Your BB Portastudio Workflow made me get out my BB to start using it again. Now this one with so much practical advice and v3 updates has me revved up to try it!
hey man, your videos are great and i see you've been going for a while and still growing ur channel. keep going i really appreciate ur calm & humble demeanor. thank you
This is a really excellent commentary on the way Blackbox excels especially given a certain genre of music. Although I agree it's most flexible compared to other sequencers, it is more intuitive if you want to compose unstructured /experimental /ambient. I moved from more "grid-based" electronic music (ie. techno) to ambient/atmospheric and in so doing, shifted tools from Electribe/MPC /MC-909 to the Blackbox. Especially nice is your idea of "looping" (out of sync) long or short samples. Blackbox excels at this whereas other hardware (eg. Electribe) can't even do it. This video is worth watching end to end of you are wanting to understand the scope of Blackbox as a tool, versus other sequencers.
Thanks for this. I wasn't quite aware of how the sequencer part of that machine worked. I'll be exploring that further as it sounds like exactly what I'm needing. Appreciated.
Honestly, I forgot that the Blackbox is a sequencer because it can do so much. I got it just to launch clips like Ableton without having to use Ableton. Being able to load up 30 minute long drone tracks into a single pad is pretty cool. The only limit is the size of your SD card. So the live performance capabilities are definitely there as long as you approach the unit in a nontraditional way compared to other sequencers. Use it in tandem with a drum machine like the Digitakt and you've got the best of both worlds.
Great observations, and use tips. I learned a lot. Thanks. I have had mine for a little while now, and I agree with the points made. Feel lucky that I got interested in BB after the recent V3 update 🎶🌎☮
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your videos on the Blackbox are both inspiring and helpful. I was inclined to use the sequencer more when I just got it but it really shines when I have a few pads looping and others controlled by the tight sequencer of Yamaha RS7000. A solid combo.
Great analysis of the Blackbox. I got one a couple years back. I originally was mostly into real instruments (guitar, bass or drums). After a tendinitis scare in my arm I explored electronic music options. I first got a Roland MC-707. Still have it and dig it both as a tone source and a fun composition tool/sequencer. I first got the Blackbox to supplement the sampling limitations of the 707. I also multi-sampled many 707 tones. However, I am always trying to figure out what best use it has compared to the 707 or my iPad. I think you really nailed some of it's unique strengths. I find that it's immediacy of use to be pleasant. I often use it to record guitar or bass loops over sequenced beats to write layered ideas. I may finish elsewhere but it's a great looper for quick ideas. I like that I can preset bar lengths and don't have to perfectly click a pedal like a normal guitar looper. I like sampling speech or whatever into it. One of my favorite uses is as a quick way to record full clips and then preview anytime as a looping clip. I record clips made on the 707, the Blackbox, or the iPad. Then it's like a fast catalogue of ideas across devices and I don’t have to open projects on many devices to find an idea to further develop. I have also used this collection of ready made loops as background music beds for a podcast. I can send out to a mixer and fade in and out clips during the podcast on the fly so I get cool background music and need no post editing. I still need to explore more the longer ambient stuff on the BB. I love the stuff others have done down that road. I also need to watch your video on odd timed loops.
Thank you for your comment, its great to hear how others are using the Blackbox! I've always figured that an iPad could cover pretty much all the same territory as the Blackbox, so its interesting to see that you find value in using both in tandem. I love your take on 'live scoring' a podcast background music, that's awesome!
@@minimal.camera Drambo paired with Koala is hard to beat in the HW world. I rarely touch my Deluge or Octatrack anymore, since everything is more immediate, efficient and just as stable on my iPad Pro--yet far more capable. Planning to upgrade to the new M4 iPad Pro, and maybe grab a MAT 16X8 interface (16 physical ins/8 outs) to replace my Babyface Pro. It's an insane amount of I/O in something barely any bigger than a Babyface.
Great video! Nice thoughtful comparison and explanation. (Although I got different math: 256 steps is actually just 16 bars, not 64 bars, if you have 16 steps to the bar. (At 11:16) Still 4X longer sequences than Digitakt I and 2X longer than Digitakt II, for people seeking those long sequenced passages without using a DAW! You also confirmed what i thought that led me to buy the BB: playback of long, high-fidelity WAV samples (even songs). Another function of the 16-bar sequence length I discovered recently is recording MIDI basslines and audio piano/guitar comping for jazz tunes with AABA forms of 8-bar or 16-bar sections. It’s a fast way to create backing tracks for soloing or singing over. Thanks again!😎
I think BB should really focus on its powerful looping capabilities. I don’t like to deep dive.. in fact, taking my sessions from ableton and breaking them down into parts is also more exciting when playing live.
As my guitar playing is improving I find myself wanting to work more with audio, at least in the beginning stages of an idea. Less midi and engineering and more basic demo cutting. The audio looping functionality in the blackbox is rare at this price point. The only competitor I can see is the SP 404. The main difference is the blackbox was built to thrive with looping and recording audio, while this functionality is an afterthought on the 404. I would never bother with any serious sequencing on the black box. That work should be done in the DAW or some MPC like machine
Superbly helpful overview, thank you. So few gear reviews consider non-traditional usage cases, refreshing to hear it eloquently mulled :) cheers. Your final point about this being a great partner to the more rigid rhythmic sequencer kings (and also that it’s not really great for that kind of sequencing) is probably the biggest sign of differentiation...1010 really could shout louder about that!
Thank you, appreciate it! 'Eloquent mulling' is a great alternate name for these diatribe videos, ha. I agree that the Blackbox fills a specific niche in the sequencer world, and one that doesn't seem to be thoroughly explored yet!
Interesting takes. I agree that the BB sequencer is cumbersome. It's as though the device was designed by engineers, rather than musicians, in certain contexts. The utilitarian and clunky UI certainly doesn't help its usability.
I don't think that's uncommon, a lot of people feel that way. It is almost too powerful for its own good, I still wish for a more simplified version in which each pad has only one sequencer lane, and song mode just arranges those sequences.
Thank you for the great info. Can you please explain how to utilize more than the 16 different sounds , since from what you explained 16 sequences with each having 16 different pads. Hopefully I’m understanding correctly. Thank you.
Each pad can play a folder's worth of samples with the 'multisamples' capability. So instead of loading a single sample onto a pad, you load a folder of samples with a specific naming convention that tells the Blackbox how to map them out of the keyboard. Then in sequencing, different notes will trigger different samples. I believe the upper limit is 80 samples per project/preset, so you can distribute those 80 samples across the 16 pads however you like. Also, each sequencer lane has 4 variations, so you could for example have each pad mapped to 4 different samples (so a total of 64 samples for the project/preset), then each sequencer variation A - D would trigger a different sample. Could be helpful for building out different parts of a song, if you want the samples used for each part of the song to be completely different.
Very informative video. I already have Elektron devices but I was considering blackbox just for triggering long stereo samples/loops already prepared in a DAW (like pads ) in a live situation. Is it ok for this purpose? How the midi connection with external gear behaves? Is it tight enough for live?
Absolutely, its perfect for that application. MIDI connection and timing is tight, I've had no problems with it, and while I don't really perform live, I've seen many others with the Blackbox on stage, its designed for that. The high contrast UI is easy to read from a distance, especially the mute/unmute page. I also have a video on using the Elektron sequencer to control the Blackbox, you might want to check that one out too. The Blackbox internal sequencer works fine, but if you have enough tracks to spare on your Elektron box, I think that works even better. Though I suppose if you are just triggering a long sample that plays once or loops, then it doesn't really matter which one you use. But for something like a kit of drum one-shots, I much prefer the Elektron sequencer controlling the Blackbox.
I really wish it had better drum and one shot performance abilities - would mainly use it for that with eurorack noises i make - but definitely cant bring myself to learn elektron.
I hear you. I think for playback of one shots with an external midi controller, it works just fine. The only improvement I can think of there would be to add the concept of 'kits', where you could load a whole folder of 8 or 16 one shots in a single go, just because browsing for 16 individual files is a bit tedious. Besides that, its just as good as any other one-shot sample player I've used, and it has some more advanced features like slicing for those who want it. As for performance abilities, it basically requires a carefully mapped out MIDI controller. The Launchpad XL is probably the best and most affordable option. Elektron really isn't has hard as it seems from the outside looking in! Its the most fast and fluid sequencing and performance system I've used, and I've tried a lot of them! I think the Elektron Model series is easier than the Circuit, and the Circuit is lauded as being one of the most beginner friendly options out there.
I would love a video breakdown of your songmaking process with the blackbox I’m Not sure there’s a good way currently. I hope they fix it. But I really want to use my blackbox as an sort of ableton “live clip launch phrase recording” compositional loop tool where I build loops in real-time with clips, one at a time and stack them like layers, then once I have enough for a “song”, I toggle them on and off while a pad sequencer track is recording each action and building a composition from clips loops coming in and out as I have toggled them You could do this almost perfectly in the earlier fw, maybe 2 firmware versions ago, definitely pre song mode fw. I am not going to use the piano roll manually with my finger and as i understand song mode now, as is, it’s not live triggering of sections/layers and it’s ridiculously meticulous and unmusical to select one pad per section, then create new then add 2 in the next section, then 3. I use Elektron for sequencing everything midi. My digitone/Digitakt is my main synth seq. But even my Octa can’t handle multiple track layer sequencing for composition because I’m often left with less than 5 free tracks for layering at any given time. Usually three
Great questions! I have published a few different Blackbox workflow videos already, check out the Blackbox playlist on my channel. I don't have just one way of using it, each video is more about showing the use case for different end results and goals. In most cases you can mix and match those workflows. I think the Blackbox can do what you want, check my videos on sequencing from an Elektron box, and live looping. If you combine those two workflows, that seems pretty close to what you are after. Also I've found that the Blackbox really requires an external midi controller to get the most out of it, definitely relying on the touchscreen controls isn't the greatest. You can use a MIDI track on your DT or DN as the midi controller if you don't want to buy anything new, that should work fine. I also like the KORG Nanopad with it, and that one is very cheap. As for layering, I think the easiest way to accomplish that is just to trigger different samples / phrases from a single midi channel. I tend to not use the Blackbox internal sequencer for much, I will use it to trigger a loop to start on the downbeat, but for anything more complex I generally prefer the Elektron sequencer.
how good is the cpu of blackbox, its always alimiting factor f.e. in maschine+ you cannot load everything then you have crackles...@@Farold_Haltermeyer
Your BB Portastudio Workflow made me get out my BB to start using it again. Now this one with so much practical advice and v3 updates has me revved up to try it!
i wish the blackbox would record sustain events over MIDI in its sequences - and pitchbend
Very helpful review. Thanks for doing it.
hey man, your videos are great and i see you've been going for a while and still growing ur channel. keep going i really appreciate ur calm & humble demeanor. thank you
Thanks very much! I'll keep going as long as I'm having fun doing it!
This is a really excellent commentary on the way Blackbox excels especially given a certain genre of music. Although I agree it's most flexible compared to other sequencers, it is more intuitive if you want to compose unstructured /experimental /ambient. I moved from more "grid-based" electronic music (ie. techno) to ambient/atmospheric and in so doing, shifted tools from Electribe/MPC /MC-909 to the Blackbox. Especially nice is your idea of "looping" (out of sync) long or short samples. Blackbox excels at this whereas other hardware (eg. Electribe) can't even do it.
This video is worth watching end to end of you are wanting to understand the scope of Blackbox as a tool, versus other sequencers.
Thanks so much! and I definitely agree
Thanks for this. I wasn't quite aware of how the sequencer part of that machine worked. I'll be exploring that further as it sounds like exactly what I'm needing. Appreciated.
Honestly, I forgot that the Blackbox is a sequencer because it can do so much. I got it just to launch clips like Ableton without having to use Ableton. Being able to load up 30 minute long drone tracks into a single pad is pretty cool. The only limit is the size of your SD card. So the live performance capabilities are definitely there as long as you approach the unit in a nontraditional way compared to other sequencers. Use it in tandem with a drum machine like the Digitakt and you've got the best of both worlds.
Agreed! I like my Blackbox side by side with an Elektron box.
@@minimal.camera I'm having a hard time finding something the Blackbox doesn't work well with!
Great observations, and use tips. I learned a lot. Thanks.
I have had mine for a little while now, and I agree with the points made.
Feel lucky that I got interested in BB after the recent V3 update 🎶🌎☮
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your videos on the Blackbox are both inspiring and helpful. I was inclined to use the sequencer more when I just got it but it really shines when I have a few pads looping and others controlled by the tight sequencer of Yamaha RS7000. A solid combo.
Totally agree! I rarely use the BB sequencer by itself, but it works well alongside other sequencers.
Great analysis of the Blackbox. I got one a couple years back. I originally was mostly into real instruments (guitar, bass or drums). After a tendinitis scare in my arm I explored electronic music options. I first got a Roland MC-707. Still have it and dig it both as a tone source and a fun composition tool/sequencer. I first got the Blackbox to supplement the sampling limitations of the 707. I also multi-sampled many 707 tones. However, I am always trying to figure out what best use it has compared to the 707 or my iPad. I think you really nailed some of it's unique strengths. I find that it's immediacy of use to be pleasant. I often use it to record guitar or bass loops over sequenced beats to write layered ideas. I may finish elsewhere but it's a great looper for quick ideas. I like that I can preset bar lengths and don't have to perfectly click a pedal like a normal guitar looper. I like sampling speech or whatever into it. One of my favorite uses is as a quick way to record full clips and then preview anytime as a looping clip. I record clips made on the 707, the Blackbox, or the iPad. Then it's like a fast catalogue of ideas across devices and I don’t have to open projects on many devices to find an idea to further develop. I have also used this collection of ready made loops as background music beds for a podcast. I can send out to a mixer and fade in and out clips during the podcast on the fly so I get cool background music and need no post editing. I still need to explore more the longer ambient stuff on the BB. I love the stuff others have done down that road. I also need to watch your video on odd timed loops.
Thank you for your comment, its great to hear how others are using the Blackbox! I've always figured that an iPad could cover pretty much all the same territory as the Blackbox, so its interesting to see that you find value in using both in tandem. I love your take on 'live scoring' a podcast background music, that's awesome!
@@minimal.camera Drambo paired with Koala is hard to beat in the HW world. I rarely touch my Deluge or Octatrack anymore, since everything is more immediate, efficient and just as stable on my iPad Pro--yet far more capable. Planning to upgrade to the new M4 iPad Pro, and maybe grab a MAT 16X8 interface (16 physical ins/8 outs) to replace my Babyface Pro. It's an insane amount of I/O in something barely any bigger than a Babyface.
Great video! Nice thoughtful comparison and explanation. (Although I got different math: 256 steps is actually just 16 bars, not 64 bars, if you have 16 steps to the bar. (At 11:16)
Still 4X longer sequences than Digitakt I and 2X longer than Digitakt II, for people seeking those long sequenced passages without using a DAW!
You also confirmed what i thought that led me to buy the BB: playback of long, high-fidelity WAV samples (even songs).
Another function of the 16-bar sequence length I discovered recently is recording MIDI basslines and audio piano/guitar comping for jazz tunes with AABA forms of 8-bar or 16-bar sections. It’s a fast way to create backing tracks for soloing or singing over.
Thanks again!😎
Thanks for the correction, and glad you liked the video! Yes, the Blackbox is perfect for backing tracks.
I think BB should really focus on its powerful looping capabilities. I don’t like to deep dive.. in fact, taking my sessions from ableton and breaking them down into parts is also more exciting when playing live.
As my guitar playing is improving I find myself wanting to work more with audio, at least in the beginning stages of an idea. Less midi and engineering and more basic demo cutting. The audio looping functionality in the blackbox is rare at this price point. The only competitor I can see is the SP 404.
The main difference is the blackbox was built to thrive with looping and recording audio, while this functionality is an afterthought on the 404.
I would never bother with any serious sequencing on the black box. That work should be done in the DAW or some MPC like machine
Agreed!
Really superb video, cheers.
Thank you!
Superbly helpful overview, thank you. So few gear reviews consider non-traditional usage cases, refreshing to hear it eloquently mulled :) cheers. Your final point about this being a great partner to the more rigid rhythmic sequencer kings (and also that it’s not really great for that kind of sequencing) is probably the biggest sign of differentiation...1010 really could shout louder about that!
Thank you, appreciate it! 'Eloquent mulling' is a great alternate name for these diatribe videos, ha. I agree that the Blackbox fills a specific niche in the sequencer world, and one that doesn't seem to be thoroughly explored yet!
Interesting takes. I agree that the BB sequencer is cumbersome. It's as though the device was designed by engineers, rather than musicians, in certain contexts.
The utilitarian and clunky UI certainly doesn't help its usability.
I find sequencer/song mode as difficult to understand as cracking the Enigma code. I just can't get my head around it.
I don't think that's uncommon, a lot of people feel that way. It is almost too powerful for its own good, I still wish for a more simplified version in which each pad has only one sequencer lane, and song mode just arranges those sequences.
i'm thinking about to give up my octatrack (has too many or way too often load sample card errors) and replace it with a blackbox 3.0
i found the bb seq tedious. had fun sequencing the bb from a circuit tracks. sold it: next wingman: Digitone.
Digitone is amazing, no argument there!
Thank you for the great info. Can you please explain how to utilize more than the 16 different sounds , since from what you explained 16 sequences with each having 16 different pads. Hopefully I’m understanding correctly. Thank you.
Each pad can play a folder's worth of samples with the 'multisamples' capability. So instead of loading a single sample onto a pad, you load a folder of samples with a specific naming convention that tells the Blackbox how to map them out of the keyboard. Then in sequencing, different notes will trigger different samples. I believe the upper limit is 80 samples per project/preset, so you can distribute those 80 samples across the 16 pads however you like.
Also, each sequencer lane has 4 variations, so you could for example have each pad mapped to 4 different samples (so a total of 64 samples for the project/preset), then each sequencer variation A - D would trigger a different sample. Could be helpful for building out different parts of a song, if you want the samples used for each part of the song to be completely different.
@@minimal.camera Thank you I appreciate your help 🙏
Very informative video. I already have Elektron devices but I was considering blackbox just for triggering long stereo samples/loops already prepared in a DAW (like pads ) in a live situation. Is it ok for this purpose? How the midi connection with external gear behaves? Is it tight enough for live?
Absolutely, its perfect for that application. MIDI connection and timing is tight, I've had no problems with it, and while I don't really perform live, I've seen many others with the Blackbox on stage, its designed for that. The high contrast UI is easy to read from a distance, especially the mute/unmute page.
I also have a video on using the Elektron sequencer to control the Blackbox, you might want to check that one out too. The Blackbox internal sequencer works fine, but if you have enough tracks to spare on your Elektron box, I think that works even better. Though I suppose if you are just triggering a long sample that plays once or loops, then it doesn't really matter which one you use. But for something like a kit of drum one-shots, I much prefer the Elektron sequencer controlling the Blackbox.
I really wish it had better drum and one shot performance abilities - would mainly use it for that with eurorack noises i make - but definitely cant bring myself to learn elektron.
I hear you. I think for playback of one shots with an external midi controller, it works just fine. The only improvement I can think of there would be to add the concept of 'kits', where you could load a whole folder of 8 or 16 one shots in a single go, just because browsing for 16 individual files is a bit tedious. Besides that, its just as good as any other one-shot sample player I've used, and it has some more advanced features like slicing for those who want it.
As for performance abilities, it basically requires a carefully mapped out MIDI controller. The Launchpad XL is probably the best and most affordable option.
Elektron really isn't has hard as it seems from the outside looking in! Its the most fast and fluid sequencing and performance system I've used, and I've tried a lot of them! I think the Elektron Model series is easier than the Circuit, and the Circuit is lauded as being one of the most beginner friendly options out there.
256 st= 16 bars
I would love a video breakdown of your songmaking process with the blackbox
I’m
Not sure there’s a good way currently. I hope they fix it. But I really want to use my blackbox as an sort of ableton “live clip launch phrase recording” compositional loop tool where I build loops in real-time with clips, one at a time and stack them like layers, then once I have enough for a “song”, I toggle them on and off while a pad sequencer track is recording each action and building a composition from clips loops coming in and out as I have toggled them
You could do this almost perfectly in the earlier fw, maybe 2 firmware versions ago, definitely pre song mode fw.
I am not going to use the piano roll manually with my finger and as i understand song mode now, as is, it’s not live triggering of sections/layers and it’s ridiculously meticulous and unmusical to select one pad per section, then create new then add 2 in the next section, then 3.
I use Elektron for sequencing everything midi. My digitone/Digitakt is my main synth seq. But even my Octa can’t handle multiple track layer sequencing for composition because I’m often left with less than 5 free tracks for layering at any given time. Usually three
Great questions! I have published a few different Blackbox workflow videos already, check out the Blackbox playlist on my channel. I don't have just one way of using it, each video is more about showing the use case for different end results and goals. In most cases you can mix and match those workflows.
I think the Blackbox can do what you want, check my videos on sequencing from an Elektron box, and live looping. If you combine those two workflows, that seems pretty close to what you are after. Also I've found that the Blackbox really requires an external midi controller to get the most out of it, definitely relying on the touchscreen controls isn't the greatest. You can use a MIDI track on your DT or DN as the midi controller if you don't want to buy anything new, that should work fine. I also like the KORG Nanopad with it, and that one is very cheap.
As for layering, I think the easiest way to accomplish that is just to trigger different samples / phrases from a single midi channel.
I tend to not use the Blackbox internal sequencer for much, I will use it to trigger a loop to start on the downbeat, but for anything more complex I generally prefer the Elektron sequencer.
so many things in numbers maybe are not capable in terms of cpu usage
?
how good is the cpu of blackbox, its always alimiting factor f.e. in maschine+ you cannot load everything then you have crackles...@@Farold_Haltermeyer