How To Make Jungle With AKAI S1000

I get asked a lot on how I use my akai s1000 to make jungle. So I finally decided to get my camera out on a tripod, and do a video, showcasing a recent track. I break down the elements and how I program drums. Sorry for my mumbly english :D
I use:
akai s1000
soundcraft spirit fx8 with lexicon effects
alesis quadraverb
korgmicro
Cubase VST32 for sequencing
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Find me:
Facebook - / theijo
Bandcamp - ijosound.bandcamp.com/
Instagram - / ijosound
Soundcloud - / ijo

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey ! Appreciate everyone watching and commencing. Can't believe it has 10K views. Thank you all. Also, if you like my videos, and you haven't subscribed yet - support my channel by subscribing, commenting and sharing :)

[@Malfunkn]

this explains so much of what i grew up to.. Plug.. Vibert.. aphex.. squarepusher.. thank you so much for sharing this.. metalheadz

[@underjordrec]

Absolutely mad timestretching, chopping and overall great vibe in this tune. I'm about to buy one myself tomorrow, I just wish the talent was included ;)

[@SDVY-Stevie]

Your tune is incredible, it sounds like Ninja tune from when we were all younger! I have recently grabbed an S1000 and an S900, the reason being the general consensus of the S1000 being one of the best sounding they ever did. I also have a Quadraverb, I can’t wait to get stuck into all of them when I fly back home.

[@robertcrystals]

The 1000 / 1100 is so great as a 'studio in a sampler' and pads sound incredible in it. Sick vid.

[@Thought-Forms]

awesome setup, workflow, and banging tunes! thanks for sharing

[@adaptedvinyl]

Great to see you enjoying making classic Jungle style! Brings back great memories of hearing Kenny Ken in Camden.

[@pseen]

Sick track! Hectic, but calm and restrained at the same time.

[@diglet553]

Awesome! I got an S1000 a few months ago (I blame Pete Cannon haha!) and I agree that software doesn't sound the same as this. It's not S950 crunch, but it definitely has it's own sound that works great for jungle.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

oh yes, for sure. I bought my very first sampler in 2008, it was an akai s950 and I only paid £100, but after making few tracks, i decided to sell it, because i was too young then, and it seemed too difficult for me to use it at the time. What a shame :) But the s1000 definitely has its own character , as you say, works great for jungle.

[@stekker1]

nice video mate ! nothing like a real akai sampler indeed

[@kamelhamlaoui9983]

Really obscure… love it.💕😎

[@danl9407]

Amazing stuff… I bought a S-1000 just because of this!

[@blakeronan]

very much enjoying this immersion

[@xsm5525]

love it! akai s1000 deffo got that sound.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

yesss !

[@nutechnique]

awesome love my S950 and s1000

[@Gosha1992]

Thanks this is great. Love your tracks too!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Thank you !

[@sveast1999]

This is damn good! Thank you for this!

[@donduchiee6923]

Sweet!!! I want to start producing jungle with a hardware setup .. but still kinda confused, seeing videos like this and Pete cannon really help

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey ! Go for it. There's a big advantage to using hardware. The workflow is so much more inspiring.. and the sound is so good, there's no need to spending so much time on crafting a mixdown, it just sounds good already. And everything else.. well.. you'll figure out yourself, once you start using it ;) At least that's what I did

[@l33tyeet]

Great stuff!

[@UNDERGROUNDCALLING0161]

I feel the same about my akai rack units they sound so good compared to the computer or any modern hardware ... The way it degrades sound cant be matched.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

100% agree

[@lcaise]

simply the best, need to try Cubase VST with my Emu E-max HD !!!

[@seventension]

Gražu žiūrėt ir klausyt!! 😉👍😎🤘

[@asaksfx3990]

Really cool track

[@fattyboombatty7736]

Nice rundown....

[@espelizarov]

Good skillz

[@rahimkisoor7004]

Dude......now I need an Akai too. Just bought Reason12 and Nektar. But it is true to get the real jungle sound it's the only way. Thx for the upload from a new subscriber 👍🏾

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Congrats on getting Reason and Nektar, great tools for making awesome music !! I have used Reason my self for making a lot of music. There are tricks to getting as close as the Akai sounds, but unfortunately, i have tried a lot of things that replicate the real deal, because let's face it - computers are many times more convenient, and I would rather make music with only a PC, however, using the real thing has totally different sonic and balance on the sound, that I love and i can't fully replicate it within Reason. However, you can always come up with your own music style that can work pretty well :) Big ups !!

[@Biyoung]

the filters in the akai are fantastic

[@spenwozhere]

Good stuff dude, thank you for sharing!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Thank you !

[@dafunkycanuck]

Thanks for the insight into your process. I'm making jungle on an MPC One. Nice track, I'm inspired to work on some music now.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Appreciate !

[@channelite]

Really cool track! Awesome video!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Appreciate !

[@ReflexionCostik]

I've got a S950 and a EMU ESY-32, i use Reaper and Ableton. I don't find the simplicity of a cubase VST 32 with just a few menus, the right click palette. Nowadays, there are too many options, too many menus. With your installation you go straight to the point. Man, you're just crazy ;)

[@IJOSoundVideo]

:D I find Cubase VST32 being the most simple and easy to use for MIDI .

[@REAL6]

Wild!

[@jaykay5486]

Great video and tune mate. Just followed you on SC ;)

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Appreciate :)

[@Arc.hitectureMusic]

When I looked through the remix files from one of your latest videos, when I saw the .ALL file I knew exactly this had to be a Cubase VST File. Definitely would like to see a video on how you manage your amens, I’m using Recycle and computer prepping as well for all of mine. Hardest part of my setup, is where my samplers are located in my studio.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

.all is a cubase file :) I keep my breaks and other samples in a folder, called SAMPLES, on my hdd. When I work on a track, first i create a separate folder for that track, and then i save all the samples i am going to use in that folder (taking existing breaks from my SAMPLES folder and also my own sounds i make using synths), making it a mini sample pack for a specific track. I used to organize everything exactly how i did for Sypmo track, as i would program things on my computer and then use everything as audio tracks (all the chopping was done on soundforge), these days i just sample stuff in to AKAI and then chop and program stuff in the akai. If that makes any sense :)

[@vhsx]

please make more tutorials! specifically on chopping, sampling, and tempo matching samples (and using the filter) i would pay if you started a patreon also! :)

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Cheers :) I would love to do videos every couple of days, but there are so much going on in my life, I barely find the time to making videos once every two weeks, let alone making new tunes..

[@vhsx]

@@IJOSoundVideo totally understandable. just know you are appreciated. 😌

[@blakeronan]

check out the UK guy Brian Bizzy B - kzbin.infofeatured

[@skagboy]

sickness 🖤

[@dwarde78]

Big up!!

[@ghal3on]

this is brilliant man thanks so much. After yearssss of collecting records I've finally got bitten by the production bug. I'm currently building my first studio, and I managed to score an S1000 yesterday! Have several questions for you if you don't mind sparing some time? Let me know the best way to contact you!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

hey, you can message me on SoundCloud, there's a link in the video description . Congrats on akai s1000, it's my third one. The first one i had, sold for some stupid reasons and immediately regretted. Bought another one who unfortunately died on me after a while. And once i had an opportunity to pick up another one - i did it :)

[@alkalinermusic]

Thanks for explaining it. I used to be hardware based years ago sequencing with an Atari running cubase. It was great. Unfortunately I never had a sampler so was missing the fundamental for jungle breaks. As someone else said would love to know your process on the sampler (akais always seemed so many button presses and menu dives whenever I tried one), would hopefully understand it now years later after using soft samplers etc. Anyway great track, cheers👍🏻

[@IJOSoundVideo]

I started my music production from using computers only back in late 90s, and i have made hundreds and hundreds of tracks with only a computer and a MIDI keyboard. But at some point I got interested in hardware, mainly because of the sound , as i grew up emerged in the 90s electronic music scene, and it had "the sound" that i could never achieve using software, and the second reason was - the workflow. It is so much more "musical" experience working with actual knobs and faders, as opposed to just a mouse, when it comes to mixdown and other such stuff. On the other hand, i could do pretty complex DSP stuff with the computer, while using hardware, things are pretty simple, but i like that right now. As for the programming the Akai - it's pretty straight forward, there are only few function buttons that really matter, all the rest is just like a keyboard for naming your samples and programs, which , instead of typing proper names, you could just do letters or numbers to safe some time. It's obviously not a drag and drop in seconds, but it doesn't take too much time either, unless you chop a break in many small pieces, then it takes some time to chop, edit and create keygroups :) I wouldn't mind making a tutorial on that, but the screen on a sampler is very dim, it would be very hard to film it clearly.

[@alkalinermusic]

@@IJOSoundVideo ah thanks man :) yea i love the hardware aspect and was originally into the gear side of things, but then the computers got more powerful and the next thing it was all DAW & plugins etc. Like you say, it's about workflow.. and I'm now getting back into making some stuff testing various ways of working. I'm in Renoise now, but also have been looking at hardware like the MPC One, etc. - although you've peaked my interest with your setup with the older Akai - i guess that's the original Jungle way and not as many use MPCs for jungle. Anyway, feels like years ago I ended up going down a noise music and cutups hole, and skipped some of the fundamentals like chopping breaks nicely, so your channel is helping. Cheers :)

[@TheBizzyBScience]

FIRE IN THE WIRE!!!!!!!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Yes yes ! Appreciate your comment !

[@lendarknessbl]

Geras

[@vytispuronas]

Šypsausi plačiai, kaip smagu klausytis. CHEERS!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

🙏

[@n-spired]

Can somebody tell me how to set the s1000 from poly to mono? That every sound in the program cuts off each other. Thanks.

[@rashodlewis2918]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@awkwardtom]

Keeping it original, nice. Are you running midi from an internal card/ interface or Usb?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey , thanks ! I run midi from Edirol ua-4fx audio interface.

[@ziadmir]

Hey hey, awesome stuff. What keyboard are you using, it looks like a OG Microkorg but I didn't know it could be used as controller?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey ! It's microkorg, yes, it has a MIDI out so can easily be used as a midi keyboard / controller.

[@tylereat]

Very helpful, and cool track. Where do you get the breaks from? Are you sampling vinyl or just a digital file?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Cheers ! I store my breaks on my computer, but they are all sourced from different sources, including vinyl.

[@tylereat]

@@IJOSoundVideo Thanks for the response. Guess I need to build my breaks library. Have repaired a few Akai rack units for fun over the pandemic and looking forward to using them as more than just drum machines.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

@@tylereat awesome !!

[@oussmayo]

proper

[@bazooka4dakill]

however, obviously you were pretty nervous, so i give you much love for the video tutorial mate!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

;)

[@MarkusAudio]

How do you like your tunes like this here being played in sets? Mad skills :-) Not mentioning this essential tutorial :-)

[@fahadha]

I know this vid is from a while ago, but I want to ask where you like to sample a Reece bass from? I've tried to sample from the original Reece track, but hard to get it to loop w/o a 'click'

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey, i know what you're talking about. The reece here i got from a pack of samples i once had from a friend like 15 years ago or so, so can't tell you exactly where it's from.

[@opticalman6417]

i want you desk where did you get it from

[@IJOSoundVideo]

You mean mixing desk or my table desk ? :D

[@bartleyrob]

what desk it that ? looks perfect

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey, it's Soundcraft Folio FX8.

[@barbosa8498]

Hi... Adding another break which is not in the grid, may not cause phase issues or something?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey. Wouldn't worry about phasing issues at all in this case. Phasing issues arrive working with stereo signals, or direct mic recordings, when you have 8 mics of a drum set as an example. Mono samples have no phasing issues .

[@lobit12]

Im using an s1000, whenever its receiving midi notes and then I do program edits it 'stutters' or glitches and slows its midi playback. is there a workaround for this?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Could it be MIDI cables ? I had issues similar to that when using bad midi cables.. Also, if it stutters, you have to "stop" and then "play" again from the beginning of the grid. Happens to me sometimes too.

[@colincherot5432]

Anyone know what the MIDI sequencer software is?

[@colincherot5432]

Oh I see the list of equipment now! Nevermind

[@landonh3535]

One other question - On the S1000 I am guessing you make separate programs for each part so for example, you have an Amen Program and then a Sub bass program. And each program is set to go to a separate mono output and has a separate MIDI channel assigned to it. And so basically in the DAW you have MIDI tracks 1-8 and just click on the one you want to sequence? I am coming from the s900 where it is only able to load 1 program at a time so if I have everything correct, this is an easier workflow with the s1000.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey. Yes, correct. I can have up to 16 MIDI channels, but only 8 outputs, so sometimes I assign more than one sound to the same output channel, mostly all kinds of effect sounds. I used to own S950, for a short time, and it can do the same as S1000, the only difference is - S950 (I suppose S900 too) separate outputs are monophonic, meaning only one note can be played at the time, but that may not be an issue since it's mostly samples anyway. So on S950 you can also have different programs with different midi channels routed to separate 8 outputs. S950 has a grittier sound than S1000, but the latter has a better - bigger screen to work with :)

[@landonh3535]

@@IJOSoundVideo Huge help, thank you!

[@subsurface3102]

Thanks for all these tips. Your workflow is exactly what ive been trying to achieve for a very long time. I have an s900 and have been just recording a drum break or other samples into it and then recording it once into ableton and chopping in there. Is the s900 capable of this type of workflow and does music sound better when just sending midi info to the sampler and letting it do the chops?

[@vhsx]

this is great. what sequencer is that?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

cheers ! that's an early PC version of Cubase VST32, i have been using it since 2000 or so, with an exception of Reason 10 for the past 5 years, until going back to hardware. This version of Cubase have tricks that no other modern MIDI sequencer has. I might make a video about it too.

[@ghal3on]

@@IJOSoundVideo this would be sweet. Currently trying out renoise. Love the tracker environment, but think it might not be the best paired with the S1000?

[@sonicsoftly]

@@ghal3on why do you say that?

[@ghal3on]

@@sonicsoftly when I initially posted, I was worried that I was missing out on some functionality using renoise to trigger the S1000 instead of something truly oldschool like cubase. Now I know thats mostly not true hah

[@ManishHShahMDFACSDenver]

Which software are you using to sequence your song?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

I am using here Cubase VST32 - the first PC version, coming from Atari. But this can be done using any DAW that supports midi. I use this particular version just because i have been using it since it came out 20 years ago, and i am comfortable with it the most.

[@espelizarov]

Bro can you tell me how create mute groups on akai s1000?(voice overlap)

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey, you have to edit your program's polyphony to only 1 voice.

[@n-spired]

@@IJOSoundVideothat’s also my question that brought me here. But I can only put it down to 6 and I don’t understand why.

[@landonh3535]

Hi how do you lay out your Amen chops on the akai? Like you hit different keys and I am hearing time stretched hits and then then pitched up and pitched down, all these variations - this is all in one keygroup? I am guessing you chop the break into phrases and then save each phrase on it's own key, or are you giving each phrase a range on the keyboard? That is what I can't figure out - I have an s900 and would love to try and do it this way all on the hardware. Most people use these samplers to process and then do the chopping in the DAW it seems like. Appreciate any advice!

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey. Yeah, I mostly chop my breaks in phrases. If it's just a regular break, i get 3 - 4 chops, but if it's an amen - i can get up to 17 chops including all kinds of variations of timestrech (I use akaizer plugin for that, same results but faster turnaround). Once I get those breaks sampled in to the akai, I chop them inside the sampler. I make keygroups for my chops, usually each chop has their own key, except the very first chop and the last one. I give 'em a range to be able to pitch down (first one, i program to start at C2 and original pitch at C3, this is mostly a kick, and then the last chop mostly a timestreched snare, that I can pitch up within the octave, giving me lots and lots of room to play with interesting arrangements). If one once to simply add an akai color and then go back in to the DAW to do the arrangement and mixing, I find using RX950 plugin can help with that , otherwise, if working with hardware samplers - best to stay OTB all the way , as every bit of outboard used in the process eg. a mixing desk, fx , compression etc, adds a layer of texture that just sounds so much better than digital plugins.

[@landonh3535]

@@IJOSoundVideo I appreciate that detail - your channel is top notch!

[@supahfly_uk]

Hello IJO Sound. I have been using reason to make Jungle. It's ok but, I feel like I'm missing something, is old hardware the something? Any comments will be appreciated thanks.

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey. Thanks for the comment. I use Reason too, sometimes, for specific things. But when it comes to Jungle - it's hardware for me. Every time i try to make oldschool jungle with reason, it just never sounds "right", it always sounds too clean, and every bit of sound comes separate to everything else. But when I use hardware - everything falls in the right place straight away, without even have to muck around with plugins and such. Hardware, in reality, sounds imperfect, but these imperfections are giving the exact "something" to the music. The analog summing adds a lot of magic too. In other words - every bit of sound comes through analog circuity, that adds color to it, and the end result sounds very organic, very musical and real. To me at least.

[@supahfly_uk]

@@IJOSoundVideo Omg ty for your reply I've been looking for my own sound for a long time trying to recreate that 90s sound and maybe hardware would be an investment love the sound it brings nice and crunchy. Also your music is awesome.

[@amerism4530]

Can I ask you a question ?

[@saren6538]

Spit it out

[@UgoZg]

Wish i could give you at least five or six thumbs up on this video.

[@bradylasserre9320]

This might be a dumb question, but how do you usually get breaks and such in time? Do you usually stretch within the Akai until it's in time or do it within the DAW?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Hey. A very good question, i should make a video showing how i do stuff from start to finish :) I still use computer for managing my samples and stuff, and i match my tempo in Soundforge by just pitching my breaks down or up until i get to where i want to. And then i sample them in to my Akai where i further chop my breaks and make keygroups. Doing it this way saves my quite a bit of time. I use my akai pretty much for the SOUND, but i do prep all my samples and loops in the computer. I also make my own pads and stuff as well, so i make a sort of a folder of samples for a track, it's like a mini sample pack for a specific track, all the breaks and loops are tempo matched, i then sample everything into the Akai for the sound, where i further mix everything through an analog mixing desk and outboard effects. I just love the workflow , but you can achieve the sort of akai sound in the box as well (with a help of certain plugins), but the workflow is different, and i just don't like using plugins and the mixdown part in the box is very long and boring, whilst using the hardware gives you the kind of sound straight away , without spending much time on mixdowns.

[@bradylasserre9320]

@@IJOSoundVideo I write on an Akai 900 with a MPC 1000 doing all the sequences. Running through a Mackie CR1604 * the pre VLZ version ;) * I usually pitch to get my loops on time, but as you can imagine, it's hard to get it 100% correct.

[@ghal3on]

@@IJOSoundVideo this sounds exactly how I want my workflow to go. Also makes perfect sense to me how you prepare things in the computer before dropping them into the akai.

[@albionpatterns3986]

Is that renoise ?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

That's the first PC version of Cubase, coming from Atari. Great sequencer, modern DAW sequencers don't have certain tricks you can do with this one.

[@albionpatterns3986]

@@IJOSoundVideo How are you running it?

[@IJOSoundVideo]

@@albionpatterns3986 via MIDI.

[@albionpatterns3986]

@@IJOSoundVideo I meant more like, What are you running it on?? On a mac? Or an old PC ? Im. on a mac and I wonder if I can run it on wine

[@IJOSoundVideo]

@@albionpatterns3986 oh, i am running it on a i7 PC , windows 7 64bit, i have no idea what Wine is though :) but it can be run on any DAW that supports midi which is every daw these days, be it logic, ableton or any, really. I have set up 8 different programs, assigned to 8 midi channels and 8 separate outputs and in Cubase i only choose midi channels and that's it.

[@bazooka4dakill]

way too much phasing in the breaks, bass is fine, but too filtered

[@IJOSoundVideo]

Thanks for your comment, mate. I don't use any filters for my basses. And as for phasing drums - I just like em like that, adds a lot of variety, I am not even trying to do things the regular way like everybody else does, besides I don't even care what other people think :)

[@jackissocool1]

@@IJOSoundVideo sounds killer imo - adds more flavour

[@viktorvigh4513]

You can hear a lot of phasing on breaks if you check old Photek records. Basement Records etc. Back then it was used as an effect but it's actually the Akai that does it. You just need to trigger the same break on a different midi channel.

[@adaptedvinyl]

It sounds like you're wanting to hear a different style of Jungle. Flangey breaks and sine bass are authentic old school recipes for Jungle since year dot and both have their roots in the Akai S-series tech. I love the style!

[@lanmichaelmix2818]

i can make it sound the same on PC by only using modulation methods.But it's a secret