My bad. That’ll be an awkward one with subtracks.
Same here at the beginning the day it arrived but you’ll get there quick. The new features are well conceived and implemented and it ends up feeling not so different.
Getting going was nothing compared to week one on the OT ![]()
I’m not sure it works all that well on the Rytm though. Sometimes I do too many things while prepping the mutes and then when I let go of the FUNC button, nothing happens… or, a knob I’m tweaking while prepping the mute change decides to start to snap to funky values, like it tends to do when holding down FUNC and pressing the encoder…
These “clever” key combos are always a bit of a two edged sword IME. UX gets real messy real fast when you try to combine key combos which rely on the same “modifier” keys, upredictability manifests. One button, one function is the most flexible IMHO
So, what single Elektron (or other) to pair with this for a mobile/compact setup? Syntakt, because of the analog tracks that you can sample and make polyphonic? DN2, because of the multitude of tracks and sonic variation? A4, because, well, it the A4?
Initially I was thinking DN2 was the obvious choice, but now I’m thinking I could breath new life into the Syntakt.
The answer is always the same, honestly - “it depends”.
Really dependant on the kind of music you make and the features you need.
Need to slice and timestretch? Digitakt
Need comprehensive analog synth voices? A4
Need polyphonic digital synth voices? Digitone
Need a performable hybrid drum kit? AR
Need live looping and advanced mangling? OT
Syntakt is a natural ‘all rounder’ if you don’t need additional sampling functionality - but again very dependant on the kind of music you make and what you need to suppliment.
When it comes to considering multisampling monosynths remember that you lose any ability to modulate or manipulate the synth itself - you now have a static sample where before you had a complex voice. This can lead to new and interesting modulations of course but it will lend better to certain sounds than others. I consider it most powerful for acoustic instruments personally rather than synths - but some presets will give you a lot of interesting fodder to manipulate with the 'verk.
But for example if you have a 303 style synth I wouldn’t personally be interested in multisampling it, because half the fun of such a synth is modulating the filter - I’d want to pair it instead.
Yeah this is why I like the Perform mode as an example, you can’t mess it up whereas with Function+No I feel like sometimes I’d leave patterns in messed up states then power down and I’d lose the original state or whatever. Simplicity is good for live usage
I’m very happy with 2x A4 track going into it. It’s cool that even with an input routed through a track it’ll still play samples on it too.
Yes, neither of these are unique to Elektron but they are quite characteristic of of it and I’m tired of it. Software development isn’t easy so I understand the incremental feature thing (and Elektron does deliver a lot of value through software upgrades). But I dislike the deliberate fragmentation of features between different models.
I have an MPC Live and although I don’t like the user-interface and daw-in-a-box feeling sometimes, I do like that it feels complete and kinda does everything - there’s a bunch of drum-specific tools, bunch of synths, super-flexible multisampling, effects out the yin-yang, very advanced editing and song structuring capabilities, pretty advanced chord and arpeggiator tools, very nice performance controls. If it had better step sequencing and parameter-locking type controls it’d be unbeatable. It’s a very good and fun tool, where it fails compared to the Elektrons is that the interface feels fragmented and kinda like using a bunch of different apps on a phone, whereas Elektron boxes feel like an industrial tool that you don’t need to think about much after you learn it.
So I see a lot to like about the Tonverk - particularly the complex new routing options and the big selection of fx, but I’m very disappointed by the lack of performance controls, limited i/o (although maybe a keyboard version fixes this), and forcing a lot of complexity through the 25 year old low-resolution display. Like managing 1024 samples through that front panel looks kinda painful as does sample trimming and a lot of other stuff. I’m also somewhat disappointed that they didn’t use the engine concept and allow polyphonic multisampling but also some DN-like FM or a simple VA engine for those times when you don’t feel like browsing a library but want to take a few oscillators and make them fight.
I’m lucky in that I have other elektron boxes so I can’t say these are real problems. But the older I get, the less I want to spread my concentration across multiple machines, and the more I want to be focused on a single one. Without good performance controls it’s hard to see how that would be the TV. The AR feels like the most complete box to me lately despite its limitations.
yea since the rytm performance controls have seemed to take a bit of a back seat. Tiz a pity. we did get ctrl all & macros on the digi’s but the macros are somewhat buried in a menu.
Maschine+ is that box for me which “does it all”. I dont really expect that sort of device from Elektron (anymore). I’ve been on this rodeo long enough to know that those days are gone, and will never return.
Personally, I see Elektron boxes mostly as live performance instruments, not full “studios” in and of themselves. This is where they shine the most IME, they have compact size, full recall of all mix and synthesis etc settings, good reliability, and usually enough performance functions to get by with.
MD MKII UW was Elektrons “do it all” box, and considering its EOL for a long time and digis outsold it by orders of magnitude, its not likely such a product will come back in the immediate future…
It all boils down to how and why you do things. One thing can fit one workflow while messing up another. That is what happened with how Page Loop was implemented on the Rytm Mk1.
I think I’ve never tried arming mutes while doing something else on the Rytm. Usually I arm them so that I can toggle a bunch of sounds on the Rytm with one movement while doing something else on another instrument.
Analog Four has a similar function as well. Can’t remember about the Octatrack since I don’t really use mutes on OT.
A trip to the Stålverk with my Tonverk ![]()
(Lyra-8 goes into one of the inputs of the Tonverk for stereo effects.)
Tetsuo lässt grüßen ![]()
fucksake @Jeanne
100% this. If you’re a traveling musician it’s a good way to approximate your synths from the studio on the road, but imho the true strength is having multisampled acoustic instruments with the effects mangling and sequencing (or an iPad/1010 music device would be better if you just want to play it straight)
Making me question:
How’s the experience? Autosampler is useless for that it feels. Not being able to replace single notes later is also a downside (just saw that it is stored in a single wav file, explaining the reason why)
I’m confident they will sell tonnes of instruments. But making the instrument yourself (without even a mic in) seems like an afterthought.
Just based off what I’ve read, I feel like I would want to create multisample libraries in my DAW and import them to the TV as opposed to multisampling in the device itself.
this isn’t a single answer type of question
but for me the first thing i am going to pair it with is my hydra synth desktop (ST analog tracks and getting sampled also)
but for me I have been missing a really comfortable poly midi sequencer that is hands on for the hydra
so i am guessing tonverk should be able to fill that gap in the hydra synth nicely
Now that I have TV in front of me, this is really a bummer.
My plan was to use my MPK mini plus as a keyboard. Guess what, it’s not outputting MIDI to the DIN when it’s connected to a “computer” (or in this case, TV). So I end up having to power it thru the wall. Instead of having one elegant USB cable, it’s one power brick, one USB cable and a DIN cable. ![]()
This was already known. Its unfortunate