Picked up an Alesis Micron what else do I need?

[trippinonego]

Hello I'm coming from a software background. I'm pretty good with fruity loops but I'm now moving into HW for better sounds and better accesibility.

I picked up a Micron the other day and the thing is amazing for tweaking out your own sounds.

Im wondering what's the next thing to add to my hardware setup?
The sequencer on the Micron isn't bad but I feel like I could do better in that department. Also I'm lacking real instrument sounds. Is there any way to hook something up to the micron to get nice piano/string instrument sounds?

Keep in mind my current setup is just an Alesis Micron and a pair of headphones

[Mastermindzz]

What's the budget. If you want hardware and are looking for real instruments, get a motif es, fantom xr rack, triton rack, or emu rack and control it from the micron.

[trippinonego]

Thanks for responding. My budget is most likely under $1k.

I've been looking at adding an MPC 1000 cause I see alot of people talking about those but I'm not sure if I need it since the Micron has some pretty decent drums already.

I'll look into those, thanks.

[Mastermindzz]

Most ppl purchase the MPC for it's sequencing power, you can get a motif rack for 799 an es rack for 1099, roland xv5050 for 600. Those seem like the best choices right now.

[trippinonego]

Thanks, I do need a sequencer as well. I dont think the one in the Micron is very complete.

after reading through many forum threads it seems that the emu command station might be what I'm looking for.

[Nerd of nerds]

i'm pretty new to this myself but i'd say a korg microkontrol would be a nice option if you are good with fruity loops...then you can just use fruity to sequence the micron...

probobly better options tho...


how is the micron? what is its built in sequencer like? from the pics it appears to have full sized keys...is this right?

[trippinonego]

The keys on the micron are nice. I got it because I come from a piano background and the keys are the first thing I notice. Too bad there's only 3 octives of keys you get used to it. I can play most 2 handed cords without the length getting in the way.

I'm not too sure about the "sequencer" from what I can tell it seems like there's no way to line up your patterns. You can make patterns and split them among the keys but that's it.