Consistency vs variety of workflow

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

I’m getting suckered by Black Friday again and I was going to get a Digitakt but it occurred to me that I wouldn’t mind something “different” just to mix up the workflow and have variety. I already have MS and DN so I have plenty to enjoy with that particular workflow.

I can pick up a TR-6S for about £300 and it looks like a fun little machine that would have a different workflow, some different performance features and FX etc. I’m also tempted by the larger TR-8s which is only about £500 in the sales.

Either way - do people here think that some variety can help to make you more creative or does having consistency and muscle memory (e.g. DN + DT) make things easier and more intuitive?

#2

can it be both?

I mean, it is quicker to work on something you know, but a different workflow will make you create different things?

#3

in most cases, the second way…
Getting something new can be inspiring, but knowing your gear is much more rewarding.
Each time you ask yourself, if you “should” get something, or you wouldn’t mind, you probably should not.

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#4

I prefer consistency myself. Getting variety can be nice but you have to put in the time to learn the device. Too much variety for me means I never properly learn all the ins and outs of what I have

#5

Yeah for sure, just thinking out loud and curious about people’s perspectives and experiences. I also realise that the Roland gear can stream each channel over a USB cable (like overbridge) and that’s very tempting to me, if it actually works! £300 for 6 channels of ACB and FM synth that I can stream into my DAW seems like a lot of fun.

It’s probably worth pointing out that I bought and then swiftly returned a Roland MC-101 because the menu-diving (for what is a fairly deep synth engine) was horrid. The ACB engine and the simplified FM with a small number of performance-friendly parameters appeals much more to me. I don’t want to do complex sound design with menus, but I like the idea of noisy techno jamming with a few knobs, faders and performance FX.

@Unifono and @Norb I admire your restraint. I’m relatively new to hardware boxes (instead of pure software and DAWs) and I’m really enjoying it. Being able to easily span the two worlds with the multi-track streaming seems very appealing and it work amazingly well with the DN and overbridge. Also a single techno box that I can power with a USB cable (or batteries) and sit on my sofa with headphones seems very appealing too. Yes - I realise the MS fits this description, but synthesis is something different from samples and faders for each track volume seems nice compared to the multi-usage knobs on Elektron devices. They work fine, but not so jam-friendly in some ways.

I digress. Thanks for the thoughts. I’m trying to make the effort to learn my DN. I find it hard to program my own sounds but I’m getting there slowly!

#6

nothing to admire. I buy and research boxes all the time :slight_smile: I don’t follow my advices. Good thing is, I sell almost as much as I buy.

#7

My 2 cents. I think there’s much to be said for finding the boxes you love and using nothing else, knowing them inside out, and then it’s just down to your creativity in terms of what you make with them. Also, if you’re going to pick up DT, get rid of M:S. Don’t add more options or create questions in your head about which sampler should I use today. And with samples, you have every sound imaginable, so there’s certainly no limits there.

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#8

Well I was thinking about the TR-6S as a one-shot sampler (or ACB equivalents) replacement for MS and then I have the DN for other stuff. I like the DN but I sometimes struggle to get the drums I want. I’m not giving up yet though! I reckon 4 tracks for synth/bass/pds and 6 tracks for one-shots and maybe some FM bass/synth sounds is a pretty good amount. The classic sounds on the TR-6S seem very nice. 606 etc.

Who doesn’t love the Digitakt though?! Literally no-one! It’s so tempting!

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#9

This raises alarm bells. If you don’t like the Roland workflow, stick with what you do like.

Also, Samples From Mars do excellent sample packs of all the classic drum machines if those are the source sounds you’re after. They’re cheap too!

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#10

Yeah I understand that it may seem counterintuitive but I thought that the TR-6S drums would have fewer parameters and I’d be doing a hell of a lot less menu-diving than with the MC-101. The RMR youtube video (or maybe it was Loopop) seemed to indicate that the “morph” parameters on the FM drums were very easy to use and that finding the sweet spots that way was easy and fun. I love my DN but I’ve found drum design quite tricky!

I’m actually very tempted by the larger TR-8S. It’s only £500 in the BF sale and it seems like a very capable groovebox in it’s own right. Very jam-able with the faders, 3 knobs for each channel, step-looping and other performance FX etc. Actually quite surprised it’s so cheap for what it does.

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#11

It was about 800 euro on release. I got mine used for 450 this summer (don’t have it anymore :upside_down_face:)

It‘s very jammable and fun. It‘s very hands on as long as you use the internal sounds.
Creating and customizing your kits becomes extremely menu heavy on a small display.
But for performing and creating drum beats it‘s much more straight forward than the digitone.
It‘s a dedicated drummachine, the DN is not.

#12

Everything that makes your brain think in other ways will be beneficial in the future. Learning new logics is always rewarding and it keeps your brain healthy.

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