Changing directions

Elektron Gear
#1

I know I may catch a bit of flack because I have preached for years to people who want to sell or trade off their their Machinedrum but I think I need to change up what my musical goals are going forward. I think I need to sell or trade my Machinedrum to assist me in going toward a new musical direction. Among a few other pieces of gear Iā€™m considering to sell I think I wanted to share whatā€™s on my mind gear wise for my idea of a studio/live performance setup. And Iā€™m having a hard time with the thought of parting ways with my Machinedrum. Yes, I know what Iā€™m saying.

My current inventory is:
Machinedrum MK2+Drive
TR8S
Neutron
DFAM
Microfreak
Er-1
EA-1
Octatrack mk2
MAM MB33
Key step

Iā€™m looking to move to:
Digitakt
Digitone keys
MPC Live
Possibly keep the Octatrack mk2
Waldorf Kyra

Iā€™m thinking about selling/trading everything and keeping the ot and put the funds towards the setup Iā€™m wishing for.

Iā€™ve advised on lots of peopleā€™s posts here and now Iā€™m asking for your advice.

#2

Can you be a little more specific on the musical goals of changing direction? Are you shifting stylistically? Or maybe does the workflow not allow fluid creativity?

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#3

You know that thread apparently. :wink:
Am I the only one? [Machinedrum love]
I sold my MD for an AR. Digitone planned, but I bought guitars instead! :content:

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#4

Keep the MD, get the DN instead of DK

#5

Well, honestly Iā€™m looking to make things simpler for myself. Iā€™m deep into elektron ecosystem already as Iā€™ve owned everything bum the Sid machine and the mk2 analog machines. And the model. I want to go toward a more structured studio and get away from the near semi modular direction I was headed. While the semi modular nature allows for a lot of on the spot creativity Iā€™ve learned that Iā€™m more of a program and recall kind of guy. I love the versatility of what I currently have and was on my radar but as I have grown more educated on what I want and how things work together I have devised this list as a goal Iā€™m going for. Sooooā€¦my loss someone elseā€™s gain maybe? And Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll regret this again but yeah, I guess Iā€™m finally making the jump.

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#6

Smaller footprint. Easier to sample with. Still has a form of control all. Other than the digital crispness I love in the md what am I losing? I feel like Iā€™m gaining a lot with a digitone keys and digitakt together.

#7

I participate in the love posts. I read your ot posts as you post them.

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#8

Something that will be very hard to reacquire when you inevitably miss it.

Not to mention, youā€™ll not only be losing itā€™s general character- youā€™ll be losing its plethora of different sonic capabilities and modular environment

Edit: the road to a perfect musical setup is paved with patience. Hold onto the MD and make the music you can with the gear you currently own. I was thinking about selling my Digitakt recently until I actually played it and remembered why itā€™s my favorite Elektron

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#9

Iā€™ve owned the digitakt before so I know what Iā€™m missing. There is a lot Iā€™ll miss from the md too but if I cant have both I may have to part ways with my beloved md.

Havenā€™t you been down this same road @Ryan?

#10

Wisdom is learning from others mistakes

#11

Oh, well grasshopper. Experience is from making those mistakes.

#12

Which youā€™ve done :smiley:

#13

Damnit dude. You arenā€™t helping. Lmao! I guess thatā€™s what Iā€™ve always liked about you. Slap me smart again.

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#14

NO ONE TURNS THEIR BACK ON THE MACHINEDRUM

bottom text

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#15

IMO the combination of DT, MPC, and Octatrack is having three samplers in parallel. How many samplers does an artist need at the same time in the same set-up? Taking alone the MPC, there would be so many sample/drum programs possible that IMO the DT would just be needless.

The DN way of FM synthesis gives us many and very different great tones. It comes with polyphony or 4 multi-timbral voices. Thatā€™s much sound power in a small box.

The combination of OT and MPC seems to be a good idea, because both have different strenghts and if sample mangling is required rather than playback then the OT rules.

I am not sure what to think about this machine. I suppose it will have an excellent sound, but it seems to me, the focus is more on providing an overwhelming amount of oscillators rather than something new. It seems to be like in the saying ā€œold wine in new bottlesā€, but now with ā€œplenty of old wine in many new bottles.ā€ :smiley:

Donā€™t get me wrong ā€¦ I love old wine :wink:

If a machine for rich pads is needed and sounds, which should have some fresh timbres as well, I would recommend to check out the Hydrasynth, or even a Blofeld. Both have plenty of waveshapes/wavetabels and many facitlities for modulation, which IMO is the most important part of a synthesizer for creative sound design.

AFAIK the Kyra comes with thousands of waveshapes and presets ā€¦ well, my experience with such quantities was that I didnā€™t use a fraction of it, because it was just too much to explore and remember without becoming a specialist ā€¦ and there was this little voice in the back of my mind that reminded me that all this gear has been purchased to make music in the first place :wink:

#16

My somewhat uneducated opinion is that itā€™s only gear, so why not try changing things up? Then again, Iā€™m more of a ā€better the devil you knowā€ sort of guy myself, so I would be very hesitant to make such a drastic change myself.* Looking at the amount of gear you have, streamlining is probably not a bad idea. What I would do is take maybe four pieces of gear and trade/sell them for one or two from your want list?

*Disclaimer: Iā€™m heading to a semi-modular sort of direction myself with my setup but right now Iā€™m more into jam-oriented stuff anyway so I want to embrace the unpredictability aspect of it all.

#17

What does the DT offer you that the MD + OT pairing doesnā€™t? There are obviously some features that donā€™t overlap, but the MD + OT compo seems like it would offer much more creativity than swapping the DT for the MD. Is your MD a UW model? That feature alone makes the machine pretty amazing. Have you considered at Tasty Chips GR-1 or 1010music Blackbox instead of the DT? Definitely a different vibe of sampling, but both could offer a cool departure from the Elektron way of working/sound.

Digitone Keys seems like a great addition to your rig along with another synth that covers the analog/VA and or wavetable sounds. What are you aiming to achieve? A Rev2 would be a pretty robust addition especially if you got the GR-1. Those two along with the MD and OT would be an amazing rig to sonic exploration. Throw in a couple of choice effects boxes and a mixer with good routing options and you could do an insane amount of stuff.

What does the MPC bring to the table that you canā€™t currently do? If your making boom bap/sample heavy stuff then I definitely see the appeal. If it is just for quick sampling/playing the pads, have you thought about just picking up a PO33? I know it is no where near as capable with sequencing and editing, but it is great for quick sampling and coming up with ideas you could then mess with in the OT.

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#18

Thatā€™s what I thought. Even more with AR MKII instead of DT, but having an OT I chose AR MKI.

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#19

All I gotta say is, donā€™t sell the Machinedrum! Box it up. You sound like you already love itā€™s digital character, which some find to be one of itā€™s downsides. Itā€™s very versatile and will continue to rise in value since theyā€™re out of production.

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#20

Do research on music that you really like and check the tools that are used. Think about what your approach towards that kind of sound is. Also important if you feel connected to a instrument or tool.

But looking at your current inventory you can also look at some more sound treatment tools like Eventide etc.

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