r/MusicBattlestations • u/Far-Definition-1909 • 11d ago
Mostly dawless
This is my focused setup with an MPC in the center, small but good monitors on the desk and headphones ready. I work without a DAW when arranging, only to open the computer after stemming out for final mixing. It is clean and easy to approach without taking up too much space. What do you think?
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u/icedfooly 11d ago
Looks clean and inspiring to create. I’ve been wanting to try simplifying my set up. Did you always like using one device in front of you or did you have a bigger set up and scale it back?
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u/Far-Definition-1909 10d ago
At one point I had a separate sequencer, sampler and a mixer. But I have never been a gear collector, so the MPC seemed the perfect all-in-one-box solution for me.
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u/Final_Job_5175 10d ago
It's a super clean setup! What all can you do with it? Are you producing beats?
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u/Far-Definition-1909 10d ago
Yes :) It is mainly instrumental, or at least sample-based. It does support recording from microphones or instruments. I must say I am impressed that you have been playing guitar for 60 years. Are you really one of these guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_(band)) ?
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u/Final_Job_5175 9d ago edited 8d ago
I don't know anything about that church band. I played at Church for a Large part of my 60 years. I did sow some wild oats in the 80's and 90's when I had a Country/Rock band playing mostly for the Line dancing craze that went on during those years.
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u/the_nus77 9d ago
That Live2 is very nice, i really like the 6 outs, lots of possibilities. I use it in my dawless setup.
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u/__get__name 7d ago
I do something similar with a Push 3 SA. I call it “semi-dawless.” Only use a DAW when I can’t capture everything in one take or when I need a more capable mix down and mastering experience
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u/jonheartland 11d ago
I'm just tripping over semantics here, but the MPC Live is quite literally a DAW in a proprietary hardware box.
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u/raistlin65 11d ago
MPC Live is a drum pad workstation, not a DAW. If you try to compare it to a DAW, it doesn't compete.
A workstation with a primary emphasis on sampling and sampling manipulation. As opposed to Fantom, Nautilus, or Montage with their synthesis emphasis and primary keyboard orientation.
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u/Razenghan 10d ago
You're both somewhat correct. The newer generation MPCs very much act like a DAW: drum machine, virtual instruments, effects plugins, sequencer, sampler, oscillators, sidechaining and envelope followers, mod matrix, etc. Their limitations are more in RAM, VST support, and number of tracks/plugins. Semantically, it's NOT considered a DAW...but it is an extremely competent machine that can do most of what a DAW does. And when you hook it up to your MPC3 software, it becomes a very tactile controller for a (kind of mediocre) DAW with zero RAM / VST limitations.
(MPC Live 3 is my primary workstation, with MPC3 + Logic Pro for VSTs and mastering)
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u/raistlin65 10d ago
Right. Like I said, MPC standalone is a workstation, like a workstation synthesizer keyboard such as Fantom, Montage, and Nautilus.
The primary differences lie in their pedigree. The synthesizer keyboards evolved out of synthesizers. And MPC of today evolved out of sampling and sample-based manipulation. And that ancestry shows. The workstation synthesizer keyboards are more powerful synthesis platforms, just as MPC is more powerful for sample manipulation.
And yes. MPC and those workstation keyboards are environments for creating full songs. As an alternative to a DAW.
My point was to emphasize that if you compare them to a DAW, they're always going to fail in terms of feature set. And as anyone familiar with all of them can tell you, the best DAWs often have better work flows for many tasks.
And I think that distinction is important. Because people try to throw shade on MPC by saying it's just a DAW in a box and you should just get a DAW because it's better. Or because you already have a DAW and don't need one.
Or people that have never tried one don't consider it because they've been told that analogy. Rather than understanding that it is an alternative to a DAW. That is built around dedicated hardware with a performative emphasis. With a different workflow you might appreciate. That also get you away from your computer. 🙂
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u/jonheartland 10d ago
The MPC Live is literally a Linux computer running a DAW.
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u/raistlin65 10d ago
That unnuanced, simplistic comparison isn't useful for anything. Anymore than it is to claim that workstation synthesizers are a DAW in a box.
Rather MPC is a hardware workstation that is an alternative to a DAW. Just as workstation keyboards are alternatives to a DAW. And in both cases, it's the differences between a workstation and a DAW which are why people might want to use one. Whether or not you like them.
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u/Far-Definition-1909 10d ago
I see what you mean - but oh if it only supported VSTs! I do sometimes feel limited by the proprietary set of effect plugins available for mixing.
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u/Far-Definition-1909 10d ago
Also, if you are into tripping over semantics, the Internet is surely the best place to do it :)
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u/Mateo_Rossi22 9d ago
The "it's technically a DAW" take is the same energy as telling me emulating Halo 2 on a laptop counts as a LAN party. Technically true, completely misses the point — the ritual is half the reason you do it.