Finding it hard to love my new RYTM

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#42

the Rytm’s hihats are potentially extremely impressive and delicious (from what i’ve listened to on Nauts) … similarly so for the tom drums … playing an occasional funky melody on the Rytm would be so much fun.

as for bassdrums they are one of the hardest things to get right when home-coding any drum machine. so the sample option on the Rytm would be the best place to start by loading 20 or 30 personal faves onto the machine.

my current oscillation re/ gear is leaning towards freedom-through-limitation, remembering gratitude, etc etc… and then: simply talking about the Rytm’s possibilities does encourage the thought-patterns of purchasing cool gear again.

#43

The sound engines are not designed to sound huge right out of the box IMO.
As a matter of fact they are only part of the final sound on each analog voice.
You have to make extensive use of the tools like envelopes, LFO, filter, distorsion, master and send effects to make it sound huge.

I prefer it that way (much more versatile than a TR8S for example) but it demands more work to make it sound right. but at the end it is more rewarding!

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#44

I love my rytm and like others have said, I’m still finding new things to do with it. I can build so much of a tune in it that I sometimes struggle to add any other synths to the mix. I was building a 1980’s Atlanta Monster/Stranger Things type thing (this morning) with the DVCO’s, samples and parameter Locks…I love mine sooo much :slight_smile:

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#45

oh so true - i was initially shocked to read there is no EQ for the individual drum modules, but then it seemed natural when being explained by a user of the Rytm … it’s all-analog. Putting individual EQ’s in there would have messed with the sentiment and the architecture.

that said, it might be sensible and not-overdoing-it for the Rytm to be going through an outboard eq, and perhaps compression. important to remember how disappointed some peeps are when first buying a vintage 808, when really half the magic of the 808 bass drum is achieved with some compression applied by someone who knows what the 808 requires to make that bassdrum go boom.

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#46

yeah, I’m definitely gonna stick with it. I’ve got some good ideas from this thread. I’ll have a go at some more abstract sound design on it for sure :slight_smile:

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#47

it might be sensible and not-overdoing-it for the Rytm to be going through an outboard eq, and perhaps compression.

Yep, sure.

What’s cool about the rytm is that you can access the separated outputs for further processing if you want, just like you described. I am now used to run every channel throught my daw for further processing and it is awesome.

but also

You have the ability to keep everything in the box if you want, with good result using the extensive tweakability of the analog voices and the master/send effects, making the Rytm a great “standalone” box.
For a pure analog drum machine (send effects aside) this is quite unique!

As a comparison I absolutely love my DSI tempest, but lets face it : without additional outboard hardawre, it is not really usable by itself to produce a “finished” track. (only 6 voices without effects)

#48

The DT sounds great for your desired result(based on your shared tracks). Its output seems directed for that kinda vide that you have going on there.

I hope you’re within your window of return for your RYTM- so you don’t lose any money on the deal, if you choose to go this route.

The Rytm DOES make your samples nice and toasty due to it’s filters- though, I’d say your music has more of a cool vibe(temperately speaking)(but also complementary, I suppose).

Another thing you might want to take a look at is the Sonic Potions LXR- pretty cool and it might more closely align with your vibe(tbh, I prefer digital drum percussion to analog).

Check out the demos and some of the DT only tracks on the forum- I was pretty frustrated with the RYTM the two times I owned it, but the DT has been love the entire time.

#49

I think the BD engine can get great bass even without using the HP /w resonance to boost it. The main thing I’ve found for kicks is that the BD engines are for when you want punch and the BT engine is for when you want boom or low end. My personal go-to trick is to have at least a tiny bit of overdrive (never really go above 10) to add a little more harmonic content. Sometimes I’ll use a 1-shot LFO to very quickly sweep either the tune or the overdrive, depending on what kind of impact is more suitable (its like the difference between using a plastic or felt beater on a real kick drum)

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#50

This. It’s all about layering on the AR.

#51

I think the Rytm is one of the best drum machines out there. I’m predominantly a techno producer though. Definitely the one I know the best - spent about 18 months making tracks solely on it using one shot samples etc for synth lines. You can go really far with its limited capabilities - I found that is one of its main advantages. Too often when I’m using my Octatrack or A4 I go too far down the programming rabbit hole and end up ruining good patterns cause there are too many tweakable parameters!

If you’re using it with your Digitone what I’d do is record some nice chord/bass one shots and then import them into your Rytm and try make a track with it as your main control surface and drum programmer!

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#52

To reaffirm previous posts, the Rytm is not an instrument that yields instant results. I’ve had mine for 3 years and i’m still discovering new sounds. I hadn’t messed with the velocity or aftertouch pages until recently but they really open the doors for expressive play with a keyboard or pads.

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#53

no BA, no, don’t eat the drugged burger! They’ll put you on a plane!

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#54

Dude, no. I’m pretty fly with Live but I’m the slowest turtle on the OT. A little bit of that is me but the learning curve is not a one is to one ratio by any stretch. The timeline is a huge factor, so are all the visual cues afforded by a computer screen. Gain staging is different, file allocation, etc. I’d go so far to say that they are fundamentally different.

#55

FUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuu

the mellow shit is sick. i hate vocals but Until the Morning is great. rec quality is sick too. id kill to be able to get that level of quality. this stuff sits real nice with stuff like Propaganda - Valley of the Machine Gods.

:+1: love it!

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#56

thanks so much phaelam!

#57

The AR Mk2 is pretty much my first Elektron machine. (Had played around with an MD and AR Mk1 at a mates studio before I purchased). Have been using it for about a month and can gladly say am super happy with it for most of the machines! Really almost always hits the spot for the sound I’m looking for.

The toms, however never really see any use for me. Usually always end up using those voices for Samples. Looking to buy an Octatrack in the very near future, so I guess these voices will go unused, unless I can actually figure out how to make sounds I would actually use out of these. (The BT is cool for bass, but doesn’t seem to have any decay If playing higher notes, and this can be quite frustrating)

#58

Remember that you can use the noise and impulse machines in every voice slot. So if you find yourself never using the tom synth voices, try populating those with noise/imp

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#59

What do you mean by breath modulation?

#60

It’s just a modulation layer in the general midi spec, just like mod wheel or aftertouch. It’s generally used with breath controllers, but it’s only a CC# I’m the context of the Rytm (and most gear, really) because there is not a specific breath controller input

#61

I had the same feeling with the RYTM, it’s sounds just did not gel with me. After learning the ropes for a bit by playing around and deconstructing soundpacks etc I ended up just formatting the entire thing and started from scratch will all sound made by myself using every trick I can imagine, using/combining both samples and synth machines and every other trick in the book.
At this point I feel like I really quite like the sounds and beats I pull out of it, maybe that is just because I made every single thing on it though.

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