After a merry-go-round of Elektron gear I’m back to a very useable combo of;
MM
MD (non UW)
Mackie VLZ4 802
Strymon Blue Sky
Strymon El Capistan
I slimmed down because I like simplicity and I’m also travelling to China to work later this year, so it can all go in a Peli and it’s tunes-a-go-go.
Creative limitations … one of my favorite perennial topics in music 
Always enlightening to read about others’ journeys, not least because it helps me clarify the murk that swirls in my mind as I search for that ever-elusive beast, the ideal setup. He’s probably playing cards with the Yeti and Bigfoot somewhere.
Among the few things I know for certain is that there’s an incredible amount of kit options out there, and days & cash are in short supply. For me to even give something new a tryout:
[ul]
[li]It needs to be useful both in the studio and at the gig. Portable, great sounding, highly tweakable and instantly reconfigurable.[/li]
[li]It needs to be deep enough that I won’t mind spending the time needed to master it. Results out must justify effort in.[/li]
[li]A corollary of the previous: It needs to keep growing with me. I don’t want to feel I have to learn a whole new instrument or workflow yet again every damn time I get antsy.[/li]
[li]It needs to work in a club setting for listeners who don’t care what I’m doing. If it can’t compete with a DJ set, I better have no doubt the shortcomings are mine, not my gear’s.[/li]
[/ul]
Current solution: three Elektrons. There are sounds I can’t create directly with them, but they offer me power and flexibility while allowing me to feel connected to music creation in a way that software hasn’t.
So people think 3 Elektron boxes are too much? I got the AR last year and I have learned it inside out. Since then, I bought an A4 about 4 months afterwards and last month I purchased an Ocktatrack.
I see great capabilities and usefulness in all 3 machines. Since adding the Octatrack, my setup has become more complex I feel an overwhelming sensation at times, but I also feel wonder and amazement at all the possibilities now available to me. The Octatrack really brings the A4/AR together in a live setting, it truly is a performance beast.
I focused on the Octatrack these past two weeks, and now that I understand the basics of it, I have brought the Rytm and A4 back into my setup and use them as the base of my tracks/composition. Then I edit/mangle/perform the tracks alongside the Octatrack which samples from either box and allows me to seamlessly transition from pattern to pattern/track to track.
I feel like I need to learn the A4 more well than I do now. I feel that it is my weakest link at the moment. I really delved into tutorials/videos for the Octatrack and concentrated on learning it, the Rytm I picked up naturally. The A4 has deep synthesis capabilities which seem to evade me at the moment. However, I don’t see myself selling any of my Elektron boxes, and when I watch videos of the Machinedrum/MnM, my gear lust rages!!
Two’s great for most people.
Three is optimum for many people (myself included).
I wouldn’t want to add a fourth until I get bored with the three I have, which is not likely to happen.
I feel like I need to learn the A4 more well than I do now. I feel that it is my weakest link at the moment.
I’m with you on that. Of the 3 I have, the A4 is the one I am weakest with, but I’m working toward changing that. Using the CV track to trigger Nord Drum really opened up the voices for me and now I don’t feel so limited which has changed how I approach it. The last two things I’ve written with A4 have definitely been my favorite, and I am just forcing myself to put more time into it while the others standby.
Nice thread!
I’m on a similar page as you^ guys.
I’ve had the OT the longest out of the darkTrinity.
Sold my Tempest right when the AR came out.
Finally got an A4 a few months back after going through various budget poly’s.
The A4 is my weakest right now too.
Partly because it’s newer, but also I feel like it’s the one electron box that feels a little more menu divy than the others. It’s easy to play with, but sculting new sounds definitely feels slower than the other two.
Part of me toys with the idea of getting a knobby controller, like a drehbank or something to get more immediacy. However, I keep fighting that one off just so I will force myself to use it as is, and get faster over time.
I should probably just focus solely on the A4 for a while.
I did that with all my other stuff, especially the OT, and now I know that box really well.
Since completing the trinity, it’s made me put my other gear in the back seat for a while to try and stay more focused.
Ascetically the trinity is amazing to look at as well, another reason to focus on just those 3.
I dont think I would sell the other gear I have, but the dark trinity has definitely made me consider where my rig may go in the future.
I’m definitely on this page of using only the trinity for performing, and maybe even diving into some modular stuff at home, and of course sampling all the other gear for live gigs.
Sorry to just ramble on, I broke my foot yesterday skateboarding, and I’m heavily medicated.
As someone who buys a lot of records and has regretted selling some discs along the way, I was thinking about getting a big cupboard rather than selling gear. Out of sight, out of mind & all that…
Im completely with you : I like the A4, but I wish it had a knob per function interface. It would make it so more intuitive and fun to use. Maybe one day Elektron will provide an hardware controller for the A4 full of knobs
Part of me toys with the idea of getting a knobby controller, like a drehbank >or something to get more immediacy. However, I keep fighting that one off >just so I will force myself to use it as is, and get faster over time.
there was a time i was collecting (and using) a lot of gear.
first everything was quite normal. always had a keyboard, some guitars and a few pedals. when i bought my first computer for homerecording things went crazy pretty soon, because i thought i need everything, not only the recording stuff, but also
all kinds of instruments from all over the world.
the electronic stuff got really big one day. sometimes it was like sport to operate all that machines. lots of jumping around and stretching to reach all that buttons and knobs.
and cables everywhere.
to be honest, totally loved it.
everything changed when i wanted to add a sequencer for my dot.com modular. instead of that big moog style monster i bought the octatrack (there was that schools out offer, so I thought i´ll give it a try)
i completley lost interest in my daw first.
then i realized i like to have everything smaller.
I sold most of my electronic stuff.
my main setup at the moment:
octatrack, slim phatty, eventide space, an old akai s612, mic, guitar, …
i often change the eventide with a strymon timeline, or an oto biscuit,
but the space is the most useful for me.
i´ve still got some other gear but i have it in a seperate place, and i totally
love it to use only a few machines at the moment.
i know the other black elektron boxes are great instruments, but somehow i´m not interested in buying them. i´ll add some other small boxes instead (blofeld, nord drum, pitchfactor, maybe a microkorg…)
It’s weird being completely satisfied with the gear I have. The dark trinity serves every purpose I could ever need.
And I’m more productive when I work with just one box. Id say I’m somewhat proficient at engineering patterns and songs on all the machines. My weakness is the inability to get a solid mix out of my boxes. Either the bass and low end are distorted, or just not there sometimes. But I’m working on that though and am looking forward to OB.
A4’s Performance mode isn’t knobby enough?
The Faderfox PC 4 is pretty brilliant if you want more pots for your A4 or RYTM. I use mine to tweak performance macros on both.
i like the video.
and yes, I am also more productive with less tools
the AR and A4 feel like 1 thing, when they are used together.
I was inspired by this live set:
tried to make new kind of music, now i have the feeling that I don’t understand anything of my A4.
being a psychologist, this is one way I look at it.
I think for me, buying more equipment also had something to do with external attribution
the moment I had problems with making music, I thought… it is because of something else, like ‘it is because I don’t have elastic audio’, or like ‘it is because i have a lack of controllers I can immediately touch without any kind of menu diving’, or ‘I need a mixer’.
I think I’ll always have to deal with GAS - probably the closest I’ll come to understanding an alchy or junkie!
But, I’m pretty satisfied with my Trinity. I’ve added a Tempest to things which I thought I had made a mistake with but as I’m learning it I’m finding that it may be an extremely handy tool to have around.
My Elektrons are kind of permanently fixed into my studio but my Tempest I can move about pretty easily. Quite enjoying learning more hands on synthesis (the flow of sound building seems more natural than, say, the AK) and I’m enjoying building grooves or synth patterns.
I still lust after things like the Futursonus Parva but I should really reign it in and make Omnisphere 2 my last big purchase for a while. My gear plus Omnisphere would basically cover my bases for years if it wasn’t for that pesky GAS issue…
Further perspectives on GAS.
Suggesting that it might well be the “wanting” that we want, rather than the “getting”.
http://kilobycenter.com/new_study_addicted_to_seeking
“An assumption that often underlies addictive seeking is that the dopamine or pleasurable “hit” is connected directly to the attainment of the goal – for example, scoring drugs, finding just the right pornographic image, hitting a jackpot at the casino, eating the best donut in the bakery, purchasing the nicest clothes, obtaining the best job, making a certain amount of money, finding our true self or becoming enlightened. But if we are getting our hit from the act of seeking, does it truly matter what our goal is? We could be addicted to anything – as long as the seeking for it is continuously giving us the hit.”
It’s definitely the “wanting” rather than “getting” with me. Within a week of getting the Tempest I am back on Gearslutz looking at shit and checking Ebay listings. It aint healthy!
Think I should get free of Gearslutz for a while!!! Would be a hell of a lot more productive for it.
can it be interesting to set up a ‘synth library’?
If you are interested in this, where you can have 1 synth at home, at a time.
how much money will you pay for this per month?
I think it can also be interesting to test equipment very well before buying.
A4’s Performance mode isn’t knobby enough?[/quote]
The A4s Performance is really nice because it lets you interact with serveral tracks simultaenously. But when it comes to design a single sound, to me there is nothing like a one knob per function interface (like the nordlead). It lets you developp a kind of particular “relationship” with the instrument that no menu driven interface can match.
That said, the A4 UI is perfect to design pattern.
GREAT THREAD
OT & Rytm really working for me right now
Your setups was the biggest thread for a reason!
It’s really important to alternate gear - it’s part of the GAS antidote for me. So now my other gear (Virus, Avalon, Evolver, Tetra, VolcaFM) is there to feed the OT & Rytm. I have other gear too, but put away in a cupboard. Sometimes these come out to visit the desk and provide some sounds to the OT & Rytm.
THIS 100%
That’s how it is for me with GAS. As soon as I’ve obtained something - however much I’ve wanted to get my hands on it - I almost immediately drop it and look for the next thing. I’m making myself only research gear I already have for now which is helping!
Hé, that is weird, this is my account