Starting strong in a first post here by asking which Elektron instrument/instruments are best suited for the creation of Dark Ambient / Industrial music?
Cheers.
//Null
Since getting the Octatrack, Iāve been doing a lot more stuff in this vein, kinda Coil/horror movie soundtrack-esque pieces. I think itās probably the best for that kind of work.
Okay, that sound promisingā¦
What are your thoughts of the OT about learning curve, is it hard to get a hold of?
IĀ“ve only got experience of one-knob-per-function instruments up to date may i add
Okay, that sound promisingā¦
What are your thoughts of the OT about learning curve, is it hard to get a hold of?
IĀ“ve only got experience of one-knob-per-function instruments up to date may i add[/quote]
Well, I got the Machinedrum and Monomachine prior to getting the OT and spent a lot of time learning them, so it was relatively easy to hit the ground running. If youāre not experienced with the Elektron way, there will be a steeper learning curveā¦but I wouldnāt be overly worried about the learning curve. As complex as Elektronās gear is, it is pretty easy to get something cool going in a short time. The OT just has a few more steps involved than some of their other equipment.
āDARK TRINITYā BRO lol
I mainly do super heavy dark ambient/ death industrial/ harsh noise and powerelectronics with my project Teeth Engraved and we use both the octatrack and the monomachine in our setupā¦
both of those devices rule for nasty/ creepy sounds once you jam em through a couple pedals.
if the reference means anything to you, when processed correctly a lot of the sounds i get out of the monomachine kind of remind me of herbst9 or inade. that kind of synth heavy mid 90s ritual dark ambient sound.
Personally Id say your best bet is the Analog RYTM. Great voice architecture Ultra flexible, great filters and FX and the PERF mode is the best of any elektron device.
[quote=āādust wardāā]
I mainly do super heavy dark ambient/ death industrial/ harsh noise and powerelectronics with my project Teeth Engraved and we use both the octatrack and the monomachine in our setupā¦
both of those devices rule for nasty/ creepy sounds once you jam em through a couple pedals.
if the reference means anything to you, when processed correctly a lot of the sounds i get out of the monomachine kind of remind me of herbst9 or inade. that kind of synth heavy mid 90s ritual dark ambient sound.
[/quote]
Thank you for your reply!
Is this your band?
http://teethengravedwiththenamesofthedead.bandcamp.com/
Great music i must say 
And itĀ“s something like that i like to create maybe with a little help from recordings from the local surroundings and for that the OT seems suitable but im sure that MnM are a really potent device for making fat ambient sound carpetsā¦its a difficult choise to decide
A4/AK and AR both have very good sounding reverb with infinite decay, very nice delay and chorus. Thus you can create very long and deep sounding ambient pads and other ambient things with extra long tails. In example you can play a chord with long decay, change the sound and play another chord with different timbre. They will be mixed together in beauty reverb tail. Over this tail you can play a melody or add some sound effects.
Unfortunately Octatrack doesnāt have A4-like reverbs quality but it has other excellent features ā it simply allows you to put a long record with speech or street sounds into OTās sequencer and run it with very low speed or even in reverse mode in order to create āout of this worldā noises and ambience. With crossfader you can morph the sound in extreamly easy way. OT has huge amount of onboard effects and it allows you to chain them. LFO designer is also very cool feature.
IMHO, if you prefer musical ambiences (long pads i.e.) ā buy A4/AK or AR (Btw, AR also has a sample playback). If you like glitshes/noises/mutterings ā buy OT. If you are not limited in money ā buy the whole dark trinity. 
I personally have A4 and OT and I like them. They both have good and bad sides but they allow to create very wide palette of sounds.
Could you explain how this is better than the OCT please?
Ahemā¦ if you are not limited in moneyā¦ buy all 5 hehe 
Iām joking, but I am serious too, they are all very different machines and are all capable of contributing wonderful sounds to the kind of music you are making.
I would recommend that if you havenāt used any Elektron gear before to buy just one, (any one, it doesnāt really matter, note: the OT is definitely the most complex.) second hand at a good price and learn that thoroughly. If you donāt like it you will be able to recoup your investment costs easily.
If I was doing this with hindsight, Iād probably work chronologically, so MD, MnM, OT, A4, RYTM.
These machines are deep, and while it is correct that theyāre not that difficult to operate technically (just a bit unusual and take a bit of getting used to) there are lifetimes of exploration sound wise to be enjoyed.
I will warn you, that if you like the Elektron way of working it is highly addictive![/quote]
Yes that would be something to buy them all
I think i would start off with one, preferably a used one
Of course there is not one machine that have all the features, that would be bad for buisness for Elekron 
Its a couple of months until i buy one and i think that i have come to an decision by thenā¦hopefully that isā¦ 
When the A4 was relaesed i was very close to buy one but i had second thoughts when i was reading about the OT and its capabilities to use recordings to mangle-up, i think the A4 AND OT togheter could be the perfect match?
I recommend a Buchla 200e System with Octatrack: https://soundcloud.com/wolfgangschaltung/live-noodlebar-2014
But dont forgetā¦more important is the man behind the machines, not the machines.
1 Like
Could you explain how this is better than the OCT please?[/quote]
Pressure sensitive and mappable in so man crazy way its just far more alive than the OCTA is. YMMV but if you disagree with me youāre wrong 
[quote=āā Null""]
Thank you for your reply!
Is this your band?
http://teethengravedwiththenamesofthedead.bandcamp.com/
Great music i must say
And itĀ“s something like that i like to create maybe with a little help from recordings from the local surroundings and for that the OT seems suitable but im sure that MnM are a really potent device for making fat ambient sound carpetsā¦its a difficult choise to decide
[/quote]
hey man, yeah thatās us. thanks for the kind words. beyond whatās up on the bandcamp site we also just put out a new full length on malignant records about two weeks ago.
http://www.malignantrecords.com/releases/4944
i think either of those devices are powerful tools but i guess whatās best for you depends on what direction you plan to take your project inā¦ like whether the field recordings or synths will be the central focus
i think if i was in your shoes i personally would start with the monomachine because itās a little cheaper and they crammed a TON of soundmaking potential into that little box, i use the FM+, SID, Digipro, And Superwave machines all over my shit. and i think i picked mine up used at a local shop for around 700
if synth based dark ambient is your thing, the Monomachine coupled with a good reverb like the eventide space, a ring mod, and a couple other pedals paired with a DAW like ableton or something like that for layering/ multi-tracking would be a pretty solid setup .
that said, the Octatrack is probably my favorite piece of gear iāve ever owned for sample crunching. thereās definitely a bit of a learning curve but once you rein that thing in a little itās a fucking monster.
as far as other useful dark ambient gear iām also a big fan of the Access Virus TI, the Korg Microsampler, Microkorg, Novation Bass Station II, Microbrute, contact mics, bass guitar, white noise generators, loop pedals and big fucking chunks of rusty metal.
also very useful on the software side of things is native instruments KONTAKT, and Robert Henkeās Granulator II instrument for MAX for Live which is free and can be checked out here: Granulator II by Robert Henke
best of luck to you whatever gear you decide on.
if youāre looking for a single device to do all this on, either rytm or octatrack.
i really like the rytm. and the sounds you can get out of the drums as drones or synths (less conventional) are so good for dark. also. the sample support makes it pretty flexible for more conventional synth sounds if needed.
Could you explain how this is better than the OCT please?[/quote]
Pressure sensitive and mappable in so man crazy way its just far more alive than the OCTA is. YMMV but if you disagree with me youāre wrong [/quote]
Just looking for info buddy
Any examples of crazy modulations youāre talking about?
Any links to topics on here?
Ill look for some videos of RYTM performances
Sounds like it does a lot of things the OCT doesnāt and would be the perfect partner with OCT!!!
RYTM =
alive
& frightening, 3d sound
that said, octa2 hopefully will have analog filters
Hi,
Iām new here and just found out about this forum, and instead of doing a new topic, Iāll just add my question here, because itās similar.
Okay, Iāve been thinking about getting Elektron Octatrack. For noise / industrial type of thing. Now, I want another Elektron to accompany Octatrack. Monomachine seems really nice, but Iād have to wait for a month for it to arrive, so another Octatrack maybe? Iād mostly use it live sampling: one time I taped my mic into a vacuum cleaner, and used that as an source for a sound, and Iāve used drills etc., so those kind of things Iād sample. What ever comes in mind. But then again, Analog Four or Keys could make haunting landscapes, Rytm is one Iām not sure about. I only can get two, and Octatrack is one for sure, the other one is a problem for me. 
Just start with one for now. Trying to learn more than one Elektron at a time (especially if itās your first) is a recipe for disaster, and that goes doubly so if the Octatrack is where you start. Walk before you try running.