I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to make synthetic music using a sequencer. I do wish it had a few things though. Honestly it needs more wave tables in the chord machine. (I get around this by connecting the 3rd Wave and programming my own chords). It needs a more Rytm-esque digital noise generator. It needs a few more modulation options in the analog tone and raw machines. It also could use a third LFO.
Otherwise, there’s really no end to what it can do.
Oh, I’ll also say that if you want more traditional phase modulation synthesis, the Digitone is better. But the two together, or the three (with Digitakt) is incredible. You’re almost spoiled for options, and then you get option paralysis on occasion. However, that’s not the worst affliction I can think of.
Last thing that I wish is that it had the chorus from the Digitone. However, if you have a Digitone (or Digitakt 2 now?) you can run the Syntakt through it anyway.
I also tend to use the built in effects sparingly. Either at lower settings, or just used on a couple of tracks at a time where they sound good. Because they do sound quite good, they just have their limits. Can always add more in the final mix, or track out through some external effects. Or even through other Elektrons so that you can apply different settings to different tracks on the Syntakt.
I definitely prefer Eventide or say the Izotope NeonVerb for reverb though.
The Elektron Delay is somewhat basic, but it does the job quite nicely. If you don’t need it elsewhere, it can also do a nice rumble sound if you’re into Techno, or it can get up into some decent Karplus Strong ranges. Maybe not full fledge KS synth, but you can definitely add that sort of effect to the synth sounds.
I agree some additional slopes for the low pass would be more handy than some of the EQ filters in my opinion. Those are nice, and you can even get a bit of phasing out of them, but their use is pretty limited compared to additional LP slopes. It would be really cool to get an elliptical response in there too.
They’re not bad though. Just limited since there are so many tracks, and only two effects. Of course the FX track opens up some other avenues though.
Also through the wonders of the P-Lock, one can create custom delays if the track is sparse enough to use the steps in that way. Treat it like a tracker, and use some of the old bags of tricks from those.
I wasn’t blown away by most demos. but there were a few that had elements I liked. I really liked the idea of it though, and it was the only Elektron box I’d never tried. so I just waited until I found a great price on one, so that I could turn around and sell it if I didn’t like it. but I’m not doing that, and I really like what I’m getting out of it. I am, however, using other machines to cover the sounds I don’t really like from it. like hi-hats.
for me, I think it and a Digitakt are a really solid foundation to build tracks upon. you can get a whole lot out of the two, and then add what you want from other synths. like a modular or a poly or whatever typically works in your music.
Well, I listened a couple times to DJ Python and Nick León, and I tried my best to come up with a sound that’s similar to theirs… I may have gotten carried away, too far away. (Or I may have just ended up with the same Syntakt sound.)
It would be cool in general if elektron would produce way more short clips that show more versatile cases of their boxes. I mean they can do so much and you iften see them used in the same ways.
Mainly price range + size leave it out of my options. Also responding to
I don’t have any hardware gear right now, mainly using Ableton for everything. I also have a bunch of sample libraries for classic drum machines and varied latin percussions/loops/etc.
I’m leaning towards a synth base drum machine because I feel comfortable doing the sampling part in Ableton (Elektron sequencing is way more fun tho), but all the synths requires much more work to get percussions, and that part ends up not being fun.
That’s why I was thinking a lot about the ST. Is the part that I enjoy the least doing in the box and could give me sounds not easily found in a DAW.
Not in Latin America, but thanks to my momma, Native/Latino here. The missus represents her Ecuadorian family (first gen born here) and I’m in the Heights (NYC) were its reggaeton all day every day, except Sundays when the old-school classics are on blast.
*Seriously. Bad Bunny remix is playing outside right now.
I’m from Chile, but came to live to San Diego, CA, to start a grad program last year. Almost zero reggaeton or Brazilian funki (which are my favourites) besides the occasional Bad Bunny here and there. A lot of Mexican music everywhere but we know is not the same.
That’s funny. I’m from the West (Seattle) so where you are is what I grew up with. You’d love it here. It’s almost all Dominican. The music is non-stop, in a good way.
I thing one thing, apart from signal flow/fx/filters, that makes it ”sound” like Syntakt, or perhaps Digitakt, is that they invite you to bang notes into the step sequencer, and there is no velocity pads/keys on board, so apart from p-locks and LFOs and maybe some swing it may often sound pretty quantized.
So I think just sequencing externally or adding a velocity sensitive controller, playing things in live or semi-quantized will help with the ”sound”, because the timing, micro timing and velocity does so much to the groove
Don’t forget the performance pads. I know it’s not the same, but they’re easy to change the function and I do use them for inputting velocity. I mostly play in live, so I like those pads (even though I wish they were optional).
(Or I may have just ended up with the same Syntakt sound.)
That’s funny. I’m from the West (Seattle) so where you are is what I grew up with. You’d love it here. It’s almost all Dominican. The music is non-stop, in a good way.