THE DREADED GEAR THREAD

[Tinnitustimulus]

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Im frankly annoyed I still use contact miced heating element box of milkhouse heaters, because it always the main event for every live gig. They are compact, easy to control, very diverse in expression of feedback, and in at least in temperate US, very cheap and ubiquitous. I've tried to make other instruments throughout the years but this been very reliable with endless results and easy to make if you can cut the wires off. A lot of recordings are just this thing on top of a bose computer speaker, the dumbest possible reverb.

[Charnel Ground]

Homemade contact mic's, scrap metal, 4 track tape recorders, a Dynacord tape echo which ironically serves more as a filter/overdrive than echo and a Rossi generator.

[MiseryEngine]

Like Weeds- Trogotronic boxes and a Vermona Kick Lancet. mainly recorded live.
Our Wrongs - Gen Thalz drum synth and a SP 404 sampler added to Adam Jennings tape loops.

I now like having specific equipment for different projects, keeping them separate, also love working within constraints.

Kenny absolutely slays with Trog gear! I’ve never seen it used quite like that and frankly it makes me want to use my mini mutant more often. I have a 667 I never quite got along with but I’d definitely get one again after seeing how Kenny uses them. Amazing work man

[GENITAL STIGMATA]

HOW DO THOSE OF YOU WITH GEN THALZ STUFF LIKE IT? I’M IN THE WORKS OF GETTING ONE OF THEIR IRON CROSS/KAZ ENDO STICK CLONES. I HAVE THE LITERAL PROTOTYPE TROG IRON CROSS WT GAVE ME YEARS BACK BUT TWO CHANNELS ARE BUSTED AND I’M NOT EVEN GONNA TRY TO NAVIGATE THE SPAGHETTI JOB IN THE THING

[MiseryEngine]

I’ve got a GenThalz stick, the HNW machine, the CUNT, and a custom noise generator box he made to my specs. I really like all of it but to be Frank the HNW machine sounds miles and miles better than the CUNT. My joystick works great but I will definitely get a trog one sometime as I prefer the smaller stick and the footprint of the trog one to the big weird box the GenThalz/Endo style ones come in.

[Ineffable Slime]

I'm interested in the new Trog joystick for sure. I get a ton of mileage from my 657; chaotic but very playable. Paired with a reverb you can get some amazing dynamic heavy drones going. On it's own it's just a blast to experiment with, esp running things through the input.

I had the luck of getting a fairly priced Metasonix TX-3 and it's a wild piece of gear. Dual tube feedback loops, serves as a heavy tube distortion itself, has a "CV" input that goes insane. Tricky to dial in, and not very "playable" live given it's completely unstable nature, but when you get it where you want it, it brings the house down.

[htp_systems]

I've got the GenThalz stick controller, works pretty well although I've had 2 of the channels fail on it. Had a friend repair one of them but the other one failed after they had moved away. I don't think I was too rough using it but you never know. The only drawback for me was that you can't tell whether one of the channels is on or off. I ended up getting a used 4 channel mute by Electro Lobotomy and that's been better for me personally. The switches make it really easy to tell if a channel is on or off. It doesn't have a joystick but I've come to find I prefer to just push buttons anyway.

[MiseryEngine]

I found that my electro lobotomy push button mixer had way too much signal bleed for my tastes. I guess that’s a problem with passive electronics anyway but I built a five channel arcade button cutup mixer myself and it has zero bleed whatsoever so I’m not sure what the deal is with the EL design. Maybe components?

[thatonekidatshows]

What do y'all use for an amplifier/speaker? PA? Guitar amplifier? Bass amplifier?

Relatedly: What about microphones and microphone positioning? Being a recording nerd, I feel like I'm over-thinking microphones if I'm just looking to record "KRRRRSSHHHHHREEEEEEEE"

[thatonekidatshows]

Oh, direct input is also possible for a recording setting.

[htp_systems]

I found that my electro lobotomy push button mixer had way too much signal bleed for my tastes. I guess that’s a problem with passive electronics anyway but I built a five channel arcade button cutup mixer myself and it has zero bleed whatsoever so I’m not sure what the deal is with the EL design. Maybe components?

Would you say it was more bleedthrough or less than the GenThalz joystick channel mute? I haven't personally noticed a difference between that and the EL channel mute. I sort of just accepted it and tried to work with it.

[MiseryEngine]

The genthalz stick has less bleed than the EL cutup mixer but both are noticeable. The trog stick apparently has no bleed and I would likely attribute that to the fact that it’s got active electronics so there’s probably bleed caps in the circuit that keep it nice and quiet. That being said, I’ve never felt like the bleed on my GenThalz stick was an issue while recording for Peace Doctrine so it’s not really a huge issue for me personally. The EL bleed was really prominent and I just couldn’t get along with it.

[GENITAL STIGMATA]

The genthalz stick has less bleed than the EL cutup mixer but both are noticeable. The trog stick apparently has no bleed and I would likely attribute that to the fact that it’s got active electronics so there’s probably bleed caps in the circuit that keep it nice and quiet. That being said, I’ve never felt like the bleed on my GenThalz stick was an issue while recording for Peace Doctrine so it’s not really a huge issue for me personally. The EL bleed was really prominent and I just couldn’t get along with it.

CAN CONFIRM THAT EVEN MY HALF WORKING TROG IRON CROSS PROTOTYPE HAS ZERO BLEED, VERY CLEAN AND INSTANTANEOUS SOUND

[htp_systems]

The genthalz stick has less bleed than the EL cutup mixer but both are noticeable. The trog stick apparently has no bleed and I would likely attribute that to the fact that it’s got active electronics so there’s probably bleed caps in the circuit that keep it nice and quiet. That being said, I’ve never felt like the bleed on my GenThalz stick was an issue while recording for Peace Doctrine so it’s not really a huge issue for me personally. The EL bleed was really prominent and I just couldn’t get along with it.

Fair enough! That's good to know. I'll keep that in mind.

[Zalhietzli]

Oh, direct input is also possible for a recording setting.

Yeah that's what I do. Maybe I should look into other methods to spice things up.

[Kenny]

Like Weeds- Trogotronic boxes and a Vermona Kick Lancet. mainly recorded live.
Our Wrongs - Gen Thalz drum synth and a SP 404 sampler added to Adam Jennings tape loops.

I now like having specific equipment for different projects, keeping them separate, also love working within constraints.

Kenny absolutely slays with Trog gear! I’ve never seen it used quite like that and frankly it makes me want to use my mini mutant more often. I have a 667 I never quite got along with but I’d definitely get one again after seeing how Kenny uses them. Amazing work man

Thanks. appreciated, yeah I've spent years trying to tame those machines, and although I will never claim to understand all the internal patches, they are very playable synths capable of a massive range of sounds.

Also, regarding controllers, people should check out the Trog. C36. an incredible range of routing, possibilities
https://www.trogotronic.com/product/c36/

[yullowteef]

I do the majority of my writing with two synthesizers and guitar pedals in tandem with using non-musical instruments to write. Right now, I'm slowly working on a tape in which glass is my primary instrument. Been recording myself smashing, tapping, scraping and blowing on it in different acoustic spaces, which I manipulate with the synths and pedals before editing in Reaper.

[thatonekidatshows]

I'm trying to design a noise generator circuit, and I wanted to use some ideas from the Deathbed Tapes noise boxes. I can't figure out how the kill/engage switch works! Anyone have a Deathbed circuit with one of those switches and a multimeter to help me out...?

[DeathOrgone]

Main tools for live action and prepared loop pedals. Contact mics, distortion and pitchshifters. Also use an Electribe ER-1, a Minilogue and a BassStation2.

[Namahs]

Mostly been messing around with bunch of different pedals and a mixer what we have at our rehearsal place. Some fieldrecordings and contactmiced pieces of junk.
Really dig searching for different sounds with different things

[parasitenurse]

Up until a handful of months ago i was using pedals, shaker boxes, a sampler, a kaoss pad mini, make noise 0-coast and a gen thalz joystick. I eventually switched to a trogotronic iron cross before selling out to eurorack. Although i still use a couple pedals and shakers. Havent released anything with the full modular set up as of yet but hopefully within the next few months.

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[MiseryEngine]

All of my current recordings are made with the same setup, which I feel I am intimately in touch with and understand really well.
Elektron Digitone/Digitakt and an SP404.
It’s not a likely setup for a PE/death industrial/whatever you want to call my sound but I just find that this rig is so flexible and powerful that I really don’t need much else. Zero external effects too! Typically the digitone serves as the main synth voice and I have the 404 on “tape loop” duty while the digitakt allows me to integrate samples with modulation. Having all of these units synced up and controlled from the digitone via MIDI has basically made using them together just like one big box machine that does everything. If you have gear that utilizes MIDI at all I IMPLORE you to learn about that asap. It’s like unlocking super powers for your synths. My harsh noise setup on the other hand…. That’s a little messier.

[Residual / RT]

All of my current recordings are made with the same setup, which I feel I am intimately in touch with and understand really well.
Elektron Digitone/Digitakt and an SP404.
It’s not a likely setup for a PE/death industrial/whatever you want to call my sound but I just find that this rig is so flexible and powerful that I really don’t need much else. Zero external effects too! Typically the digitone serves as the main synth voice and I have the 404 on “tape loop” duty while the digitakt allows me to integrate samples with modulation. Having all of these units synced up and controlled from the digitone via MIDI has basically made using them together just like one big box machine that does everything. If you have gear that utilizes MIDI at all I IMPLORE you to learn about that asap. It’s like unlocking super powers for your synths. My harsh noise setup on the other hand…. That’s a little messier.

Elektron gear is very nice. I used to have a Digitakt and an Octatrack, but sold the Digitakt since the Octatrack does everything, with the added bonus of being a performance mixer with two stereo input pairs. I also did have an A4, but sold it as well. I kind of regret it, it was very powerful and almost like a modular in a box. I'm just not a huge fan of how their synths sound, they're very neutral and hi-fi. Fitting for the techno crowd, less so for me personally.

[Remi]

I wish I had an Octatrack but can't have them all, haha. I'm waiting to see how much my upcoming Serge boat is going to cost me and then I'll get an SP404.

Ultimately, setups are super personal. A friend of mine who makes incredible library music using mostly modular stuff in terms of synths swears by the pin matrix module he has. I've used a Synthi a few times before, the pin matrix personally gives me headaches! It's all a matter of workflow I guess.

[Mattias Gustafsson]

I bought an Octatrack almost two years ago and still haven´t learn in. The first thing i did was too erase the whole memory andall the sounds on it. I use it sometimes but more of a recording tool/effect. The first months i read alott about it and looked at tutorials and tried different things but i gave up. It´s to advanced for me and i don´t have the patience to learn it. Maybe someday...