MnM soon arriving. Any tips?

Elektron Gear Monomachine
#3

Loose:

  • No CV sequencing
  • No Din Sync (e.g. for older Roland gear)
  • No microtiming on the sequencer
  • No individual track lengths on a pattern
  • No supervoid reverb

Gain:

  • Six individual midi tracks with each 3 free CC assignable LFOs = 18 LFOs…
  • Six individual outputs
  • Six different digital synthesis engine machines: Superwave, Digipro, FM, VO, SID
  • Digipro machine can load user customized waveforms (based on single cycle samples)
  • much bigger display!

I have both Mnm and A4 plus MD mk2 (non UW). :wink: I dont want to miss the good stuff.

#4

…well said, esp. these three points.

i don’t know the a4, use my mnm for midi or mess with the other outputs, so i dunno how useful what i say will be :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: but in case it helps:

stacking tracks together has netted me many of my favorite results. i’ve gotten great sounds out of single tracks as well, but stacking has often been the key to overcoming the “thin sound” new users have frequently found frustrating. a useful part of stacking is the bus system, which allows you to get way more creative with the effects machines. it’s not as vast as a daw’s bus system of course but (like many things elektron) it’s often enough to get you there with some creative thinking.

personally i found an enlightening introduction to stacking in the soundpack that elektron hq released in june 2013. lots of the patterns and kits are set up in ways that take advantage of the possibilities.

worth mentioning: the mnm matured during the elektron-users forum era. its search engine still works, so once you’ve absorbed the manual & tarekith’s doc, i’d head over there, raid the files section and read through old threads, it’s a gold mine.

#5

Mihajlo,

I am a MnM soloist - check this out:

http://music.rvalkov.eu/

I am the happiest man in the world with the MnM - it is horribly underestimated now (I don’t know why). It requires hard work to get the most out of it according to your personal tastes. This is my experience - I am not gonna get any other piece of gear soon. Hope my stuff would inspire you a bit about your purchase.

#6

you can assign note tracking to anything. you might want to turn it off for the filters tho.

#7

i may have few reasons why the MnM is not as popular as it should be

  • old machine
  • steep learning curve: too much time needed to get a hit track in ten minutes
  • people can’t be bothered having to learn so many things when you can do everything with just one click … :thinking:
    i say: bring back the sfx6!!! :smiley: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

edit: mmmm…suppose you’ve an empty AK enclosure and you stuff it with the MM hardware … :smiley:

#8

Regarding sequencing workflow… is it similiar like an A4??
And how much will my knowledge of A4 help me with understanding MnM??
What are the similarities??

#9

if you already have an A4 then it won’t be a problem :slight_smile:
all Elektron’s machines have the same workflow, with differences which are more related to the machine itself rather than the workflow

#10

Rady,

I’ve been really impressed with your demos – really great work! Keep it up, we’re listening and enjoying!

@Mihalo - yes, I think the MnM is a deeper instrument than the A4. If I had to choose one, the A4 would go and the MnM would stay, from the perspective of “what can I do with one box alone”.

#11

Oh thank god. Words of comfort. :slight_smile:

Yeah rady, tracks are awesome… too “agressive/glitchy” for my taste, but it really shows what MM can do.

If machines are what ill have to “study” as a new concept, then it will be ok. Sequencer is my biggest issue. I dont wanna loose that “flow” i had with A4.

Also, really liking melodic demos of MM i see on youtube.
If any of you guys makes more Berlin School style music with it… id like to hear that.

What do you think about outputs?? any noises? clean sound?? i guess if there was any, it changed after MK2 was released, like with MD i also had.

#12

If you’re into Berlin School stuff, the arps will be your best friend, especially the SID setting with some chords. The “sequencer within a sequencer” is also really useful for getting notes to fit where you’d like without microtiming.

#13

All of the technical difference have been listed already, and can be found on the Elektron website.

The real difference is that the MNM can produce sounds that sound extremely alien. It can also do a pretty good imitation of analogue synths, but it’s real uniqueness lies in its ability to make sounds that DON"T sound like classic vintage gear!

A4 is a great synth, but it’s always going to sound like an analogue synth (warm and slippery). The MNM will dazzle you with sonic surprises, especially once you’ve gotten grips on what it can do (more or less). I’ve had my MNM for a little more than a year and use it a lot, and I still learn new stuff that makes me go “I didn’t know it could do that!” Never ending joy.

The MNM has the User Waveform capability, which means you can load single cycle waveforms (there are thousands available for free download), and that means your MNM can have the tonal quality of the object the wave form was sampled from (i.e. Piano, guitar, horn, other synths, etc). So the MNM really has a slew of synth engines in it, but can also sort of clone other instruments. Plus, you can do psuedo wavetable sweeps using the User Waveform machines (LFO assigned to sweep through the waveform selection parameter = wicked) It really is a strange yet powerful feature of the MNM.

I think a lot of new MNM users get frustrated in the beginning due to the work flow (which you already have a grip on with the A4 …same same), and because the machines and sounds of the MNM are so unlike everything else you’ve played with before. It takes some serious dirty work to coax the magic out of the MNM, but for those who like to get their hands dirty, there is lots of magic to be found.

A few of my must know tips:

  1. turn Filter Key Follow OFF (makes the MNM sound MUCH fatter). Weird that the default is ON. Ask how, once you’ve gotten your machine.
  2. layering sounds and using the routing to combine sounds/effects creates the magic.
  3. Many of the parameters in various machines within the MNM change more dramatically with slight tweaks than they do with big sweeping tweaks. One degree of a knob turn can change everything. More than is typical on analogue synths, and especially true with the FM machines in the MNM. Tweak slowly and carefully to find hidden sonic gold.
#14

Good stuff man!

#15

no presets a la A4, but as a woraround, its smart to have some kits dedicated to things like basses, leads, pads, percs so you have personalised starting points for building new patterns.

Also as a modular sequencable fx unit alone, its a justified buy.

#16

As soob as i got A4 i made empty reset, so presets are no problem. Looking forward to SID and FM especially. I got my moogs to accompany and add warmth.
Seems ill have to focus on sound design the most.

Thanks for the help guys!!!

#17

That’s it - MnM is a time-eating monster! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: But you’ll never get disappointed!

#18

and please go ahead and listen to the knife on flac or vinyl, the knife really showcase the monomachine
also a little bit of AE helps or maybe actress

sound ding wise :
always helps to run the mono Into analog effects
I really like the stock mono sound these days and/or going into the a4 with a touch of a4 chorus and reverb
btw, I really really like the monomachine compressor

#19

here’s something i did a while ago . it’s all MM based (SFX-6 :sob: ) with no post processing/external effects. hope you find something interesting

#20

I’ve been meaning to reply to this for a while now.

I got my mnm back in 2007. It was my first real piece of hardware (I had also acquired a monome earlier that year). It really changed things for me since I was so used to mousing about when making music. While it limited my options, it also offered me a completely new palette to work with which made me much more aware of the sounds I was making. It’s been the staple of my music ever since.

Coming from the A4, you’ll have no problem wrapping your head around working with the mnm. As everyone has said, it’s not easy to get the sounds you want right off the bat, but with persistence, you’ll get what you want. I’d cleaning out all the stock patterns/kits though. That’s what I did when I first got mine and it’s really helped me learn in the ins/outs of the mnm.
I highly recommended figuring out a layout for your kits so that you don’t have to think too much when tweaking. Also, be sure to utilize the following to get new/interesting sounds:

  1. Use your LFOs!
  2. Experiment with the different types of trigs.
  3. Play around with swing to give your instruments a more human feel.
  4. I’d stay away from using the effects/routing options until you’ve a firm grasp on creating kits etc.
  5. MIDI up some hardware and/or some VSTs to learn the midi sequencer.
  6. And finally, RTFM…

In any case, just experiment and have fun!

#21

I think AE used the MNM most on Quaristice and Oversteps.
“Silent Shout” by The Knife sounds (mostly) like the Monomachine to me, maybe using song mode and certainly making use of the arps and trig modes. I think they alternated patterns between the Key/ADD and SID arps, which would probably be most fluid in song mode.

The Knife and Machinedrum/Monomachine
#22

Just throwing this out there. I have a MnM mkII+ with plus drive, pl cover and elektron gig bag for $900 or best offer paypal in the US listed in the sales section.