find a picture of what he was using....anyone know what it is?



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  • goldtopgoldtop Frets: 6101
    MPCs from Akai, or MV-8800/8000 from Roland. They're the shizzle. Mostly used for 'making beats' urban music in MOBO (by sampling and chopping) but easily adaptable to anything except classical!

    You can sample or record loops from the guitar, vocal tracks, etc.



    The MPC Live is the latest, but the OS is still being finalised.

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  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    Thanks @goldtop !

    Love learning about stuff like this!
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  • goldtopgoldtop Frets: 6101
    That image shows an Akai MPC X - the grown-up version of the MPC Live that I mentioned. About £1600, which is out of my league. There will be a lot of clips on the Akai Website. You can get started on an old MPC 500 (perhaps £200).

    One thing: IME, they seem really hard to get a handle on, but once you understand how and what they can do, you can make all sorts of music very quickly. Mike Acosta's videos of the Roland MV-8800 show how easy it is to use the built-in samples and add a traditional instrument, chop it up and use the raw materials to play something:



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  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    Thanks! That’s this weekends YouTube browsing sorted :)
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  • BranshenBranshen Frets: 1222
    Have a play around with this. You only need your computer browser to try this new-fangled "electronic music"

    http://intro.novationmusic.com/harry-coade
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  • BRISTOL86BRISTOL86 Frets: 1920
    Branshen said:
    Have a play around with this. You only need your computer browser to try this new-fangled "electronic music"

    http://intro.novationmusic.com/harry-coade
    Thanks will check that out when I’m home :)
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  • LuminousLuminous Frets: 210


    I use ableton and a novation launchpad
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  • Download Ableton Launchpad at the App Store (I believe it’s free) and you can get a feel for how things work like this work as it has pre-loaded loops. You can then start thinking how you might use this method with your own samples and loops... and how best to incorporate your guitar!
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    I use a Maschine from Native instruments. Quite affordable in basic form and lots available second hand as NI keep upgrading the unit.

    https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/maschine/






    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256
    Launchpad os good fun, and there is quite a lot of free content. Imachine 2 for the ipad is very good, though takes some learning to get to grips with. A cheap way to explore.
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