As a recent convert/adoptee to a Push 2 and Ableton, I had a session this afternoon where I went to grab some of my Rytm kits/sounds so I can have them at hand in Drum Racks in Live.
I did the standard recording of hits, then got to a particular track I’d been working on in the Rytm… and proceeded to jam it out for 20-30 mins, just in the Rytm… and really fkn loved it. The hands on performance aspect of the Rytm is just sooo good… and I realised that there’s NO way I could do that in Live with a Push 2 (yet?).
I don’t think I’ve ever had another piece of hardware that I find so inspiring creatively as the Rytm, and sometimes it takes a moment like today to be reminded that I should spend more time on it.
I’m still going to put the samples into racks in AL, but it’s more making me want to get back into writing sessions where I sit just with my Rytm (and maybe A4/DN too ).
I’ve seen people asking/questioning it here recently, people raising issues, asking for updates, etc, etc… but the glass is 99% full IMO, what a piece of kit it is.
A synth friend kindly loaned me his Analog Rytm MK2 and really fun drum synth! Learning is different layout than the other Elektrons like A4 and OT but I was able to make some cool beats quickly and the larger pads are fun to finger drum as well. A quick first demo:
So not sure if I will eventually buy a Rytm as I just picked up a DFAM and that has been a lot of fun even though the Rytm can do way more. Also need to try out some other drum machines and see what works for me. Sounds really good especially the tom drum instruments and snares are crisp and solid. Kick is so-so but I need to try feeding it some compression and gain to see if that beefs it up.
I am loving the Rytm with the fervor of a recent convert.
I got one used on a whim -for a price that I felt I could easily re-sell without losing much- but I was shocked at how much more I clicked with it than my digitakt. It’s really wonderful mix of sequencing and performance and it’s so easy to fly between live recording, step editing, sequencing and tweaking, and then performing the sequences with scenes and so on. I feel like I can really live-perform my sequences while recording and come up with things I never would otherwise.
And the cherry on top is the overbridge. It has so far worked wonderfully for me and it connects the intuitive and fast jamming/sequencing with the ability to arrange and export into a DAW construction a breeze.
Lastly, the compressor and or drive circuit is wonderful. I love getting the output staging to the point of almost breaking up. It just feels wonderfully alive.
Wait, but why not just connect your Rytm to live with overbridge? Is there something you would do with the Drum Racks you couldn’t do with rytm and routing the audio from the Rytm through Ableton chains?
It’s not to replace my Rytm with Live.'s Drum Rack… I have my laptop with me constantly, so I wanted my regular Rytm kits/sounds (and my A4 too) available in Live for portability/convenience.
It’s a basic way of recreating my hardware set up so I can keep project sounds consistent.
I wanted a set template for Live that gives me a simulated Rytm track (complete with using 12 pads in the Drum Rack), then 4 Analog Four tracks to sim T1-T4. Then I would build up other tracks from there to keep it contained and mindful of performing live.
I was just about to create a thread named just like this when it became apparent that one already exists.
Lately I’ve been binging AR videos on the Expect Resistance YT-channel. What a gem of a channel that is with tons of cool ways of using this device on display.
I find it baffling that there is so little love for the AR here as I’ve come to think that it might be the most insane and limitless box Elektron has created so far, both sound and function-wise.
Using the outputs for for modulating stuff with the audio and/or loading in some SCW’s and using those as lfo’s with the ability to modulate their startpoints, retrig and other parameters, like the bit reduction. It’s so easy to create SCW’s with AI these days.
Used to think that the lack of LFO’s is a huge problem but the machine is full of tricks to remedy that.
As a matter of fact it’s quite interesting trying to get something worthwhile going on without using the LFO, and then to bring it in. Very rewarding.
Also it seems like they really did some crucial calibrating for them engines in the 1.70 update.
I got my second AR mk2 today as I sold the first one like a fool few years ago, and I will absolutely flood this forum with jams and audio snippets once I’ve gotten a hold of this machine a bit.
Well it’s the most expensive Elektron box so probably has the fewest users. A lot of what I personally love about it like synth machines, sy chip, sampling, resampling are things that were added later or weren’t on MKI so when you read a comment you never know when somebody tried the AR or what version it was. And it’s positioned primarily as a drum machine and it seems like some people are very particular about drum machine sounds and might miss the deeper possibilities, or not care about them and just want something that sounds like a ready to go 808 or 909 out of the box.
It’s the only one with analog synth machines, analog drums, samples through analog filter and drive, and resampling so in that sense it’s the best all rounder if you care about analog. But there are some limitations when using it as a synth such as no env retrigger.
But imo if you approach it as an 8 track analog/sampling hybrid studio where you can resample to bounce stuff down (mono only of course), that alone is pretty deep and powerful for a standalone groovebox.
Yeah I would totally agree with your point on ppl approaching it primarily as a drum machine. That was my initial approach as well. The price is also surely a big factor that determines how many will buy a new one. The used prices are not that bad imo, mostly around 1200-1300€ which I consider kinda cheap.
I guess with all of the Elektron gear the worst mistake is to pay too much attention to their names and too little to their potential to be what you want them to be.
I mean I use all of them very differently than I was expecting before buying them and I think that is one of my fav things about them.
Really looking forward to seeing what one solid year of learning it will bring about.
I love the AR even though Im not using it as much as I would like. But this video just made me want to just sit down with it and fly to new place. Great tutorial how to make jungle with it and with some pre-shopped amen breaks inside
I plan to layer Rytm, Jomox with Perkons and Hexdrums for the win! Most techno, trance and house use tons of percussion layers to build the wall of sound.
Completely agree! I actually dont like synthesized drum sounds so I use the Rytm as a more experimental mpc2000 with an analog heart. I do samplebased hiphop. Samples sound great through the filters/drive, and the Rytm is great for weird synth melodies and fx.
I sold my Rytm 2 years back to get the isla s2400 but got one again this year because I missed it so much. It feels alive in some way. Hard to tame sometimes, and always unpredictable, but the end result always feels like it has a soul.
Thanks for the tip! I will definitely check out Alechko’s stuff. A link to his stuff would be v welcome as it’s been a while since I’ve been here and I’m a bit out of touch.
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