The Rytm analog engines have a unique raw flavor to them, so if some users want more polished sheen to the sounds, it can take time to dial in the sweet spots. The Strom app can help to find some of the limits of the engines, and then you can fine tune from there.
I agree with what others have said here: the filters and overdrive can make a lot of difference too, but that’s true with using samples as well. In fact, the Rytm warms and livens up samples like few machines can.
Thats crazy…anybody got any hits on turning a standard drum sound into his …im very new to rytm/synthesis and struggle to get away from the standard drum sound…
-I use the delay as a pseudo chorus by using the minimum delay time and turning on X to make it a ping pong, then widening it. This really widens sounds like snares and claps up. It compensates for the mono samples a bit. Of course this means you can’t use the delay as a delay, but I tend to not use much delay on drums. My shaker / hat loops often get a light ping pong delay, but this is easily added in the mixing stage or with outboard.
Came across this technique myself the other night. I think it’s the beginnings of karplus strong synthesis but i could be wrong
Basically i set delay time to 1 with some feedback and send some signal to reverb.
Then i set the reverb to be almost endless
Then i set a fairly slow lfo to modulate the feedback of the delay so the tone that comes through the delay changes in intensity
Basic space mine effect
If only we had the ability to fine tune the delay time (effectively the tuning of karplus strong) then use feedback to control intensity.
Recently finding that
FM Snare
= a world of new metallic drum modeling sounds that are definitely in Machinedrum and Nord Drum 2 territory, which I always felt was Rytm’s weak spot.
It’s a really flexible patch that can even yield Timpani vibes. The speed of the LFO, the AM depth, everything on the filter page, the FM amount and ratio of carrier to modulator – these all can quite drastically but very pleasingly change the timbre into different flavors of dissonant, clangorous percussion.
Also, p-locking DETUNE on CB Classic and running it through 100% closed LPF filter with a very fast decay, low sustain, and long release can make some interesting “poor man’s Buchla” timbres
Trying to get some sounds like this from the FM snare has been on my to do list… thanks for the head start!
i think the analog side of the RYTM is great. it is what it is.
the HHs to me are 606 ish… and 909 HHs were samples anyways. so…
the FM stuff and the plastic kick can do some cool stuff.
you can go crazy with plocks. i dunno. i’m a hugh fan of mine.
Was looking for some inspiration, and found this to be a great thread! Any new tips?
Any idea/subject to work on ? 
New updates brought randomize.
Randomize is fun because you can bring it back to normal ! New update made rytm even stronger 
Yep, this is how you coax the magic out of the analog engines.
Make sure experiment with the fade in or out on the LFO as well.
You’ve totally hit the nail on the head and I just wanted to acknowledge it. It’s this exact process that helped me appreciate how flexible the analog engines in combination with envelopes and filters can be. I expect this insight comes from your mixing background where reference material is equally important.
Just coming here to emphasize the importance, as has been mentioned, of using the one-shot exponential decay LFO to modulate either overdrive (from a zero or near-zero base level), or a synth/sample’s level (while overdrive is set in the mid range). This gives any voice much more punch, almost like there’s a dedicated compressor with a slow attack inserted on the sound. That trick especially helps snares crack better, and you can get a lot closer to a good 808 snare with SD Classic if you use that LFO (as @JustinValer did in AR808). Also helps synthesized claps jump out more.
Without that everything sounds pretty flabby to me. It would be probably the biggest improvement to the Rytm’s sound quality if Elektron would make the envelope curves adjustable, as the ones for amp are too linear for punchy sounds, and I can’t be bothered with layering transient samples on every track.
I’ve also found that BD Sharp with a lowpass filter after it makes great 909ish kicks to my ears. Add a sub-bass sample for more body and that’s a flexible bass drum patch mostly consisting of sweet spots.
High-pass filter on snares, claps, hats helps to remove lower frequencies that easily accumulate as muddy garbage.
Have been debating selling my AR and going back to a TR8S for more instant gratification on the bread and butter x0x stuff, but I think it’s a keeper once you put in the work and save some presets to build off of later. From that point on the challenge is to have the self-discipline not to endlessly tweak shit any further, which isn’t easy when you’ve already put in that much time getting the sounds right.
These are great tips, made a couple of really cool sounds.
Also, this thread is awesome. Would love to hear more of your sound design tips.
I don’t even have a Rytm and I’m loving this thread 
For Hi-Hats & Cymbals, I like to use the bandpass filter + overdrive. I noticed that these machines in the AR often can get sounds very rich in the high frequencies. In contrast, some classic drum machines (e.g., 909) used rather low bitrate samples for the Hi-Hats and lacked this richness in the high frequencies. With the bandpass filter set at a high level (something between 90 - 120) and a proper amount of overdrive, you can mimic these textures.
Another strange thing to note: I’ve found that even with low sample volume, filter fully open, no overdrive, and bypassing the master fx (via individual out), AR cuts the highest frequencies of my high hat, cymbal, clap, and snare samples. You can regain those highs by using a peak filter set to 127 and resonance around 20. At that setting, you don’t get the metallic ringing that you often get from the peak filter.
This is definitely related to what folks have said is the “dark” sound of the AR, but it’s nice to know that you can overcome it with the peak filter.
For the notice, I usually select the HP filter for hats and cymbals. It does the trick too.
I almost use too much of the BD silky and a little distortion of around 3 gives everything more punch without getting it dirty