Lets talk about tips and techniques for using breaks with the Rytm.
I found this great tutorial:
Just wondering if any other Rytm owners have tips, tricks and techniques for using Breaks with the Rytm?
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I tried, and there’s workarounds but the machine is just fundamentally not designed for that use case.
I did it once by programming a beat, resampling it and cutting it to an exact length such that the start point division (eg. 63 is halfway) lined up on the beat. Then I could p-lock a beat in.
Basically took like 2 hours for something which would be a 5 min job in ableton
Said this the other week in another thread but:
You could have much smoother sailing on Rytm with breaks & such if they let you switch out the chromatic trigger mode with an Octatrack style “slots” mode, to let you live record multiple samples onto a single track. That way you could at least prepare slices on a computer then play them intuitively on the Rytm. You’d still lack proper slicing and timestretch, but thats less of an issue. Even good timestretching algos take punch out of breaks anyway.
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I suggested to Elektron adding keytracking as a modulation option.
That would allow to use chromatic mode to play different notes and then trigger different start points of the sample. No need to code any UI or anything else.
I think slicing is one of the most requested features right after a 2nd LFO. On a drum machine it would make more sense than chromatic trigger, one would think?
Anyway, I still like using the AR with breakbeats, even though it can be a pain in the arse, one does get faster with practice.
From a bit back, using performance mode (pad pressure) to various parameters:
… also, a scratching try with the pads …
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we get slicing in the forth coming os update.
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Not a Rytm owner but the first thing I think of is all the breakbeat performances on the AR I’ve seen, its all I associate with the device. Also the sequencer is fundamentally a tracker, all Electron devices that use samples can do Jungle type breaks and make them dynamic, even the MS
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It totally can do it, I just mean other devices have tools which the rytm lacks, like sample slicing mapped to notes
I’m also thinking more like jungle/dnb beats which I guess can be different from breakbeats
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Looks at all my hardware with funny feelings.
I hear your point but it’s not the worst thing in the world on Rytm. It really benefits doing that kind of setup a few times and then saving template projects and similar.
If you do some of the prep work on computer it’s even easier. The things you can do with a prepared break sample on the Rytm from there still make it shine in a way that’s totally worth putting the time in.
Like it’s certainly not ideal, but most of my favorite music was made by pushing past those kind of limitations and finding a way to make it work.
I’m not arguing against the merits of convenience though.
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I use an OT and I love making Jungle on it. I just have all those 90s sample CDs loaded on the CF card and generally don’t use slices, just use parameter locks for different samples and to change the start point, just think in terms of 128/8=8. so i use that for quick “slicing”. But i guess having the time stretching on makes this easier since you can just load up any sample and it will fit. Isnt there a LFO hack to play back start point on the AR? Can you use the performance mode on the LFO to do glitchy stutter things? I’m mostly thinking of the way I’ve seen Baseck perform with the AR
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The things you can do with a prepared break sample on the Rytm from there still make it shine in a way that’s totally worth putting the time in.
Really good point. Rytm does definitely does nice things to samples, like the OP shows
I had a period where I was trying to use the Rytm as a full groovebox and kind of struggled. Going back to just using it as a drum machine just felt a lot easier which coloured my perspective a bit
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Like Small Minded Vandal I prepared a ton of breaks before I put them in the Rytm. Basically cut them all down to my favorite 1 bar loop (sometimes making the start point somewhere less obvious to inject some chance of a happy accident) and then repitch them so they are all one BPM. I have sets of breaks all 1 bar , at 96bpm, or 140bpm, or 160bpm. I have hundreds of these and I only had to do it once.
From there it’s super easy to p-lock the start point, and if you push down on the encoder for the start point it locks to even numbers. In most cases a snare will be on 40 for example.
I actually prefer this method to loading a break, and manually slicing it on a machine. It’s so much fun to lay some trigs down and then browse through breaks while it’s playing the pattern.
And of course using the Performance and Scenes for switching breaks up is amazing.
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Agreed.
I also think the AR’s choke groups are helpful here.
It’s fun to load part of a break onto HT 1 and the other onto HT2 so they cut each other off.*
Then bash away to your heart’s content.
*(so the same sample set to different start points)
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A bunch of different pattern variations + direct jump seems like it would be a useful approach.
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Im experimenting with a Photek approach, making my own breaks via SD3 around 135bpm.
Then processing them in Cubase to give them vibe etc.
Finally importing them into my Rytm and pitching them up 3 semitones so they’re around 160 bpm.
I want the hardware to add that classic Jungle sound by applying the pitch shift itself.
Here’s the script I created:
import math
import sys
def calculate_sampler_pitch(sample_bpm, desired_bpm):
"""
Calculates the exact pitch shift required in a classic sampler
to stretch or compress a sample from an original tempo to a target tempo.
Works universally for speeding up or slowing down.
"""
# Safety check for invalid tempos
if sample_bpm <= 0 or desired_bpm <= 0:
raise ValueError("Tempos must be positive numbers greater than zero.")
# 1. Core Algorithm: Calculate total semitones as a floating-point number
total_semitones = 12 * math.log2(desired_bpm / sample_bpm)
# 2. Extract the coarse tuning (whole semitones)
# Using math.floor ensures consistent behavior across positive and negative shifts
semitones = math.floor(total_semitones)
# 3. Extract the fine tuning (cents remaining)
cents = round((total_semitones - semitones) * 100)
# Handle the mathematical edge case where cents rounds up to 100
if cents == 100:
semitones += 1
cents = 0
return {
"semitones": semitones,
"cents": cents,
"total_float": round(total_semitones, 2)
}
def main():
print("=" * 50)
print(" CLASSIC SAMPLER PITCH / TEMPO CALCULATOR ")
print("=" * 50)
try:
# Get inputs from the user
sample_input = input("Enter original sample BPM (e.g., 135): ")
desired_input = input("Enter desired project BPM (e.g., 160): ")
sample_bpm = float(sample_input)
desired_bpm = float(desired_input)
# Run the algorithm
result = calculate_sampler_pitch(sample_bpm, desired_bpm)
# Format the output cleanly
print("\n" + "-" * 30)
print(f"Original Tempo: {sample_bpm} BPM")
print(f"Target Tempo: {desired_bpm} BPM")
print("-" * 30)
# Determine direction for intuitive reading
direction = "UP" if result['total_float'] >= 0 else "DOWN"
sign = "+" if result['total_float'] >= 0 else ""
print(f"Direction: Pitch {direction}")
print(f"Exact Change: {sign}{result['total_float']} semitones")
print(f"\n👉 SAMPLER SETTINGS:")
print(f" Coarse Tune (Semitones): {sign if result['semitones'] >= 0 else ''}{result['semitones']}")
print(f" Fine Tune (Cents): +{result['cents']}")
print("=" * 50)
except ValueError as e:
print(f"\n[Error]: Invalid input. Please enter numbers only. Details: {e}")
except KeyboardInterrupt:
print("\nExiting script.")
sys.exit()
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
Using SD3 is great because of all the room and ambient mics that you get,
As I strictly use LCR mixing, everything is panned C , processed to taste and then bounced as a mono stem.
i wonder how much it would cost to hire a session drummer and a decent studio to record some breaks.
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