I’m in the middle of finding out which Elektron to keep and am wondering whether it’s best to maybe have several of them but try to work out tracks or sets that just use one of them to its strengths and potential. So far I usually had two of them on the table, with one being the main attraction and the other one in a supporting role. ST used to be the only one for me that had enough tracks and variety to basically make whole tracks with it (maybe using a few tracks as MIDI sequencers for a knobby synth). But with DT II and DN II, they can fulfill the same role. So I’m wondering if I should keep what I have for the time being and see how fun it is to just swap the Elektron on my table from time to time. What’s your thoughts and experiences?
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Unless you need the money and space, why not keep a few different boxes around?
Don’t fixate on having the “perfect” setup, as it doesn’t exist
I swap gear in & out all the time, it’s all part of the hobby for me (yes I treat this as a hobby not a profession or hustle)
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I have all my gear permanently hooked up to my mixer. And all connected with Midi. I tend to use all some or one, doesnt really matter. Use what I need for a given thing.
Just lately I got an EMX1, thats the one that seems to work really well on its own. So its the odd one out.
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I’m trying to avoid multiple brains right now, sound modules or things made into sound modules are cool. I don’t like the idea of only having one brain available. My own brain doesn’t work in a very linear fashion and so the way I want to work tends to change.
It’s frustrating using expensive stuff as sound modules when capable of more so I’ve been on again off againing with various devices in a pivotal role. I also feel bad not using stuff I spent a shit ton of money on and have to look at all the time.
If you really aren’t using it or feeling it, unless it makes your shelf look good then you probably don’t need it, however for me working with digitakt and digitone separately is a totally different experience, and working with them together is then again, a different experience.
I can’t imagine having one and not the other, and in my case I wouldn’t (for example) sell digitakt just because I was working with the MPC a lot last month.
Different strokes for different folks though, I understand where you’re coming from because you currently have a surplus of digi boxes which probably changes the way you’re looking at this decision.
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I find myself, as I get more comfortable with what I have, making less music with just one box, and more music with whatever I need in the moment from anything I have.
Today I had ten minutes or so and knocked up some patches and a loop on my Analog Keys, recorded it into Live and then turned everything off
I’ll come back to it tomorrow and see what I think, and the next place I go to develop the idea will depend entirely on what my ears tell me. It might just go in the bin.
I’ve also largely stopped thinking about live sets, because I don’t have a he opportunity to play them. Now my projects are a disordered nightmare, and I gleefully work across all sorts of projects at random, picking up dropped threads whenever the fancy takes me.
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For me, it’s always one box at a time, but I don’t think I could settle with just one, period. I love using the Syntakt, I love my MPC and I’m sure I’d love a Digitone 2. But I don’t think I’d sell the Syntakt just because I got a DN2. That analog FX Block leads to different ideas and that’s the purpose of having several boxes to me.
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I’ve got the same three at the moment (DT2, ST, and just got DN2). I think my head would explode, and the music I’d make would not be very good, trying to use all three.
I’m comfortable picking one box, or rarely, two, per project depending mainly on what kinds of sounds I want to use and center. Complex polyphony and chord progressions, DN2. Drum breaks/jungle, DT2. Analog synths along with sampled pads, drum breaks, or voice samples, ST/DT.
Each can definitely stand alone, and to me they all excel at different kinds of sound design and performances. I’m very happy I don’t have to choose which one I would part with, it’d be a very tough call.
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I would prefer one box, but such box doesn’t exists. As my setup grew, I had everything connected, but got option paralysis and constantly forgot the routing and midi channels. Now I have relatively small permanent setup where every box has clearly defined role and occasionally I add/rotate one additional box from shelved gear for some fun/variety.
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Good insights, thanks for sharing. I think I’ll stick with having one digi plus Nina on the table and see whether over time I’ll gravitate more towards some of them. I’m having a lot of fun with all of them and like @shigginpit said, all of them take me different places but it still all has my fingerprint on it. There’s even an AR I currently have listed, but each time I record stuff with it before selling, I’m having way too much fun with it.
I don’t have a problem per se right now as I’m enjoying all of the machines and can afford to keep them. I’m also creative and feel like I’ve become better and faster at coming up with promising patterns. But I also want to finish some tracks or sets and having things spread across machines makes that harder. But maybe the one brain plus Nina is the obvious solution and then it’s just a matter of committing to finishing things, not of what the setup looks like.
I think what’s at the core of it all is that I still haven’t quite decided whether I want to live record things in one go after arranging things or instead record individual tracks of songs and put together the song in a DAW. My latest EP was done with the first approach and more fun, but my first one was done with the latter approach and it allows to make more complex songs.
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I definitely try to avoid this too, I’d been running with the either OT or MC-707 as my brain for many years (swapping back and forth), even tried the Polyend Tracker but that didn’t last long.
I recently switched to the DT2 as a new brain, and relegated to the OT as form of sub-mixer and effects unit, doing it a huge disservice of course, but it’s better than being on a shelf!
But now I have the DN2 as well, and yes I start to see the quandary, using one or the other as just a “sound module” without the sequencer does feel like a huge waste. But with pattern switching & program changes I think you can have the best of both worlds.
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If I ever have the curse of “too much” I’ll just enjoy that while it lasts, but while perhaps it’s mostly a problem with my head that makes me think this, it feels like “too much” is hardly a possible scenario.
I think in a way, synths and this type of gear have a higher resale value in money spent vs money recouped upon sale than almost any other hobby. In fact, most other hobbies that have some similar or greater returns, are always speculation based, and you stand to lose a lot more and enjoy what you’ve acquired a lot less.
Can’t make awesome sounds or nice music with NFT’s etc.
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I agree, it used to be like that 100% for me as I mostly just bought used at prices that were stable. It’s probably also a factor that’s stressing me out a bit, as I know I can only sell E25 at a loss but prefer the workflow improvements of DT and DN II. And while I enjoy Nina, it’s also stressing me a bit because it was so expensive and I won’t be able to sell it, at the same time I don’t use it as extensively and feel bad for that. But it actually shouldn’t occupy so much space in my head as I don’t have money problems for now and I’m enjoying all of these machines. It’s probably also bugging me because there’s so much fucked up shit going on in politics right now that I need to calm myself by thinking about music and gear stuff because it brings me down, but then these things I like that give me joy occupy a bit too much space in my mind.
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If you keep those e25’s inside their boxes in a dark closet, I guarantee that in the future they’ll be worth twice what a black dt/dn is worth, however, that’s a long time to wait and have something you aren’t using.
It’s just a numbers game though, things produced in lower quantity have more value in the long term, if it’s something people actually want. These days when things are mass produced, most value increase is a product of hype, however, while older gear can become hyped and increase in value, usually the lower production or collector’s item type gear has a more stable and higher value.
There is a very limited number of e25 kits that they sold so like I said, strictly by numbers it was a smart investment, if you plan to hold on to it. If you’re getting rid of it in this market, in this economy, you will surely take a loss because DTII and now DNII have dethroned any “og” model.
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Yeah I think I definitely won’t do that, people are selling their E25 for 400€ right now. I just don’t assume people will pay a premium for shiny OGs in the future, as their successors can do everything they can plus more. Unlike a Monomachine or Machinedrum, that are still singular.
But yes, all of that is besides the point and makes these wonderful instruments more into some kind of investment, which I don’t want them to be. I bought E25 because I love the digis and they just looked so much nicer. I still love the digis and they just became better, so let’s just have fun with them but probably in a more focused way.
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Yeah but look at electribe for example, newer electribes (final generation) aren’t worth shit, OG electribes are more consistent sellers, and the super overpriced ones are the gimmick tube “x” models or whatever. So basically, I can see maybe not in 5 years, but like 15 years lets say, there being a price difference for the silver limited edition stuff.
Machinedrum, for example, has some colored special edition that is quite valuable despite the entire family being valuable, the 2 colored editions are particularly valuable.
Or like anniversary model OT mkII already has quite a high collectability and resale and it’s literally 3 different colored button caps and a different boot loader screen, right? I don’t think there’s any other distinguishing feature.
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Except that people don’t even want to buy E25 new right now. There’s only 666 of each and one year later, you still get them easily almost everywhere and significantly cheaper than the black versions (even before DT and DN II). Which makes me wonder: If people clearly don’t want them nowadays, why should people in the future want them?
But these are all side notes, let’s keep it on topic.
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I like both ways but if I have one box like my Virus that does it all, easier to use just one synth.
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I have all 3 as well. I agree. There’s only so much your head can handle at once.
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I wish I could have just one box that did it all. Gimme a DT/DN mash-up and I’d be satisfied.
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Like some others mentioned I also cant stand having more than 1 ‘brain’ machine on my desk. I have multiple machines which can serve that purpose, but using them together always feels like I’m making things more difficult and less fun. I’d suggest you try out one machine for a while and see how far it takes you.
One thing that I feel a lot of people miss out on because of the constant GAS and new options available is the power of becoming a real master on your main (brain) machine. By truly learning an instrument through and through you’ll find ways to do things you didn’t think were possible and come up with crazy ideas, inspiration and happy accidents.
I’ve spent 3 years using the ARmk2 as my main machine for making samplebased hiphop, and I found ways to make it timestretch samples, used it as an analog polysynth, I found a second hidden lfo in the control input and a way to fake a sidechaining effect on the compressor. I wouldnt have made some things I really like if I kept on switching machines every time I wanted to do something new or couldn’t figure out how to do something initially.
So yeah, try mastering one of those great elektrons you have!
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