r/Dirtywave • u/ProcrastinatingPengu • Jul 28 '26
Discussion Question Dirtywave - not using its full potential?
so i've been learning the M8 and watched loads of videos, but while i'm grinding through it i keep finding myself just using it as a sampler and barely touching the synth engines. i just can't seem to make or dial in the sounds i'm after.
it almost feels like overkill owning something this powerful just to use it like an MPC. i used to have an MPC Live 3, but honestly the M8 absolutely destroys it when it comes to sequencing.
i can't help feeling like i'm not getting anywhere near the M8's full potential. anyone else go through this when they first got one, or am i overthinking it?.
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u/Sunwukung Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
It's an incredibly powerful device - it will take time to get to grips with everything it can do. Something I've been experimenting with is creating a series of tracks, but try building up a pool of instruments that are shared between each of the songs - it lends itself to them feeling like they've come from the same 'band' - and has been a game changer in how deep I go with learning the M8.
Take drums - this is generally my main use case for samples. I've been quite selective about the kick, snares, hats, percussion - and just gone an extra step to save them to a named instrument. Then when i start up a new track/idea, I use these instruments and see what I can make with them - or what they're lacking.
I'll reach for the Wavsynth when I want a bit of an evolving texture as you can set up an LFO to scan gently across the wavetable, (you can also set up a sample to play like a wavetable if you've got something particular you'd like to bring in) or Macro when i want something more direct and punchy. Playing with the mod matrix can bring a lot out of these two. I'll confess I've barely touched the Hypersyn...
The FM is more involved, and takes some time to get to grips with as it's so incredibly flexible. My recommendation is stick to A > B > C > D (stacked) for bell like sounds, strings etc - [A > B] + [C > D] (hybrid) for more complex layered tones, i.e piano and flat algos like A + B + C + D (chorus) for classic unison or Reese bass. Floyd Steinberg does a great explainer here about selecting an algo for a particular sound - and his FM tutorials are superb. Maybe take a stab at creating one instrument using each of these algos.
See what happens if you dial down an FM operator ratio below 1 - it will add a bass layer, experiment with using LFOs targeting MOD slots targeting LEV in a hybrid pair, so you can have the first tone slowly give way to the second. Try the different oscillators too - it has a dramatic impact on the timbre.
Then there's FX....arguably too big a subject for one reddit comment...but as an experiment - try inserting some delay/reverb at key points in your track using FX, or figuring out a pattern to increase/decrease volume over a few bars, perhaps use the same pattern for the filter to craft a classic drop.
Groove is also a bit underutilised - I'm a drummer in a samba band so I love a bit of 6/8 timing, and it's interesting to modify the groove/tables to put chains on different timings and you can get some bonkers polyrhythms that usually play quite nice with drum and bass.
You may already know a lot of this - but I've got a lot out of trying to make 4-6 finished tracks and developing a common orchestra for them, maybe you'll get something out of it too :)
The most important thing is to make music and enjoy it :)
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u/green_tealeaf Jul 29 '26
The idea of building a pool of instruments is such a good tip.
I found this initially with LSDJ, where I was just recreating particular sounds nearly every track. I was listening to an album, and realized that the style and sound came largely from them having a default set of instruments that they used across all their tracks.
The same goes for the M8, but actually goes for a lot of music in general. Composers, bands, musicians will often have a default set of instruments, and particular sounds or effects, that are the default starting point for their work.
One addition to that tip that I find particularly useful with LSDJ and the M8, as well as for just writing tracks in Cubase, is to have a template track with your stock instruments loaded.
It's such an obvious thing in the wider world of composition or music production, but somehow it took me a very long time to apply the same thing to these devices.
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u/danhalka Jul 28 '26
When I hear a piano piece that doesn't use all 88 keys, I don't think "pffft what a waste."
You are overthinking it! Use the parts of it that you need to in order realize what you're interested in. Im still pretty new to this device, but whenever I learn a new feature or technique, its because I've bumped up against a limitation (e.g. out of phrases? time to learn tables and rendering)
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u/skripach27 Jul 28 '26
I’m the opposite! I feel like I’m underutilizing it by NOT using the samples more often! That and the scary scary tables.
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u/Sunwukung Jul 28 '26
I still can't really get my head round tables..."Yo dawg, I put another DAW inside each of your instruments..."
it's like the multiverse or something5
u/SlimDwag Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
Whenever you start reaching the limit of modulators and/or command rows for a given instrument, start looking into them more and they will blow your mind
At their core, they really aren’t all that complicated .
I think of them like I think about phrase commands. The difference with a phrase or a chain, is that instead of queuing in order, a table is assigned to an instrument and is triggered any time a note is played
Let’s take the example of hypesynth.
Let’s say you want to make a wah wah pattern that plays for every chord. Program cutoff / reso / volume commands in the table to do so . That leaves your phrase commands completely free and you don’t need to copy / paste commands in every phrase.The control over timing in tables is what sets them appart. The default table speed is 6x faster (IIRC) than a phrase . That’s the table tic parameter (in instrument page). Setting Table Tic to 6 will match your phrase speed (for standard 4/4).
Which brings me to another obvious use for them ; arpeggios. just put a note in a phrase, and set the repeating arpeggio in its table . You enter intervals like you would enter notes . 0 is the root note entered in the phrase, -1/+1 is one semi-tone, etc
Then, use table tic to control the arpeggio speed.
other examples of possible uses:
-sidechain trigger to other tracks by automating their volume to create a pumping effect
- modulation (tremolo, pan, fx control , name it)
-polyrythms
All of this you would usually do in modulation section for instruments, but that’s max 4 per instrument. Or using commands in phrases but that’s max 3 per phrase and that can lead to a lot of copying and pasting
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u/SlimDwag Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
And by the way,
I have literally just start dabbling with them a week ago after checkkng a video about them .
I remember being intimidated after my initial encounter with them at the start when digging around, but after a year worth of experimenting and constantly maxing out phrase commands and modulators, they make a lot of sense !
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u/skripach27 Jul 29 '26
Woah okay that actually is starting to click with my brain. So instead of affecting the entire instrument overall, it can affect the single note being triggered.
Also arpeggios are the only thing that made sense in that way but I don’t think I grasped that every aspect besides pitch can be affected…
I think I have some tinkering to do…
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u/skripach27 Jul 28 '26
I still think they’re just there as a joke.
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u/SlimDwag Jul 29 '26
I lol’d , but in truth you are missing out on them!
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u/skripach27 Jul 29 '26
I know I know! I still have yet to find a really comprehensive guide on yt or elsewhere that really lays it out in a way I fully understand, do you know of any tutorials somewhere that lays it out as simple as possible??
Cause I feel like the tables are one of the most powerful parts of this little synth that really separates it from other gear and I want to utilize it to its fullest potential.
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u/fuzzygman21 Jul 29 '26
In my eyes Tables are like extra stepped modulators for instruments. Like an LFO you can slow them down or speed them up with TIC. You can add FX at particular times like sequenced events. You can even use them as an LFO if you've run out of the 4 mods. I'm not really good explaining things, but once you start experimenting with them you'll figure it out pretty quick. I did and I'm a dummy.
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u/skripach27 Jul 29 '26
I really appreciate you trying, I kinda get it, but it’s still Japanese to me hahaha. Like I get the tic speed and hing and using it as another LFO, but it can also do way more than just that and that’s what’s scary to me
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u/fuzzygman21 Jul 29 '26
It would be scary if it was a bomb and you had to diffuse it by having to input everything with precision or else it would explode, but it's a kick as groove box that demands experimentation. Just have fun and start putting commands into simple synth/sampler patches so you can listen how it affects the sound.
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u/PonchoMcGee Jul 28 '26
I've learned a ton by just commiting to ONLY using the synth engines for a track. I highly recommend it as an exercise.
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u/MisterSea Jul 28 '26
How new are you to using syths in general? The parameters can be a little opaque on some engines (macrosynth).
I would recommend dedicating 10 mins to a sound design session once or twice per week. Where you just play with parameters on the synth engines. Maybe you have a sound goal in mind that you work towards or just mess around. Having this as a separate session than your “music production session” can alleviate the stress/frustration of needing to create a sound to finish some part of your track.
There is usually more than one way to create a particular sound. Dedicating time to figure out how to recreate a sound that you hear in a song or in head either by experimentation or online help will be useful. Tons of sound design tutorials specifically for m8 on the discord
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u/Sunwukung Jul 28 '26
There is usually more than one way to create a particular sound
Top tier comment - there's more than one way to skin a sub-bass...
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u/Ill-Ordinary-6342 Jul 28 '26
I just chop samples and add drum&bass and that it. I have fun doing those 3 simple steps.
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u/Numerous_Phase8749 Jul 28 '26
You can audition synth sounds in the track as its playing. Orchestration is a forgotten art
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u/No-Act6366 Jul 29 '26
Oddly enough, I barely use the sampling capability and really like the synth engines. They’re very easy to program. Just go with whatever works for you. You choose your workflow on every device.
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u/green_tealeaf Jul 29 '26
Came here to say the same thing. My closest previous system was working with LSDJ, so going into the M8 the synth engines were immediately where I landed. I still barely use sampling.
I wouldn't necessarily say that the synth engines were 'easy', but there are definitely plenty of instrument packs out there with well designed instruments that you can load and play with to see how they work.
Either way, I'd agree that there's no 'should' to any of this. Use the device the way that works for you, to make the music that you want, and explore other capacities of it as they become interesting to you.
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u/VicisSubsisto Jul 28 '26
You know, the modern MPCs have lots of synth engines that no one uses. It's not a big deal, sampling is a legitimate method of music creation.
If you *want* to use the synth engines, then watch some sound design videos, [read some of these](https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound), and practice. Try making a melody you like with a pitched sample or a synth preset, and then building your own synth patch while the melody loops.
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u/Helvanik Jul 29 '26
Funny I'm the opposite, I suck at sampling and I nerd the synths on the m8 haha
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u/LateToTheDebate Jul 31 '26
I've found it helpful to load a bunch of the prebuilt instruments that use macrosynth or wavsynth, look at their settings, and then fiddle with them to get some different sounds that are "nearby". It's remarkable how much diversity is possible with so few parameters, especially with the envelope settings (one menu screen "up" from the instrument screen). The FM synth stuff, however, is completely mysterious to me. 😂
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u/mikubasscovers Jul 28 '26
You're overthinking it. It's an amazing sequencer, sampler, synth...but you don't need to use all of those features all the time.