I remember the week Push 2 first came out. I just bought the original Push, 4 months the Push 2 came out. Went to my local shop to sell it and got the new Push 2. I now don’t have it anymore cause I sold it off. Here I am now with my 3 Elektron boxes, bought months before the new MK2 comes out!!!
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Dude,
You have good taste and I think all of us suffer to some extent from gear lust. For me, I blew my funds recently on DAW software, synthesizers and guitars so I totally understand.
I splurged and bought
Moog Sub 37 analog synthesizer- love love this baby. So fun, looks great, made in America and a dream to play and create new sounds with!
Ableton Push 2 best workflow for Ableton DAW
Cubase 9- needed one for compositions and features missing from Ableton
Kontrol S49 and Komplete 11 Ultimate- best combo and collection of VST and soft synths
Microkorg
My dream setup for future gear:
Helix Line 6 or Headrush FX multi-effects combo pedal
Elektron Octatrack MKII
Access Virus TI2 Polar
Elektron Analog Rytm MKII
Custom Kiesel Guitar
Travel guitar and portable amp for the road when out of town and stuck flying to clients so I can decompress at hotel.
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I bet Ableton drop a monster hardware update at this years Loop event. One that competes with the MPC Live, the Digitakt, and everything else. It’ll be a GASFest 
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Great thread !
I used to meditate for years with little benefit, trying to achieve some state other than simply being aware of the one that was present at that moment. Wasn’t until I listened to Eckhart Tolle and Alan Watts that a major shift happened. Identification with any of these forms is precisely the “problem” that one is seeking to “avoid”, but that’s the joy and irony of the whole thing. Haha.
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That was certainly a well thought out response! Some interesting info.
I would highly recommend anything by Ravi Zacharias. I don’t have many heroes, but he is one of them
I agree mindfulness can be separate from religion. FYI, I don’t care for religion at all. Jesus was often rebelling against religion.
Peace my friend.
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Spiritual and creativity.
In my life, Jesus is first, I am second. This helps me lose the immature, self-centered ego that can be grandiose and is still surprised I never made it to the level of Floyd and Zeppelin. That said, I would never trade my soul or life as a Christian for that type of fame and wealth. It LOOKS amazing, but is usually a life with big ego moments, otherwise filled with emptiness and loneliness. (so many examples: Prince, Cobain, Madonna) I have learned this from life experiences, reading and being a therapist for people high up in the industry.
Once people have fame, it’s hard for them to let go of the persona and accept their real self. Does he continue to pursue the beauty queen, the model who would never give him a second look were it not for his fame or money, or does he pursue genuine connections.
I’ve observed 3 hit wonders who despise their lives because people could care less about anything new they write, and they have come to hate their older “hits.” He feels trapped in this career of playing clubs. Clearly a major change in perspective could make a huge difference.
I don’t really care for preaching, which usually feels like sales. I just like people sharing their experiences.
So I became a Christian in the late 80’s, and gradually surrendered my will and music to God. I look at it as He gave me the talent, I worked hard to grow it. I write and record and hope that it encourages people. If it ever goes somewhere or not, I am at peace with it.
Still need to stomp out the ego sometimes. As a musician it’s interesting to go into a music store. It’s painfully obvious most people are wanting others to notice and be impressed with their skill. I remind myself to just Be Mindful and enjoy the moment, enjoy the playing, and if someone is encouraged or blessed by it, awesome!
Generally when people are blessed by me, it’s about God using me, not because I am amazing. God uses people when they are more humble, not when they are full of themselves. When I became a Christian in 1989 and listened to some of the Christian music, I thought Christian music was for people that couldn’t make it in the real music world. So, I thought I was going to be the first cool Christian music star. I have little doubt God was rolling on the floor laughing. That was the opposite of where I am now.
Rush have stated they are Atheists, but Geddy Lee’s quote is the best I’ve heard, “We’re musicians, it’s not really that noble of a pursuit.” Of course Limelight continues the concept of being thrilled with the fascination of music and creating it, not the ego, rock star attitude.
Music is funny and full of contradictions. It can be a vulnerable position. We can act like we don’t care, but I have trouble believing anyone that creates doesn’t hope their creation is appreciated.
Hope everyone has a fantastic Thursday!
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Thanks for sharing that! Where can I hear your music?
Hey Ryan,
This site has the last 2 cd’s I made in 2007 and 2009. Hope it’s encouraging.
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Don’t take this the wrong way, because I’m super happy that you’re here! And all the good people are welcome on Elektronauts.
I’m just curious, how did you found your way onto this forum? Did you, in the last ten years, end up transitioning over to making electronic music? I mean, it’s been ten years, and I made a similar transition myself- but what was the switch or which gear are you using now?
This is a powerful practice that can be done daily like brushing your teeth. I want to post this here so there is a direct link right this moment. I’ve been doing Isha Yoga every day for three years and I posted this because of my experience and thankfulness for it and not out of anything else. The video is put together by Isha and they are a nonprofit and non religious foundation offering technologies in human well being. The very first time I went through the practice I began to notice subtle but immense benefits.
“mindfulness” (or Sati) divorced from its origin in Buddhism has problems because it is intended as one facet of the Eightfold path - and therefore its not necessarily entirely effective without that proper context… in particular, Id consider Vipassana to be at least as important if not moreso in the total scheme of development in terms of bodhi
its a bit like the way Yoga is nowadays considered as a set of physical exercises to give you a healthy body with toned muscles or whatever… whereas thats not the actual intention of the tradition itself, but rather a pleasant side effect… if you really want to know what its about, best to start with the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
there are plenty of other concerns regarding this debate… for example the teaching of “mindfulness” in terms of corporate business, military applications, and so forth - and the idea that on its own, its automatically a gateway to greater consciousness in general in terms of a harmonious life centered on compassion is considered more or less wishful thinking… just as the development of samadhi on its own doesnt necessarily lead to compassionate action - and in fact a significant development in this power of “concentration” may even end up being a fairly large stumbling block depending on the person in question and their application of this particular ability
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Hey Ryan,
I have been writing and recording music since 1986. Around 2 years ago I learned of Elektron. I use my Rytm as the drum brain to play on a Yamaha e-kit. The recordings I posted were my e-kit with drum sounds from a Yamaha Motif and Boss DR-880. I now mostly use one shot Loop Loft drum samples (Simon Phillips and Matt Cameron).
I suck at programming and computer recording, but I am a musician that records and plays all the instruments old school.
Other stuff: Roland VS880ex, Yamaha DT Xpress drum kit, Fender Strat, Sterling (Music Man) Bass, Martin electric-acoustic, Yamaha MoX6 synth, Line 6 X3Live.
I think that’s about it.
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I think I may have mentioned this on here or the old EU form (or possibly muffs?) but I have experimented with a variety of electronically aided meditation and altered states with good results - disclaimer I do not endorse any products or suggest anyone try it based on my experiences but a lot of what I have tried certainly helped me in my own experiments, and there are always new ideas, products and techniques coming to the fore as it is still a relatively new concept.
Without going into too much technical detail you can definitely influence your brainwaves which govern your mental state, for example by photic, electrical or audio stimulation, or a combination of these and other mechanisms. For meditation for example you want to get your dominant brainwave frequency into the lower range typically 4-8hz, this can be accomplished fairly effortlessly and after a session of a period of time like 15-20minutes you should feel refreshed and relaxed.
There is a lot of good scientific information and just as much pseudoscience BS available to read online, as well as overpriced useless gadgets and products that actually work, so it can be a bit of a minefield at first, but if you find it interesting it is worth looking into yourself.
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Hey invisible_acropolis,
One of the reasons these and many topics can be challenging is because of differing views, intention, origin, level or lack of belief… People often feel offended as they perceive their view is not respected.
Persons with the Christian faith tend to have areas of conflict with the intentions of Yoga and Buddhism according to my understanding, as they are to fill themselves with Jesus/Holy Spirit/God spirit alone.
There are areas where they are at peace and similar in terms of wisdom and suggestions. But Jesus was and will always be confrontational claiming by Him alone are people connected to God, forgiven, etc… Most other beliefs suggest whatever you believe leads to the same road, but Jesus absolutely disagrees, and would indeed be a royal idiot if being crucified wasn’t necessary, if all roads were the same…Thus, He tends to be minimized as a myth, liar, fool, teacher, but He claims He is Lord.
I respect everyone’s belief’s and hopefully we can respectfully disagree where necessary.
I get a kick outa how playing instruments can be seen as old school 
. I’m with ya, I play those things, but I’m starting to consider using more midi sequencing from the ol Octatrack for next level tightness and automation, and then playing over that…
Hey Mike,
Yes, that’s what people seem to view it as, but to me programming, producing, and everything in-between is the same. The goal is to make music that moves us.
Learning to do what I do with my Rytm is much less in-depth than probably 99% of Elektron users. Loading samples, building kits, editing samples, FX and then working out the midi details to play my samples on a Yamaha e-kit was quite a big deal for me! Many times I had to read, re-read, watch and re-watch videos just to get rolling…
If I was good at the computer tech and programming side I would dive in. For me, the learning curve, available time, etc just doesn’t work to pursue recording via DAW.
Sort of like considering new equipment, it’s wise to consider the time it will take, what it will do. I have made the mistake of getting too wrapped up in music info pursuits that didn’t really benefit me much in the long run and took me away from creating and enjoying things.
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Sometimes I want a support group to sit in a dark church basement with donuts and coffee to talk through the gear issues. The dopamine issues. Etc.
I need to get better at selling stuff, and letting go of the things I seldom use. I do this on occasion but it’s not a process I enjoy and it’s easy to keep putting off. But so many things I have are in the “but I might use it! it can sound really cool!” category but they sit off on the side. And I’m trying not to bring in anything new until I get rid of some old things.
But now there’s these A4 mk1 offerings from good retailers for crazy good prices. I bought the Monomachine when its price dropped and that was the best thing I ever got. So despite me trying to focus on paying down credit card debt and/or getting around to thinking about whether to sell some neat but underused things like my Evolver and Streichfett, I find my finger hovering over the “Buy Now!” button on those A4s… (I’ve just noticed that I click so well with the Elektron workflow that despite all my thinking that “I’ll just wire up the Evolver to the OT sequencer!” it’s not quite the same as a fully integrated machine).
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jshell,
Yes!! That’s what I experience! I do enjoy reading music store catalogs (on net and print), but it can slip over into taking me away from what is, and into what could be.
Your purchase of the monomachine is a great example of something that really contributed and brought joy!!
Perhaps accept that you won’t need the Evolver if you got an A4? A4 makes some pretty good strings as well. If you don’t mind recording into your computer via OB I think you should replace those pieces for the A4- analog sound in a workflow you enjoy at a respectable price.
I’m sorry for encouraging the gas. I just really like that synth.
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Pusher… 
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