posted 11 March 2009 11:55            

However it seems to be virtually impossible to get hold of a Motormix at the moment!! Haven't seen one on Ebay for months, did see one or two on Craigslist but they've gone (I'm in the UK and don't really trust Craiglist anyway, unless I'm desperate).

posted 11 March 2009 13:49            

i have not tried one but they look fantastic!!

posted 12 March 2009 23:44            

btw good luck finding a controller.

posted 14 March 2009 07:46            

Anyway I've just seen an original Motormix on Ebay UK, it's not in great condition but should work fine...

The main problem seems to be all the fader caps are missing (!). Anybody know if these are easy to replace by yourself, or does it need to go to the repair centre? Does it need to be a very specific type of fader cap?

posted 14 March 2009 21:25            

I wouldn't recommend getting a Motormix. I went through a great deal of trouble to get one on EBay a few years ago (just after SSC stopped selling them), which was supposed to be in great condition. It worked for a about 3 days, and then stopped responding. It's practically useless now, as it works sometimes, but may stop working at any given moment for no apparent reason. I tried to get it fixed, but never received a reply from CMLabs. The last time I called their support number the company handling it told me that they stopped working with CMLabs, and that Carl Malone moved to Australia and doesn't even answer his email anymore.

Many people here have never had any problems with their Motormix, but this was the second unit I came across with that problem (suddenly becoming unresponsive), and I've heard from a few other people that they've had similar issues. So unless you're willing to take a big risk on an old machine with no support whatsoever...

I use a Lemur now, and I love it. The problem is that there is no two-way communication with Kyma yet, so you have to map everything by hand, and cannot really use presets. I just heard in the JazzMutant forum that a couple of people are working on an implementation to use it with Kyma, and I've been meaning to do that myself for a while, but haven't had time to really look into it. Phil Curtis also posted a patch to do soft takeover for presets recently which might be helpful, but I haven't tried it yet.

Carla told me recently when I mentioned this issue that it is a high priority for them to implement an alternative to the Motormix, so I am hoping that in the near future it will be possible to use the MC Control or Lemur/Dexter directly with Kyma.

In the meantime, good luck with whatever option you end up choosing.

Best,

H

posted 17 March 2009 08:12            

Seeing if I can work out a way to cut back on other gear and go for a Lemur, seems like it will be amazing with Kyma (if there is an update or workaround for the two way communication...).

posted 17 March 2009 13:22            

i second the sentiment regarding used mmix. i purchase a used one , i did get more mileage out of mine but currently one the motorized faders is going and a couple others are starting to go which means when you select a preset in the vcs the faders don't snap to the store values. i think carl malone is a member here and refurbishes the units - around 300 us $ if i remember correctly depending on what needs to be done.

in buying a euphonix and a used mmix - perhaps pennywize and pound poor ... the motormix integration in kyma is fantastic but its not portable (if that is a requirement for you) and you would be spending close to the same money for both (if i understood your post this was a consideration) with the expectation of having to refurb the mmix ... It depends on whether you prefer dedicated control for each software and the tactility of mechanized faders or can live without full integration in kyma in the short term with the lemur/dexter (someone will tackle that eventually - necessity is the mother of invention type of thing) btw they extended the discount period.

posted 17 March 2009 17:22            

I see that it can be divided up into X-Y co-ordinates, does that mean a "strip" or "column" of the Wacom surface could represent, say, a fader on the VCS? (so a strip of the Wacom tablet would be the equivalent of one of the faders on a Motormix for example?). And is it easy to map it to the parameters without doing a lot of extra work/fiddling around?

posted 18 March 2009 01:33            

Yes, the Wacom is quite easy to work with in Kyma, and you could map it out so that different areas of the pad became different virtual faders (and maybe even put some soft-takeover abilities so that the faders wouldn't jump until you crossed their previous positions). There are patches that do interesting things with the Wacom on the Tweaky.

However, you'll find that it's quite a different thing than a box of knobs and faders. I like to fade with a tablet and a box of faders, actually, although the tablet is definitely more expressive and fun.

However, with a box of faders you have a bit more precision, and the ability to selectively move multiple faders simultaneously, without moving parameters that you didn't actually mean to move (which can happen when you have 5 different parameters mapped to X dimension, Y dimension, tilt in X dim, tilt in Y dim, pressure, etc).

PC

posted 18 March 2009 10:24            

Anybody else vote for Euphonix Support? I may ask SSC about this... I will be getting a Euphonix MC Mix with my Logic rig, so would be nice to be able to try this out with Kyma too.

Definitely won't be going for a Lemur... Unless I'm reading the website incorrectly, if you're based in the UK (which I am) the price is MUCH higher than somebody ordering from the US. With the discount it seems you pay 1347 Euros if you're in the US, but 1769 Euros if you're in the UK (same as the US dollar price but in Euros). This is insane!!! So I would only be able to get one 2nd hand, which wouldn't be great.

posted 18 March 2009 11:48            

quote:

---

And is it easy to map it to the parameters without doing a lot of extra work/fiddling around?

---

To control a fader in the VCS, ctrl+click on the fader. Select the desired Pen parameter from the list of controllers (including the Wacom Pen parameters, Wii controllers, and MIDI continuous controllers).

posted 18 March 2009 23:54            

quote:

---

Originally posted by SSC:
To control a fader in the VCS, ctrl+click on the fader. Select the desired Pen parameter from the list of controllers (including the Wacom Pen parameters, Wii controllers, and MIDI continuous controllers).

---

Personally, I usually code the hot parameters (!PenX, !PenZ, etc) directly in the parameters of the sounds - that way I can use the same parameter in multiple places. For example, you could have two oscillators and add 50 hz to the frequency of one by pressing down on the pen (60 nn hz + (!PenZ * 50)) and subtract 50 hz to the other, also with pen pressure (60 nn hz - (!PenZ * 50)).

posted 01 May 2009 09:26            

I have a Lemur and was thinking of making a MotorMix template for the Lemur. I was going to have a look at Osculator first I must admit.

Is anyone else interested in a MotorMix template for the Lemur?

What would be really nice is OSC in Kyma.

Cheers

posted 10 May 2009 12:41            

Andy, I would definitely be interested in a Lemur template for Kyma if you get to do it, as I still haven't had a chance to do one myself.

Best,

posted 10 May 2009 13:52            

It looks like OSC will be added soonish so I am making do with Osculator till then.