To me there are two advantages of an analog production setup: Sound (the stereo field, the warmth/weight of the sounds) and the BIGGEST advantage is ZERO latency

I’m 52 years old and have been making beats since the mid 80’s. I still have my MPC 2000 and outboard gear. I also have Protools, Logic and FL Studio. I have grown love creating with FL and Logic but I still treat computers like a REEL to REEL, the old Adats, DA88’s or just plain old DATS.

Couldnt agree more! Dope video Bolo

It’s all about those sound cards. Analog equipment has a certain umph. Oh and 51 💪🏾

+1 I compose outside the daw with hardware synths, MPC, effects and then track to the daw for mixing. I love the warmth and depth of analog. I’ve also created an analog chain for my 2buss, eq, color box, compressor, for that final analog pass before print. 62 yrs old btw, and still jamming. Love the channel, continuous inspiration.

Totally! I have been dawless since 2019 and folks keep asking me about my sounds. I’m glad I’ve moved over to dawless, especially since it’s just so much more hands on. However, I did recently mentor 20 youth on the importance of knowing both in certain cases, even just for longevity. Thanks for this! May you and your family stay in good hands. :)

I definitely agree with you on this one, I use my MPC for 90% of my production.. It causes me to be more creative and original. I only use arcade to add a little sauce on the end of my creative content. Keep the videos coming bro ✊🏿

I come from the mpc60 family of beat making and i'm happy to hear you break down what up and coming beat makers are missing in being in that creative box without a computer. SALUTE to you BOLO.

Totally agree. Dawless recordings just have a warm fat sound. It goes back to early days and golden era of hip hop when everything was new and being created not imitated.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Love you content.

Really interesting talk, thank you Bolo!

give me a triton and a MPC countless of hits have been made with this combo

Enjoyed it, always do and very informative. Thanks for the Love

great vid man. Totally agree bout the dawless setup. It takes more time to learn and to pull off sometimes but it's sooo worth it.

Thank you. This helps and your questions are Golden.

Another dope video Bolo...u hit the nail dead on with this one. I agree with u i do use both daw and dawless. Tbh the dawless is more gratifying when im done due to all the elements it takes to complete my track. But the daw is great for hashing out that vibe for instant ideas. The daw is always ready but my standalone section is just my favorite place to be.

Really appreciate this video bro. Just got the MPC Keys 61 today & I'm determined to not use Logic until final mix down. Love the content bro 🙏🏽

Bolo... i agree 100% .. MPC workflow is so slow compared to what you can do with Logic Pro and Serato Sample.. but MPC sounds different i can't explain why.. DAWLESS just sounds rich

Only been around the block a few weeks, subbed to the channel and really enjoying your vids brother! Cheers ✌🇨🇦👍

Man I just downloaded your drum kit. Your 808s hit hardddddd!!!!!! Oh my!!

Bolo. Idk why man, but I'm being moved to tell you this. Don't quit. Absolutely love your content, its helped me tremendously. Extremely inspiring and motivating. You got a gift. God bless, keep you head up brutha!

I like both because it keeps you having to come at ideas from different angles, keep you creative. I love having something like a Circuit around that I can just grab, lay down a framework for an idea that I can tinker with, go in and really flesh out with other gear, or in the box.

Right on big dawg you just helped me make up my mind... I'm going to start tracking my drums live. You really don't need as much processing if you get that authentic velocity. FL studio does a good job simulating it tho especially if you stack your drums

Damn you Bolo!!! I ended up buying those HS 8's you suggested to me... NOT CHEAP!!! but they show me what is wrong for sure!! Thanks my man.. cost me $$$$ but provided the light I needed in my Journey!!!

Coming from a beginner in the beat making community I really appreciate your videos bro

Appreciate the video Bolo I love my MPC I believe the MPC really knocks

I can remember those days of writing on my old Roland MP1 and having to "Truncate" most of the samples because you didn't have enough storage. I was able to track out 8 pads and take them on the road. I Really don't miss the long time frame, but the sounds that I was able to get then showed clearly that there was a definite difference. The sounds that my old Korg X3, Yamaha X5, and Roland SD50, and others were definitely the things that "Legends" have been made from. I have been trying for "Years" to try and recreate those "analog" sound on the different "DAW" platforms from Cakewalk all the way through to now my DAW of choice Presonus Studio One Pro. It is a work in progress, but those "Gems" from AKAI, Kurzweil, Korg, Roland, and Yamaha are staples in an industry that really knew what they were doing when they built those older workstations and then we bounced those tracks down to either DAT, ADAT or the old TASCAM 2 Inch Tape Decks. Those were the days of spending 4 hours on just 30 seconds of "Splice Tape" to make something that sounded in our terms "decent". Nice 15 second beat on your other youtube video. Thanks for sharing.

I feel ya on that Analog sound. I was on the road with Juvy and UTP as producer and we set up camp in Nashville, TN at The Love Shack Studio to record Skip album and while the entourage went club hopping, me and John "JP" Pegram wanted my track to keep that phat analog sound from my ASR 10. We spent 15 hours trying to mix and sync that bad boy up but it was worth it.

Word. Dope channel. Dope ass channel. You're right up there beside AMS in terms of quality and mass appeal.

Great vid Bolo. Love listening to you. I use Both dawless (mpc one and recently Force) and use S1. Both ways are good.. depends how I’m feeling and what’s in my head. Dawless makes you (well, me!) work/think in a different way and it does let you come up with pieces that you would never think of when in a daw. Main difference is the spontaneity for me. The tools we have now are so incredible!!

Thank you bolo. I thought i was getting crazy.. I bought a MPC and I can't use my iPad no more. The sound in the mpc is crazy and the limitation force the creativity to the sky.

I like the technical side of a dawless set up. Using some keyboards running midi cables thru the MPC and making the MPC the main sequencer. Need to get into the Daw. I also use a Tascam DP-32 it so easy to track with. Love your videos their very helpful 🙏🏾💯✊🏾

From one artist to another.... You're so smart, my dude. Keep up the good work

i came across this video in my recommendations and i’m glad i did man. as a younger rapper/producer, i started on FL Studio but this year i started transitioning into a hybrid setup out of curiosity and bro… the difference is definitely there. i have an MPC One, a Juno synthesizer keyboard and the MicroFreak by Arturia and the timbre of my drums hit harder on the MPC as opposed to drums programmed in FL. (he’s not lying ya’ll lol.) Dope video big homie 🤙🏾🛸

I totally feel you Bro. I typically sequence everything on the Motif then dump. I mainly use the computer to add a voice or 2 that I might not have on a board and to mix/master. Sound stay thick!!!

First off big ups on ya videos. J-Love the producer. Put me on Reason years ago, became efficient ass hell with it. But when he put me up on the Mpc x… my Mac is for watching your tutorials now. The sounds are close to the Mpc 60. I am a 70’S. Baby so I have seen a lot & heard most.. Keep it coming Bro 😎

Bolo, I salute you brother! I'm old school man. 52 years young and I grew up mixing on 4 tracks. LOL. But, I just purchased the MPC One and I find that I do my best work on it because I'm giving myself limitations. I play my guitar through the MPC and honestly, it gives me the feeling I had when I first started recording on 4 tracks. I mix in logic and to your point, I find that I don't have to do much to enhance it. You confirmed my thoughts. Thank you again!

I just dropped a beat and it seemed so hot when I was in running it through the console. When I tracked it out and played out outside of the console.... 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️ Those preamps... Good mixing... No substitution. Good content Bolo

Agreed, Bolo. I listened to the beat on your last vid, and the sound was HUGE! I'm an old school producer and today's sound is loud digitally but doesn't feel as alive as dawless.

Love your perspective. I have a dawless setup with the verselab, an analog mixer with guitar uke bass and a old keyboard for the midi tones off the verselab and a looper. The more you do the heavy lifting in the tracking , less you have to do on the backend

I’m ONLY in the box as a producer and mixer, but I have found a lot of uses for “Decimort 2” by D16. Lets you dial in specific ad/da conversion sounds from popular samplers and have very fine control over bit depth, and all the fixin’s. When it was a dirt cheap sale, which is often, I grabbed it and I dig using it to set bright, sharp sounds back in the mix. I heard 40 used it on some Drake stuff and I dig it. Love the channel, man! You always inspire

Wassup Bolo. I hope all is well. Great video. I started with a DAW-Less setup years ago. (ASR 10 and a Pyramid Mixer) Went to school to learn to engineer. Over time I got other equipment and soon life took over and I did not have as much time to make music. Finally, I got back to it and I was using my DAW but, it did not feel as fun as when I was using my ASR or MPC I even got Maschine (I don't like the sequencer) So, now I use both. Basically pretty much the same as you do.

Dam I HAD to sub after that awesome video. Thanks bro.

8:05 it’s so worth it. That special thing you hear is warmth. I feel that’s missing today in alot of songs today.

Hybrid set up over here some days start in dawless some days start in daw enjoy having best of both worlds 👍🏾

38 years old here still using a 1992 Korg 01R/W, Roland JV90, Roland Fantom G7, Roland Integra 7 and a Tascam DP-24SD 😁 I tried out ableton 11 live and everything was confusing so I went back to my Dawlessset up that's been working for me for a year. When I was recording with a buddy of mine we used a Mackie 32 bus mixer and HDD Recorders with CD burners 😅

Well I want to say thank you so much for your videos as a lot of inspirations I couldn't afford to get the vsts so I invested in myself and got a Roland fa 06 then I bought a used Triton keyboard I'm not trying to be a super producer I just like to make boom-bap beats and thank you for your Channel

Great video Bolo! I do not have a DAWless setup, but I have a Yamaha RS7000 that I used for years and love the tactile feel. DAWs like Logic or Live which I use do not give that same feeling. I am now using a Maschine MK2 and I get that tactile feeling more than I use to. I love doing live arrangements and have started to record them into Live because it feels more natural than manually laying everything out.

Bolo I agree with everything you said. Very well explained. Like you I come from the traditional way of recording and mixing. Also like you I use a hybrid method of DAW and DAW less applications. There are characteristics that analog gear adds to an analog keyboard, bass, etc that just enhances the sound. Many times working with just plugins and vsts requires a little more work to achieve what analog provides. With that said, you can still be successful if you hone your craft and really understand how to use whatever you're working with to its best capabilities. You have made this clear many times. Thank you for your great videos. DT

I use the Reaper Daw, but i always go back to just doing everything in the MPC because thats how i taught myself. Its definitely fun and the sound is extraordinary

I feel you! I love the DAWless production!! Sounds way better than the thin sounding production coming out of the computer. I miss Adats and reel to reels and analog boards. Beefed up the sound. Im only now getting into the computer production. It gets on the way sometimes. I just want to turn on the heat and make a beat with out the mouse.

Bolo said, you even got cakewalk.. that’s what I started on before they called it sonar.. like cakewalk 7 or 8 🤣

Started making music in the DAW less era. Korg Trinity ASR 10 MPC 2000xl. The sound is Authentic. The Midi and Computer era is good as well. I just cannot stand the crashing and the not responding that takes place on the computer. Hardware works hard and the storage is Beautiful you just got to drop everything in the DAW. I'm the Old New School 91-2022 type of producer. I seen things change throughout the years.I prefer Hardware but DAW makes the editing more user friendly while mixing. I stayed in manuals and books back in those days. Great Videos BOLO Super Dope Producer

I’m like you close to the same age range. Grew up using dawless, lord triton kurzweil and the Roland xp80. I’m getting back in the game and all this mouse and computer stuff has a different feel and it doesn’t sound as rich. I appreciate the work you putting in and I enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work! I’m a fan. Also, you just have a down to earth feel.

Much respect Bolo ✊🏾

Topic was litty🙏 💯

Used to have outboard gear. EPS / ASR-10. Went the way of the DAW in 98. Cakewalk to Studio One. Started using Gigasampler / Gigastudio. Kept all the libraries, converted them. Started sampling my own sounds. Loved the vintage sound, can emulate it in the DAW nowadays.

You preaching the Gospel Family !! A/d then D/A converters hitting real preamps cannot be beaten !!!!! Facts !!!!!

Right now I'm using a Roland Juno and the Akai Force with FL studio. I really like the sound that I'm getting with that combo. The texture of the sounds are just different. I completely agree with what you were saying about the beats sounding big out of an mpc. I used to be fully based out of FL studio but about a year ago I just really wanted to change my sound. I wanted something different, something warmer

Bolo Great Music Takes Time , the Albums they made back in the Day, remember it took almost 9 month for an album to come out. Bro i don't have to say enjoy the process.

I would be willing to try the Dawless way. It sounds pretty good. Using a Daw works best for me at the moment. I'm used to it. I like your videos. They are very informative. Thank you.

Very informative.. I'm still learning my mpc one in stand alone

i subcribed 4 his honesty. this man is Truth and a Great Proffesor 4 me

In logic I like to throw the vintage console eq on the stereo out and drive it all the way and then make the beat into it. Closest thing to actually tracking into a real console that I’ve found

agree about the A/D conversion adding some weight and depth to the sound; some times the computer beats can have a flat clean sound but also the hands on aspect of making beats on hardware

and ppl don't realize that if you dump a MPC session stems into Logic Pro... the audio already has depth and richness because of the MP. anything added after that just builds it up

Very good information, good thoughts.

you summed it up perfectly brother...love the magical sound of real keyboards and drum machines but still like the vsts for convenience BUT THE SOUND with the AD/DA converters - for sure!!! In saying that there's something amazing about synths like Vital, especially for its digital clarity and sublime, often shimmering overall pristine cleaness.

I’m goin daw-less… mpc x and just got the Fantom 6… have to dig deep and learn the hardware but it’s a great feeling to be that hands on and quick with the hands with the knobs, screens and switches. Makes me feel more connected with the music/beats I make.

Came back to DAWless last year with my MPC One! So nice to be liberated from the laptop!

I would love to have both. There's nothing like the feel of a Two Inch Reel To Reel Tape. The warmth is comforting. Feels good to the ears and the soul.

Going manual can be a pain, but it sure does teach you alot. I have an Akai force that I am learning and it has been a real challenge moving from Ableton to a standalone machine. I use it for idea development, sound design, and general learning. It really does force you to think outside the box. My setup does have alot of flexibility for me to take things back to Ableton and work on them more, but just the pure development stage of beats is ruff. I have to spend more time with my setup to have that instant muscle memory of the features and to feel less limited by my knowledge.

Industrial secret: Standalones have sine wave output error correction and their clocks aren't on an interrupt request list. Computers are micro timeout factories. Interrupted sine waves= flattened dynamics. Doesn't matter what interface you invested in.

I do agree with you to a point. I route my audio to get the sound. I remember the old days, I had a Mac LC2 running music shop sequencer to trigger the instruments a M1 korg and Roland tr808. I enjoy the ease of today’s process. I still use a Roland JV 880, but I won’t return to a sequencer.

Bolo, I concur. Still love Reason and Maschine Studio. However, I've invested in a gang of analog gear over the past couple years for the live hands-on aspect of manipulation. Keys, knobs, buttons, faders, etc at my fingertips vs. track pads and mouse clicks. Initially, becoming reacquainted, I felt like a fish out of water having to relearn how to produce creatively with hardware. It has forced me to become a better creater and I love it❗And yes, arranging, sequencing, editing, etc are indeed, entirely different animals this way. That analog warmth is where it's at though. Dope vid bruh❗

Great video bro. I agree. I use the MPC Live for all my sample based beats and most of my drums. And then I track out and do whatever remaining mixing and mastering through Pro Tools. The only time I spend in my DAW is doing sound design with (and I cannot stress enough of how AMAZING of a sound bank it is) SampleTank 4. Then I can bounce those melodies out and into the MP. Time consuming yes, but the music sounds so professional.

I agree brother! I had to go and cop an alesis 3630 compressor just because of the circuitry on it. Combine that with the mpc1000 and it’s magic

I started making music in 1997 on the MPC 2000XL and the EMU MoPhatt. Then came the Korg triton, trinity etc... then Roland modules XV3080 and then the XV5080 and then the Fantom. But about two years ago I revamped my setup made my MPC 4000 the brain of my studio after not using any hardware to make music for more than a decade. When I listen to music I made for artist years ago, I can say with absolute certainty that although the computer is easier and quicker and gives a ton of flexibility when it comes to making music....It does indeed sound different from anything I made then and make now on hardware. I actually went back to making everything at 44.1k 16bit which is just a different kind of magic that happens in the hardware MPC world and gives me that umph that I forgot that I missed. Great video bro....keep um coming

Having all the options inside the box can be an amazing distraction. You have literally endless amounts of combinations to go through with the plug ins. It is great but can bog the creative process down with too many options. The DAWless set up has a ton of limitations that can be frustrating to work with at first but it can also provide a tremendous amount of focus but giving you the ability to make a solid foundation or the bones of a project. I like having the 26.2 seconds of sample time in my MPC60 and going into the guts into getting everything I can out of that limit. Even sampling at 45RPM and pitching it down "does things to the sound." A more deliberate process for sure but the sound is baked in on the way into to tape/DAW for mix down

You absolutely right…Going out the Mp or whatever hardware you have and running it into a pre,it sounds so much better…Great video bro bro

Didn't matter what the video was about... I saw a Bucs hat and clicked... I work off a daw but I also have analog equipment, so this helped also... Keep doin your thang... Go Bucs 💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿

You spot on right about this subject that's why I use analog gear.

I’m in my 60s, and still listening bro 👍🏼✌🏼

I love the DAWless setup because it feels so vintage. I love having my rack units daisy-chained to the MPC2000 and all outputs running thru my analog mixer then into the computer for final mixing. You cant beat the warmth of having a Joe Meek at the end of the chain just before it hits the computer and not having to do much besides recording the vocal in the box thru my analog mixer

so true old things never die they duplicate & imitate then multiply

2003.... I started with a MPC 2500XL, Triton, MicroKorg and Motif ES6, 2021.. I have a MPC X, FL Studio and a host of VST's.. I love digital. I totally agree with you about the sound you get going dawless however, I love how clean my studio looks digital. I'm 41 btw so you definitely know your core audience.

Been a live and studio musician for almost 2 decades. Then producer/recording and mixing engineer for the last decade. I could never jive with producing, on my own, in the box (Logic 9 then X). I usually need to feel the energy of live musicians as everything comes together to stay inspired and things would take shape. But got the MPC Live recently and been making some dope shit on my own. It's a game changer for me after spending a couple hundred hours on it so far. I'm watching that MPC-X with envy now haha. All them Q-links lined up so pretty ready for a good twisting. Good vid man. I absolutely get you.

The MPC 2000XL AD/DA converters and pre-amps are unmatched!!!! I agree with you. You're about to make me buy outboard gear again.

Yo Bolo big bro hope u and ur fam are safe... I'm using studio one and ma maschine mk3. I'm pretty new in this(1 1/2 year), and I'm aight with dat. Maybe in the future when I'm feeling safe I'm going to add some hardware stuff...

Great video bringing a strong argument. Though clearly I'm totally biased because all I know is my MPC Live when it comes to producing. XD Been at it for a couple of months now and it's starting to actually sound the part. Takes time indeed, first learning all that it can do (and the basics of producing obviously) though when finishing up so to say, it's really just chillingly strolling to that finish line and it's like you say, just bad ass sounding stuff (even for the noob that I am at this)

I had to immediately thumbs up just off the thumbnail 👏🏾👏🏾 yup True Statement Bro!

Over the past 30 years I have had a ridiculous amount of equipment. Right now I have the FA-06 and an Akai Force set up very similar to what you are using. When I hit on that combination I started selling off other things. 51

You are absolutely right BOLO! There's no way that integrated technology can match true component. I went to school for electronics and I know first-hand that component is the way to go! You've Got To Be A O/G to know!😎

Hell I'll say that sh!#* str8 up, I still got a MPC 2000 in my Mastering Recording Studio set up somewhere & a Korg Triton Studio 76 Key with maxed out EXB's... So I can go either way depending on the project, honestly these days I set up a whole another cpu hub in my office space where I do most of my Graphic's to rock with the MPC Software & all my Plug In's, so you already know how that goes Bro... 🔥💥🔥 #Salute...👑✨👑

I don’t use non of these but it’s interesting to see what makes you unique as a producer,it’s dope to see

I just started recently making beats on Reason. The learning curve is probably is a lot shorter through the computer but I'm interested in maybe adding external hardware in the future because what you explained about "gain staging" totally makes sense when it comes to having the beat sound as huge as possible.

I think it depends on what your working on.....the gear you use are the colors and your DAW or DAWless rig is the canvas......if the sound you are going for requires a DAWless sound then go for that......and if what you are working on requires a DAW sound then use it......I think going back and forth between the two as well as using other methods, creates appreciation for each approach. This will keep you organically creative instead of just recycling what everybody else is doing and will also help your ears to stay diverse and balanced. just my 2c

Started in fl studio and reason many years ago. Got an mpc live about a year and a half ago. Since getting my mpc, I've made so many more beats than when I used software only.

You preaching some truths here Bolo. I have both hardware and software set ups. I have a Native Instruments set up of the Mikro mk2, the Jam, and the S61 mk2. My favorite and my go to is my hardware set up. I have 2 analogue synths (Moog Sub37 and Korg Prologue) MIDI sequenced by the MPC2000XL. I have 5 pre MIDI synths that I play live when I add them and I loop playing strings or wind instruments with a Boss RC505. The Native Instruments set up is a lot faster to create with and the sound is clean and modern. The Hardware set up can take more time depending on what I am doing but the sound is warm and alive. Both have their place and it's great to have the options.

I got my first mpc a year and half ago and primarily been using only it in standalone. You convinced me to get an FA and I rock with that sometimes too but yea I literally do all my mixing and sequencing in the mpc and don't even touch a pc now. I have the live 2 and I just wanna know so you use the "mpc" filter for your drums or use any of the vintage modes? Edit: And BOY have I seen A LOT and I mean A LOT of people suddenly going the hardware route just from my IG... its like it happened overnight too