I’m indecisive at times. Especially, when it comes to bigger investments. Please read on first, and let’s hear some opinions after that.
I’m truly in love with my A4 as some of you might know in here. I think I’m doing quite well with it, but oftentimes it’s me getting lost in sound design and not crafting beats or getting lost in options for shaping this and that. And: There’s this longtime wish for a straightforward truly analog drum machine.
Here’s where Rytm comes into place. But, of course, I don’t expect Rytm to be just a drum machine. There’s 12 tracks and sampling plus that neat compressor for external gear. I would love to be able to use it as my one and only centerpiece for a variety of sounds, styles and sonic experiments and probably replace my A4.
Now being on Elektronauts for quite a while now I don’t want this to turn into another “what-should-I-get”-thread. But I’m interested to hear if someone went the same route for whatever reason and whether there were regrets or unexpected positive aspects to it?
Side-note: Adding a Boum to A4 would be another option. But that won’t increase the number of tracks.
Disclaimer: No need to convince me to own both, that for sure won’t happen – space is limited, I don’t have the money, etc. I’m also pretty aware of the psychology of this, thank you.
Update from the future: I finally bought a RYTM. No need for further advice, please. Every now and then I keep posting in this thread to share some of my love for this insanely great performance machine!
You don’t need it and I think using Rytm as just an analog drum machine is personally not the way to go. It’s hybrid and shines when used that way. For pure analog there are many cheaper alternatives out there.
Agreed. Without the sampling side, I would not really care about Rytm.
I got significantly better in the synthesis side with 1.70, but still, it’s not quite a “proper” synth.
I went the Rytm MK2 route and ended up selling it. IMO:
You don’t want or need a “truly analog drum machine” if you’re throwing samples into the mix.
Rytm drum synthesis was meh for me, it really shines with samples and layering (which I don’t think mixes well with the “drum machine” concept as managing files is that last thing I want to do when I’m OTB).
Dist and compressor were really cool and the only thing I’m missing from this machine.
I’m currently experimenting with the Syntakt which I find better suited to my needs (it has the nice kick of the Rytm, and none of the ugly toms, and no samples). And might pair it with a Boum in the future.
I absolutely love my Rytm … It is the most ‘fun’ and fastest workflow of any elektron machine i’ve owned (DT, OT, A4, DN) due to its machines based synthesis and having the pad layout for actively performing tracks via perf knob/pads and scenes via pads.
Going between the A4 and Rytm is interesting as the A4 is really deep but for me at least is slow to use, and once I had a sound locked in, I feel like i’ve gone a bit of a journey…whereas the Rytm is so fast to get stuff going, chop and change and edit … its just an amazing device. And honestly with some smart sample use and pad allocations, you can absolutely do an entire set just with the Rytm alone. If I had more discipline and less GAS I’d just rock the Rytm and get super good at it … and perhaps sample in stuff from other synths and just have this one box to fully commit to and perform on. Cause I personally find the more boxes I have on my desk the less fun it becomes
dont get caught up in gas
A4 is very capable of creating dope drums and samples, but even as a groovebox it shines, if you got the patience.
actually before i bought my rytm mk1 i saw a video of an A4 mk1, and then i thought it was a rytm, so i bought that. never even noticed that there were no pads on the A4, so it was by mistake lol
it was my first time seeing an elektron probably, dunno…
before that i used an sp404og to do everything, so for me even this mistake was a huge step up, and i didnt mind at the end.
if it made such a huuuge difference i would say go for it, but i dont think it does… sooo
still think that the A4 mk1 is the best looking elektron, after that MD and MnM
best advice out there is to use what you got and to find ways to focus imo
that is what i do with my rytm too. i just focus on learning that and
do my sets with it and another small synth that i actually just play live, its a pretty chaotic set sometimes but my friends enjoy it and then all other people just vibe with it and share the energy
so dont try to do add more shit, into your life
the most corrupting feeling imo is trying to sustain all your property and not to actually acquire it,
so for me less is more if you can be ok with it
BTW, anyone a good techno kick recipie for the A4? (with exact values, envelopes.) I tried with pitchmod, and various envelopes, but didnt get it what to do exactly. (Used triangle, and fast downsweep, but didnt work as expected.) On the Tempest such a thing is quiete easy.
I’ve got news for you, it’s exactly the same with rytm
it’s a very unique and capable machine, but it takes time to squeeze things out of it, it takes effort to balance things.
straight out of the box it doesn’t sound “WOWOWOWOW”, but once you start pushing stuff around it does, and it takes time to figure out what you can push where.
I envy people with a4, there’s so much built in modulation options it’s crazy, on rytm you need to work hard at modulation, plocks, cv ins, velocity mods, etc etc, these things take time to adjust compared to 2 envelopes & 2 lfos per track…
I don’t think a4 and rytm can replace each other, they are meant to be together… it’s destiny… lucky I’ve got the DN, it really keeps me from getting A4 too
it’s incredible machine, every time I power it up it’s making me zen, but don’t think for a second it’s immediate and will blow your mind when you start an empty project, the default kit is actually discouraging lol, but when you push the compressor a bit, the distortion, start modulating, it’s pretty fucking amazing
In the meantime you could try to have some dedicated A4 sessions where you only use premade sounds.
Only focus on building a song instead of sound design.
As for the Rytm, if you want to make something loosely sample based like
Hip hop, it’s pretty fun.
I like to use some semi glitchy sounds in my music and to me, I really love using small loops on a sample instead of ratchets. But I’ll also sample a chord progression fairly often and just plock the start point around.
Definitely check out GloPhase to see what can be done with just a Rytm and some hard work / talent.
That’s a whole different story. I built around a few dozens of kicks with A4. But good in itself is very relative… Let’s have a dedicated thread for this. There was one in the past if I remember correctly.
