Need help with my set-up

Elektron Gear
1

Hello,

First of all i’ll say that I only started using Elektron gear about 3 months ago with the MD MK2+. Recently i’ve bought the Analog Key’s and i have a Vermona DRM1 MK3 witch i sequence with my MD.

Now i’m having a very hard time making my set-up work with the addition of my Analog key’s and i can’t seem to get it right using the manuals.

Basically what i’m trying to do is this (should be fairly easy tbh):

Use my MD to controll the “stop & play” of my AK’s sequencer + sync them with the midi clock of my MD. I also want to use 8 midi tracks on my MD for my Vermona DRM1. I’m using a “quadra thru” midi splitter to be able to do both.
http://www.midisolutions.com/prodqth.htm

Could someone PLEASE give me a detailed description about how to set this up on my MD aswell as on my AK?

I tried everything I can find in the manual but i’m missing something and i have no clue what’s wrong… Maybe i would like to send my MD output through the AK effect but i’m not about that. (good idea?)

Much thanks in advance!

2

MD send Sync on and Receive off
AK Receive Sync on and send Sync off.

For sequencing your Vermona you probably need to setup your midi channels. Send your sequence on a midi channel the same as your Vermona.

3

For the MIDI connections in your setup, you need only the following:
MD MIDI Out to AK MIDI In
AK MIDI Thru to DRM1 MIDI In

For the use you described, you have no need for the Quadra Thru box.

The settings on the three instruments need careful configuration:

For the MD to provide transport and clock messages (pages 81-82 of the manual):

  • Set GLOBAL > SYNC > CTRL OUT to “On”
  • Set GLOBAL > SYNC > TEMPO OUT to “On”

For simplicity, set the MD’s GLOBAL > CONTROL > BASE CHANNEL to ‘–’ (pages 58 & 59 of the manual).

For the AK to receive transport and clock messages (page 51 of the manual):

  • Activate GLOBAL > MIDI CONFIG > MIDI SYNC > TRANSPORT RECEIVE
  • Activate GLOBAL > MIDI CONFIG > MIDI SYNC > CLOCK RECEIVE

In order to sequence the DRM1’s drum sounds from the MD, you should probably use a single MIDI channel that is not used by the AK in order to avoid conflicts between the two. Each of the DRM1’s eight drum sounds will respond to a different MIDI note.

For each of the 8 tracks that you will be using on the MD you will need to assign a MID machine (pages 17 & 18 of the manual) with the MIDI channel number that you have selected for use in the DRM, and then each of the applicable MD tracks assign the NOTE parameter (page A-12 of the manual) to the note number that you want to use.

The Vermona DRM1 has a slightly awkward method for assigning the MIDI channels and note numbers to which it responds. Are you comfortable with the method as described in the DRM1’s manual?

Try this out and let us know how you get on.

The audio routing is a separate issue that we can deal with later on.

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4

Hey thanks alot for all the details! I will check all of this when I get home.

I probably forgot to mention that sequencing the Vermona is not the problem, that worked instantly :slight_smile:

I will post later if I got it working.

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5

yea it’s what i thought… I did set my AK correctly but i totally forgot those sync settings on my MD yesterday. Works like a charm now and I played a few hours not stop :wink: Thanks alot mate. Cheers!

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6

Hmm to pick this up again.

Seems for my live-set that i do want analog key’s to change pattern simultaneously with the Machinedrum… Isn’t that supposed to be “program change”?

My machinedrum has “program change - out” -> ON
Analog key’s has “program change - in” -> ON
but my AK keeps the same pattern when i switch on my machinedrum.

Do I have to set anything else? Cause i have no idea what else could affect this…

Thx in advance!

7

Program Change messages are sent and received on a specific MIDI channel.

You need to ensure that the channel set in the MD’s GLOBAL > CONTROL > PRG CHANGE menu matches that set for PROGRAM CHANGE IN CHANNEL in the AK’s GLOBAL > MIDI CONFIG > MIDI CHANNELS menu. Preferably use a channel number that is not used for anything else in your setup.

8

Ok i’ll try experimenting with that. So for instance, my machinedrum uses midi 8-16 (and track 8-16) to sequence my Vermona so it can just be midi 7 for both my MD and AK?

9

That’s a good candidate to try first.

10

Ok thanks alot! So when I do this the AK is supposed to switch to the same pattern as the MD once the current MD pattern ends right?

11

Yes. Try it and let us know what happens.

13

Worked perfectly! Thanks alot again PeterHanes!

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14

About the MIDI channels thing : I use only AUTO MIDI channel to play my A4 from the keyboard. All other MIDI channels are deactivated. You might keep this in mind the day you wish to save MIDI channels :slight_smile:

15

Thanks for the tip, but i didn’t encounter anything strange for now and i played all night :slight_smile:

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