@Kultschar , @oldbills
Erica Synths replied to a comment on Loopop’s video about Hexdrums.
@llIIl shared the link.
6 Likes
Thanks for that! “Major” sounds good!!
1 Like
I got bored of the sounds and let it go. If i was rich i would still have it because it’s a very special machine. Sometimes i miss it.
Not yet. Also, it now supports samples so Voice 4/Algo 3 now can have 3 different samples of your choice (as long as they are rather short)
Pretty much same for me. I sold the unit after one year in which I used it a lot, but after several months I began to get tired of the sounds and four voices is really limiting. Currently thinking about preordering the new hexdrums.
Whatever it is, I’m in.
Fucking love the unit as is but would be stoked for more. This thing is invaluable for how I work.
Hexdrums sounds really great but the Perkons hits the perfect blend of simplicity / happy accident potential for me.
Two recent knob tweak seshes. I can’t express how many ideas are started for me in the first 30 seconds of laying some random ish trigs and twisting a knob on this beast.
I was talking to a synth buddy about the Perkons and sending him my old demos of the first unit I had. I realize I loved a lot of the ideas even if they were short and incomplete, so I scrapped them together for a Scraps and dead WIPS EP.
10 Likes
Yeah, I totally get both of you guys. I sold my first one for similar reasons.
Perkons to me is a prime example of a studio toy > tool in that order. In the best way. If you don’t need that exact thing, it can be really hard to justify.
I think it can also thrives when acting as a supporting role for composition. A lot of my jams on here are not the best example because I’m leaning into the bombastic and explosive thing it does so well as a solo box because that’s just great after a long day of work.
If you forgo making an entire song on the perkons and instead just make one really vibey hihat or shaker loop with a few variations and modulations, it can be really powerful for adding that spice and spark to an existing composition, especially if you ease up on the drive.
Or drone it the fuck out. Run everything at 1/8 speed and get some really long motion recordings in on differing tracks at different lengths.
It’s just full of these little nooks of unique sound and hands on manipulation potential. All of which is beautifully constrained with just enough tools to shape, carve and react to what you’re hearing easily. Things like not having resonance. Sucks on paper, but the filters are just tuned perfectly for most of everything I want.
The value proposition is an interesting one. I view it more as a grab bag of unique noise and rhythmic idea generation box than a drum machine or anything approaching a groovebox. It happens to be the best version of this kind of thing I’ve ever used.
7 Likes
Sidewalk
Nice tunes!
I think I could really enjoy playing with this, but like others I’m waiting to see what drumDing sounds like and what the performance features will be.
I’m interested in buying a dedicated drum machine for about 6 months now, but want to consider all the options and go for the one that I think will suit me best. Hexdrums is probably not for me and TR-1000 is too expensive. Perkons(2nd hand probably) is a strong contender and an update might make it an even stronger one…?
Sidewalk
Hey Phil,
Thanks for reaching out and putting your time and effort in that reply!
It wasn’t really my intention to ask for help or suggestions, but I do appreciate you’re trying to help me in my quest.
So time to explain a bit without trying to hack the topic to much.
It’s obvious that I’m looking for the blend 
I’m looking for a drum machine that isn’t trying to be a groovebox, that’s why I said dedicated. For information, I have all sub 1000€ Elektrons except for the model samples and I consider them all to be grooveboxes.
In case of Syntakt, I’ve also been doing the one page drumthingy lately, often with an uneven stepcount and I love to do that too. I like linear drums.(not always though). I do record jams from my Elektrons , but I like to revisit the songs or patterns on the device and see which ones I can develop into actual songs or live performances.
I do have one dedicated drum machine, but it’s the opposite of what I’m looking for? It’s the 1010 razzmatazz, love the sound, but it’s not hands on and sometimes a bit quirky.
So looking for a hands on, versatile drum machine that’s fun to play with and as of this moment Perkons seems to be the most playfull. And for contradiction, I like the fact that it can go into melodic territory, but because of the way it does this.
But as said before, if drumDING has the sound I like the most and like you said gets the sampling and performance part right, it might just be the one I’m looking for.
Basicly I’m thinking of two different ways I would like to use a drum machine. One is it being the center of a performance with a synth or groovebox running along and the other is where I perform with the Vermona PERfourMER and some fx-pedals and the drum machine is providing some rhytmic elements.
Just saw you deleting your post while typing this, unfortunatly. Maybe I’ve should’ve hit the like button first. It did take a while for me to type this, so sorry about that. I’m not English so sometimes I have to google how to write some words and stuff…
1 Like
My hot take is that the Hexdrums sounds very mid, at best. Not really impressed with what I’ve heard thus far, but will be paying attention to hear what others do with it!
2 Likes
I can’t really say if I got tired of its sound or not. But I can definitely say that this machine does its job. As a drum machine, it sounds amazing to me. The drums are just excellent, and the number of voices is totally enough for what I do.
I rarely use it as a synth to create sounds, but sometimes that works really well too. The only thing that changed over time is that my sequences became shorter, from 16 steps down to 8, and sometimes I even use just 5, 3, or 2 steps out of 16. I realized that even this way, with some modulation, time division, and probability, you can get really interesting results.
Of course, it all depends on your music style. But for techno, it’s great. I have absolutely no complaints about the first drum voice, it hits like crazy. And the most important thing is that working with the Perkons feels so direct and surprisingly simple, it’s really unlike any other drum machine I’ve used.
After years with the Tanzbär and TR-909, I think the Perkons is the best one (don’t hate me 
). But I still have an idea how to fill the gap the Tanzbär left, soon I’ll probably get a Hex Drum, just for that pure analog vibe. I still want something that’s just as straightforward, minimal, and beautiful to use.
So no, I’m not tired of the Perkons at all. It still sounds insane.
And one more thing: when you stop overdriving it and start analyzing every algorithm in detail, you’ll be surprised how many new sounds you can still find in there.
Also, I’m really excited about the upcoming firmware update. I hope they’ve baked something important and useful for us… maybe even sample loading? 
Oh, and I should mention, I run it through an Empress Bass Compressor, which gives it that extra “whoomph whoomph” in the low end
2 Likes
No worries bud. Sorry I deleted heh.
I can get rambly sometimes and I later second guessed how helpful my comment was. Glad you read it first.
Yeah everything you say checks out. Best wait for that drumding just to see.
I’ll comment on one thing you said. Coming back to Perkons and expanding patterns. While this isn’t my default methodology, the Perkons has actually nudged me towards doing this in a way that finally works for my specific ADHD brain.
You don’t have to name an idea. You just save a pattern and/or kit to a location. Then you can change either independently or link them. That’s brilliant for me.
I despise saving “songs” but now I have snapshots of previous flows of consciousness. And it’s super visual given the trigger grid. I keep ideas in groups of 4 or 8 slots.
I can’t recall if there’s a setting for this but in my configuration, tempo isn’t even saved per pattern.
That means it’s highly likely an idea or series of them will be different next time I visit. Which is just magic. Combined with changing the kit until I have a totally new idea.
That duality is just so right for me. I’m actually saving ideas but it’s so loose and freeing that I will overwite them constantly so I just have a bank of vibes to explore until something is working. I’m saving jumping off points, not predetermined paths. It just clicks with me.
And that whole process is fast and instrument like to explore.
7 Likes
Things i think to be cool in an update:
- swichable voice locations
- 64 steps to sequence
- mute states saveable per pattern
- bpm saveable per pattern
- new voices
8 Likes
• volume differences between algorithms
• undo a delete pattern on the seq
• (maybe) simple reverb
- Probably not doable but a bandpass filter that actually doesn’t sound like shit would be nice !
- Param lock (hold state till next trig) option VS automation
- more freedom for ODDS settings (having the behavior as a global switch sucks)
- option to deactivate the tempo switch. Is useless and only adds the risk to fuck everything up while performing
- Kit + Reset and Pattern + Reset to recall saved states of kits and patterns without having to switch to patter/kit page
3 Likes
- synced delay with more subdivisions (terribly missing: dotted quarter note)
- tap delay
Yeah I think the band pass filter is too narrow.
(Don’t know if it’s the right term)
4 Likes
My dream feature would be some kind of per voice or global fine-tuning.
I’m using a keyboard to trigger voices melodically, but the tuning doesn’t line up with standard A440. The intervals are correct once I tune a base note, but all voices are slightly sharp or flat by the same amount. It seems like the instrument just needs a way to define a global pitch reference or fine-tune each voice to bring everything in line with concert pitch. As it stands, you can do some really cool experimental melodic work with the Perkons but it’s very difficult to incorporate it into an existing piece of music with a defined pitch centre.
1 Like
Perkons vs two Roland TB-303s
4 Likes
Yeah that’s part my big wish for a major update.
- Bunch of fun new algos modes.
- All algos / modes are freely assignable to any voice and slot (sampling aside if not possible)
Unrelated jam sacrifice to bring forth the hypothetical update.
3 Likes