And I hate it. While there’s something to be said for a machine with a personality, artificial limits force you into complex setups with multiple boxes that I’m just not into. I want another big box that doesn’t hold back!
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I think it’ll get updates, it’s one of their best sellers. At least Glide.
I was messing with a scope and spectrum analyzer the other day (mainly to check out D.VCO), but poking around the SY Chord machine, yeah, it seems definitely to be additive (a handful of cleverly positioned sine waves per tone) and that, as Ess has written here and elsewhere, definitely solves the upper harmonics mystery.
In case it’s fun to see:
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I’ll add: I use the chord machine all the time, but generally do something beyond synth and filter pages to add depth: give it a 2k exp LFO to tune for an organ-like noise transient, delay-based chorus, or double-and-pan (and detune, and alter a wave) it onto 2 tracks.
I ended up using it solely for fx processing. It’s kind of more worth it than AH mk2 imo. The extra filters, lfo, envelopes and all that stuff just makes it a great fx box. I like how stable and “clean” the sound processing is. Very surgical before it goes into more of the wild vintage stuff. You can sequence the FX block which is nice and p-locks… saving project program and you have a complete setup of fx ready. Most effects are achievable when you know how even beyond its spec. I would welcome more digital FX built in though! It’s same guts so easy copy paste. Bit crusher, comp… maybe an another delay type, chorus and I could go on. Modulation time based effects would be most welcome. Even some kind of multi type effect of more stuff in one kind of deal. Like when you combine delay with other modulation effects etc…
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Random stuff:
This was quoted in the current M:C thread, Q&A with the developer of the chord machine and the chord machine’s wavetable:
And my “hihat machine sounds dull” thread:
On another note, I LOVE the direction Elektron has gone with the Swarm machine, just for the fact it’s organic and it’s crispy, not at all dull or lo-fi.
Here are some sounds out of the Monomachine’s DPRO DENS machine. There, once chooses three notes and a wavetable, and those wavetables are all superbright. Actually I would’ve set the filter envelope a bit lower. This has a bit amount of distortion in it as well, which speaks to most of those wavetables, where on the Syntakt overdrive leads to bad results with any chord machine wavetable.
It shows at least there definitely would’ve been possibilities to do it differently on the Syntakt.
(When I need chords, I use two tracks of Sy Bits (gives up to 4 notes - see this dubby snippet on insta ) or 3 tracks Swarm …)
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I disagree! Overdrive on the unison mode is one of my favorite ST sounds these days! I think it can sound good situationally on the chords too, especially in transients or p-locked evolutions of a pad, better on some waves than others…
Nice MNM sounds!!
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I was talking chord machine with chords 
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one of the best sound design tools for the cycles too, I love the unison modes of the chord machine so much I make most of my basses and leads out of them these days
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It’s quite interesting. I just had a deeper dive into the Monomachine lately and noticed how powerful this machine actually is. It almost has everything I would have wished for in the Syntakt.
Just as a comparison, the Monomachine has a delay for “each track”. It comes with chorus, flanger, compressor, ring mod, phaser… not to mention polyphony! The DPRO ENS sounds superior to the Chord Machine. The Chord Machine just sounds dull. I could distort it, but then it just sounds distorted, which isn’t always what I want 
I do love my Syntakt; it’s weird, though, seeing the path of development lately. People are already happy just to get a chorus or stereo samples these days. It’s bit like with digital synths lately, that can`t achieve more polyphony then their older fully analog brothers. But I guess that’s a different story
Sorry, I didn’t mean to moan 
. I was just astonished by how those older models like the Monomachine were actually packed with so many features and we are sitting here in 2024 still not being able to play polyphonic. 
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The Monomachine was created in 2004, over 20 years ago. It has PARAMETER SLIDES, standard FX such as chorus/phaser, nice 12-bit hi-hat samples, and DPRO ENS does not sound lame.
Elektron needs to go back to their roots and at least make things as cool as they used to over 20 years ago IMO.
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And that one and SWAVE-ENS both have a stereo chorus inside the machine itself …
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Some people have different expectations for groovebox writing I guess!
Sketching is so great to get like 70% of the way there and with song mode and or OB I can arrange, add a few touches and get it done even if those limitations aren’t “dawless dad approved”.
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A pre-drive noise mix and chorus, or alternatively, a second wavetable set + chorus, could make the chord machine shine a whole lot more. I think it’s capable of plenty of awesome things as-is, but I’d love to see those additions to it.
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Could just be BRR. But if those wavetables are bright as f as in the MnM, one has enough control with the filters to make it less bright.
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Don’t all the Elektron boxes have parameter slides?
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Oh dear 
you asked the right guy though…
The answer is no. Elektron has not created a new box that has PARAMETER SLIDES in over a decade. Isn’t that ridiculous?
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not ridiculous if product owner doesn’t didn’t use them. about as ridiculous as removing portamento time from LFO destinations. u know what i think dead internet theory might have spread to the lymph nodes. what if we’re seeing humanistic synth functions slowly phased out because it’s been machines actually making the machines since 2012. 