I monitor through Ableton so I hear what I hear…made the mistake years ago of monitoring through my speakers and recording to Ableton. Only to be like, that sounds different…problem solved by just jamming through Ableton and out to the speakers.
1 Like
Multitrack recording of live performing, ideally. I often settle for just recording patterns one at a time while tweaking a few things.
I’m with @Octagonist on this one! I build my patterns and jam on them at the same time. I’ll make a simple pattern, then start playing with mutes and improvise with parameter tweaks for a little bit. Then I’ll reload the pattern and continue building on it. This goes on for as long as I’m having fun, and by the end of it I’ll have a pattern or two that I’m very familiar with because I’ve been jamming on it for so long. Finally I plan out a little arrangement (how to start the track, how to transition between patterns, how to end it), then use my phone to record a live performance. Most of the performance is improvised, but many of the tricks I use have become muscle memory so it’s not stressful or overwhelming. It really helps to roll with the punches and leave mistakes in. A lot of my “signature moves” were discovered by accident 
8 Likes
Watching a Gary Numan video on how Cars came about. He took a simple four note pattern on his bass guitar and built on it. He couldnt believe how simple this method is.
2 Likes
I get sad if I work on some stems from RYTM in the DAW and make a killer track and if I go back to Rytm it doesn’t knock as hard, so I’m tryna up my game making it a banger just with Rytm.
1 Like
Hi! Check out our channel!
We make music with Elektron Gear.
For example here we have:
- 2x Octatrack - First as master (mine) for global FX and second (mine dude) for his fx’s
- Analog Rytm as my groovemachine
- Digitakt as dude groovemachine
- TS3 & MF as dude synth
Everything is connected as:
OTmk2 as main input both signal from AR & OTmk1
MF + TD3 to DT
DT to OTmk1
2 Likes
I’ve only been in the elektron world a few months but this is the only way I’ve done it so far.
Doing little bits here n there then chopping them up and arranging on a computer just kills any enjoyment.
I’ve just approached it like I would my bands. We’d only ever record live once through takes then possible some bits of layering for solo bits etc.
I just don’t have capacity in my life to learn daws and mastering. I just give myself day an hour and make a track in the hour, play about it blindly with eqs etc then once I hear “are you coming through soon?!?” Then it’s time to export to my phone and that’s that.
One thing tho, I’m just terrible at getting drums to sound great and pop no matter what I do 
3 Likes
Make sure you never go into the red in Ableton, on any channel. Ever. (I mean, you can… but don’t).
A good default habit is to have every channel fader start at -12db (or -24 if you have a lot of tracks). This helps to keep a lot of headroom at the master bus. It gives you freedom to raise one or two of the channels if you want to make them louder. If the overall mix is too quiet after this, you can use a Utility or Limiter (or both) to boost it. If you’re not trying to do “mastering”, then keep the peak level in your master channel bouncing between -6db and -3db (and you can turn your speakers up if you want the sound in the room louder: just remember to turn them down again at the end of the session).
3 Likes
As with my Ableton comment, turn everything down a bit* at the start of your session (but maybe turn your amp/speakers/headphones up). Then, as you add more tracks or feed things into the Ext. In, you still have headroom in the mix bus: you’ll be better able to hear when things are getting muddy and have bandwidth to work with it. Your ears will get tired, so maybe don’t actually turn the headphones up.
*= I prefer to use the VOL on the [Amp] page for this, rather than the Track Level knob. This way, I can use the level knob as a performance tool, without looking at the screen, and don’t have to worry about hitting the level ceiling and changing the sound through distortion.
2 Likes
“The arranger on the OT would be perfect if the Digi boxes didn’t suck at receiving pattern change messages!!!” he shouted at the empty sky as people looked at him oddly.
Some of Elektron’s line can output multiple tracks at once; taking advantage of that, I sometimes live-perform the “backbone” of a song on my Machinedrum (or if I was going to keep using my Digitone Key, that, but I’m trying to sell it) into a DAW and that way maintain the ability to mix and add effects with some precision. If a track, such as a hi-hat, is simple enough and no variation is needed I just record one cycle and copy-paste. Sometimes, such as with Model Cycles, I have to record each track one by one, using pattern chain or song mode to save some tedium, but sometimes I group them to save time.
Then I layer and add more parts. Some sequenced, some played by hand, some a combination.
Stuff that needs tails gets stopped on the device by hand but keep recording.
Sometimes I sequence in the DAW. Keep the original MIDI around, plus a note of what device and what preset it’s for.
Your goal should be to maintain the ability to tweak the structure and arrangement. That’s where DAW’s shine.
It’s totally an artificial process, with less spontaneity than a jam, but you’re crafting a listening experience. I don’t believe in limiting myself to hardware, for one I can’t afford the clusterfuck of gear needed to make everything be out of the box, and also it’s kind of diminishing returns because in a live venue nobody’s really going to notice details that you might hear in an album, and conversely nobody’s going to be able to tell (and most won’t care) whether or not what’s on an album was recorded live.
2 Likes
My method is like darenger, I use the OT Arranger mode to send pattern changes to my A4 and AR. For me it’s a great workflow. The boxes are always on the same pattern and with the use of kits the sounds can evolve and change.
As for things sounding different in a DAW or what have you… I wonder if it is a difference in listening loudness? Maybe things have been gain staged down in the DAW? Everything sounds better when louder. Listening at reduced volume will sound different.
I suppose for clarity’s sake what I also mean is - when I go in the box it’s much easier to then add the sparkle, transitions, glitchy breakdowns, the odd reverse mega weird build, drag in another sample, re sample and do a ‘tape stop’ or whatever, so the track becomes more finished much more quickly.
Then when I play the original track ‘live’ it’s missing all those elements I was inspired to add in the box.
So yeah, mixing is easier ITB but also sweet sweet garnish that really makes a track (to me) finished.
Yup. Those are much easier in the box. You need to go in the box 
I’ve made the unnecessary decision to avoid my DAW, so when I want transitions, risers etc, I have to play them. They’ll come out differently, and probably will use different sounds entirely, but it forces me to learn new playing technique and different sound design. Over time, I hope these will become my “signature moves” like @Eaves says… but I’m just doing basic filtered delays at the moment 
.
1 Like
There are ways to add that polish in the box that you would not be able to do outside of it and it doesn’t have to be a pain. Playing the automations with a controller instead of drawing them is super fun. And the master level comes when you learn how to combine both!
1 Like
I too am trying to cope with how to progress my jams into more or less finished tracks.
My DT and DN are excellent instruments to come up with (and tweak) jams and 4-bar loops.
I then take the stems into my DAW and arrange, mix and master the finished track.
However, this tends to lead to songs of the same (take-away/add back) type, where certain tracks are muted or filter-steeped to keep interest going.
I’ve found it very difficult to break the 4-bar loop and expand to different patterns, chord progressions and full songs complete with chorus bridge etc. If anybody has tips to share on how to break the loop, I’m all ears.
There’s loads of things you can do. I don’t have a foolproof scheme and I’m also one of those who often gets stuck playing the same loop forever. Here’s a random collection of stuff I’ve done or ideas I’m having instead of doing my day job:
- copy just the drums, or just the bass to a new pattern and build something different from there. Do this two more times. Now you have four parts to your track.
- do the same as 1. but force yourself to use a different key. Piick obvious key changes - go up a fourth or fifth, or to the relative minor
- my favourite… once you have a couple of patterns in different keys, make a 3rd one using a new root chord that links the two, and makes use of something just off-key (e.g. the major 3rd if you’re in a minor key), or a 7th or 9th, and uses an inversion of the chord (make the notes that are normally middle or upper ones into the root). Use this pattern as a bridge, fill, middle-8 etc. Or even a chorus.
- find the most significant portion of your pattern, what gives it it’s power? Make a new pattern based around a variation of just that bit. Invert it (make it go up, where previously it had gone down), or play it backwards.
- Bach treated composition like maths problems. e.g. if you have the melody copied, but offset, or reversed, or inverted… what chords fit the new harmonies?
5.5 Use these new chords as the basis of a new bit of the track - think of your song as a story, or film. Where should it go? Do you need more energy, less, or the same but with variation? Make that.
- think up a story or film (or pick one you know): now make your tune into the soundtrack to that - how can you use the pattern you have to amplify the emotion of a (or all?) scenes from that story?
- just end it and move on. Nothing wrong with a 1 or 2min track. If it’s a really good idea, sample it to use over that beat you’re gonna make next week
- force yourself to work in a different genre for a month or two. Then go back to your core genre and apply what you learned
- do a cover version
- force yourself to make a 2bar pattern and slip it into repeats of your four bar ones. Make a middle-8
I did a track last year where I was certain I wanted a long A section, and a long B section. I got really frustrated making them work, making them feel satisfying, and I didn’t know why. In the end I stopped trying, and made it ABA - part A was blocky, mute-unmute stuff… part B was just short, much looser, had chords where the rest didn’t… and then back to the blocky part A. I came to this almost by accident after hours of feeling frustrated. It was much better. So what I learned is that sometimes you just have to wing it.
13 Likes
I think one shouldn’t straight focus on one way to do things. Do what is right in that moment.
I found for me, that some tracks work better if I record the tracks in the daw, then arrange them there and add effects plus sprinkles there. Others are more performed on the gear and recorded then. I get inspired by performance buttons or something on gear, then I want to use that feature in the track.
Think about this too. Say you have different polyrhythms going on in gear. That will affect how you’ll want to record, as it’s not a simple 16 step repeating bar.
When it comes to mixing and polishing, for me nothing beats a daw. The moves are way faster and fixing things doesn’t need setup, just a click here or there. And you can save it, which is huge imo
2 Likes
These are all amazing replies thanks everyone. Loads to digest