This is what makes it seem like such a good idea to me too.
Thank you! Yeah just M:S and DN, except some barely perceptible u-he Diva on the first track after the break.
I’ve found a nice process now using these boxes in conjunction with Ableton. I run the M:S into the DN and record the master outs via USB into Ableton. I try to play the track how I want it to be, except I take care to record whole bars and several variations, and then afterwards I get a bit of extra freedom to do some cutting and pasting. To me this seems to be an ideal middle ground between simply recording a live take and meticulously multi-tracking individual parts.
Cheers! It can totally get grungy. I haven’t explored that aspect of it so much yet though. So far I’ve mostly made bread’n’butta basses, arpeggios, leads, piano and some fx-type sounds on it.
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Please do, I have wanted to do this exact thing but am too lazy.
I really can’t sing the praises of the MS enough in regards to making goopy, chugging techno percussion out of average samples. Again not that other machines cant do it, but its all so immediate on the MS it invites one to experiment.
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I love this thing so much.
6 tracks is perfect for some old fashioned banging sweaty basement techno.
Just paired mine with an EHX Platform compressor, I won’t spam this thread and take it off topic, but if you want to hear it, I made a quick tune with the pair and put it up in the Platform thread
$300 sampling drum machine + $100 limiter. I just love what you can accomplish with so little these days
I had some cheap $300 and $400 drum machines back in the day. DR-770, R8 MKII. None of them sounded like or could do such interesting things with sequencing. And never could I dream of doing a live set with just those and a looper.
I’ve been putting my older Rytm sample chains in mine. There are loads in the Files section here on Elektronauts. It’s breathing new life into those samples.
MS’ massive 576 slot limit means it is less necessary, but it does make scrolling through sample hits a little quicker. And if you CTRL-ALL the sample start parameter, you’ll get a lot more variety in a break down.
And a tip for hats, use one track by loading an open hat sample. Bring the decay down real low to make your closed hat sound. Then p-lock the decay open on steps where you want an open hat sound. Simple solution, no need for sound locks.
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Thanks for the tips. Im getting so much out of the basics I’ve not even gotten that deep. I am seriously considering filling it with some grooves to use as transitional material/extra loops for a DJ set.
I am stoked for sound locks but as you point out automating sample start end and decay can yield almost more interesting results. Ive also found the one lfo quite powerful and just enough to introduce some organic elements to perc patterns
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Yea same here.
Been using the LFO’s envelope shape here and there on the filter too.
It may be the simplest Elektron groove box, but it is plenty powerful and oh so immediate. The immediacy helps me so much with my own issues regarding the loss of the traditional kits implementation.
I just do everything in one pattern.
I think my next live set will be just mostly MS and OT for FX/transitions.
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It is easy to write it off, but diving in it is so much of what I love about Elektron on a very immediate surface.
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I input notes really fast by just hitting the track pads and the step pads at pretty much the same time so the sequence is input in real-time with live record for the length of the pattern. Then just ctl-all the entire thing into something really strange.
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anyone know if is possible to have a global tempo that no change when select patterns, like in the digitone??
After reading @AdamJay 's posts about M:S, I’ve had an intense craving for one (was already thinking a bit about it, I must confess). This afternoon, I was like “Hey, let’s try it in a shop… maybe you won’t like it, GAS over!”. I went to the store to try it and long story short:
I now have a M:S looking at me on my coffee table.
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Classic, start the morning off having no idea that at the end of the day you’d have a new rad piece of hardware! My favorite.
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Undo button is a beaaast.
I wouldn’t say I had “no idea” haha. My GF, on the other hand…
Had my first contact with my M:S this evening. On the pics and videos of it, it looks like a cheap and ugly piece of plastic… but I really like it: it’s smaller than I thought, the plastic feels good, the encoders are solid and in fact, I quite dig its look. The pads are mpc500-awful but I had no illusion about them. The only thing that bothers me a bit is the orange data clicky encoder : it’s used for so many things that I fear it will bite the dust really fast.
Soundwise, it’s everything I’ve hoped it would be: it’s fun, it’s fast, it sounds good.
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I managed to buy a second hand one from someone on Ebay. I was toying with the idea of jumping straight into the Analogue Rytm 2 but decided otherwise because of the deep menu diving. The ms is a great introduction to Elektron gear.
First thoughts are that I love the fact that it is pretty straightforward to get it running after a brief overview of the manual. I had my manual printed into a ring binded book so I could reference easily.
Too early to point out all of the positive points.
The negatives for me so far are that accessing samples is fiddly. I saw that others have commented on this too. Hopefully that could be improved with an update.
Will be great when the battery option is available to make it portable.
The biggest issue for me so far is that I find that the headphone volume is not loud enough. I have turned it up to 100% in the settings. I have also increased the volume of each sample in the 6 tracks but that can only be turned up to about 60% before the distortion begins. Luckily I have an MP3 player amplifier that I can plug in to boost it. But for portability this makes it a bit of a pain.
I would like to use it as a portable device to transfer my sound designed samples so that I can sketch out ideas before recording into Ableton.
I am trying to cut down the amount of time spent in the studio sat in front of the computer.
I think that the fun really begins when you have your own sample library inside ms. That takes time.
But so far I think that it was definitely worth buying.
Agreed on the sample selection. Coming from the DT, it sure needs some getting used to.
Now that I have played around with it a bit more and added my own samples, it is starting to feel easier.
Update: I have just realised that the issue is not with the ms, it is the plug adapter. I am having to use a reducer to plug my earbuds in and after I loaded my own samples, I noticed that they were louder than the factory samples. So I thought that I would see what it sounded like with the earbuds plugged directly in. I was hearing this mass reverb effect from all of the six tracks. I twiddled around with the earbuds jack and hey presto, decent volume.
Really starting to have fun with this device. I can see it is superb for sketching out ideas.
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Had some bonus time with it today, and it’s absolutely lovely, totally in line with my minimalist / immediate set-up envy. I can imagine a mini set up with my circuit and my m:s plus a mini mixer (a volca mix for instance)… put that in a backpack and I’m ready for a live set!
Now, the downsides:
- doing most of the navigation with the data encoder is a bit annoying, I’d rather have arrows / yes / no buttons.
- can’t send the delay into the reverb, noooooo.
- no attack setting obviously.
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This 100%.
I posted in the Model Samples Only Music thread, and each one of the patterns I’ve made has usually been about a 30-60 minute affair.
It isn’t difficult to get around at all, and you get used to the quirks quickly. The muscle memory you get from the knobby interface is developed quickly.
Now that it’s been a few weeks, I’d like to address the things that I thought would take some getting used to.
I’ve recorded a few phrases at higher pitches in my DAW, pitching them down to -12 or-24 has given me that graininess back. Not something I can automate, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
This took no time. The more I use it, the faster I am with it. Also, I LFO the filter a lot with the start phase tweaked to overcome lack of attack parameter (plus altering the start point)
I just use the LFO on pan if the LFO is otherwise unused. Helps with hats.
I bought an EHX platform for the stage, and it’s great.
In the studio I usually use the USB digital output on the M:S and use Ableton’s glue compressor. Not a big deal, and the vol/dist compresses somewhat.
I have my pattern save + project save routine down well. Totally used to the encoder now.
Otherwise, yea, this is probably my favorite Elektron. Reminds me of my old (20 years ago) MPC2000XL days of just working with wavs from single shots or recorded phrases, and doing what I can with the tools it has.
CTRL-ALL and Chance are huge for performance, I typically work out of a single pattern. I don’t feel limited in a bad way by the 6 tracks. But rather limited in a good way that makes me focus on the core elements of the tune. I don’t use sound locks much, just use OH Samples and being the decay down to make CH and OH on the same track.
The immediacy and portability fits my lifestyle. I can knock out a beat quickly and get some satisfaction, all I need is my M:S and my Beyer open back headphones.
Above all I’m glad this thing has me making techno again.
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