Give us your opinion of the groove machine scene.

[Administrator]

Should every songwriter or composer have a groove machine in his or her arsenal of instruments? Does it help you write? For those of you who were writing music when there was no such thing as a sophisticated, versatile groove machine - does it give you a fresh perspective? Or is it a crutch??? Or maybe it's a crutch we could use? Of course, if you're a DJ artist, a groove machine is essential. Do you have any advice to give "traditional" songwriters and composers looking for a good groove machine?

Let us know. Give us your opinion of the groove machine scene.

[tenthplanet]

If a person works from a melody first. A piano and/ or
guitar is needed. A groovebox may be handy for dance tracks but a keyboard is needed for melody and working out chords.

[ellie]

whatever works for ya, really. i keep a couple old drum boxes on top of my rhodes 73 mark II. that way i can just sit down, dial up a beat and start writing or noodling around without powering up the mac at all. of course, when you're working with a rhodes and a tr-77 for a scratch pad, it does tend to color what you're writing. but then, so would any of the groove products out there.

[Music50]

I have to agree with the above post on whatever works for you. I specialize in guitar but I find myself drifting back to the keyboard quite often for melodic changes. Writing on the bass is a new technique that I am experimenting with that is paying off nicely. As far as grooveboxes go; I believe they have a place in the studio and writing environment. I try to come up with two or three layered grooves a day even if I am not using them then. Just to have for future reference and use. But I don't specificly have a groove box. I just have a DR.-770. It has the variety of kits I need with enough techno and house kits to allow for experimentation and new sounds. Since I started out as a drummer that seemed to be the most ligical choice to get. If anyone has a suggetion for a next unit to purchase in the groovebox direction I would welcome any ideas.

[Stuart H Paul]

A good basic rule of composing is: anything that gets the job done. Is it a
crutch? Puff Daddy is worth over 300 mil. What kind of crutch is that?
Anybody who can operate a touch tone phone can do what he does. For an
experienced composer, a groove box might stimulate other approaches in
music: not a bad idea. To an novice it might be alot of fun but could also side
track him away from the more pedantic but ultimately fruitful persuit of
a real musical education. It all depends what your goals are. - SHP

[Unregistered]

yes any thing that can help creat a song should be handy

[Sporter]

Good replies, guys! I find that if I use a machine to get the groove, and build on top of that, my tunes are inspired. I don't know why, but it usually ends up sounding like...well, a good groove with stuff piled on top...

But when I go the other way...find a good melody, or chord pattern..and then find a rythym to go with it afterwards, I come up with more origianal sounding tunes.

[Sporter]

Originally posted by Sporter
Good replies, guys! I find that if I use a machine to get the groove, and build on top of that, my tunes are inspired.

that's UN-inpsired!

[aboutfaceaudio]

Oh god, yes! The groove machines are an excellent way to write songs. You get a lot of stuff crammed into a small area, which makes it easy to move around in. Having the ability to manipulate the sounds and MIDI at the same time is always handy. They're wonderful artistic tools, when used right (or wrong) can produce results that I may not have congnitively been able to come up with using the computer or a writing on sheet. If I'm not writing long form piano cues or something similar, I'll writed a bunch of stuff on the (name your brand of) groovebox and then dump it into Performer to work on it and maybe send it out to another synth. But who am I kidding. I'm usually too lazy.

[llewxamcire]

well ummm. i have four soon five 'groove' sort of units. i have 2 years of classical theory. i got the 'groove' sort of units this year. i like to write songs. i am a guitar player. but often as of late i push buttons more than strum. i think the groove things are great. it seems to me they are generally more 'user friendly' than most synths/samplers/efx/etc. they always have lots of knobs and buttons. being used to knobs (guitar pedals) the groove units are very agreabable to me. they do often get mocked and rejected by the high falootin folk with megabucks or megaheads. but for me they are very usable and good sounding songwriting tools.