I know there are 1000 threads about the workflow option on the RYTM and the A4. I am aware of all the different options such ass recording FX separately, solo tracks and record the main out, and multi tracking. However, I am just interested in how the majority of people here actually work with a DAW.
Do you compose your songs on the Elektron machines (complete arrangement) and then continue writing your song in the DAW and record at the end? Or do you just use your machines here and there to add in parts?
I hope my question makes sense. I don’t want to purely use my machines, because I love having full control in the DAW.
Hi,
Good topic
I have an MPC and an octatrack and push 2 and while I really like each’s strengths I am also wondering the same thing. When I come up with hardware ideas they rely heavily on live messing around on octatrack effects and capabilities so I always wonder the best way to refer that to a track in live.
I am thinking recording a stereo file of a jam and then rerecording the individual parts and then trying to recreate a more polished version of said jam itb.
I record live including a compressor in my signal chain and try to clean it up in a daw if necessary.
It’s very limiting compared to multi tracking so I’m trying to come to terms with jamming individual tracks, working with stems, etc, but I’m nowhere close yet.
thank for the replies guys! My method right now works for me, but takes forever and is not very productive.
I lay out my arrangement on the Elektron and then solo every track and record the main outs. After that I adjust the track delay and fix the latency. I usually don’t record the whole drums, only a loop and then chop it up and use for example the kick as a sample. Basically my arrangement is now in the DAW and i make cue points for drops, breaks, build up, etc. Then I add other material such as percussions or whatever is missing until I have a more complex song. When I am almost done (also depending on what sounds I get from the A4 for example) I re-record the single track and tweak the parameters such as cutoff. It kind of bothers me that I have to do that again, but the song structure usually changed a bit (which I of course also change on the hardware in song mode) and the cutoffs might not be in place anymore.
Depending on the day, I may record a full live take then edit out my favourite parts and add extra layers/ FX in Live.
More recently i’ve been using the individual outs/ins via Overbridge and incorporating the DAW into the song writing process. Sending VSTi’s back into the analog gear really brings them to life!
Both methods work great for me, just separate mind-states with different outcomes.
Lately I’ve been feeling like everything I need is on the RYTM and the A4.
I have a Push 2, which I loved at first, especially for its new screen, but that essential feeling to all the controls on the Elektron boxes is i think what keeps pulling me back.
And i think something Keith Fullerton Whittman spoke about once with regard to modular, it’s just so immediate, theres no facebook or email. its the same with the elektron boxes, it is a pure tunnel into music, nothing else. there’s a specialness to that. OB is great, but it pulls you into this other world of left brain thinking.
So lately I’ve been feeling like, not using Ableton as such in its entirety, but to use it in a limited, specific way.
Of course you can go crazy with Ableton in the mix of things with additional instruments and fx, and all of its warping features, but there’s a certain satisfaction in the limitations of the Elektron boxes, trying to get in every tiny corner to squeeze what you can out of them.
So my latest fantasy is to contain an entire set on only the RYTM and A4. But as far as OB and Live are concerned, I’m thinking of using them in a limited way. Much like the kind of purist stance of pre-OB Elektron users. Simply using OB as a final mixdown, to process tracks and FX with the devices themselves, and to manage samples for the RYTM - generated only by the RYTM and the A4 itself (or maybe whatever really). The idea is to always do a live set with just the two boxes (and maybe the Heat lol), evidently removing complications from a hectic setup.
It has to be said I’ve lately begun to really synergise with these machines. They really become like, even though they are two boxes, you can use them so fluidly as one instrument. I haven’t even scratched the surface yet, and my patterns continue to surprise me. For me the main next step is organisation and planning, as boring as that sounds. But you kind of need to arrange things in a progressive way while allowing room and space for experimentation. It’s fully crazy playing on these things sometimes. You can’t even remember the shit you made!