Elektron devices for installation purposes

The Lounge
#1

I’m setting up an art exhibition with installations, statues, video synthesis and projection with camera feedback etc. and I’m planning to use the A4 mk2 and OT mk2 as sound sources so that instead of having to blast pre-recorded stuff there I will be able to change things up over time, according to how I’m feeling. The exhibition will be for two weeks straight for 6 hours a day.

I feel a bit anxious about having two pieces of gear playing for six hour periods and would like to hear if other ppl have done such stuff without any problems.

Cheers!

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#2

Are you worried about the hardware or a crashing?

To the former, I’d just make sure the A4 has adequate airflow, to the latter it’s a lot tougher to guess depending on how complex your arrangement might get (and any hidden memory leaks that most of us wouldn’t encounter.)

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#3

I’ve never kept any of my Elektron gear powered up for such long time so yeah, I’m worried that they’d overheat and start crashing or even worse have some issues with the hardware.

The stuff being played will be quite minimalistic and ambient-ish so nothing cpu heavy.

I’ve rarely read any alarming posts about Elektron devices but as there are so many moving parts in setting the exhibition up I’d like to know if this might be a bad idea before I commit to it.

#4

I don’t have any experience in running these devices for that long (I only every really use them for short bursts), but having even a very little bit of experience with installations, I’d just throw out that if you’re even questioning it, you should be putting together a backup plan even if you do decide to go with the hardware.

If I were you, I’d be recording a couple of variations of the performance, drop them into a very simple but sturdy media player, and bring that with you and/or set it up just in case your hardware crashes for whatever reason.

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#5

A few times I’ve left on OT and Rytm for a good 5-6 hrs, after working on something and then getting distracted and forgetting I’ve left them on.
So they seem OK from that POV, but you should definitely have a backup anyway!

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#6

Thank’s for the advice!! This will be my first exhibition so I really would like to avoid any stupid mistakes if possible. Although, if there is no real reason to doubt these devices ability to play for that amount of time without problems, it would seem like a good way to go, especially since I don’t have any sturdy media players at my disposal ATM.

I will have to find a proper backup anyways, that’s for sure.

#7

Definitely!
I will be at the location all of the time it’s open so if anything should go wrong I’ll be able to fix it one way or another.

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#8

What about leaving something playing overnight tonight, just to see? Might reassure you, or find a problem early :slight_smile:

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#9

That’s a good idea!! Tomorrow I will actually take the A4 at my work place that is quite a warm office environment at day time so it should make the test pretty reliable as I know that the actual location will be quite warm when the exhibition is happening.

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#10

If there’s enough heat dissipation possible i wouldn’t be scared if the product work for 1 hr it should be no problem to leave them on for hours. The electronics in a smart tv are differemt but on the other hand quitte the same and can be left on for days. Converters, resistors, opamps, capacitors, ic’s and more of that are fine as long as the elektron’s keep flowing . Surge spikes can ruin things but otherwise i bet those elektrons could run for months without issues.
Edit: a surge protector or something like power conditioner will enhance the odds in your favor.

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#11

That is good to hear! I will be able to arrange a fan for the devices in case the temperature gets too brutal like it often times does during the summer. :slight_smile:

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#12

i would, as suggested already, make sure you’ve some sort of backup…even if that means an MP3 player/computer and make sure you rehearse the set you’ll be playing so you can kind of get a feeling of what could happen.
i’ve had the machines running for hours at times and never really experienced any crash or hardware problems otherwise. heat dissipation is a must though i think, just to be on the safe side :smiley:

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#13

Or maybe I’ll just bring all of my Elektron gear and just replace them as they go. :slight_smile:
But seriously, I better borrow some Ipods just to be sure.
I kind of like the idea of hiding in this small room outside the actual exhibition area and playing live to ppl without them knowing it.

#14

If I was in your situation, I’d put a cheap DJ mixer and a digital audio recorder in the installation.

I would make 6 hour recordings from my Elektrons, setup the installation to use those, and then use the DJ mixer to let me bring in my live gear when I show up with it.

I would not make this bet. While it’s true that modern electronics are incredibly reliable, I wouldn’t trust software designed for performing minutes-long tracks to be stable for hours without some evidence. In preparation for my 45 minute live sets years ago, I rapidly found out that both my Sony HR-MP5 and Roland SRV-3030 reverbs couldn’t run reliably for 45 minutes.

Two things to think about are counters and memory leaks. Counters are numbers that increase or decrease, until they hit their limit. At the limit they might wrap around back to the start, or they may stay stuck at the maximum value. This can cause the system to lock up or behave erratically when the condition occurs. Sequencers seem likely to have this kind of problem. The other problem is memory leaks. Memory leaks are where a system uses memory but doesn’t give it all back. Over time, all of the memory is in use and the system can’t get free memory for new tasks. Plenty of other software flaws can occur, but those are two fairly common ones that are easy to reason about.

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#15

I think the OT will be fine, I am not convinced about the Analog Four as it is analog and it gets very hot in less than 2 hours

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#16

Thanks for the heads-up! I will be able to powercycle the devices many times during the six hour days to avoid this.

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#17

Thats a good point! I’ve noticed that the A4 gets way warmer when used than the MD, MnM and OT.

#18

I do multichannel sound/video installations and would recommend you have the content playing on a loop from some type of audio player. Then you can schedule some special live performances where you play for an hour or two. I’ve been using the Super Tsunami wave trigger sound board for recent installations, but am going to experiment with the Bela system. These boards are designed for multichannel interactive installations and the Bela can run Pure Data patches. I’m currently working on an installation for the Smithsonian Hirshhorn museum for a sound art show in June.

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#19

Thank you for the info!! I will definitely look into those devices. The opportunity to create an exhibition presented itself by surprise and the time window has been kinda limiting and I don’t know anything about the gear ppl usually use with installations.
My problem ATM is that I don’t have the money to buy any new gear and also the NGNY challenge still lives strong with me even though I did kinda mess it up a bit recently. :slight_smile:

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#20

By all means use the gear you have. I was mainly thinking that playing that kind of schedule would be exhausting. If you can create generative compositions that might be a good option that lets you take breaks. There’s nothing wrong with using recorded material though. Usually in art exhibitions visitors are passing through and not staying for extended periods, so looping material is ok.

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