How do you do the secret song mode record?

Elektron Gear Machinedrum
1

I keep seeing it mentioned that MD has a record feature for the song mode. It’s not in the manual and I’ve searched through this forum about three times for a how to but no luck.

Does any one here know how to record songs on the MD?

2

I use my MD since twenty years and never even heard of the secret songmode.

Bump!

3

I asked NotebookLM to which I’ve uploaded the manual and a bunch of tips and tricks guides and charts and this is what it had to say back:

No, the Machinedrum does not have a real-time recording feature for Song Mode that captures your live pattern changes or performance tweaks into a song structure.

Instead, songs are created manually using the Song Editor. Here is how you “build” a song:

1. Accessing the Song Editor

  • Enter SONG mode by pressing [PATTERN/SONG] until the <SONG> LED is lit.
  • Open the SONG menu by holding [FUNCTION] and pressing [KIT].
  • Select the EDIT icon and press [ENTER/YES] to open the editor.

2. Building the Song Structure

  • The song is built row by row. In each row, you manually assign a pattern, a repeat count, a start offset, and a length.
  • Insert a step: Use [FUNCTION] + [DOWN].
  • Remove a step: Use [FUNCTION] + [UP].
  • Live Editing: You can actually edit the song rows while the sequencer is playing, allowing you to arrange the structure “on the fly,” though it is still a manual editing process rather than a live recording of your pattern selections.

3. Recording Parameter Changes Across a Song

If you want to record parameter movements that span an entire song, the sources note that the solution is “ugly”:

  • The sequencer cannot record a single long stream of parameter movements across a song.
  • Instead, you must create multiple versions of a base pattern (e.g., eight versions of Pattern A01) and record specific parameter movements into each pattern individually. You then arrange these patterns in sequence in the Song Editor.

Alternatives to Song Mode

  • Pattern Chaining: For a more immediate, temporary sequence during a live performance, you can hold a [BANK] button and press multiple [TRIG] keys in the order you want them to play. This creates a chain that loops once it reaches the end, though it is not saved as a “song”.
  • Song-to-Pattern Trick: You can use Song Mode to define a specific start step and length for a loop and then toggle back to Pattern Mode. The MachineDrum will retain that specific “offset loop” from the song, allowing you to jam on a specific section of a longer pattern.
4

Never heard of this. Paging MD guru @waftlord

5

Where!?

3 Likes
6

Can’t remember now, I’m sure someone mentioned you could record song mode, and that it isn’t in the manual but didn’t say how.

7

Yeah probably doesn’t have one lol. They probably meant pattern chaining.