And does anybody else have this problem?
You want to play with your machine…But you’re not really sure how/what to play with.
Years ago I played this game on PS3 called Proteus. I quite liked the soundtrack and how all the sounds responded to what the player was doing/seeing/interacting with. On a limb I sent the composer an email, saying I really enjoyed his work and asking him some questions about composing in general. What he responded with I still remember: “Sit down and explore and enjoy yourself, and consider that a composition can sometimes be a reward.”
I still think about that sometimes–and this philosophy helps with Elektron exploring.
So generally when I sit down with an Elektron machine without any plan whatsoever, I just load up a machine and lay down some trigs. Hopefully an idea will strike like “Oh, I’ve never p locked the distortion amount on this step” or “oh I’ve never sent a hold triangle LFO to the attack of the amp envelope” kind of stuff. Generally some sounds/feeling/groove will start happening and I’ll see where else it will go. Oftentimes it’s nothing, and that’s okay, but sometimes it turns out to be something that gets me going. Either way, along the way, ideally I’m learning and growing with my instrument and I suppose that is the most important thing.
But still it’s daunting. There is something a bit overwhelming about sitting down with one of these machines without a dedicated plan.
So what do you guys do?