A good Monomachine reminder - 'Transition'

Elektron Gear Monomachine
#1

https://radoslavvalkov.bandcamp.com/track/transition

This beautiful track was recorded more than one year ago. It was composed within a couple of hours - probably the greatest sound production experience I have ever had with the Monomachine. The whole song is based on gradual extension and variation of a slow 64 step pattern with enough synth and tweak variation span. I imagine this song a bit revisited - with trumpet probably. Some equipment could be a huge turning point - Monomachine was mine.

Do you have your sublime moment and track? Post here what you consider ‘a sonic achievement’ with the Monomachine for yourself.

5 Likes
#2

I’m still very new to the box but as I listen to what I’ve recorded in the past few months, I’m just astounded. It’s the music I’ve been wanting to make for a while and the Monomachine is what is making it possible.

I hope to have something to share soon, musically. Here’s a rough jam that came out one Sunday. It’s now part of a bigger track that builds on this. This setup is just Monomachine, Volca Beats, and PO-24 (Office), recorded straight through. It’s kindof a funk/hip-hop vibe. I remember trying to make something in this vein a few years ago with an Akai MPC-500 and MiniAK and just failing miserably.

I tend to get either totally speechless or very long-winded when it comes to the Monomachine. I have never connected with any instrument like I have with the :elmm: and I’m still at a bit of a loss to explain why. Current hypothesis: the :elmm: is as approachable as a groovebox, but with the depth of a proper synth. I’ve had higher-end synths in the past but found them impossible to program. I’ve had grooveboxes in the past that were fun but had so many limitations (they were often based on a scaled down version of their company’s bigger synths).

It’s certainly been a turning point for me. I regret not getting one sooner. But maybe I just wasn’t ready.

3 Likes
#3

This one is great - it is divided in two parts and still very consistent, full of interesting details! It really depends on how good you are in getting used to Monomachine’s interface, menu structure and ease of access. One is for sure - it cannot be compared to any other synth and using it standalone really makes sense to me. But it is quite another story if you support the ‘one piece of gear’ philosophy. :wink:

#4

Some really nice ambience and sounds on that Transition track.

These are a couple years old but feature a lot of Monomachine. Both use a Machinedrum for drums and Minitaur for bass but the rest is the MNM.


This one gets crunched up through the Oto Biscuit but I really like the sounds I got from the Mono here; lots of FM.


Made this around the same time… this one is the Mono going straight through the Octatrack with no processing beyond a bit of compression. Tried to do something buzzy and repetitive.

1 Like
#5

Epic compositions! After 1:23 ‘So Spun’ gets really magical! The second one starts like Ada, then the brilliant synths change the entire soundscape. Great work!

#6

Am loving Spirals. Good work.Inspires me not to ebay the little fella and stick with him!

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#7

This is beautiful. Is the reverb from the MnM too? I can never get mine sounding so clean.

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#8

I had a great collection of carefully crafted pads, deep synthwork that could be played with a MIDI keyboard controller using the Monomachine. Left this collection intact for nearly one year and one beautiful day - whoa! - started gathering all this synths together, play them, experiment, add internal Monomachine FX. Then I set up my tempo, scale and basic song framework. Then I felt enormous creative output was about to happen. I started inputting notes with my MIDI controller, set up lots of P-locks and P-locking LFOs. The fact that I chose the slowest tempo available allowed me to allocate some beautiful variation within a 64 step pattern. There were many rehearsals, changes and improvements.

So, the creative process turned out to be a gradual extension of a solid pattern basis with good synth work and broad enough param variation span. Then I just designed some ‘building blocks’, put lots of effort when creating all this complex synth variety (obviously, I’ve made use of all 6 tracks and while shifting between chained patterns, I decided to substitute a certain synth track with another one - that enabled me to introduce more sonic diversity as the track progresses).