Yeah, I have an 0-coast atm but have had a Minitaur, Polivoks, Dark Energy etc. Works like a charm.
I really like having a single device for sequencing everything.
Yeah, I have an 0-coast atm but have had a Minitaur, Polivoks, Dark Energy etc. Works like a charm.
I really like having a single device for sequencing everything.
But you can do so many other things ā¦
Probably everyone will go through this phase. I own way too much sh*t and have started to sell some of it already. Then buying again. I am really glad the Syntakt is not for me as I own most of all the other Elektron stuff already.
My rule now is: if I buy something I have to sell something. Which will be harder every time.
In the end my favorite box still is the DT. Even more than the Rytm. Such a small box full of features, sampling synths from someones YouTube presentations is a joy. I come up with all kinds of ideas and once I have a few song parts I load them into Live with Overbridge and hopefully create a song. Very satisfying.
And once I am done I donāt look back. Next idea, next song.
Looking back I started most of my tunes on the DT or AK.
Yeah, because Elektronās sequencer doesnāt tick all my boxes I think Ableton is basically that device for me. I wish for something like OT with a sequencer as powerful as an MPC ā¦ or, Elektronās take on an MPC , if it can even be done.
OT is like a far off land Iād like to explore one day. What I want to do now is based so strongly on fundamentals ā¦ notes, rhythm, communicating through changes in timbreā¦ playing with samples is almost too mind blowing for me, because of my deep obsession with composition and the exploration of combinations of simple rhythms.
On the other hand ā¦ it is a very interesting prospect ā¦ trading total control of an instrument for a more broad control plus the freedom to violate every rule of that instrumentā¦ to be honest I find it to be kind of witchcraft.
EDIT: I realized you were also saying that sampling is the way to make up for the limitations of the sequencer (even though itās way ahead of Machinedrum). But obviously whatās the point if youāre not moving that slider and chopping things up.
You should buy a Syntakt.
I am still hoping for a standalone Ableton box. With todays CPUs it should be possible. Even on an iPad would be cool I donāt understand why Ableton has not done that. But that is off topicā¦
Nah. Ipads canāt even run Football Manager.
I donāt understand why youād want a DAW in a box. You have a laptop, thatās the box. What would you gain by having dedicated hardware for only running a DAW?
I would try to stop seeing where you are as a transition between hobby and making a living because the truth is almost no one makes a living doing this kind of stuff unless you are Kink or like five other guys. Seriously. Thatās just the way the music world is right now and has been for a fairly long time. Iām not including teaching / making YouTube videos / selling sample packs in this, Iām strictly talking about making music, selling music and merch, and playing shows.
Once you remove this part of the equation you can focus on what makes you happy musically and just realize that the ānowā is much more important than a potential future you may or may not be hurdling towards.
Sounds like you like using the M:C and Ableton. Make twenty songs with those two things and develop your own sound. Itās really that simple. Iād stop thinking about all of the other gear out there and just use what is immediately in front of you, which is plenty. Much more has been made with much less.
Truly hope that helps!
Still think it would be cool. Why not? Steinberg does it. Being able to ātouchā the controls is nice. People use something like Drambo.
Plus, you can get a portable DAW, two ways. iPad, or a dedicated laptop. Both can be had for so cheap. iPad has the advantage of touch interface. With a laptop, all you have is the keyboard and touchpadā¦
(OK, not REALLY, technically you need a MIDI/audio interface too for it to compare to a groovebox)
I still think that Elektron would hit a home run with a flagship box with no gimmicks, just the best performance controls from the line and a general purpose digital synth engine that can sample and has plenty of voices. I was so sure Syntakt was going to be that ā¦
Why not, because thereās already a platform that Ableton was made for. Would be quite time consuming and expensive to make a standalone box with dedicated controls (e.g. not a m+kb) for everything Ableton is capable of. Or I guess they could give it a touch screen, but thereās already laptops with a touchscreen built in.
Honestly, thereās little sense in making a dedicated device for a DAW. Other way around, building a device with DAW-like features is more sensible, but ultimately will fall short of what a DAW can do and you end up with a gimp DAW with a shitty small screen.
Maybe so. On the other hand theyāve taken a more modular approach, the three Digis combined are just what youāre describing. You have your sampler, your FM synth and your analog/digital hybrid drum synth. Hugely powerful midi sequencing capabilities, but sadly missing performance controls on the level of OT or A4. Put them all in the same box and itās going to cost 2-3k and be really complex. Maybe their current way is more sensible? Let people choose what features theyāre into, or get the trinity if they can afford it.
Yes, indeed. Stop that. Do beautiful things with what you have. Embrace limitations.
Iām finding some similarities between my journey and yours, and I can tell you that as much as I LOVED the Digitone and Digitakt as creative live jam boxes, I had a goal in mind to finish my tracks in one box. This led me to the MPC One and itās a beast of a production environment. Iāve posted long reviews and comparisons about it before.
It strikes a different balance than an Elektron box. While Elektron is maybe 80% performance and 20% production-focused, the MPC is maybe 50/50. Not as immediate and not as many happy accidents as an Elektron box, but man, you can get to the finish line with your songs.
It really depends on what you value the most. Fun jamming in the moment? Live performances? Producing, publishing tracks and creating albums? Unfortunately you have to do some soul searching to find out what you value the most.
There are ways to use OT filters to further sculpt a sound, adding a trigless trigs and setting the fx amp to retrig makes it possible to use the filter envelope on the samples without triggering the sample it self.
Iām not saying that you should get an OT but everything youāre describing about enjoying the daw but wanting to have a live machine screams OT to me
Not to fuel the fire, but Ableton really opened up for me when I got a Push 2.
I disagree. Hardware-wise, all the R&D for much of it would already be done and like Syntakt itās just a matter of combining them, it wouldnāt have to be crazy expensive.
As for complexity, the AR already combined an analog engine with sampling. Itās not that big a deal.
The majority of the work would go into creating a synth engine general-purpose enough to accomplish most tasks. It would of course have some tradeoffs but theyād be interesting and give it its own character like all the rest.
I came up with a pretty good concept sketch tonight as a kind of swan song for my perfect groovebox obsession. You have to think cleverly about the things that could be generalized and tucked away. Mine would also have way more of an emphasis on it being as standalone as possible, i.e. it plays the beats live AND also serves as a powerful sound module. Nobody has done it because they assume it has to be complex, but I donāt think it does.
Sort out do you want performance or production, or both.
How about learning Max and building it?!
Yeah, that might be in my future ā¦ my APC mini kinda looks like one
Native Instruments did something similar with Machine and MPC is available as SW and HW. Itās not that hard and not impossible
I am not even saying I would buy an iPad Ableton Live version, but I would surely take a look. When I travel I donāt take a notebook with me anymore, but an iPad.
There is always enough space for several opinions on this planet and Elektronautsā¦
But anyway, not the subject of @Roger 's discussion I guess