Just out of curiosity how you all ended up getting into Elektron gear and what your first piece of Elektron gear purchased and why? For me, I started out with basic soft synths and a DAW on laptop then met friends who are long term music synth nerds and they all had Elektron gear! So naturally I was curious why the Elektron and no laptops? A friend kindly loaned me his Elektron MD and I was hooked after the initial learning curve. Now I am looking forward to learning the OT and using it as my central live rig hub.
I got started when I a guy posted on reddit that he wanted to trade his OT for an OP-1, which quite frankly, I was sick and tired of. Since then I have offloaded most of my previous gear for these amazing boxes. As well as putting my mixer and effects boxes away, and about a zillion cables. All in all a great thing for me! Each instrument is so deep, and I love plumbing eachâs depth.
2 Likes
Autechre.
Monomachine because Autechre (and Lemâs famous Monomachine video, of course).
2 Likes
I remember being amazed by the sidstation back around 99/2000, and saw that Elektron was building a new drum machine. So, rather impulsively (I regret nothing!) i dropped an irresponsibly large chunk of tuition money on their magic box. I was lucky enough to be part of the Machinedrum beta test. The elektron team was so responsive to user feedback that I feel like the entire beta-test community was able to make valuable contributions that helped define the MD operating system, and make the elektron sequencer the amazingly powerful beast that it is today.
6 Likes
My local store had a demo first gen Analog 4. Iâd just released a track I made entirely in Ableton and someone mentioned theyâd like to hear more analogue grit in my music, so I was at the store sussing analogue synths⌠I played with the A4 and was so impressed that I took one home a few days later.
1 Like
I came from playing electric guitar though lots of effects with bands. I always was using the fx as instruments and would reroute them any way I could often get on my knees and âplayâ the fx while holding a note or chord, maybe playing with one hand. So always have been into electronics. Got into using a computers few years after they finally got fast enough to process guitar in real time and sound good, 2009. Picked up an analog synth the same year as I always wanted one.
The next few years I started messing with midi and learning how to loop and process sounds with Apple Mainstage, and play soft synths, etc⌠I started midi mapping controllers and using Ultrabeat (Logic/mainstage) as my drummer. At some point I had my own custom screen with several loopers and controllers mapped to bring in different beats and control levels and fx sends, choose soft synths, and would loop guitar through NI guitar rig with synth bass and melodies, vocal processing and all sorts of stuff. It took a long time to learn all that and it was awesome but even with the controllers I still felt like my grooves were always stuck in a box. Robot type repetiveness⌠I wanted more hands on control.
Researched drum machines and it came down to Tempest and AR, ended up choosing AR. I called a shop in SanFransisco and had them order one for me. The owner said that there were three Octatracks coming and that theyâve been rare and go quick, and that someone cancelled their order. This was in late 14 where apparently there werenât OTâs being made for awhile. I had seen it and really had no idea what it was, I knew it was some kind of looper but the description in the catalog I read really didnât give me an idea of what all it could do. Yet, it some how called my name. I had money at the time but part of me thought it was ridiculous to spend more than I already was on a drum machine. Octatrack went though my mind for days, I broke down and called the guy and said Iâll take it even though I wasnât really sure what I was getting into.
After getting it and AR my mind was blown and all the sudden I didnât even need the computer and could warp and bend sounds much easier and faster with the gear. All the scenes and performance and knobs and everything on the AR got me out of my robot box, I could reach over and drastically bend the sound or create great variations then snap, itâs back to the groove. Direct jump, all sorts of goodies.
The OT just kept revealing itself and I was blown away, I never dreamed of doing the things it can do to audio in real time and rather easily, directly, and efficiently⌠Theyâve completely changed my music for the better and I can now wiggle all sorts of ways and I feel like Iâm blowing bubbles and floating on them instead of being trapped in a box. Best move I ever made for my solo projectâŚ
3 Likes
I bought a 2nd hand Sidstation nearly 10 years ago for a relatively low price from a very cash-strapped strugling artist. I was really into the whole SID sound back then, but never used it all that much in the end. I remember tempo syncing it over MIDI was basicaly impossible on my old setup. I still use it, mostly for leads though. I should give the wavetables etc another shot one of these days.
Anyway, as for other products, I sorta skipped over the Dark Trinity devices as when they came out I either had no money or had mostly lost interest in music. I got back into producing in 2016 or so. Bought some Pocket Operators to play around with and they breathed new life into my hobby. Re-discovered Elektron products somewhere in 2017, I think it might have been through Red Means Recording. Digitakt seemed like something I would enjoy so I bought it and I wasnât wrong.
1 Like
Honestly I was looking for a better midi sequencer that could be the brain of my set up with out having to deal with 50 different kinds and flexible cc control. Previously I was using a combination of the tr808 trigger outs, 3 future retro orbs and 2 future retro revolutions to sequence everything. Eesh nightmare! The MD basically did nothing but sample and sequence in my set up for years. Even to this day do I rarely use the actual synth engine. 16 trax of midi with 6 ccâs per track and 16 freely assignable LFOâs made it worth the $$. Now I need poly sequencing options and I think the digitone will do it quite nice in this regard. Kind of sad that I am going to be finally selling the md. I do regret selling my tr808 to fund the md but honestly i like flexibility more than stylish options.
2 Likes
After being in a bunch of bands recording and playing different instruments over the years I obviously met different folks who swore by âthe analogue soundâ - could have been vinyl vs CD - analogue synth vs digital synth - recording to 2" tape vs digital into computer - I never cared and still only believe in âwhatever getâs you thereâ but I was curious about the Analog Four when it was released back in 2012 as it seemed to capture a bit of everything and dispel those old one sided nonsense arguments.
So I tried one out in a store for about 30 minutes - I had no idea what I was doing but it sounded ânewâ and unusual and I reasoned the way it worked was pretty deep but intuitive enough to hold my interest for a long long time⌠I was right - I still use it every week - The A4 is a magic box.
1 Like
I donât recall exactly how I first found out about elektron gear. It was probably from youtube videos, or something along those lines. Back then (2011 or so), I was still getting my head around making music using Ableton Live, but really liked the idea of hardware synths, having been a (crappy) DJ ages ago. I won an ebay auction for a machinedrum and I definitely was blown away, but it was too much for me to grasp back then, and I didnât spend the time to really learn the machine. I also started drifting to the dark side (Eurorack). Flash-forward to last year, after wife had a baby, I really learned about how free time is no longer a thing. Eurorack was fun, but expensive and it always took me hours to find a groove, or figure out what I wanted a patch to do. I saw these videos about Digitakt, and it seemed to be the kind of thing I was after - something I could pick up while on the couch, or where ever, and quickly jam out. I sold pretty much all my remaining Eurorack and went for it. I was immediately rewarded with how usable and fun the DT is. I love the workflow, it is the box I wanted it to be, and Iâm starting to actually make some tracks with it. I have streamlined the rest of my gear to items that compliment (0-coast for analog bleeps, a few pedals), and now I have an Analog Heat on the way, but that should keep me busy for quite a while. Looking forward to focusing on these few pieces and really learning the ins and outs. Took me long enough to figure that outâŚ
1 Like
mr @cuckoomusic via youtube. Bless him!
Bought Keys. Because of awesome.
1 Like
I had been playing on various laptop based Ableton Live Setups as well as maschine and kept trying to do realtime composition and such, had a big festival gig and was so stressed my machine was going to crash the whole time, used the paycheck from it to start with an Analog Rytm, shortly after got a good deal on an Octatrack, now thereâs no going back lol.
2 Likes
My RM1x broke down, I decided to replace it with an MD-UW.
1 Like
I first heard of the Octatrack when peeps were hyping it as âAbleton in a boxâ, but I kind of ignored it until David Torn was excitedly posting it as a next-gen looping machine. Then Anders Bergdahl started posting stuff on Soundcloud that he had made - all one guitar into an Octatrack, one take.
Mr. Torn has yet to get an OT, but Andersâ work sold me on the OT, as a way to integrate my viola and guitar playing with electronic music, instead of MIDI guitar stuff, or some kind of alternative MIDI controller.
2 Likes
It was Cenk being amazing on Sonic State.
1 Like
Staring at my computer, overwhelmed by infinite possibilities, not having any fun. This lead to research, and discovery of the Elektron boxes. Picked up an OT, and an AR a couple years later. I still donât make enough finished music, but at least Iâm having fun again. And yeah, I do still use the computer, in a hybrid rig, but it really took getting a Push 2 to make me able to enjoy it.
3 Likes
I was looking to upgrade my drum machine situation from the Boss Dr rhythm 770 when i discovered the MD. Upgrade indeed, it was like going fro black and white to color 
!!
Sure paid dearly for it thoughâŚbought in peak pricing for $1750âŚhad a $300 repair at one pointâŚand paid $400 or so for the +drive upgrade. OUCH!
2 Likes
I used to be one of those, âbut you have WAY more options on a laptop.â
I saw the OT and thought it looked like a really limited version of Live, and was completely uninterested.
Over time I got sick of my laptop, and was never really pleased with the sound.
Went back to my old ways and got some analog synths, relized what I had been missing.
Got on the waiting list for a Cirklon, then realized I just needed an OT.
After getting an OT, I sold everything else and got an A4 and a RYTM.
2 Likes
i think it was OP-1 territory for me as well⌠at that time I was more involved in the ohpeewon forums⌠and the OT always featured in various threads⌠I did know about Elektron previously⌠and I think the idea of âbuying my first proper synthâ led me to the A4⌠i also loved that promo video⌠the demon who wears me⌠hehe
1 Like