I bought a beautiful Machinedrum

Elektron Gear Machinedrum
#81

I bought a beautiful Machinedrum MK1 about 2 weeks ago. I don’t think I need to justify it to you guys, but… this is a pretty amazing machine.

The sound is not only alright: it kicks like a mule when pushed hard, but can also do ambient tones and textures. Then, there is the elektron sequencer yadda yadda yadda, the quick reload function, the kit management system…

Some people don’t like the reverb, but I love it. It’s not an Eventide, but it definitely has some lo-fi charm to it. It doesn’t sound natural, but It’s great for electronic percs.

And above all, the Ctr-All machine. It leads you to uncharted territories quite easily. I’ve been using it all the time both for performance and kit sound design. And you can p-lock it, and mute the p-locks for variation. Or control it with LFO’s. Deep, deep stuff.

The compressor has its own sound too. You can push it hard and it distorts in a nice way. industrialtechno-nice, I mean. I’m not usually a fan of overcompression, but It sounds lovely in here. Very different character (well, of course) than the Rytm’s master compressor.

My favourite trick right now is to combine the Ctr-All with the quick reload function. I guess this is obvious to many users, but I hadn’t experienced anything like it before. I also like to p-lock or modulate the delay controls with a Ctr-RE.

My favourite engine is the EFM one for now, but the retrig. parameters in the E12 ones are crazy too. The TRX ones are cool, but haven’t used them much. I’m not too fond of the PI machines for now, I guess I need to explore them a bit more.

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#82

Congratulations! It is indeed a gorgeous machine, if you use it to it’s strengths!

I can recommend digging deeper into the PI-machines. They are a great source of weird sounds, if you forget about trying to make them sound like “real” percussion.

4 Likes
#83

Well said and I would say the general Ctrl-All feature is incredible too! It’s such a fun way to explore and change all sounds like one big moving organism. Did a noise/beats session like this some weeks ago in a gathering of musicians and people loved it. Some time ago I thought I could not get much more out of it but then began exploring again and a great range of new powerful sounds began to pop up.

2 Likes
#84

This machine has taken me on quite a journey!

As posted in Our Music I’ve made a new noise or soundscape project called “Soarer Industries” and released a bandcamp album which is made entirely with Machinedrum as sound source and Octatrack doing live resampling and effects. I’ve been having a good time making big dirty industrial beats along with a lot of crisp steam noise on the Machinedrum and transforming it slowly with Control All exploring the great range of sounds that comes out of this. I hope you will give it a listen!

12 Likes
#85

I love the way it transforms, especially around 2/3 through. Very cool!

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#86

Nice work guy :sunglasses:

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#87

Well, thank you elenacortes :grinning:
Glad to hear that @m0ld - do you mean the whole album or track one?

#88

Welcome to the cult…er I mean club

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#89

The whole album.
You made good overall work. Unity of feeling in the entire album.
Seems to be different moments in same factory.
The sound of MD is there, but its use is not so evident/visible
Thanks for the industrial flavors

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#90

I love the album. It’s very organic, lively, and full sounding.

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#91

Wow, thanks for the excellent feedback elenacortes and Jamslerr! I’m happy to hear that you have been listening to the entire album. Also good to read that the important elements are coming through. It’s pretty unusual for me to make something like this since I’m always making music that is very orderly, harmonious and melodious. So it’s been a good challenge to get into a more atonal and distorted territory.

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#92

Oops, I meant the track! Haven’t had a chance to listen to the whole album yet :slight_smile:

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