Writing songs with Elektrons

[Jkellykellz]

i.e. (In no particular order) middle eight, Intro, verses, chorus, breakdowns…

Anyone making an attempt at this?

[Jkellykellz]

lol 4/4 can be dope but yeah it would be exciting to see some fresh takes

[PeterHanes]

@Jkellykellz

Anyone working with the Rytm mkii that writes outside the realm of techno/house/ambient?

Previously on Elektronauts:

Different ways of using the RYTM

While researching the RYTM, I noticed, and still notice that most people who own this box are (generally) making purely electronic music and seem to operate within a certain framework. I think it’s a good idea for a thread to show different ways that people are using the AR. I use a drum machine for backing up a rock band situation or something to jam along with. Sometimes we are improvising and other times there are structured songs. We’re using traditional guitars, bass, and acoustic drums am…

[craig]

There’s quite a bit of hip hop/boom bap ofc.

[Jkellykellz]

Totally. The boom/bap stuff can be a little more exciting process wise but the power of the Rytm just seems so under utilized round these interwebs.

There’s gotta be some people out there getting freaky af with these things but maybe the price point kinda holds back the risk takers.

[vvilms]

I actually have a thread dedicated to some very odd meter works with my Rytm/ A4 and DT — here’s a link to one of them.

Xuiqen

So I’ve been revisiting some of the older tunes to incorporate the A4 more fully into future sets. Here’s a quick jam on a new outro pattern for moiré: An additional note on how ^this particular development came about was I was listening to moiré while brushing my teeth with a powered toothbrush that (evidently) sounds a Db. Given, moiré was written in F-minor, the Db re-colored everything as lydian which I rather enjoyed. So for this outro things get shifted up and sound a bit more colorful. …

[mode-seven]

I really enjoyed the work of Saint Stink on YouTube. I think I became aware of him through Elektronauts. Maybe not completely removed from electronic, but more IDM and boom bap influenced. Give it a try

Saint Stink Music

[blurrghost]

Sometimes. And I’m on the mk1 so if that precludes me from the discussion feel free to ignore.
I try to make whatever strikes my fancy in the moment so I have different projects for different vibes. There’s plenty of techno adjacent stuff but I also have a project dedicated to stuff that has a bit of a “cop” era Swans feel. Kinda post no wave/ doom stuff. Another project that’s all reworked stuff from an old band of mine that was in the vein of Einsturzende Neubauten/ Test Dept/ TchKung so basically hyper syncopated polymetric stuff we recorded at my friends junkyard. And then to go hard the other direction I have a project for working on 80s New York boogie funk.
I recently discovered an old hard drive from maybe 15 years ago that had files from an album I was working on that I think I’ll chop up and dump into the rytm. Remix an album I never finished. It’s all organ and drums. I’m liking the rytm as a remixing tool for old band/ live music of mine that I never really did much with.
I’m also using it as a sound module in a band, no sequencing. I built a small electronic kit and picked up an old midikiti trigger to midi interface and it works great!
I find new ways to use this amazing machine constantly!

[Jkellykellz]

Hell yeah!

[xidnpnlss]

@kindohm sequencing AR with TidalCycles is my absolute favorite work with the AR

[Jkellykellz]

This is dope. Rad transitions and some really nice performance mode touches!

[Jkellykellz]

Oh yeah some funky shit in here. Really creative! Thanks for sharin’

[Jkellykellz]

Oh sick! Never got into Swans but love a bunch of No Wave / Doom. I wanna hear that junkyard shit haha & that 80’s boogie funk haha! I’m always stoked when people have eclectic taste, seems relatively rare.

[Jkellykellz]

feels like someone is pulling my brains out with a laser lol, p dope!

[kindohm]

Thanks @xidnpnlss!

The RYTM is my main synth and I don’t use its sequencer. As a percussive and sfx sound design tool I think it is a super powerful synth. Honestly the Noise Gen engine combined with a resonant filter+envelope is a constant source of kicks, toms, and other unusual percussion.

Here’s an example:

All drums (kick, toms, clap, hat) are synthesized from the RYTM (MK1) (no samples). The pad is a sample on the RYTM, modulating start/end points slightly over MIDI CC.

[johnl]

Previously on Elektronauts:

RYTM ambient machine

even before the VCO update I had been making ambient on this DRUM machine now on the VCO its crazy ambient box. post some your sounds of AMBIENT sounds on this drumming box… I’ll will post mine later after a recording

[dav123]

purple 2

not tekno…u might like this

[blurrghost]

Thanks. I’m still working out some tracks but if/ when I eventually record it I’ll post it on the forum. It sometimes takes me a while to get to that point since I’m kinda scattered, the drawback of that eclectic taste.
Re: Swans, their style has changed a lot over the years, this is akin to one of their early eras, particularly the “Cop” ep. They were a little bit late to truly be called no wave and a little early for what we currently think of as doom but those terms are close enough to give you an idea.

[Jkellykellz]

That’s rad! Massive sounding track. Synthesized drums sound great and that pad sample is all the vibe.

I’m a big fan of unusual percussion. I’m definitely gonna fuck with the synth engine more on the Rytm.

Usually the first thing I do when I start working on the Rytm is turn all of the synth engines off lol.

[MichaalHell]

I saw that Someone else mentioned saint stink… I often come back to his Aphex Twin inspired tune, I love the quirky catchy character of it.

Analog RYTM Composition #1 - Aphex Triplets