Note to self: rytm is a great drum machine

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#1

I keep getting caught up with the fact I gravitate towards the DT for jamming even tho I have rytm mk2.
I find the rytm sounds quite muddy, lacks some kinda high end sheen. This means that samples can sound quite dirty and not always in a good way.

I honestly think I prefer the digitakt filter too in many cases. And the second filter is amazing for mixing out muddy lowends.

When I wanna have fun I wanna use DT. It feels bad to leave what feels like the big brother to the side though…

Rytm however is a great drum machine with insane performance ability.

Keeping rytm on drums / one shots seems to be the way forward. Leave the longer samples and tonal stuff to a dedicated synth / DAW.
Making full tracks on rytm is possible but not so much for the type of music I make.

Even though I dont use it as much as I should - something is making me keep it.

Not sure what this post is about but wanted to share in case anyone else experiences these waves of “to sell or keep or use or shelve” times :smiley:

Thanks!

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#2

I was torn when i had the AR and the DT as well. Too much overlap for my taste. Sold the DT (still hurts) last week; knowing i can get a new one easily. Less is more :smiley:

but for real though; the second LFO update cant come soon enough !

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#3

I exchanged my beloved DT for an AR as well, and it took me a while to love it, but now I’m very much convinced that the AR is my favorite elektron box.

The AR has a darker, warmer sound, while the DT indeed has a high-end sheen to it’s sound. The AR sound is not for everyone, but for hiphop it’s amazing.

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#4

You can use AR’s song mode to drive the DT so in that sense they compliment each other very well. I don’t feel any guilt in using both.

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#5

I have the same feelings as some here. Sold my DT to get a Rytm MKII. Miss the DT for the size and super immediate work flow. It’s silly but the “control all” is something that almost sways me back to the DT. I need to embrace the Rytm more. I use it in my band, alongside my real drums so the pads and performance features are greatly appreciated.

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#6

Why force yourself to use something you don’t prefer when you have something that does what you want?

The performance features are cool for sure but if you don’t need them, why force yourself?

I prefer the AR over the DT because it has pads and I don’t care for the small form factor devices. If you don’t, don’t feel like you have to. Either spend some time with AR and get to know it or let it go.

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#7

Do you change scenes and do perf FX with sticks? :smiley:

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#8

Not yet, but I have thought about an external midi drum pad to control the Rytm. Could get wild.

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#9

RYTM is the one piece of gear I don’t want to make tracks without. It is my go to drum machine for laying a foundation for a track. I always feel creative with it. Luv you rytm :kissing_heart:

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#10

Took a while for me to get used to the RYTM. Since I figured out how to do proper gain staiging I absolutly love it. Makes a huge difference in sound quality imho.
Also, every drum sample played trough RYTM just sounds so much better to my ears.

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#11

Got some tips? Nice !

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#12

Any tips on aforementioned gainstaging?

I just got one and am on the fence about it and want to explore it before deciding whether to let it go or not:)

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#13

One thing I can advice you about the Rytm is to invest some time into getting to know it before deciding to keep it or not.

The AR is not a machine which you ‘get’ after using it for a few days. It took me about 3 months of almost daily use as the centerpiece of my setup to really appreciate it for what it is. This type of investment might be less normal in this age of instant gratification and great grooveboxes with a very small learning curve (like the DT, sp404, circuit etc). To me it was more than worth it to really learn the AR though. The best features to me are the amazing sound, synth/sample layering, great sequencer, great performance features, and great sound shaping possibilities.

As for gain staging: the synth/sample level, combined with the overdrive setting determine how hard you drive the filter. I’ve started to set the sample level to 70 to start out with, as I found the standard setting of 100 is already driving the filter a bit. You can use amp/track level to boost the signal after the filter.

Very curious to hear other’s tips on gain staging!

10 Likes
#14

yes you cant say this and not explain yourself, what do you think is ‘proper gainstaging’? would love to hear your workflow/opinion

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#15

Basically I try to keep every level of each stage at least below 80. Especially the level of the SRC page makes a huge difference. You can clearly hear that when you record a sound at different levels into your DAW and match the volumes afterwards.
When a signal gets to hot at any point of the internal signal path it tends to sound a bit dull and muddy.
To compensate for the overall volume loss I like to use the make-up gain of the compressor with threshhold set to 0 (=120).

By way of that the RYTM sounds crispy but still keeps a warm analogue touch, at least to my ears :wink:

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#16

I also had both machines and the rytm stayed. here you should also note that the rytm is an analogue box with its own raw sounds, which is awesome. and if you use digitakt with samples, then it is clear that they sound completely different because they have already been treated. but if you edit the raw sounds of the rytm according to your own taste on the mixer with eq and effects, you have endless creativity and the great thing is that you can control everything via cc. i personally find that exactly what is appealing about analog devices with their own raw sounds, to be able to design my track from scratch, without any finished samples. but what i’m still considering is maybe someday using the digitakt to edit the finished designed sounds from rytm in the digitakt again. so for me the rytm is one of the best tools i have here - you can let your creativity run free - it’s amazing what elektron has created here. hopefully they make more pure analog boxes. a polysynth with eight voices, two alla oberheim and moog filters and maybe a digital alla PPG - of course multimode filters would be the killer. plus four fast lfos and decent OSCs with e.g. sinus and with crossmodulation, ring modulator and multitimbrality as well as separate effects. and loopable envelopes.

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#17

I do agree ofcourse that the rytm has way more possibilities since its a synth at heart.

what do you guys think are the music genres the analog machines of the rytm shine in?
i sometimes feel its heaven for techno, but more difficult for other styles…

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#18

I see it in a lot of genres. It can go 909ish and 808ish, that covers basically anything produced today. To that it can go subtle and more aggressive. It’s really versatile

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#19

I had the same feeling a year ago. I was tempting to sell it a few times, but luckily I didn’t.
That feeling changed recently, after a deep exploring of every function-parameter. Took me almost 2 years (almost every day an hour minimum) to understand and master the RYTM to my workflow.

But that’s love, isn’t? It takes years of reciprocal understanding, communication and respect to achieve a good relationship.

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#20

I tried this technique today and the rytm sounds much better now. It sounds indeed not that muddy/ dull anymore when the src/ sample page volume is below 80… Thank you!

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