Openness

[Ess]

When writing about trackers I was reminded of how most of the software I used back in the day was often made by just one person, or a really small company, or a collective of people working on an open source project and so on.

What struck me was that at some point I made contact with the people behind a lot of that software and more often than not I got a reply and a conversation, and that felt really special.

Today I feel like too many companies operate with more or less closed doors, communication happens via ‘the correct channels’, and giving out your email address is like asking someone to let a bull loose in your living room.

So, here’s my email: ess@elektron.se

Feel free to reach out to me about anything. Your new music, feature requests, what you’ve always wondered about the Monomachine, your love letter for the Digitone, how to make the perfect FM saxophone, sell me your MC-202 for cheap, or just to say hi. See it as a window into our office.

I’ll try my best to respond, but it might take a while from time to time.

[pidgeo]

massive respect Si. that’s wicked

[Kalimari]

Excellent idea. Great move!

The industry has (maybe) become too corporate, there are still passionate and creative individuals, marketing/business gets in the way sometimes.

Communication is a two-way process.

[Kalimari]

sell me your MC-202 for cheap,

I was hoping to get yours for cheap

[NUoldNu]

Like this.

[Normalogic]

As there’s this forum as an alternate mean of communication, I think it would be greatly appreciated if people from Elektron team were to intervene on topics such as Digitakt Feature Request (or replace Digitakt with any other of the machines), to explain in which direction things are moving, what’s the roadmap, what will, might, and won’t be done.

People are throwing messages in bottles at sea and we can only hope they’re read by Elektron.

That would be super tight openness.

The email thing is great though and definitely a step in the right direction!

[kairos]

Appreciated!

[darenager]

Great attitude @ess I think that Elektron as a company are awesome, but in recent years the customer communication at least as far as based on my own interactions has become less ‘open door’ What I mean by this is that before the rapid growth/success it felt more like I was communicating with enthusiasts rather than a “faceless” company - not that I see Elektron like this exactly but I hope you get what I mean. I remember fondly the Elektron Friends scheme and was very sad when it was abandoned.

I suggested a lot of features that became implemented in Elektron products, but in recent years it felt like I was wasting my time due to not even getting a reply, I understand that many people send in feature requests, and that probably the vast majority of them are not feasible, possible or even realistic, and so it is likely that many get unanswered because of this. From a users perspective it can be a little frustrating to go to the trouble of writing things down, often with a fair amount of detail and even suggestions of where and how they could be implemented, only to never hear back.

So, I will take you up on your offer in the future, and thank you for your always cool and enthusiastic attitude

[Ess]

I’m always tempted to reply in the feature request threads, but it’s a double edged sword. It’s very difficult to know 100% that a certain feature is doable, or feasible to implement at all, even if it something already in the works. Sometimes I’ve commented when some things are flat out impossible, and I think that’s valuable enough.

Roadmaps and such is something that needs to be set at a company wide level, and the decision to share that is not one I can make - and the current stance is that it is not public, so I will have to respect that.

So basically, I’ll try to respond to feature request in a good way, but it might be difficult to give any direct answers. Hope you understand!

[konputa]

The openness and willingness to engage with the user base is a very important element of building legendary instruments that will be beloved for many years. Your willingness to do so more or less guarantees that Elektron has made it into the pantheon of the greats.

[Kalimari]

super tight openness

best oxymoron yet

[Kirz]

Thanks @Ess, Your sincerity much appreciated.

[josker]

The tight lip Elektron has had has been pretty offputting. I’ve been watching the company since Elektron-Users and have owned every machine save the SIDstation and now Model:Samples.

For one instance (I mentioned this in the Octatrack feature request thread); the Octatrack feature requests have piled up for years now, and Elektron hasn’t done anything to confirm or deny that they are even needed anymore. I do understand that in product development, some things must be kept close, but surely the status quo server neither the company nor the loyal customers? If memory serves, this hasn’t always been the policy, either.

That being said, I really appreciate this sincere gesture! I’ve often thought about writing a long mail to Elektron containing my two cents about communications/customer service/marketing in an effort to benefit everyone, but maybe it’s not at all necessary with people like you around

[elektrobot7]

Thats Rad, really apreciated… I like to know communication is open. Thanks!

[khaled]

This is awesome!
I do have a few requests

[phesago]

NB4 flooding your inbox with dumb memes and other random garbage.

[Ryan]

dumb memes and other random garbage.

The use of “and other garbage” confuses me. Gold?

[Ess]

My favorite is Shia’s just do it video, I expect quality memes.

[Nevets]

RIP your inbox

Some openness (documentation) on sysex in Elektron machines would save a lot of time reverse engineering it

[eangman]

Dear Mr Ess.
Which is the best Digitone algorithm for making guiro sounds?
/An admirer