10 easy steps to serous fun with P5 V2

Hi all, just wanted to drop by and post a little suggestion for instant fun with the new P5. I've been at NAB all week and had a little time to play with it more and oh man am I having fun. We did about an hour long jam with it and here's some stuff I've found that is really really fun.

1) Create some vertical lanes of loops in the Groove Matrix.

2) Give each one a different feel (i.e "Intro, groovy, heavy, heavier, breakdown, etc). IMPORTANT: Use some of the lanes to create some fills (drum fills, crazy sounds, noises...whatever).

3) Map the lanes in the Groove Matrix to buttons or keys that you can access quickly on your midi controller.

4) Bring up a synth or two using a preset or custom device chain.

5) Pick a killer arp sound.

6) MIDI Map knobs to the filters.

7) Turn on the arpeggiator and map the "Gate" control to a knob.

8) Set the arp to "Random".

9) Set the Groove Matrix to 1/4 note (or even 1/8 note). Also, set the Groove Matrix to "re-trigger mode".

10) Now trigger your grooves, play some notes and start twistin' the knobs. You can retrigger your grooves, beat juggle and generally create sick-ass fills and breaks, while playing crazy arpeggiations, etc.

I was doing this with Zeta ("WildTB303" patch) with knobs controlling both filters. It was insanely fun and sounded really cool IMO. I also had Dimension up with a custom device chain that included the P5 Phaser (synced), UAD1 Nigel, and a tempo syncing delay for leads. You can switch between both very fluidly without any gaps or stutters.

Thanks for the great recipe, Brandon. It looks like it would be very cool to try, but the cruel reality is that only the Bakers & the Beta Boys have the necessary software to try this out yet. The rest of us are happy, yet missing a key component.

Oh, I know what you'll say, "Install the demo, while you're waiting." I didn't fall for that one the last time, and I won't now, either. But we're still getting refugees wandering in with residual fallout from the last demo aftermath. <g>

Still, thanks for the tips; I'll be sure to try them out next week when V2 arrives.

Sweet! Thanks Brandon!

Yeah, you're torturing us here, man ... but seriously, thanks for the tips, Brandon ... sounds awesome, I'll have to try it out ... when I have the program ... (less tipin', more shippin' ... then tipin' ... cheers)

Allll-right, I'll have my pigeons watch out for your pigeons. I'm the guy tapping his heals.

ORIGINAL: RockMaestro

That's basically what you did in that demo video right? How long did it take for you to set that thing up, before you did the demo?

This is gonna be fun!

Very perceptive. It is very similar save for a few differences....

In the video I was using the mouse to trigger Groove Matrix lanes on "Measures" and I wasn't in "re-trigger" mode. So, I wasn't really showing how you can juggle beats and do really cool rhythmic stuff by playing the groove-matrix. I guess I'm just more comfortable with it now
Also, I was using a knob to control the gate, but not filters as well on Zeta during the arpeggiations. This just adds to the "freakin' cool!" factor.
And... it's alot of fun calling up a few different synths and switching between them for different sections of your Groove Matrix jam.

To answer the question about how long it took before the demo:

Due to illness and catastrophic drive failure, I actually put that together overnight in a hotel room in Germany (jetlagged) with my laptop, a PCR1, and a pair of headphones. It maybe took a couple hours or so, but maybe more due to the fact that I was actually having a good time and jamming quite a bit

ORIGINAL: whitefalcon

Due to illness and catastrophic drive failure, I actually put that together overnight in a hotel room in Germany (jetlagged) with my laptop, a PCR1, and a pair of headphones. It maybe took a couple hours or so, but maybe more due to the fact that I was actually having a good time and jamming quite a bit

Wow you would never know you were sick from watching the video... It did seem like when the other guy was talking you were saying inside, "Come on get on with it" But in the end, the video came of top notch. I think that alone will sell lots of copies of P5v2
Out of all the new features in P5 which ones do you like the best for your particular work flow?
Whitefalcon

Thanks much Falcon! Actually this video was shot on the morning of the second or third day of the show (Messe) so I was feeling a fair bit better by then. Showed up in Germany feeling pretty under the weather though. Thanks again for the kind words.

My favorite new feature...hmmm. First thing that comes to mind is the Groove Matrix...and particularly being able to record your performance in it, easily creating a linear song in the arrange pane. This makes things so much faster and so much more creative IMO. You just do things you wouldn't probably do by just dragging and trimming clips alone. Secondly, I'd say the ultra-gapless audio engine. I'll also throw the tap tempo and the arpeggiator in there. Damn...I'm thinking the multi-lane tracks make things a whole lot easier as well.

ORIGINAL: Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk]
I was doing this with Zeta ("WildTB303" patch) with knobs controlling both filters. It was insanely fun and sounded really cool IMO. I also had Dimension up with a custom device chain that included the P5 Phaser (synced), UAD1 Nigel, and a tempo syncing delay for leads. You can switch between both very fluidly without any gaps or stutters.

When you mentioned using the UAD-1, with P5 2.0, without any gaps or stutters, it just warmed my heart, all over I've been a SONAR/UAD-1 user, for years. It nice to hear that the Bakers are UAD-1 enthusiasts too.

As I quickly went through the web demo, on my slow (albeit, by P5 2.0 requirements) PIII 1Ghz DAW, I was pleasantly surprised to hear no hesitations, stutters or gaping, when inserting and deleting my UAD-1 plugins, with full PDC. I could only spend a brief time with the demo last night, but playing back the included sample project, I was able to insert PPI's, open the GUI's, adjust parameters and then delete the plugins, during playback with nary a glitch or gap., with perfect sync. I inserted a couple of 1176's & LA-2A's, on track inserts and routed those tracks to an aux bus and then added a Dreamverb.
I then routed the aux to the master bus and added a Precision Limiter. I was not used to that type of performance so I had to do it a couple of times to make sure I was not just dreaming. Admittedly, P5 2.0's bussing structure is not as sophisticated, as SONAR 4's Universal Bussing, but hopefully this is the direction that SONAR is moving toward also.
The only time it seemed P5 2.0's gapless audio engine was comprimized was when I was really pushing the CPU over 80% usage. As long as you keep CPU usage in the low to moderate range (under 80%), P5 2.0 is truly gapless. At least, this is what I found in my early observations.

Btw Brandon, thanks for the P5 2.0 tips and your Musikmesse demo helped sway me over, into actually getting P5 1.5 (with the free upgrade to 2.0), last week.

ORIGINAL: Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk]

Hi all, just wanted to drop by and post a little suggestion for instant fun with the new P5. I've been at NAB all week and had a little time to play with it more and oh man am I having fun. We did about an hour long jam with it and here's some stuff I've found that is really really fun.

1) Create some vertical lanes of loops in the Groove Matrix.

2) Give each one a different feel (i.e "Intro, groovy, heavy, heavier, breakdown, etc). IMPORTANT: Use some of the lanes to create some fills (drum fills, crazy sounds, noises...whatever).

3) Map the lanes in the Groove Matrix to buttons or keys that you can access quickly on your midi controller.

4) Bring up a synth or two using a preset or custom device chain.

5) Pick a killer arp sound.

6) MIDI Map knobs to the filters.

7) Turn on the arpeggiator and map the "Gate" control to a knob.

8) Set the arp to "Random".

9) Set the Groove Matrix to 1/4 note (or even 1/8 note). Also, set the Groove Matrix to "re-trigger mode".

10) Now trigger your grooves, play some notes and start twistin' the knobs. You can retrigger your grooves, beat juggle and generally create sick-ass fills and breaks, while playing crazy arpeggiations, etc.

I was doing this with Zeta ("WildTB303" patch) with knobs controlling both filters. It was insanely fun and sounded really cool IMO. I also had Dimension up with a custom device chain that included the P5 Phaser (synced), UAD1 Nigel, and a tempo syncing delay for leads. You can switch between both very fluidly without any gaps or stutters.

Feel like setting up a "mini" version of this set up and uploading it to Project5.com? I'd love to get my hands on it...

- Grandpa Mojo
www.grandpamojo.com

ORIGINAL: Billy Buck

ORIGINAL: Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk]
I was doing this with Zeta ("WildTB303" patch) with knobs controlling both filters. It was insanely fun and sounded really cool IMO. I also had Dimension up with a custom device chain that included the P5 Phaser (synced), UAD1 Nigel, and a tempo syncing delay for leads. You can switch between both very fluidly without any gaps or stutters.

When you mentioned using the UAD-1, with P5 2.0, without any gaps or stutters, it just warmed my heart, all over I've been a SONAR/UAD-1 user, for years. It nice to hear that the Bakers are UAD-1 enthusiasts too.

As I quickly went through the web demo, on my slow (albeit, by P5 2.0 requirements) PIII 1Ghz DAW, I was pleasantly surprised to hear no hesitations, stutters or gaping, when inserting and deleting my UAD-1 plugins, with full PDC. I could only spend a brief time with the demo last night, but playing back the included sample project, I was able to insert PPI's, open the GUI's, adjust parameters and then delete the plugins, during playback with nary a glitch or gap., with perfect sync. I inserted a couple of 1176's & LA-2A's, on track inserts and routed those tracks to an aux bus and then added a Dreamverb.
I then routed the aux to the master bus and added a Precision Limiter. I was not used to that type of performance so I had to do it a couple of times to make sure I was not just dreaming. Admittedly, P5 2.0's bussing structure is not as sophisticated, as SONAR 4's Universal Bussing, but hopefully this is the direction that SONAR is moving toward also.
The only time it seemed P5 2.0's gapless audio engine was comprimized was when I was really pushing the CPU over 80% usage. As long as you keep CPU usage in the low to moderate range (under 80%), P5 2.0 is truly gapless. At least, this is what I found in my early observations.

Btw Brandon, thanks for the P5 2.0 tips and your Musikmesse demo helped sway me over, into actually getting P5 1.5 (with the free upgrade to 2.0), last week.

Hey there Billy Buck...it is my pleasure to help out when I can. I do love the UAD1 and use it on nearly everything. Such fantastic plugins and I can see why it would make you happy that we (Cakewalk) use them because obvioulsy we want them to work as well...even from a personal standpoint...

I'm glad to hear everything is solid for you. Your experience is similar to mine...as long as the system has some breathing room, I get no gaps and very smooth performance. It is really a joy using the UAD plugs in this environment, making them part of device chains, etc.

Enjoy...

ORIGINAL: grandpa mojo
Feel like setting up a "mini" version of this set up and uploading it to Project5.com? I'd love to get my hands on it...

- Grandpa Mojo
www.grandpamojo.com

I'd be glad to. I might get around to it earlier if I can, but I should likely have something up by end of next week.

HEY BRANDON!!!!!


F#$K YOUR WORKFLOW!!!!!!


and shizzle.

I just had to say something.

ORIGINAL: 7XL

HEY BRANDON!!!!!


F#$K YOUR WORKFLOW!!!!!!


and shizzle.

I just had to say something.

Remember...they say you can resist anything but temptation.

ORIGINAL: 7XL

Just throw a bunch of movie samples in there. And then use a sampler and trigger that with the arpeggiator. And then get Dimension and get some twisted 4 layer pad in there and assign a bunch of knobs to something. And make sure you do the matrix also.

Close your eyes.

You'll see rainbows.

Or something like that.

And shizzle.

And I will resist all temptation until my dying breath.......

A bunch of key-mapped movie/vocal samples triggered from the arp...OMG...I have to try this...

Has someone been listening to Dan Deacon?????

I would like to see a P5 composition with Dan Deacon, Kool Keith and Bernie Worrell.

I can dream can't I.......