Rytm Slice Mode

Elektron Gear Analog Rytm
#1

I’ve been making lots of beats on the Rytm, using it both as a drum machine and sampler. I find it really nice for chopping up short loops. Currently, though, I’m limited by the fact that I have to manually enter the start point for every trig.

So I want to propose: RYTM SLICE MODE

I get that there isn’t going to be a fully fledged slice mode like on the Octatrack. Instead, I imagine this could be like an extension of the current chromatic mode.

Basically, chromatic mode would work as it does currently. But if you held the chromatic button down, you could enter an edit mode (the same way you edit scene/performance pads). Then you could hold down a pad and select a sample start value for that pad. This would give you 12 sample slices of your choosing. That would be huge for me!

You could also extend this and allow each pad to be linked to parameters other than sample start, essentially giving you a set of 12 Sounds at your immediate disposal. One particularly good use of this would be to lock pitch offsets for synths/samples per pad, effectively giving us custom scales.

Thoughts on this? I feel like this would be relatively easy to implement, or at the very least technically possible.

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#2

Yes, this would be fantastic!

I think it could be a bit more generalized though: a PLOCK MODE.

It would be nice if you could set each pad to be one of 12 variations of a sound with all parameters available to be locked, not just sample start/end.

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#3

Agreed!

#4

the possibilities

#5

So what you are suggesting is individual scenes for each track? That would be ace, as a max of 48 params is a bit limiting… But even with the 48 params you could get quite a lot of chops tbh

#6

I see it almost like multi-map mode on the other machines (A4, MD, MnM), except where those machines can map a patch to a note in the MIDI note range, you would be able to map a sound to a pad, PER VOICE.

For example:

If we take BD1 – while in this PLOCK MODE (or whatever name we want to call it) – we could have a different sound mapped to each of the pads, meaning up to 12 sounds which are essentially variations of the base sound through PLOCKs or references to sounds stored in the Sound Manager for that voice. You can exit out of this mode like you would the SCENE or PERF modes and the machine would behave again as normal.

And then you could do that for each voice (1 through 12).

I’m gonna go see if I can get 4-voice equivalent of this going on my A4 – I’ve only tried it on 1 track :slight_smile:

#7

The slice mode is a nice idea. I think I would like to see other features first though. More FX, phaser, chorus, flanger etc… for ‘fades’ on sample length and another LFO for tracks (One is always pan, then nothing else!).

#8

Those things would be cool, but I don’t think they’re realistic to expect.

  • the AR works with a single set of FX for all tracks. For most people making percussive sounds, delay and reverb are the most useful effects in this configuration. Also, unlike the Octatrack, the AR’s FX routing is labeled on the physical interface. Not impossible they’ll add more FX, but unlikely
  • like you, I’d love additional LFOs. But if the AR had the CPU to handle it, presumably they would have existed from the start. Seems like a hardware limitation. At best maybe we’ll get a way to route LFOs from one track to another

Part of why I’m proposing this Slice (or P-lock) mode is because AFAIK it requires no addition to the existing feature set of the AR. Instead, it simply gives us a different interface for accessing what you can currently do with P-locks.

If someone from Elektron sees this: is there any reason a system like this wouldn’t work?

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#9

YES.

Frankly, if they don’t plan on implementing something like this, I’d be quite upset. I remember when I had a Sequential Circuits Studio 440 over a decade ago that could do this; you could assign a sample to multiple pads and adjust the start/end points, filter/envelope settings, panning, etc.

#10

the 440 even had MIDI out :wink:

#11

To be fair – The Studio 440 was more in line with the MPC series or any sampler/sequencer platform, mainly in that the sample was the fundamental unit of sound creation.

I would say the RYTM is more like a hybrid of Simmons and TR-x0x, where the sample is not the fundamental unit of sound but a texture within the voice, like the Simmons SDS7 cards. We just have the luxury of being able to change the sample without having to blow our own EEPROMs!

If you want the functionality of a dedicated sampler/sequencer, maybe the Octatrack is more in line with your goals? Or, if you really want the functionality that it provided you, perhaps you should revisit the Studio 440. Going backwards can sometimes be the right move…

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#12

Ok, I wouldn’t be upset. But I would be disappointed; it’d be such a great feature!

I now own an AR alongside an A4… close to three grand worth of gear, with TWO world-class sequencers. Yet, I cannot sequence a damn thing via midi; just seems wrong.

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#13

Yeah, I was joking about the 440 - not expecting MIDI from the AR at all… (As far as buying a 440 goes, I looked into it and they sell for several thousand dollars.)
Anyway I have the Octatrack and it does slicing much more in depth, which is great. I’m not expecting that kind of system from the AR - I’d just love an easier way to play different points in a sample. I think the method I’ve described is feasible!

#14

For sure!
I’m all for it :+1:

#15

PI thought I’d revive this thread as I’m expecting shipment of an Elektron AR. I assimed slicing was possible. Hopefully this can be implemented. Any word on this?

#16

Sound great, but I doubt it will happen as it overlaps functionality with the Octatrack.

#17

I’d say your best bet is still either:

  • using something like recycle to isolate your slices and use octachainer app
  • using a padcontroller with assignable fixed velocities, set velo -> samp start on the AR and always using same lenght for samples

Would love to see this implemented to the chromatic mode tho! They could keep the current behaviour as a kit’s default state, but allow for customizing it like you suggest. This way you’d even get diff. musical scales supported, win-win!

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#18

Can you import chains from Overbridge yet?

#19

Not yet, but seems to me that the integration with the Rytm’s file management system has gotten much better in 1.1, would imagine it’ll appear some time in 2016.

Rytm sample slice isn’t going to happen.

One workaround I use: slice sample in ableton. If you like, go into the slices and add a little bit of extra time, either by looping a short section at the end or just extending as appropriate. Create a midi file to play back each slice evenly spread, ensuring that the total number of divisions is divides cleanly into 120, leaving empty hits as required. 8-10-12-15 hits is about as far as you’d want to go for this purpose. Use a second chain if required.

Bounce the chain and if necessary treat and adjust levels of individual hits, send to rytm with c6, using start/end save each slice as a sound in the sound pool. Either send the midi file generated when slicing the sample to the relevant Rytm track to preserve timing and assign the slices from your pool using sound locks, or resequence by hand. Voila, sliced samples in the Rytm. Sounds complicated, but after doing it a few times, I can pretty much get a loop set up in 20 minutes or less at this stage.

I’ve tried slicing using recycle and sending individual hits, as well as approximating it by hand on the rytm with start-end times, but the above is the only workflow I’ve found to work effectively.

The second - much easier - workaround is to just slice your sample in Live and send it out to the Rytm’s amp and filters via overbridge and back in. This plus a bitcrusher like Decimort = instant vintage sampler vibe.

#20

This is quite old, but would be a welcome feature. I sent a feature request to Elektron a while back to implement a slice mode, but never heard back.

The only assumption (besides feature overlap with the octatrack) I can really think of has to do with the sample metadata the octatrack produces that saves this information (whereas the Rytm does not). I don’t have a deep enough understanding of the coding involved to implement this into the firmware.

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