Hi there,
I’m about to buy an MK-1 second hand, and was reading through the manual today. Now I suddenly realised that the MK1 has only 32 steps! Didn’t see that one coming… Now I was wondering is there any way that you can update the OS or something to update to having 64 steps? Or do you really need a physical difference that is the MK2?
There are these open source unofficial updates available right? And you never know what they’re capable of, so that’s why I’m asking.
Cheers
you can buy a megacommand which will give you 64 steps. it’s a small 3rd party peripheral unit. there’s a dedicated thread on here about it. that’s the only way to get 64 steps on mk1. mega command opens up shed loads of other things on MD tho. trig conditions etc.
Ah cool will have a look into that! Thanks
sourcing and buying a megacommand seems overkill if you’re just after 64 step patterns though. The ~$400 you’d spend on a megacommand would be better put towards getting a mk2, unless you’re getting a really good deal on the mk1.
that’s very true. I never went for it myself when I had an MD. thought about it a few times.
mk1’s are a bit of a risk nowadays I reckon. elektron won’t repair em so you might end up in a tricky situation trying to find someone who can do repairs if you ever need em.
Yeah exactly. I guess kind of a risk with any older piece of gear that’s not supported anymore. I do know someone in the area specialising in repairing digital hardware boxes. But yeah I was just looking at a video and the idea of always needing to bring this extra megacommand box to my liveshows isn’t very appealing. I suppose the creativity will come more from the limitation of 32 steps and I’ll try and make variations based on random LFO with volume as the destination, or something like that… At least I still get 16 LFO’s… RIGHT??? haha
Yes agreed , you can get pretty far with just the 32 steps. if you really need 64 you can hack a 64 step pattern together with song mode using 2 patterns, I’ve done it a few times.
here’s an interesting way to get really long LFOs too, much longer than 32 steps
Fun facts: Autechre used pattern of 32 steps when they played MD and MM (maybe they had Mk1)
Untilted was the first record (and tour) they used Elektrons on. it came out in April of 2005. the MD mk2 didn’t come out until 2007. but the MnM never had 32 steps, even in mk1 version. so they probably played off of what the MD’s step limitation was. although they could’ve been using chained patterns on the MD and having the MPC fire program changes at it…
it’s really easy to link multiple patterns by just pressing 2 or more pattern buttons.
i have mkII and i barely use 64 steps lol, only for when there is a need for longer chord progressions
(I know only one difference in MK2’s hardware with respect to MK1s: check the scale button LEDs on the bottom left corner of the panel).
do you guys have in depth knowledge of how pattern chaining works in the sense of copy and pasting while the chain is running? It seems that it’s a constant switch between two patterns so you need to time it right to paste a track in Pattern 1 and then Pattern 2 (at least if you want to do it while the groove is running, as I like to do to keep in the flow)
you don’t have to do any copy and pasting. you can on the fly chain patterns by holding down multiple pattern buttons. you can chain as many patterns as you want, not just two.
also in song mode (aka arranger) you can make loops of multiple patterns, combine parts of patterns together etc. and jump between these.
I advise you to get the Megacommand. If you love the MD, I believe the Megacommand is part of the full journey of said love for this classic piece. You can always sell the Mega (or the MD) if you don’t like the journey and embark on another journey. I personally think the Megacommand is such a cool idea from conception to execution and has the ability to grow even further with firmware upgrades. Go for it and regret it and sell it at worst case scenario.