Rytm Mk2 for something besides techno/EDM?

[nivviri]

Hi, I’ve been eyeing the Rytm for a long time now and I just realised I still have no idea what it’s for.
I mean practically.

Context: I’ve had the Octatrack mk2 for about two years (maybe I’m semi-proficient) and I had the A4 mk2 on a loan for a month. I mostly mess around with ambient/folk-bient (uhh…) music.

Most people on YouTube seem to use it as a techno/EDM drum machine, the factory presets would support the idea
But I find it hard to believe an instrument would be limited to one genre of music.

There are only two videos I found which seem to take the Rytm into territories which really interest me personally:

what if William Basinski would have had an Analog Rytm | generative ambient jam with sample looping

and

Cabin jam with the Elektron Analog Rytm MkII

The first one especially though feels a bit like kidnapping the Rytm and using it as an Octatrack?
Looking for Rytm experts to chime in here basically

What can the machine do besides dance genres? There is one mint black mk2 in my country for 1300 EUR, that’s why I’m asking.

[korpinen]

Check out this thread. Some sweet Rytm ambient pieces there.

RYTM ambient machine

even before the VCO update I had been making ambient on this DRUM machine now on the VCO its crazy ambient box. post some your sounds of AMBIENT sounds on this drumming box… I’ll will post mine later after a recording

I’ve had the Rytm twice and despite failing to make it work for my music I still would like to have another go with it. Having said that, many if not most of the Rytm tracks that I’ve found great have been mostly or entirely sample-based. So like you said, someone hijacking Rytm and using it like an OT. For me personally OT, MD and A4 have proven to be better drum machines. Maybe look for a used Rytm mk1 to try it out? 1300 for a black mk2 doesn’t sound like a once in a lifetime deal.

[LyingDalai]

There are people in Mission Briefs that use it for amazing hip-hop tracks.

My own favorite Rytm artist might be @George_Michael/GloPhase.

Glo Phase - Analog Rytm Set (kaam)

[alechko]

this machine can do a lot more, cool videos I like non edm/techno:

Making a Sampled Boombap Beat on the Analog Rytm mk2

Jacob the Sleepy - '87 (Full Boombap / Lofi Hiphop Beattape on the Octatrack mkII)

Analog Rytm MKII Chillout Jam | 90bpm | 59 Perlen

Shopping Bag - Contemporary Performance | Vermona Perfourmer, Elektron Analog Rytm | 59 Perlen

and as @korpinen suggested there’s a dedicated thread worth checking out…

also there’s a great thread that explains how to replicate all kinds of drum beats on AR, non techno style

Conditional Breakbeats with rytm in 1 bar

Concept: The Elekton Sequencer which allow more variety in pattens beyond just percentages with the NGI, FST, PRE et al conditions. The basic idea is from a drum patten or score calculate percentages and combinations of hits then create a conitonally based 1 bar patten. The randomisation provide a quick way to create variations in the style of particular breakbeats. The aim is not to duplicate but to have a basis for variations. Just studying breakbeats like this can be helpful in creating …

[nivviri]

Thanks, that’s interesting!

Well 1300 is becoming a deal since the most recent price hike - AR and A4 now both cost close to 1650 EUR, where just 6 months ago I saw the A4 going for 1300 or even for 1100 Inflation my ass.

Most of the stuff in that thread seems VERY experimental, on the edge of ambient noise - very Moog like! (everything from the *mother series is just so trippy, speaking from experience as a long-time Matriarch ex-owner).
Maybe I’d just have an easier time taking the A4 and using its CV outs to control a Moog DFAM. More melodic results maybe…

[nivviri]

I really like these, especially the third one!
But the second vid is actually Octa Maybe it shows that the sample-only focus makes the workflow more streamlined. AR as a solo instrument is perhaps a bit more challenging.

[alechko]

my bad! got carried away pasting stuff

[reeloy]

…any music instrument can become anything, depending on the mindset using it…

even a classic 303 is not bound to classic acidlines “only”…there is no such thing…

in fact, most of the real intresting stuff comes from crossing/interchanging such boundries and that’s what opens new sonic terretories…
so, that’s where usually all THE truu new shit comes to birth and shine…

…errrr, and the a4 is the better rytm…

[Sleepyhead]

Haha thanks for sharing my AR video (and an octatrack one by accident).

I use the AR for hiphop production on its own, did 3 albums on it already, and also this short beattape:

Jacob the Sleepy - Astro Infinity (Full Boombap / Lofi Beattape on the Analog Rytm mkII)

Its an amazing machine if youre determined to dive in and really get to know it. The sound is amazing but its not an easy machine to use.

[sid6581]

Superb - that last track is ace.

Do you sample straight in to the rytm, or transfer across?

[pokk]

Very curious about what everyone links to as well, so happy to see this thread.

I definitely found this machine hard to break, and find its own sound. I think after years of fails and a bit more recent intense exploration, i can start to hear something interesting coming out of it, that i can say is Analog Rythm Mk 2, even started to like it finally.

I created a playlist using Analog Rythm Mk2. There are a few bits that are with other gear, mixer, external sequencer, but also ones that are just the machine.

Keen to share and learn.

Here is one video from the playlist:

Elektron Analog Rytm 2: Dub techno ambient jam

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwOv7BwIWz-RY9K_ooWQBmuQNNwgKONto

[Sleepyhead]

Thank you for the kind words. I sample stuff straight into the AR, sometimes through the aidio in, sometimes stuff out of my daw through the usb input.

[pokk]

Sounding really crisp. Would you say you focus more in the sample area with backup from the engines or it varies?

Curious if you have found a different sound comes from doing a track in the Rytm versus other sample based gear.

Edit: i see you talk about this here actually. Analog RYTM, Jack of all - #33 by Sleepyhead

Particularly found this a challenge myself for various reasons:

@Sleepyhead

I guess the point that the AR is great by itself but loses some of it’s appeal as part of a larger setup might be the key to why some people like it and others don’t…

[OctaveDown]

Really nice stuff. Are you working with chopped up drum breaks, or one-shot samples? Trying to find some one-shots for my Rytm that sound this crisp and suitable for hip-hop.

[Sleepyhead]

Thanks guys, I mainly use samples, but use the analog engines and fx for soundshaping and resampling. I made a lot of kicks and hihats using the analog engines and resampling them.

Another favorite thing of mine is adding some noise to samples to add high end if its missing.

The AR is a great do it all machine if you dive into it. Its not, however, and easy workstation or daw in a box like the modern mpc’s, nor is it a simple drum machine. It’s somewhere in between those 2, but you have to take time to really learn the things that make the AR great. That’s why my point in the other thread was that using it as just another machine in a larger setup might not be the best way to learn it.

[alechko]

sampling works great via usb, so easy! I just wish we had more granular sample position control and loop modes, it would be perfect! today when I sampled 30sec samples the 1 unit jump is too much, it’s fine for shorter samples but too coarse for longer ones.
either way, amazing machine, with enough willpower any style is possible.

[Sleepyhead]

You can finetune the startpoint using either the lfo or the velocity mod! Check out the tips n tricks thread.

It is, like many things on the AR, a weird workaround though. They should most definitely add more resolution on the parameter itself, and I’d love to have the OT’s slice mode on the AR!

[alechko]

yeah it was my first time using samples, will try next time!

I wonder if I can use a sine wave and send it through the output to CV and use it as lfo, could be cool as well!

[tladb]

Great thread and videos. Thanks

[nivviri]

Very nice, loving the Grandmother combo. Im also surprised by the crispness of the sound coming from that!

@reeloy

…errrr, and the a4 is the better rytm…

Yeeah I kinda get the same vibe here. The A4 feels easier to turn into a drum machine, but the AR feels more difficult to turn into an ambient synth.

@pokk wow. I can easily imagine this as some part of an artistic installation, in combination with visual arts these things can be incredibly moving.
Not long ago I was at this artsy meetup in an old monastery. Somebody found an old shaft, created a visual installation and added a creepy blue light; I made a booming cold ambient track and hid a bluetooth speaker in the opening. It was honestly so scary, like someone accidentally opened a hole to hell, or some creepy old Prague gothic underground passage The bass made you feel like some dark influence is eminating from that space, inviting you to get lost in it… anyway.