Hi folks
I need to know whether the Analog Rytm supports time signatures such as 13/8, 23/8 or 52/8.
I have read the manual but it doesn’t seem to expressly say ALL numbers up to 64 are available, it mentions multiples of 16 or 12. And would the workflow be otherwise normal if I set it up to play patterns such as these?
I am considering buying one, but I would need to order it, so I can’t try it for myself first. Hence the question. Sorry if the manual states the answer, I couldn’t find it.
The Elektron instrument’s sequencers do not use the vocabulary of conventional time signatures, but if you set the “step length” of the AR’s pattern to the numerator (or an integer multiple of the numerator) of your desired time signature, you can achieve what you want.
The “total length” parameter is badly named because it really only indicated the number of pattern pages (of up to 16 steps) that the pattern must show.
You can also chain patterns of different lengths to get compound time signatures with high resolution.
For example,
52/8 could be realized as a 52-step pattern with a “time signature” (Elektron’s use of the term) of 1/2X.
OR
52/8 could be realized as a chain of two patterns: one with 64 steps at 1X and a second with 40 steps at 1X. Or using two 52-step patterns. This would give you 1/16-note time resolution for events.
Note that a 52-step pattern cannot be divided into four 13-step pages. The Elektron sequencers just set up pages of 16 steps with the last page having the remainder, so 52 steps would appear in pages of 16, 16, 16, 4.
Thanks for your reply Peter
If I chain together two patterns to get better resolution, is it still straightforward to edit on the fly in live mode, or does it make it more difficult? Essentially, do I lose any functionality compared to playing music in 4/4?
For the record I took the plunge last week and I am very happy with the AR. So far I have only had to use the 64-step simple mode, compensating for relatively short loops with live editing. Amazed at how easy it is to make irregular patterns and mess with them.
I have read that you already solved your problem, but I’d like to add that I already used odd time signature with MD and AR. It is easy to understand and calculate how to campare a tempo like 5/8, 7/8 or 9/8 to a pattern based machine. In the end it’s math: 5/8 means 10/16 or 20/32 or 30/48 etc. As for the 52/8, you have to think how to divide the tempo in terms of 3/8 and 2/8 beats (being a percussionist and a drummer I am speaking oddly to you maybe, but it is the only way it works)
Hi Nano, I’d like to hear what you’ve been doing in irregular times, do you have a link?
I’ve worked a lot with wierd time sigs, but I never used a drum machine before. It was very hard to find clear information about what is and isn’t possible, probably because most musicians don’t really care whether the machine can play in 13/8. I get the impression that most devices stick to common time. Hooray for the AR.
If anybody wants to geek out I wrote an explanation of my approach to extended time signatures here: http://goo.gl/ooH1d0 Let me know if you find it useful!
Thank you for the link, megacrex. Fascinating.
I need some time to digest it bit by bit…lots to chew on.
Sorry, megacrex, I recorded nothing at the moment, but have been working with 5/8, 7/8, 9/8 and 11/8 tempos, just to experiment. As I told you, with a little math it was simple.
Oddly, working with any tempo outside 4/4 seems strange in a drum machine, because all electronic non experimental music is in that tempo.
I’ve been recording in 6/8 tempo (it looks easy) with one of my bands (it is a World Music band) and I made an excel file to easily calculate where the 1st and 4th beat would be.
If you’re into weird, don’t forget to make use of trig conditions !
It’s a great way to break the “pattern based” construction, especially when you add retrigs…
Your tracks are beautiful, I really like what I’m listening right now 
Thank you !
Yes, good suggestions, I need to get my head round that. This week…