The sound is good, to me, and it’s convenient to have a decent drumbox + synth in one box if you’re away from the studio often enough.
4 Likes
It just covers such a broad range of elektron synthsounds, sounds great, plenty of tracks to use as you like(within the analog or digital domain).
Feels more ”unlocked” and to me the most complete/uncompromised Elektron machine yet. And also easy to use with limited synth parameters(well see if theyre enough in the long run but feel great to me) and scale-input.
3 Likes
You try making one of those hat layers from the clap machine? I get just about the best (for my taste) non-909 techno hats this way.
1 Like
Personally I feel like this is Elektron’s newest box yet
11 Likes
Definitely trying this. Thanks!
This has been the best thing about ST for me. I can break it out on the couch while my partner watches something or reads. We get to be together, I get to get my bleep bloops on. Even if I’m not finishing whole tracks on it, I get to lay down ideas and experiment, which is more than enough.
4 Likes
@graverubber can you please share what was the issue? I started to experience exact same issue with my ST today… Thanks
Just as Fin surmised, the blue led was faulty. I sent it back to the store and had the unit replaced.
1 Like
Good post, kind of kills my mild GAS for this. The thing about the Rytm is you can load samples into it and layer them with the analogue sounds if you want, or just process the samples with analogue filter and distortion. It also pairs rather well with the Octatrack which I was curious if the Syntakt does. I feel like a used Rytm mk1 in good condition is a better value to buy than a Syntakt right now, at least for me. So with the Rytm if you have good samples, you have a beastly drum machine, plus you can throw in a ton of chord samples in there and modulate them like crazy if you want.
I can see why I’d like the Syntakt for jamming with it on my own, but for that type of stuff I already have an Op1, which I can carry around and not even have to plug in.
1 Like
This needs to go in the feature request thread or something. More resonan/physical modeling drum machines would be awesome
On another note, for geniuses like myself who have been buying synths for 3 years and still haven’t learned any theory, does anyone have a good quick chord machine technique or cheat code for sequencing/playing patterns, or is that not possible?
I can get somewhere by meticulously scanning the modes while hitting a certain note until I hear a nice sound, locking that to a trig manually, then moving to the next trig but that isn’t a very musical way of working for me
It also doesn’t seem like it’s possible to just pick one scale and map out chords without changing it. But again, I know absolutely nothing about theory. I assume the proper answer is “learn some” but i did wonder if there was an idiot proof method of using that machine with musical results since it’s the only poly option here
4 Likes
Depends what you want from your chords. If you want quite traditional/jazz changes, colours, and emotive cadences, it’s best to learn some theory (in my opinion). If you like that old house & rave chord stab style, you should be able to pick a minor or minor-7th and just hit some different root notes.
3 Likes
oh cool, thats all i wanted to know. thanks, good to know thats how its intended, i had no idea
i’ve noticed that this isn’t ideal because of the click clacky button noise. like when someone leaves their iphone text key sound on in public. i bet the cycles is perfect for this though
1 Like
my favorite snare sound is one i made on the rytm. i generally use claps for the main kick/snare sound rather than traditional snares, then use snares for accented trills or whatever. so my idea of a good snare might differ from most producers.
but i just realized that the ST “SD FM” machine is nearly identical to the Rytm “SD FM” and i replicated it almost 100% here. probably not great, but i like the sound of this one for tight “drumline” style snare sounds:
(sounds best somewhere around “D4”)
let me know if it does anything for ya. but if it sucks, just say something like “oohhh… neat. thanks! :)”
4 Likes
Playing on my phone… I really liked it solo. So sharp and spiky. When the kick came it, it seemed to lose all its power. Happy to blame my phone speaker tho’. What kind of sounds go into your tracks around it?
1 Like
I’m in same boat, I only live record stuff so doubt I was every going to fully use the mode, I just use x2/x3/x4 layers and fifths on the various keyboard layouts and plink plonk away to get something I like. If I get bored I’ll start looking into the mode more.
Usually with ST on its own I keep it simple, if I want chords I’ll hook up to DN and just play whatever chords sound good to me from the keyboard.
1 Like
thank you. i haven’t used it on the syntakt yet, i literally made that patch like 2 minutes before uploading it here. i think it lost it’s power with the kick because i didn’t gain stage or mix anything. the snare should be much louder in the mix. i put the kick in for context but maybe that was a mistake.
the original snare patch i made on my rytm, which this is copied from is in my main kit that i use for everything though, so you can probably hear it in context on a few of the more full loops i posted here that incorporate the rytm: https://www.instagram.com/future__________/
*edit: here’s one. it’s rytm, not ST. but you can hear it in the drum pattern here. not the clap on the 4, but the snares in between, usually right before the kick hits: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfRxfhZANzD/
1 Like
Gotcha. Yeah, that would make sense.
I find the iPhone really brutal on a mixdown. It’s rather good at showing where your balance is off; the whole mix gets coloured by the sounds that take up too much bandwidth.
2 Likes
yes i agree. i only really record loops i half made in like 20-40 minutes to my instagram, and for those i do one stereo track mix in from all my hardware via mixer>octa>boum. but i actually like how some of the vst saturation and compression sounds on the iphone, even with the ig compression sometimes. it is helpful as a reference too
@LAMPED yeah, i use my launchpad pro mk3 as my midi “keyboard” into the ST for sequencing everything. so i could use that chord mode, but it only works with an actual polysynth. so i do the same thing you do, pick a scale mode on the launchpad (if i were using the st only, i’d fold dorian or something in ‘keyboard’ mode), scan through type until the note im playing on launchpad sounds good. then after that, adjust the balance a little.
but usually its the following chords that confuse me. like should i stay in the same type? does it make sense to go outside the type? i guess its easier to. but yes, unison modes are my go to as well. much easier to wrap my head around musical patterns with that + some light ‘balance’
*update: yeah it’s not a bad workflow. as long as you keep everything moving (specifically ‘bal’)
[m7]
(filter motion seq-p locking got a lil steppy. not ideal)
3 Likes
I have sometimes just taken two tracks up with same sound/engine, use x2/x3/x4 modes and normal chromatic keyboard, live record on 1 track then go to the other track and live record pressing different keys but at the same timing to make up more interesting chords that way - god bless quantise. could do it on more tracks but find 2 is enough and with the 12 tracks still got plenty room.
1 Like