Machinedrum sample banks

Elektron Gear Machinedrum
#1

Hi Guys !

I own a machinedrum UW+ MK2 since 1 year and half ago and I recently bought the analog keys…

I find the way of managing samples in the machinedrum a bit crazy…or maybe I’ve been wrong for long time

I just would like to have all my samples in one place, not only 48 samples per place…

every time I want a sample from a different sample bank I have to switch between sample banks losing all the other samples

It’s like I have to chose the “best” 48 samples I’m planning to use for my session…

why not having all of them in one place and just pick up the samples you want ?

The analog keys actually works in this way…so I have all my samples in one place…I pick the one I like and that’s it…

Please…tell me I’m wrong

#2

well your wrong :slight_smile:

on the following: the analogkeys stores its patches in a big pool, which you can import in your project, so you can use them in a kit. but no samples used whatsoever. a patch is nothing more then the settings of your synth-engine…

but yeah, you are right about the machinedrum. You can have many banks, and store them in your +drive. but you can only have 1 bank active at a time. so you have 48 samples to use and abuse, and that’s it.

you can however swap sample-banks while the sequencer is running.
so program a pattern that doesn’t use the sample-slots in any way or form. and swap banks while that pattern is running…

I do believe you can copy and paste sounds from 1 bank to another.
as in… load a bank… copy a sample. load another bank. past the sample in empty slot. save the bank. open another bank for another sample. copy it. load the target bank again. paste sample… save bank. rinse and repeat.

and no. in reality I never swap banks during a set. so I just pick 48sounds I like, make them fit in my machinedrum. and do my thing with it.

protip: if you like tinkering. you can fit multiple sounds in 1 sample and upload that “sample chain” to your machinedrum. use start and end parameter to “choose the correct sound out of the chain” its fidly, its allot of work, but… its a way to get more…
if you really want to be master of this: you got 2.5mb memory for your bank. so 2.5mb / 48 slots = about 40k per sample… forgot how many seconds that was in 16bit mono files… but I bet its not more then 2 maybe 3seconds per sample.

2 Likes
#3

Thank you !!

You’ve been very clear and thank you for the tip :wink:

so I have the last question…

Do all the other Elektron’s machines manage samples in this way ?

In particular the octatrack … or the analog rhythm ?

Cose I really don’t like this limitation

#4

so I have the last question…

Do all the other Elektron’s machines manage samples in this way ?

In particular the octatrack … or the analog rhythm ?

Cose I really don’t like this limitation

The octatrack is slightly difrent:
you can have a pool of samples in your project. (which is a folder on your cf-card) within this folder, you can have many sets. that can see all the samples in your set. but not all the samples on your cf-card. I think you actually need a computer or something to move samples from project to project. but not sure… In reality, I just started working on my octatrack figuring out how I wanna use it: per set, you can put samples in 2 types of slotlists: a flexlist (stores samples in the 80mb memory) or staticlist (which streams from card) … each of these lists can store 124 samples if I am not mistaken. its less of a pain then machinedrum. cause in reality:
you start a project. fill the project with useable samples. and then pick the samples you want to use this time in your current set, by putting them in either static or flex-slots. .
the beauty of this: you don’t have to use c6 or something to upload. you just copy them on your card… not big hassle.

on the rhythm (and this is from memory, I don’t have one) I think you can store shitloads of samples in the +drive, in some pool. and then kinda like a4 select some samples from pool (I think 124) and then use them in your rhythm patches and kits… but just not that sure about it…
downside… you do need to upload them with c6… for some it works great/flawless/speedy… but I also read that some chap got frustrated,cause this uploading process took days on his computer (he wanted to massupload his whole collection or something)

monomachine for that matter… kinda like machinedrum. you can convert wavs to special format within c6 and then upload it to your monomachine via c6. and after that be stuck with those single-cycle banks and all that… (not 100% sure, my monomachine doesn’t have +drive… so I am stuck with whats in it until I replace it (thus breaking all patterns)

Hope that helps…

(fellow elektronauts, I don’t have a4 or rhythm, so please help out and say when I was wrong about something)

#5

Thank you man, very clear…

from what you say I understand that the analog rhythm is more or less like analog keys about sampling management.

#6

as far as I know (manual knowledge, not real live tested knowledge)

Yes, on the rhythm you will have this pool of samples, similar to the pool of patches on the a4… u might even get 2 pools on the rhythm.
one pool of samples, and one pool of patches… but I am not sure on that/never tested it with my own fingers…

I did however check the manual for ya… and on page 7, it states that there is a sound pool and a sample bank on the +drive (so its separate) and in your can have 128 sounds and 127 samples loaded within a project.

so that makes me wonder, what happens if you save a sound in the pool, and recall it later… will it also load the correct sample yes or no… logic says: it will go wrong… I bet it will just load your sound, and use whatever sample is loaded in the slot its referring to… (based on other machines, they don’t do that much error-checking/fixing)

you should ask somebody who has one… they might have a realistic view on what happens in what scenario…

oh, and in case you wonder… yes, sound-management/filemanagement and hardware are always a problem-child… in most cases a computer is far out the most easy in datamanagment, and will always outperform a dedicated hardware machine. that’s why the +drive on elektron machines is so nice… keep many projects in 1 machine… easier to backup/restore… technically speaking… if I walk out the door with my machines, I can have multiple sets stored within them… just pick the correct set for the day… do it… and walk away from the stage… instead of restoring multiple backups for multiple machines via midi/sysex

#7

dude, this is one of the most helpful things i’ve read on here about MD bank management. i’m gonna mess around with the math on your equation (2.5mb / 48 slots = 40k per sample) and see what i come up with. i’ve always felt frustrated by “lack of space” within sample banks, but i think this also definitely reflects a lack of creativity on my part. there is always another way :slight_smile: i love the machinedrum quirks and all, i think my main problem is that i’m drawn to using pad samples that eat up a lot of space!

#8

Glad i could help with such an old post :smiley: Enjoy