Just a little appreciation for this forum and Elektron

Elektron Gear
#1

…after spending last few months here and reading every post on elektron gear,
I ended up buying the “Holy” trinity. :slight_smile:

And I must say that it exceeded my expectations in every aspect.
This is by far most complex and inspiring gear that I could ever imagined.

I have them for a week now, and I can feel it is a beginning of a new journey deep exploration, and loosing touch with outside reality.

So, thank you for that, I guess :slight_smile:

ok, enough with a praise and glory.

I would like to hear your tips and techniques for making live set with these devices.
I am running OT as a master and mixer,
T1 and T5 as a thru tracks for AR and A4.
T2 and T6 are for recording realtime loops of AR and A4, for a transition trick.
T3, T4 and T7 are for loops…
and T8 as a master.

I am still exploring the effects, but mostly using filter and reverb.
Do you have any special combinations for this setup.

this is my first test with the devices:

Cheers,
Tom

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#2

If you do that after 1 week, not sure you need advices ! :slight_smile:
@JuanSOLO seems to have a similar setup…

What were you using before ?
Welcome BTW !

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#3

Thanks @sezare56, I really appreciate this :slight_smile:
for the last two years I was struggling with Ableton and Roland Aira combo, but it was very limited, and almost always out of sync.

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#4

I really like stacking tracks/FX

Kind of like this.
Trk 1 Thru, LoFi - Comb
Trk 2 Neighbor, Flange - Delay (locked, no tape, synced)
Trk 3 Neighbor, Filter - Delay (unlocked, tape, not synced)
Trk 4 Neighbor, DJ EQ - DarkVerb

I usually have Trk 5/6 doing something similar, just simpler for the A4
Sometimes only Trk5

Then I make a bunch of Scenes.
I pretty much use this on every project.

Not much into live sampling yet.

Yeah the trinity is aces

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#5

Thanks @JuanSOLO,
I will try your combo with stacking FX, but it is still overwhelming for a start.
How do you remember your scenes?
I am thinking about labelling it on a sticker tape :slight_smile:

and how do you organise patterns and kits across devices?

#6

Muscle memory.
Like I said, been using that set up for a long while now.
I stuck with and idea so I could memorize it, and it worked out.
For example:
Scene 1 is always blank.
Scene 2 - 4 are delay combos for the A4
Scene 13-16 are delay combos for the RYTM
Scenes 5-9 & 10-13 are generally doing the same kind of comb filtering, tremolos and fade to grey type of FX but they get tuned and tweaked specifically to each song.

I like keeping things hella organised.
Each box shares the same project names, kit names etc.
OT drives the other 2 using ProgChanges.
One song per bank if possible, I rarely use parts.

If you just got all the machines at once, I would recommend using each one separately for at least a month. Build a few tracks, and experiment with each one, then bring them back together.
Doing that helped me a lot at first.
I almost always keep them together these days, but at first things were kind of overwhelming.

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Live Techno on the grey trinity
#7

That was my initial plan, to learn each one separately, but when I got them, I connected them together, The trinity was initialised and now there is no separation possible :slight_smile:

yes, organisation is the key. and naming kits and projects.

I gave a personal note to myself, to fill every performance knob and scene for every kit.

but today, I stumbled to first challenge with this daw-less setup, how to record live performances?
before it was easy, with a computer, but now, I will need some kind of portable recorder, or connect to a computer again.
I recorded this set with a OT resampling of a master track, but it is very limiting.

as I can see this, best solution would be to get a Analog Heat, use it as a audio device and record back to Ableton.

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#8

Recording back to a DAW is a good idea.

The Trinity is great for live performing as well as for constructing beats and tracks on the fly in the studio. The OT is a great performance sampler, it can be used as a kind of mixing device, but a real desk or DAW with a good audio interface can do a much better job for mixing, mastering, procuding.

BTW love your track :+1:

2 Likes
#9

Yeah, so my only comment here is on the track as well, love the vibe and the atmosphere, it builds up nicely without disappointing.

But you know this already, it’s too confident both in the performance and the composition itself for you to not be aware that you’re good at this. I think that’s a good thing, I hope you stick around and show us more of your work.

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#10

“The trinity was initialised”

There’s definitely no going back from that!! :joy:

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#11

…warm welcome to the elektron cake…nice track…
keep in mind, the ot as a master clock means always to have no pre fixed tempos for all the different tacks u gonna start to produce and will like to recall live on stage…
so slaving the ot with something like a digitakt might be a good idea, since the rytm and a4 also have only one overall master tempo to deliver in realtime…
so one machine that is capable of remembering tempo information per pattern will be on ur list pretty soon, i guess…or u start to dive into ot’s arranger…only there u can pre fix temposettings per pattern…

time is on ur side, if it comes to catching a perfomance in single stems…ob will come up this year with new options to do so…any ot support won’t happen…
and an analog heat is a must anyway…with it’s interface option u can at least record the the stereo sum…while giving all ur signal flow a nice warmth and silky crunch upgrade…and a computer will come back into ur life sooner or later, anyway…

i’m loosing overview pretty soon, if i don’t cut down all this jungle of options and focus on some of them only, at least in front of an audience…
and the most impressive audio action lives within the ot…no matter how creamy rytm and a4 do their job…so my live rig contains these days an analog heat and an ot ONLY…

focus on the single machines, is a good tip…even if u can’t imagine that by now…
at least the ot can only reach it’s full potential if u spent some time with it exclusively…no matter how experienced u are already…

3 Likes
#12

Thanks @SoundRider
I am aware that I will eventually have to come back to Ableton,
but for the moment I will enjoy playing live with my new toys. :slight_smile:

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#13

@andreasroman, thank you for this, you have a beer from me if we ever meet in person.

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#14

Hello. I would say don"t stick too much with an OT as a Hub or Looper for Transitions…
Edit : I would mean not only as…

Why ? Because, if you stick with the trinity you will miss the opportunity to add big movement and groove capabilities only the OT can gives to your track… So I would put the OT in center of your RIG setup instead of on top like a laptop, mixer etc… like if it was to visualize things or control levels.

It’s too much of a diamond gems in a Live Performance setup to not be the brain of it.

And as @JuanSOLO said
"I would recommend using each one separately for at least a month. "

Clearly agree and I would focus on the OT as the AR and the A4 are already found their place in your mind and your setup… Experiment with the OT and you will probably find you can really use it for the BEST in the track progression… It’s capable of long evolving sequence and morphing stems, trust me it’s invaluable in a track ! Don’t miss it unless you want to stick with really minimal and percussive track only.

EDIT :
Oh and there’s no judgement or something like that.
Just a recommandation, like an open your mind advice

Have FUN @RandomNoise

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#15

thanks @reeloy
I thought OT can save bpm in the pattern :open_mouth:
anyway, it’s not a big deal, cause I want to manually experiment with bpm in realtime.

and I really can’t understand how to make audio with ot :frowning:
because I don’t want to use somebody else’s samples,
the only thing that comes to my mind is to resample

#16

@William_WiLD you are right.
I have read so many things about ot, and I still dont get it.
because I dont want just to use stock loops.
every time I try to do something with ot, I ended up reading manual and loosing my patience.
and, damn, rytm and a4 are so easy compared to the OT

I would really appreciate some inspirational advice regarding ot performance

thanks!

#17

Practice, read the manual, practice, read the manual…:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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#18

Again, I would use it alone for a while, make a few different tracks using different techniques.
My biggest struggle with the OT was always having to resource some reading material just to remember what a simple key combo did. Working with it exclusively will trim a lot of that fat with muscle memory.
Dont just set up a bunch of tracks for loop recording, set up 1, maybe two, and abuse them, make songs with them, tweak them.
Same with scenes. Pick a drum loop, a bassline, and a melody.
Stack tracks, make tons of scenes, make your own “delay control” mode in scenes instead of the delay control mode, set a bunch of scenes to different pitched combs or delays, build transition effects, etc etc.
Try the Scene technique as described in Merlins Guide.

Those few things will kick the door open for performance with the OT.

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#19

Manual indeed, but let’s not forget @Merlin’s “Thoughts on OT” that really helped me find my way in the jungle of possibilities offered by OT features…

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#20

The OT is best when you ignore preset loops and sounds and start getting into resampling your other two boxes. Think your A4 sounds insane with 4 voice layers going on used for a single bass sound with fx? Resample that and free the A4 up for more ideas! Once it is in the OT there are so many avenues to explore in terms of fx processing, slicing, and transposition that things can get weird pretty fast. I mostly use my OT for thick layered sounds and beats that I want to have a lot of cool random but musical variation in.

As for your live setup, I am doing almost the same exact thing in terms of channel assignment and functions, so you are well on your way in that department. Killer jam!

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