I’m done with Elektron

[umonox]

i miss the good old Machinedrum times - as Elektron has put all the effort into one single machine and really made the most out of it. I was very disappointed in 2014 as i realized that the Rytm was actually not nearly comparable to the depth of the Machinedrum - but still so expensive.

But then i fell in love with the Digitakt. For the fact that it is so simple, but still offering the surgical precision where it matters.

For me as a Youtube Creator however im getting a bit anxious about where Elektron is moving today. Stuff is half finished, but new machines are thrown out in a frequency not known before! I slowly have a hard time still loving Elektron for the stuff they do. The Digitone might be a good machine, no doubts. But i dont want it - not because i dont want it - but because of the fact that it comes out regardless of the fact that OB is still not ready, Digitakt’s OS still needs a lot of love, the MK1 machines feel almost abandoned since they havent got a proper update for ages - stuff like that. I could do what everyone else does: Buy the stuff and just make Videos for as long as i can still grab the views. But this is not my aspiration and it feels like a waste of machines - in the end. There is so much you stumble upon - months or even years after a machine is released. If this constant “new machines every year” behavior will continue, i cant focus on one single machine and go really in-depth anymore. i would have to scratch the surface like every other youtuber does and move on to the next device. And while this is not a problem for any private person doing this stuff for their own - its a problem for me as a Youtube Creator who has the aspiration to go in depth and carve the most out of the machines as possible. Because it doesnt matter for the audience anymore. If something new is out, they only want to see the new stuff. People simply forget too fast. And i dont wanna buy new stuff over and over just to keep up with whats currently new.

Im holding back at the moment. I really have to see if the way Elektron has pursued will fit to what i had in mind with my channel. But im looking for alternatives already. And thats sad, somewhat at least. It almost feels like leaving a good friend who doesnt care so much about you anymore.

Btw: The site is still extremely slow with tons of timeouts and loading times over loading times! It took 7 attempts to get this post out and another 2 attempts to edit it ^^ @Elektron: Get this DDoS attack sorted! Its slowly annoying.

[Buska]

I have the DT+DN combo, not hard to juggle at all. The DIGI boxes are very simplified compared to other boxes from Elektron, and I like that about them. Saying that though, a DT and a few synths would be a great setup also, but I would miss the DN scale and arp, and it sounds sick too.
I have been creating some great beats by layering the FM drums with DT sampled drums

[t3h]

try out some real instruments for a change. this helps me when I’m bored or frustrated with the synths. touch the nice old wood of the guitar body or the chilled plastic of the piano keys. the deep sound of acoustic instruments. one chord with the electric guitar, driving with full gain. deep thump of electric bass. these sorts of things.
it also helps to remind me how tiny corner is habited by the synthesizers from the whole specter of musicality.

[Open_Mike]

Does any one else not think of a brand or company when they use the boxes?

I know Elektron made them at one point, but when I use my stuff it’s a sampler and a drum machine, it never crosses my mind who made them…
With this perspective I find myself unaffected by whatever Elektron the company is doing currently. The delays and things haven’t bothered me either since never expected anything since I bought the gear, so I’ve been unable to be let down,. There’s nothing the company could do that would change the way I think about the gear I already have, it is what it is, and it does what it does…

Now that I have them they are just the sound boxes I use, I like them for the machines they are, when I turn them on I’m not thinking I’m standing behind a company and supporting business practices, nor do I think I’m representing Elektron or endorsing them, I’m just firing up a drum machine and sampler to do do my thing and get down…

[Unifono]

All I am is happy

And I feel happy for you
I guess my problem is not elektron, but grooveboxes with own file system in general. Cmd F is one of the greatest things when working in Ableton
I love my elektron boxes… as long as I’m not trying to get them in one setup with several boxes + computer + develop an overall workflow. Tried that

[wouzer]

I used to have a lot of gear
now I ‘only’ have my OT and A4
Next to this, I love to play guitar and piano

for me, music becomes frustrating, when I have to do something

so last few weeks, if I didn’t play or enjoy my elektron gear at all
I enjoy playing guitar…
and maybe some day I will use my OT as a looper for my guitar…

I don’t sell it
I play it when I want to
and sometimes I play guitar only for 3 months,
then I play A4 (which I love!) for some time
now I am making jungle with my OT

[Open_Mike]

I work with loops so I’m not super tied to the sequencer for each note, “semi” removes me from getting stuck in a sequence. I record passages in real time which is much easier to get way more complex ideas into the box in seconds. Something I could play into the OT in 15 seconds might take a half hour if I were to try to program it, and it would never sound as articulate…
Maybe one reason I don’t feel groovebox block, I’m not so funnled into a sequencer workflow as I’m playing instead of programming…

[Meriphew]

I like the fact that some of the Elektron boxes are very deep, but it’s like a double edged sword - the depth is great, but sometimes I feel more like I’m acting as a technician or engineer rather than a musician.

[dubathonic]

i’ve had similar thoughts before — the idea that a gear journey is to discover not just what you like to do, but how you prefer to do it. an instrument’s layout and sound both contribute to the decision-making. (i have sold gear whose sound i loved for disliking its user interface, and been more patient with gear i found somewhat lacking merely because it felt natural in my hands…)

i can see why the op-1 would make sense on some level. it seems to have some wonderful unique quirks that imho you personally would dig exploring for their own sake. based on your posts these last couple of years i also think that you are in many fundamental ways a keyboard player, therefore a person who will often crave a keyboard synth, and whenever you lack one you will always feel it.

however unless things have changed i expect you are still coping with a fairly small work surface. could you manage a virus polar? very nice three octave keybed, high quality sound, 16-voice multitimbral, which you can both sequence and sample via midi with your dt.

[Open_Mike]

I just wanna throw out the reminder that there’s always the option of collaborating with other people. We don’t need to make everything super complicated by trying to do it all ourselves. Instead of simplifying gear selection to the point where it’s not a headache to make tracks, another alternative is to simply do half of the stuff and have someone else do the other half… People who like knobby synths might even enjoy being the synth player in a band, where all you do is play that knobby synth the whole time without worrying about drums, programming, mixing, yada yada yada…

[macropod]

I find the Elektron stuff (I use a Rytm and Octratrack) To be just complicated enough to be able to do what I want, while not providing infinite opportunities. Like there is just enough capability to keep me from opening up Ableton. In saying that I find, like different instruments, I can look to the Octa, or Ableton, or Synths etc when I’m looking to create in a different way for different outcomes. Octatrack is the desert island machine for sure though.

[bruin]

Fairly new to the Elektron ‘way’, just started out with a Digitakt last year. While it’s not as immediate (more programming / preparation involved) as other types of gear, I still see it as a small (extremely portable) box with fantastic potential. I don’t feel attached to (or overly conscious of) the brand (as Open Mike stated up-thread) - it’s just a great tool–it’s like a playground.

It seems like people get a bit wrapped up in the brand-identity of these things. It (Elektron) isn’t necessarily some type of church or doctrine–I don’t see the point in making absolute statements or decisions about whichever brand I’ve formed an allegiance with, unless they’re evil or something. It doesn’t warrant that level of thinking. I definitely don’t have the level of experience / history with these boxes, as many here do, however.

[oldbills]

I’ve been pretty frustrated with the digitakt at times but only because I can’t get individual outs

Soooo frustrating lol. I got a lot of projects I want to mix down and don’t want to track em out one by one. So I’ve been tempted to sell the DT because of that

But idk.

I don’t think there’s any device out there as capable as the octatrack as far as samplers go. Will definitely be a forever piece for me I think.

The A4 and Rytym don’t really seem worth the investment to me although I’ve never tried em.

I’d maybe get the mk2 rytym one day to replace the DT just because of the individual outs. But hopefully overbridge will be out soon and I won’t have to worry about it

[panelist]

maybe you should rephrase the title something like “I’m done with menus”, as the problem is not Elektron-specific.

I get what you mean, though. I just traded my A4 for something ‘knobbier’ and am quite happy. Basically I traded a lot of menu-driven functionality for a simple/immediate interface and solid sound.

And sometimes I wish the AR were ‘dumber’ and had more knobs.

I think the problem is boiled down to ‘option overload’. Sure, you can have a synth that does a bajillion things, but then you feel like if you aren’t making it do all those bajillion things then you’re either a terrible producer or not getting your money’s worth (at least, I know this is a psychosis I inflict on myself)

[sovietpop]

Still loving my Elektron box but i wont buy anything more from Elektron i guess.

1-
I had to many problems with the encoders (A4 - Octatrack, Rytm) and each time i had to send them back and waited a very long time to get repaired. My OB6 is having a problem with a tact switch right now but DSI sent me the switch and told me i could pay someone to do it to get it more quickly or sent it back free of charge. My Nord Modular G2 never had any problem with the encoders never.
This is something that really bother me tbo, fragile encoders.

2- TBO im not a fan of the new machines, much more limited than their older stuff like the Monomachine , Machindrum etc.

3- Beta OS that take a very long time to get ready. I like my new A4 mk2 but its not ready yet no overbridge and the sound lock functionality is useless right now.

4-
Anyway im still a fanboy i guess but i might look somewhere else in the future. Dont have much time these days with 2 kids and work etc. ITB is less fun but i can work way faster that way.

[Ryan]

as I’m playing instead of programming…

My bout with live recording all of my instruments for my first 3/4 years of making legitimate “music” has given me the jitters- I miss playing, but it’s always so flawed

I’m all in to programming it- it’s like an expressway to the music without that storm of uncertainty beforehand.

I AM a bit jealous of that though

[Open_Mike]

Every once in awhile I’ll sit in with a local band on guitar. Compared to my looping project it’s like being on vacation! All I have to do is play guitar, no constant madmam must have absolute control of every element of the music with hundreds of parameters and timing on the mind, just eyes closed feeling the groove coming from elsewhere and flowing along just concerned with my one piece of the music… Ahhhh, fun!

Lately my guitar and keyboard have been in storage, I feel almost “locked out” of my Elektrons and music having to program things instead of playing them. I get frustrated and want to give up after 20 minutes of programming something into the OT that I would have played, looped, and built a groove around in less than a minute if I played it on keys as a loop…

Bye the way folks, learning to play a keyboard even if it takes years might end up saving lots of time and making things much easier in the long run. In five years a non-keyboard player might be still tediously programming away sequences as they are today, or five years from now they could be playing what they would have been programming in a sliver of the time. Doesn’t have to be audio loops either, can record the midi. Not only that but the basic note relations of grooves and music will make a lot more sense, and you’ll fire out musical ideas much, much quicker… It’s never to late, and I bet it helps worlds more than one might think.

Over the years I’ve watched many of folks who don’t know an instrument work tediously using trial and error for note selection and hoping for happy accidents when making sequences, when someone with just a little bit of keyboard background can come in and lay down five or ten workable grooves in the same amount of time… Of course If you don’t want to that’s fine, but unless your making completely experimental non tonal music I can’t imagine it not being helpful, and I have a feeling it would help so much more than people know…

[AAdra]

I don’t know I’ve upgraded everything… been LOVIN it! digitone whew I love the workflow so much smoother than on all the old synths as far as patch making flow goes had fun today with digitone it really sounds amazing so easy to create patches my gawd I hope they do a pro version https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf6-bkLn0PR/

[Open_Mike]

Bye the way, I don’t believe you at all, even though you might think your telling the truth.
We’ll read about you using Elektron gear again. Days, weeks, months, year, I don’t know, but eventually… My guess is weeks to a few months…

(Edit: And this is completely OK, I think these threads are part of our community synth geek gear opinion emotional group therapy sessions…. )

[Andrew108]

Use the tools you want to make the sounds you want - the sounds you hear in your head. The main reason I continue with Elektron is because of the hands on workflow.