Hello! Long time since I posted here. The German label Modul just uploaded one of my new improvised techno live sets, featuring the Dark Trinity (OT, A4, AR) as well as Volca Keys going through an Eventide Space, TB-303, VT-3 and Bass Station 2. No computer used, only to record. Just wanted to share it here and hear the opinion of you on this forum, many of whom I respect a lot musically.
Thank you very much for listening, and I’d be grateful for any comments or critique!
Thank you very much for listening, Ian! Can you mention a particular spot where you thought the reverb were a bit too much? I want to improve and take all opinions to heart.
Dawid, wow. I haven’t made it through the entire recording yet but this is sounding great so far. The variations keep me interested, as if I can’t step away for fear that I’ll miss something beautiful or even more interesting.
The quality of the music put out by those on Elektronauts is on an entirely different level from anything else I’ve seen on any other music forum.
Yeah, still no dedicated mixer, hah. Just stuff into the Analog Four’s inputs which then goes into the Octatrack’s inputs. Keeps things relatively light and mobile. Yet, I will probably alter my workflow to a real mixer soon. If you have any tips for a portable yet good mixer, please tell me. I’ve been considering this one.
Technically speaking, how do you manage your patterns? Use only one and improvise? Start from blank? Prepare some in advance? Prepare your scenes or improvise them on the go?
I don’t use any patterns at all. (Don’t even know how, haha) Instead I always start from nothing and build up. The trick is to practice a lot to get something good going fast without everyone dying of boredom, while also sounding okay.
OT is master, exactly. Then I daisy-chain MIDI in between all the machines. Elektron boxes are good in that they provide easy connectivity for syncing.
Hey, wouzer. Oh, yes of course! I have lots of saved sounds that I have made myself.
I think of the live act like this: I handcraft a lot of instruments that I bring to the stage. So they are made already, in general I don’t build instruments on stage. But then how I play those instruments, i.e. how I sequence, is all improvised.
If I were to make all the sounds on stage live as well, like from an init patch always, that would take a bit too long and it would hurt the performance.
(Then of course I often live-tweak the shit out of the sounds I made, so in effect I create new sounds on stage as well.)
@Dawid Quick question about getting the levels right with the dark trinity. If you send the AR and A4 to thru tracks in the OT, how do you set your levels on the 3 machines to keep a consistent volume throughout you live?
I’m having trouble getting them right, the Rytm being quite loud by nature (even more so with its compressor) and the A4 rather discreet. I usually try to find a balance with OT compressors + leveling but doing it per track/bank is pretty fastidious…
there had been a lot of discussion about the tru machine. I personally think they destroy the audio quality. you can also use the ‘dir’ in the mixer section. Unfortunately then you don’t have extra fx but the master (if used)… but the sound quality stays cristal clear.
