Retrokits RK008 - midi recorder/sequencer

I’d use it as a long-form compositional notepad with the OT and the rest of my Elektrons. Develop 16-beat phrases, play them into the RK008, play back through the synths while tweaking, etc.

This is what I’m hoping for too. I would really love to be able to use it as a scratchpad for things I write on the op-1 and can then bring to life later. If it works well enough, I would be able to let go of my op-z. That’s how I currently use the Z but I really don’t like to play on it.

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Someone said, early on, MMT-8 on steroids. Can’t remember if that was retrokits themselves or someone else … but given an MMT-8 has featured before in retrokits publicity, the connection is definitely there.

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They’ve said it explicitly, yes.

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If your setup already includes a midi sequencer then you may not need it , entirely depends if you are missing any functionality and if this plugs that gap while maintaining everything else you might need.

Or you may prefer the workflow of this.

I hope there’s also a software editor , their leds etc have them so hopefully there’s a way to backup , edit, organise via usb / browser editor.

I feel like this might be a very nice companion to the T1. If it records MPE, it’ll replace the midirex that I’ve currently got in that slot, while adding a bit more capability.

That would be nice. I hoping, either via software or the hardware, to be able to re-use tracks within multiple parts(loops) … which I guess would be analogous to ‘scene launch’ ? Will have to wait and see.

Transpose, quantise, and swing are already available of course. I wonder if they will let 3rd party developers add plugins, similar to the way their smart cable(s) can be customised with user code.

I don’t quite get the position of this kit here.

Is it killer cause it’s cheap, as opposed to say the Pyramid?

Does it slay because the MMT-8 workflow is legendary and now someone brings it to life again?

Is this legend because there’s no step limit to the tracks or whatnot?

I absolutely understand there’s something going on here that I’m not seeing, but the world has a few funky hardware sequencers now, the days when they were dead and abandoned are gone. We have options.

With pyramids and deluges out there, what is the thing here? Price? Workflow? Something else?

Price, I guess ?

Also, I use a Bastl MIDI Looper at the moment and for me it’s much more immediate and simple (and less expensive) than a fully fledged Pyramid, for example.

The focus with these things is just recording MIDI data on the fly, without having to set up too many things, I imagine. And, yes, without a computer.

It will be interesting to see how it competes with the Bastl looper, that is limited, for sure, but not necessarily in a bad way.

(Also, they are small! For me that’s important)

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i doubt RK008 is going to be comparable with Pyramid feature-wise.
however, size!! :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes: :heart_eyes:

and this thing will definitely rock where Pyramid is overkill.

i would rather compare this with MC-707’s sequencer (which i like a lot).

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Price, size and the immediacy that might follow with a slim design, those are all strong reasons.

But the videos speak about features as if they’re like “We got swing! Quantize! And multiple tracks!” So they’re talking a lot about features that’s hygiene, even in an aggressively priced kit.

Perhaps the idea is that by speaking about the obvious, you’ll want this because of the way it’s presented. The stuff you’ve always known, but know, in this shape and form. And that makes you want it.

I don’t want it, though, but that’s beside the point, of course :slight_smile:

I don’t know, in such a small form factor it might not be easy to pack a lot of things, even bread & butter features. Maybe they deemed it necessary to indicate what it did.

So far I don’t see a massive edge over the Bastl looper, but I’m waiting to see full spec’s (and price) to determine if the feature/limitations balance is better managed in one or the other - on the understanding that too many features could also possibly impact immediacy.

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Same here, I was actually about to buy the Bastl. I love Bastl stuff, but for once I’ll hold my horses a bit longer. :slight_smile:

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Any synth you own with cc parameter control instantly gets p-locks for all knobs; that’s the something. Twist a knob, that knob twist is now tempo synced with your other sequencers, you can stretch the sequence, change the number of “steps”, etc. Use a Bastl midilooper and you’ll immediately understand, even with plenty of other MIDI sequencers in my setup, this kind of thing is incredibly useful. Even if it never sequences a single note, still super useful. Just wait and watch some videos where they demonstrate a full workflow, don’t get too cerebral about it.

I own every retrokits product, they are all totally incredible and fit far more functionality in than any other competitor, so this will definitely follow in that tradition.

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Well I own quite a bit of Bastl stuff as well, so the RK-008 will have to be really better, I guess. :slight_smile: Any way, I’ll remain a Bastl fan for sure.

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Same, I own two midiloopers and I’m very curious to see exactly how Gerrit differentiates this. The midilooper workflow is so smooth, so it will have to be good! I expect that it will be though. I’ve asked for certain features to be added on the RK-006 and they were super responsive to my requests, and got it done! Awesome company.

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Hey, nice, would you care to share what you asked for specifically?

You had my curiosity. But now, you have my attention.

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Totally, I asked for per-port CC control of tempo division, insanely useful when I’m pulse-clocking the SQ-1s I use for modulation of different things on (insert analog synth name here) via the RK-006 (which can designate any port as MIDI, clock, etc); super fun to have the Digitakt ramp them up or down independently, and p-lock those division changes. It’s sick as fuck. I clock nanoloop with pulse too, so it’s really cool to have a bassline running on nanoloop synced with my Digitakt drums, and in the Digitakt sequence on a MIDI page I’ll p-lock a double time or quad time tempo division for the port that nanoloop is being clocked from, then p-lock back to 1:1 after 4 steps or 16 steps or whatever is cool for that sequence. It’s… awesome!!!

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Looks like it will be able to “song mode” stuff
Like the digitakt/tone could see a lot of elektonauts grabbing it.

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