Hello everyone! I’m looking for a brain for my setup based around the analog rytm mk2. I love it but I find it tough to incorporate my prophet rev 2 and mother 32. I was wondering if someone had some advice for what to consider to get to be it’s companion device for sequencing. Thoughts? Right now I’m running all of the outputs of these instruments through the 1010 bluebox mixer.
Hello! Welcome to the forum! The Digitakt is a good shout for controlling other gear. 8 midi tracks, plus 8 sample tracks in case you run out of voices on the Rytm. Digitone as well if you want a synth that offers something different from your analogs. There you have 4 midi tracks, but a maximum of 8 notes per step on each of those tracks (Digitakt has up to 4 notes per step). The only issue (for some) is the lack of song mode. But your Rytm could be the master device for transport, clock, and pattern changes, with one of the Digis on sequencing duties. Of course, there’s Octatrack too with its awesome midi arp. Otherwise, you could get a dedicated hardware sequencer like the Squarp Pyramid.
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Welcome to the forum!
What kind of sequencing do you want to do? Elektron-style step sequencing, or high-resolution linear sequencing, or something else?
How many units will you be sequencing in the foreseeable future?
Do want both MIDI and CV/Gate sequencing?
What is your budget?
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I got a Rtym at the start of the year. It’s great, and I could probably make whole records on it. I also have a Rev2 and a couple of monosynths that I enjoy bullying into impressions of Hardfloor and Orbital. I got the Octatrack to help, because of its mixer and fx tools, as well as the sequencer… However, the OT is so complex and I’m more a synth-person than a samples person, that I often think the Digitone would have been the better choice. I also wonder about the Squarp Puramid as master sequencer-it seems to have a more flexible pattern system than the Elektrons, which would make more linear/longer form themes easier to manage than the OT.
As you already have a mixer, in the Blackbox, the Digitone or Digitakt seem to me like better companions for your setup, but look into the Pyramid or Toraiz Squid if you don’t need sampling. They both do some interesting things you can’t do with the Elektrons, which might suit your composition style.
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+1 for the Pyramid. Like others have said, it’s all about your needs of course. But for a big polysynth like the Rev 2, it is handy to have something free of certain limitations (voice limits, step limits, CC limits, etc). I’ve used Elektron sequencers to control my Rev 2 and that is all well and good. The Pyramid has really opened things up for me though. Plus you can add 10 more synths if you want. 
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This is a great question…I was hoping to be able to do some linear sequencing or at least tell specific patterns to be played after another to build a track, i’m not sure if i’m using the right terminology though. I don’t see my synth setup expanding too much in the future (Unless i’m okay with the wife leaving 
) Since I have the mother 32 I expect to get into more modular land as it goes on with a small case so having CV/Gate would be a nice option to have.
I’ll check out the pyramid! I’ve only seen the loopop video on it and something about “euclidean” sequencing…
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Thank you for the welcome! Is there a lot of overlap between the digitakt and the rytm?
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This is discussed often on the forum:
https://www.elektronauts.com/search?q=digitakt%20vs%20rytm
So be aware that:
- the Elektron instruments are all step sequencers
- the Digitakt, Digitone, Model:Samples and Model:Cycles do not allow you to save any pattern chains that you have made.
Beware recommendations that people have made before you have determined what your actual needs are.
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If you’re a keys player the Novation SLMkIII is pretty incredible. 8 track sequencer with microtiming and automating CCs.
That+Rytm+prophet 12 is my main set up for everything.
If they added poly sequencing to Rytm I’d be so chuffed… then it really could be a brain
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I’ll take a look at it, I’m primarily a keyboard player, this sounds pretty slick.
Thank you everyone for the advice! I still haven’t settled on anything yet but I’ll report back when I do, in the mean time I’ll use ableton as a sequencer and keep track of the features I use so when I try go dawless I’ll have a better understanding of what I’m missing. Honestly just don’t want to look a computer screens when jamming, I do enough screen time at work…
The new Novation Circuit Tracks could also be up your street. No screen, and it gives you four channels of midi sequencing (with 6 note polyphony on each), just turn the volume down on the two internal synth tracks if you don’t want them, and it lets you chain patterns, can’t remember how long they can be though.
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Hey there! It’s my first post, but I’m a long time admirer of this forum.
I’d really recommend the Digitone Keys, personally. If you only need 4 or less midi tracks of sequencing, the Digitone Keys is incredible, partially because you can turn your keyboard into external mode for controlling the others on the fly (without triggering internal sounds on DN). The Digitone Keys has so many more performance enhancing abilities (mod and pitch wheel can both be routed as macros on 4x performance features; plus aftertouch), plus the input of midi notes is really much more intuitive (assuming familiarity with keys!)
For a bigger setup, I definitely recommend the squarp pyramid. That thing is amazing. And it does have the ability to have much longer patterns than 64 steps, too.
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