Glad you enjoyed; thanks for listening. 
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Yeah this guy is super creative. Really making use of all the features haha!
This is dope.
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Yeah I mean the Rytm is a drum computer haha. I try to keep an open mind. I feel like there’s always more to learn.
All the music I make on the Rytm consist of sampling guitars, and composing pretty traditional song structures. I’m like 20 songs deep on a album. Once I finish those then cut them down to about 12 I’ll be sure to share haha.
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Yeah I mean personally my main concerns with music are if it’s engaging, emotionally impactful and creative. Side concerns are if it meets the moment in a particular environment. What exactly are you seeking? Or is it something you can’t quite pinpoint?
Relating to the original topic: Techno meets the moment if you’re in the right setting but the majority of the time it’s monotonous and uninspiring to me. I don’t find myself on too many Yachts or at burning man lol. I also learned that going to bed is a far greater return on investment than partying all night in some Brooklyn warehouse lol but that’s just me.
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hahah I feel yah. I get down with a few warp artist but goddamn my mind glazes over with the berghain shit.
I have a Rytm but I sure as fuck know what it’s like to be broke as fuck I really think the cost of Elektron gear keeps out most the weirdo’s.
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The past few years I’ve mainly been making techno-leaning music, but a lil while back I recorded this cover using the Rytm for all the drum/percussion sounds.
No fancy programming here, but maybe in the vein of what you’re lookin for!
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Oh man in 2014 I had negative money so I feel yah haha. Stoked af to have a Rytm though. 35 now and finally got some good gear. Not gonna lie though I was really creative and had fun making the best out of garbage gear haha.
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This is dope! Rudimentary Peni forever lol!
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Ah this is perfect timing to see this. I have lstruggled with this machine lots for various reasons, mainly just not being able to get it to sound exciting and those lights piss me off haha, but finally have two tracks recorded that are kinda similar to the older Pokk! stuff i did but something more stripped back and edgier. It’s basically one kick sound and internal fx for 12-15 minutes but hammering the machine more, plus being only one sound, only one pad illuminates 
I gotta agree tho, i find many of the examples of this machine pretty uninspiring, although I don’t think that is down to the machine at all. It’s a great box for sure. I think the main trouble with any machine that can do a-lot is the ease at which you can create something that seems impressive through being able yo reach results quickly with lots of stuff happening, but those results are often pretty meh or samey.
One area i have found hard is finding and then extracting the sound of this machine in something that sounds good. I’m talking about the essence of the machine that sets it apart from any other high quality device.
One strategy i have been using is thinking about particular areas of it’s workflow and imaging where else i have used something similar and thinking what sounds that othr tool made. For example, Audiomulch automation, it being linked or separate to the main bpm and what I typically automated and why, and then thinking about the Rythm Mk 2 and attempting to force upon it that workflow.
I also have explored how to get into or understand its sound by injecting other devices sounds into it, to get me part way or past that cleanliness it has, to something more. For example, I’ve been using the PO-33 to quickly sample some of the labels releases for a mix project, and manipulating the loop points in the Rytm and using the speed of the Elektron to hammer our remixes and a different palette or qualities of the originals. This puts me somewhere in wouldn’t normally be and then can remove the PO-33 and try to dig for that new sounds in those recently explored approaches.
It feels very much like building a relationship with the machine, sonically and visually but also adjusting my feelings towards it. I want to look at it and sense what it sounds like, to see past the designed workflow and understand the hidden aspects. Its a feeling of breaking the machine. It’s definitely a hard one to break i think.
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Yeah I mean it’s a fine balance. There is something beautiful within the act of instantaneous creation. Maybe the mind stays free flowing rather than meandering into oblivion. Maybe the process becomes extremely enjoyable. We do have such limited time on earth after all. Maybe 20k, 30k or at best 40k days/nights.
On the other hand there’s tremendous beauty, and a sense of purpose/meaning that can arise from challenging ones self to get beyond the surface. Pushing into unfamiliar realms.
Seems like our brains love some good ol instant gratification.
That’s why it’s kind of weird that so many people keep it so basic on Electrons. The machines themselves have a relatively steep learning curve which requires a pretty fair amount of patients so you would think there would be a lot of deep heads but I guess it’s all relative. Seems like many folks find techno to be deep, I respect that, but It just doesn’t tickle my fancy.
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I liked lots of the techno from the 90’s but i think what was a really individualistic expression has changed into a capitalist sounding engine. When i listen back to older stuff it still sounds incredible, even if it’s something i have yet to hear. I wonder through ever improving on efficiency and ideas of quality, it’s harder for many to find that edge.
On a different angle, I’m pretty sure the Rytm can be used as a live looper although yet to try it. That definitely opens it up sonically, esp when thinking back to many looping based music making.
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Yeah! Two concurrent projects, both where Rytm is the main drum component:
The first is one that’s Shoegaze influenced. My two main “guitar” sounds come from (1) Sub37 through the 104M and 108M moogerfoogers and (2) Digitone Keys through an Analog Heat mk I. Bass mostly on Grandmother. This is a two person band. Mixture of 4/4 and 6/8 feels.
The second is a live dance music solo set that I’m working on, which draws influence from soukous, Zimbabwean music, reggaeton, trap, and funk. Much is 4/4 but heavily syncopated and swung. I also like doing stuff like two measures of 4 and a measure of 2 or 3, which the Rytm is great with too.
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Yeah I agree. Tons of rad techno from the 90’s. I feel like there’s always gems in all forms of music haha. There’s probably some incredible shit that came out yesterday I just haven’t heard haha.
I try to use the Rytm like a looper haha. I’ll record entire sections of synths and guitars into the sample engine then pop those samples in the tune as a trig. Usually I’ll set the trig condition to play 1 of 2 so I’m not choking my live additions off.
I don’t think it’s possible to live loop though. That would be incredible.
I’ve been considering an Octatrack for that purpose.
Nice! Would love to hear!
Awe man my mind goes to shit with the master length when I try to get freaky with time signatures.
So for example lets say you’ve got your kick playin in 4/4 and you wanna get a funky 3/4 African esque groove going on top of the 4/4 kick (thinking of shit from like 10 different countries lol) what would you set the length at for the non kick tracks?
If you think of one bar of 4/4 as 16 sequencer steps, then one bar of 3/4 would be 12 steps.
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Makes sense! Thank you!
@kindohm I really want to ask for any tips you can share on how to approach designing sounds like you have here (in Fears of Tears…). Not the ‘drum’ sounds but the other ones- In my mind I call them stretchy hyper-synthetic sounds- or is that what the ‘tear’ refers to, as in tearing something up? I think I hear something similar in Mark Fell and Gabor Lazar’s stuff. You probably don’t want to give away your secrets! but can you point me in the general direction to experiment with? FM based I assume? I’m wondering if the Preen FM3 can get close.
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@ericd I’m using the Harmor synth, which is made by Image-Line (FL Studio).
It isn’t FM at all and I am mainly exploiting the harmonic/partial bending features within Harmor to make those sounds. Harmor is an additive/subtractive synth that gives you high-level control over 516 individual sine wave partial harmonics (per unison voice, I think). Every control on the synth affects the amplitude or position of those harmonics.
I don’t exactly remember how I made that particular patch, but I was probably using Harmor’s Phaser at zero speed to scoop out sections of harmonics, the Prism to move harmonics out of place, and there’s probably a band pass filter with an envelope on top of the whole thing. I also tend to use a 2nd unison voice and exploit the detuning, which has drastic affect on the phaser. Probably also starting with a square wave.
This video by SeamlessR is my personal favorite for an overview of Harmor’s features and usage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0ds8Jo1RZc
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Thank you- that is very generous sharing and gives me alot to look into.
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