Original post:
Does anyone have patch settings for synthesizing CR-78 Metal Beat, Tambourine, and Guiro percussion sounds using Analog Rytm engines?
I’m wondering if sampling analog noise (for the right flavor) or square wave samples (to have 3 total oscs in combination with DVCO) are needed for these. Anyone have good experiences getting close? It seems like such basic synthesis but maybe the circuits are very specific.
I am pretty new to the Rytm, but for starters, I’d play with both the snare and kick fm machines. In addition to that, or on its own, you can also set the filter to self oscillate at an audible pitch, and then use the super fast lfo settings routed to frequency to create fm with the filter. Peak filter will do great and leave the rest of your signal alone. You can set the lfo to trig and use the fade setting to create a quick decay or attack to that filter fm. Combining the fm machines with filter fm is glorious. I’d say start there.
Oh and there’s also dvco and resampling multiple tracks in one hit for additional oscillators and tones. Like one track could cover the attack phase, and another the decay.
Lots of ways to get there. Looking forward to hearing the approach of those with more experience.
Has anyone gotten close to the CR-78 Tambourine sound with the Rytm? Weirdly it’s still the hard one to crack for me.
I’ve had some luck with the others based on the suggestions:
-Using one of the ring mod pairings on DVCO and a self oscillating resonant filter I’ve been able to get close to the Metal Beat sound, with both carrier and modulator tuned fairly high and after pitching the note up a little. But it would be really nice if Elektron opened the cymbal architecture up, in the vein of the DVCO, so we could accomplish this using square waves like the 78, instead of the Rytms everything-but-square-wave DVCOs.
As @johnl mentioned, long clap + bandpass does a nice Guiro sound. The DVCO combined with some lfos can accomplish a less CR-78 and more Minipops version of this. But the beauty of the clap is the way the clap repeats turn into a kind of noise like the 78 voice. Still, it’s not quite as smooth and uh, farty as the 78 which i’d like to really tack down.
-Kicks and toms can all be easily accomplished using an impulse machine into the self resonating low pass filters.
-The standard cowbell with lpf and a short decay is instant cr-78 CB.
-For hi hats the noise machine is not quite the right flavor, but with some tweaking i’ve been able to get it into the ballpark, certainly vintage vibe though not the characteristic 78.
I will post the full kit eventually when I think it is close enough. I’m lucky enough to have an original CR-78 for comparison, so I am working off of that example.
I have… ages go. I can’t remember how I did it at the moment and I am unable to have a go, as my studio is torn down and my own CR-78 is on the bench awaiting a bit of maintenance. But it is possible to get close. I seem to recall using the LFO prominently in the sound, but it was years ago.
Great thanks for the response, I’m glad to hear it is possible and that there are other Elektronauts who share a fascination for these sounds. I’m a bit surprised they don’t come with the machine or a soundpack (other than Vintage Drum Machines samples), since they are possible to synthesize and quite emblematic of “analog drum sounds.”
I hear them in many TV scores, sample packs, modern pop songs and so on. Obviously a lot of people are content with just using samples, understandable as the sounds are pretty short and not as tweakable to good effect as the longer 808 sounds, but I am hoping to make a kit for everyone similar to the AR808 from years ago. Just shocked it has not been done yet.
I had the same reaction… I wondered why it was not a stock preset. It’d be a simple matter to recreate the patterns and the sounds can all be accomplished pretty accurately with the RYTM. For my part, I did my tambourine patch as a proof-of-concept for a tutorial I was intending to write for a magazine article. It was so long ago, I can’t remember if the article ever happened, but it was three Rytms ago so I know the sound is long gone…
I started the thread linked above about the A4. I tried one for a couple of months, and was able to pull off some very good 70s sounds, though not dead ringers for the 78. I ended up returning the A4mk2, though, and just ordered a used ARmkI to try. I would love to hear examples of 70s patches!
Here’s my CR-78 kit. I used my CR-78 for reference, which I don’t think has ever been serviced, but is in great shape.
I play it on fixed velocity mode and use accents to get the best feel.
Let me know if there are any problems with this, I’ve never backed up a kit via sysex !
As someone else mentioned, the Metal Beat sound is fairly hard to synthesize on the Rytm. I got pretty close here, but it sounds too dark. It would be great if Elektron added square wave DVCOs or let us into the cymbal architecture more, so this could be more easily achieved without samples. If someone else can create a better one, please do upload it.
Delikinesis - This is awesome. I’m in the middle of recording now, but first thing tomorrow I wanna check out this kit. Thank you for coming back to this old thread !
I have really good samples of the metal beat, so to use one sample in a kit isn’t the end of the world - I add slight random modulation. But I am so curious to look over what you have done to get the analogy sounds of the CR-78,
Loaded up the sysex file and played around with the kit, this is great! I love the CR78 and enjoy the flexibility afforded by the rytm. Thank you so much for sharing. How did you make the alternate metal beat? Is it different than the one included in the sysex file?
