Pre-purchase questions about Syntakt

Elektron Gear Syntakt
#1

Hey all, I’m eyeing up a Syntakt. However:

  1. Can any of the 12 tracks be assigned as analogue or digital, or is it that four must always be analogue and 8 always digital (if I’ve got that the right way round)?

  2. I love the modifiers concept. As I understand it, these enable variants of trigs. But can I automate in a sequence which variant should play when, or this something I can control only manually during playback?

  3. What are your thoughts on acquiring the Syntakt primarily as a melodic rather than percussive device? I appreciate it’s a drum machine first and foremost and a synth second, but the later-added machines in particular are melodic focused and there’s a lot of cool vids showing drones, leads etc. (I’m aware of the lack of polyphonic tracks.) Of course, I look forward to the drum aspect too, but I have a Digitakt for that.

Thank you!

#2

…yes, that 4 analog voices are hardwired to 9,10,11,12 and 12 is even dedicated to hi hat/cymbal and noise generating only…but that’s no real limittion at all, quite the opposite, when it comes to certain limitations…they’re more like an advantage…while all tracks from 1 to 8 can be feeded with any of the many other digital synthisis models…and since they can also feed/run/drive the analog filter, u gonna be totally fine…

and those modifiers are still young and underdeveloped a little…but that will change for sure with further updates…and for now, they already do a lot of nice things, but that whole new performance macro way is so vastly different from what elektron users have seen already, it’s still a little bummer for many…

and if i had to choose one as a first hw device that could let me go as far as possible, it is the syntakt for sure…

once u get along with it fine, add a sampler, in best case the dtakt to it, and ur good to go, if ur not falling for next and next further gas, pretty much forever…

since all u really need in hw, is at least one synth and one sampling device…if they both follow the same same workflow logic, the better, faster u’ll end up…

and the syntakt is a full fledged synth…no matter if u use it for drums or any other synth element u want to create…

no one can stop u, to use three analog dual vco’s at once…and just run 8 swarm digi synth along with that…even that track 12, which is really ment for rhythmical missions only in first place can just morph noise into some singalong whatnot sonic element, if u want it to…or turn into an athmo track with a nice otherworldly rim sound from time to time…

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#3

…and HEY, elektron…speaking of which…it’s really time for a new syntakt update…

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#4

Here is a track of mine, demonstration the melodic side of the Syntakt. All sounds you hear on this track is played by the Syntakt (except vocals).

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#5

The answers are already up there. My first Elektron machine was a Syntakt, and I’ve made lots of slow melodic pieces of music with it. I learned the Elektron workflow on it, and it set me up very well for when I expanded to the DT and DN. I think it’s a perfect place to start.

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#6

Thanks, everyone. @Ceriess ah so you learned on the ST and went to the DT. I’m heading in the other direction :slight_smile:

#7

Then you’ll have a ball with the Syntakt right away. Yes you will.

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#8

Actually I just realised I’m still unclear re: question 2. Can which modifier plays when be automated, or is this is a manual control only during playback a la fill mode?

#9

With for instance the retrig option on the trig modifiers, live recording, each press will record a trig with the retrig duration and speed set according to the button press. So yes, each trig modifier is like recording with a single parameter lock—retrig, velocity, or a limited set of parameters. These can also be played back live while the sequencer is playing.

#10

Thank you, makes sense. Are trig modifiers an LFO target i.e. could you get the LFO to cycle through the different modifiers of a given trig?

#11

No, but they can modify LFO parameters

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