Adding attack curve as on Analog 4 isnt 12 pages deep to solve.
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I agree that it’s cool people can now add quality of life functions oddly missing like this or arp/retrig, chorus etc. That’s one aspect of Elektron’s product segmentation I never fully understood, though they seem to have changed their thinking here as well (DN2 now has retrigs and arp, TV has both of these and even a MIDI arp, DT2 has a chorus).
I was initially replying to a comment asking why Elektron developed DN2 or TV if the M:C could apparently do so much more.
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I have not seen that at all, surely mods would remove such posts, maybe they have and that’s why I never saw any.
I have seen a lot of comments from some forum members, equating people who use CFW or who make feature requests as people who don’t make music, those don’t get removed though, but they don’t get flagged, which is good, as it lets people make their own judgment about the post and its merit.
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Technically, no. But doing it without breaking the current UI is not obvious. It was often suggested as FUNC+DECAY, but that combo already means something.
I didn’t think this topic would last this long. Hasn’t everything already been said many times over?
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Yeah, this sentiment is really sad and I see it popping up EVERYWHERE.
And by everywhere, I mean the multiple online communities surrounding these boxes. Not my local electronic open mic space or with the active, working producers I keep in touch with.
I have to tune out because it’s just been getting me angry lately how people can be this fucking stupid. This is a complex topic and this post is not dedicated to my opinions on the AI coding tools or their uses. I am only speaking right now to this growing mentality that “They” have been holding out on us.
“It was always possible, see! That means Elektron was purposely holding out on us…”
“Blah blah blah corporate overlords, take the power back from greedy Elektron.”
With zero fucking awareness of the irony that the companies they are burning their tokens with are run by like 3 fucking dudes with far more dystopian aims than Elektron.
Do I think some planned feature restrictions have taken place? Sure… that’s how you design a fucking product line of dedicated machines that thrive at their specific functions. It’s bothered me to a minor degree over the years and I’ve memed on it just like any of us and then I move on and make music.
These companies aren’t sitting their twirling evil mustaches, laughing at how stupid you are for buying a Model Cycles AND a Model Samples…
Even seemingly simple QOL features that people have taken it upon themselves to add, aren’t as easy within a company structure where resources and time are strategically placed.
Do they always get it perfectly right in the way that one specific user (or a handful talking online) wants it? Unfortunately no, but this is not the same as anybody purposely “Screwing” you over to make a dime.
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I don’t have any special insight into Elektron, but I’ve worked for a fair few tech companies and there’s a lot more to releasing new features than just building them. You have to allocate resources (project management, development, QA, marketing, and customer support), which means making a business case, which means forecasting how much money the new features could theoretically make.
I’ve been on calls where a salesperson and a product manager literally screamed at each other because the product manager KNEW what customers wanted and had built a business case for new features, but 100% of the company’s resources were already allocated to more profitable products. I’ve also seen products that appeared to be selling well get sunsetted because the cost of maintaining them was too high. Hardware adds a huge wrinkle as well — now you’re working with fixed performance capacity, manufacturing constraints, and limited UI. Plus you have to balance the user base that wants every new feature possible vs. those who want to learn and play an instrument that stays consistent over time.
Others have said it better, but I’ll reiterate just to hear my own voice: just because something is technically possible doesn’t mean a company is “withholding” it. Regarding the Model: line in particular, it’s entirely possible that the COVID-era supply chain crunch made it near-impossible to build or evaporated their manufacturing margins. It’s not always corporate greed. Well-managed businesses have limits!
Plus now you’ve got the best of both worlds. If you want to test new unofficial features, Elektron isn’t going to send their lawyers after you — they just don’t want you talking about it on their official support forums.
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You must be new here! Folks around these parts were/are very anti AI. Hell, there’s a pinned thread at the top of this forum saying no slop here!
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He did talk about it, my bad. Not necessarily midi out, but other mods.
I think what they meant was they have not seen people hating against people who don’t use AI.
At least that is what they quoted and are responding to.
And TBH, I haven’t seen that either, just the other way round.
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Oh lordy lord.
He returneth!
Praise be for the second coming!
Ruskie yourselves up guys…
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Been thinking about this watching EZBOT’s video on his conversation with some of the people @ Elektron. From what I remember it was a sadly divided lot on the new direction under new ownership not too many years ago when we saw some of the beloved Elektron team part ways.
I also recall a questionnaire regarding topics on elektrons products & potential future direction.
This is such a too fast to not be blurred in the mind about A.I. coding’s change of the digital landscape.
I wouldn’t begin to know what is a good solution for the company, but they as far as I see it did everyone a larger solid than we give them credit for in that, while ‘each’ machine has it’s own focus, the hardware underneath is not so much different, so sure I get why people who aren’t more experienced don’t fully appreciate the difference between a focused instrument & an all in one device
But from what I grasped of the previous divide over the change of ownership was this debate likely ending in the company doing direct software and possibly doing something with subscription based features, I honestly don’t recall what it was they were divided on?
They could put out a master box & let you get a base set of features in a bundle & then just let you add or ‘purchase’ others as you like. A totally modular elektron device.
But then now you have the A.I. that can just code any feature but some with the lack of tested features in some instances.
While for now you have a focused set of individual instruments that don’t entirely blind you with every feature under the sun & they update the firmware & add features, bug tested - FOR FREE just for supporting the company by buying one. Tell me of any other companies in the music world doing this with hardware??
You sure you want to hand it to the a.i. corporate money bag concerned folks or do you appreciate that this small group of people that have created some insanely great instruments & FRICKIN CARE!
And from what it seems like, they were cool with updates to the machinedrum, so maybe a collab on other unsupported/discontinued devices will spur either new features in future updates of current ones or maybe like the attempt w/the korg minilogue xd’s programmable feature elektron can consider integrating a devkit for a unit for people to do just that & we could have a whole market with features/machines that are not potentially harmful, though I saw someone mention no one has bricked a unit yet?
But I think while this is a huge shift in what the future will hold, I believe the people at eleketron are doing what they can to figure out how to make the best out of this for everyone. I personally love that they do instruments, a focused concept, yet being elektron still give you a labyrinth of interconnected features.
So I hope they don’t just chuck out one last box & A.I. kills the team’s remaining passion to just sell software updates to it or not continue to have enough sales to even bother with not doing anything else or get sold to inmusic.
I don’t think we would have the various instruments after the OT let alone a tonverk if they would have went to just software or some catch all box, that maybe wouldn’t include a fader or actual pads over buttons, or have the intuitive muscle memory menu, button combo’s for live play or that part of it would just be lost to a more PC/DAW like MPC that does infinite things but now you have no playable workflow to enjoy it & you just have a pc in a would be elektron box.
So while it’s all pixie stick’s & fire cracker’s of ooh’s & aww’s on the possibilities of a firmware hack, let’s not forget for those who’ve honed their skills on elektron’s workflow, you can’t vibe code the feel of a good workflow overnight. & for those who appreciate that, those people are keeping that special sauce together & it’s priceless!
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Hey maybe an interesting path forward for Elektron would be to release a blank slate sort of machine which caters specifically to the DIY crowd. They could host a web (AI?) interface that allows you to build in a modular fashion all of the components that you want to personalize your machine with, but done with enough automatic (AI?) safety checks that anything you upload to your own machine would be unlikely to break anything. Perhaps a copy of the currently loaded firmware variation is saved and loaded with a project file ensuring backwards compatibility when loading previous projects. There could also be a repository of factory/user modules/features to explore.
Sounds like a creative solution, no?
If Elektron releases QA specifications and routines, that would allow for proper testing and benchmarking, just a thought
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Automated testing can be a reality now. And i agree that pure feature bloat does not make more musical results. But i doubt that QOL or porting feature from Analog4 with envelope or macro control would hurt the other machines. This system is so genious, we just want to see it everywhere. Most people that get comfortable with a Digitone, can handle a sample engine too. One machine is less mental load than two.
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That’s not really how software development or QA works in practice.
There are no magic, universal “QA specifications and routines” sitting on a shelf at Elektron. Testing routines aren’t static - they are built from scratch alongside the code, evolving with every new module, feature, and bug fix. They are an integral part of the development process itself.
If people want to vibe-code custom AI features or third-party hacks, they can’t just throw code together and expect Elektron to hand them a testing framework. If you write the code, you own the QA. You have to design the benchmarks and test cases for your own implementation, rather than just coding whatever comes to mind and leaving the hard work to others
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Exactly.
This whole them/us BS is pretty kneejerk doomer mentality 
Would I use AI to make music? no, would I use an AI written firmware that adds a feature I want, at my own risk? yes.
Neither of these statements make me pro or anti AI, it depends on the application and other factors.
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Facts.
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