Just ordered an Elektron Machinedrum SPS-1 UW MkII

[denaris]

I am yeah, but not sure I just want a straight synth. I'm notorious shit at programming sounds, can do a nice bass and a simple pad but that's about it. I like tweaking presets and the fact that there's a sequencer on the MnM means there's different inspiration for me, chance to make different music.

Also looking at a 2nd hand Alesis Andromeda but again it'll just be preset tweaking. Jamming on the MnM really appeals.

Yeah i totally get where you're coming from mate. I'm not very good at programming synths either hence buying the MD cos it is more fun!
Great thing with either of the elektrons is you can just set up some patterns/sounds, hit record in your mac and jam for an hour tweaking all the parameters which will give you loads of new sounds/loops.

btw don't pay the rrp, get some quotes as most places will knock a good few quid off

[denaris]

Cheers mate

I intend to haggle or get something else thrown in. Where did you get the MD from?

http://www.production-room.com/elektron/

They were the cheapest by a long way when i was getting quotes.

So whats that...4 subverts with elektron gear?

Time for or own sub-forum me thinks

fine ... only to have it cruelly ripped away in a refurb

so whats the verdict on this wee beasty?

yeah mark! where da goods at?

sample pack or stfu !

[denaris]

You'll be lucky. I've been banging on the door of just getting some audio for ages

[denaris]

So it's been over a year now. How you getting on with it Mark? Seriously tempted by one again or the Monomachine. Once Maschine 1.6 is out in the wild I think I might sell it (prices are rising 2nd hand since 1.5 was released). It's never completed suited me even though it's really good the whole sample based nature isn't me. I want synthesis based machines.

Anything about it you'd say no to with the MD?

yeah mark! where da goods at?

YEAH Mark!!!

Wilshy the first thing you have to decide is Drum Machine or Synth?

If you go for the MD then buy it new and not 2nd hand as they now come with the '+drive' which means you can load and hold a shitload more samples into it which is great (gonna cost me 200 odd quid to have mine fitted with the +drive)

Will write some more when I get back from work mate

[denaris]

Well it's a dilemma at the moment. Surely with the +drive on the MD I can sample in synths and use them that way effectively turning it into a synth?

It's a bit expensive new, was looking 2nd hand if I'm honest. Just the MKII UW.

Yeah with the +drive you can store lots of samples on it.
If you go for the MD without the drive you will definitely want to upgrade it, maybe not straight away but best if you can get one with it already fitted rather than having to send it to sweden to get it done

I can say that I NEVER get bored of my MD. Between the P-Locks and the LFO's the possibilities are endless for twisting the original sounds you start with.
But even without all that I just love making grooves on this thing! It's a joy to use
It lets me get out of the studio and away from the computer, take it in the living room with the headphones and just make a bunch of sounds/grooves.

Building drum kits is a piece of piss.. choose some drums either from the on board 'Machines' or samples or a combination of both. Lay down a pattern then save it as a kit. Then start twisting it all up until it sounds completely different to what you started with and save that as a new kit. Repeat this a few times and suddenly you have lots of new kits to play with.

The sequncer is rock solid. The swing is quite good but sometimes it can be hard to get things sounding loose on it (for hip hop or whatever). You can get round this though by using the LFO's to delay the start times etc. The LFO'S can do all sorts of stuff that I havn't even got into yet

Woah this guy is serious;
http://vimeo.com/8056545

Yeah thats Hector. I love that guy! It's like James Bond playing with elektrons .

[denaris]

I love Hector. Blatantly not his hands using the MD and MM though!

Mark I think you've done everything to convince me I need one. Tell me more about the kit making, you say that twist things up and you've got a new kit. Do you mean a bit like resampling and chopping in the sample world, mess with a kit and various synthesis methods, twist and mix to taste, then just click save - for want of a better way of describing it?!

Do you find any limitations at all?

Yep you can just play around with the sounds on the fly and when you hit save (as new kit) it will save all the sounds/drums exactly as they are, so effectively it saves all the new parameters that they now have after mashing them up.

The only limitation I would say (and it's not necessarily a bad thing) is the lack of memory to load samples and it is done via midi so is quite slow... but that was not it's main focus anyway really as it was an add on for the UW . More about the 'Machines' and adding some samples into the mix is a bonus, plus it makes you work it a bit more when you have limits
Add a +drive to it and you're in heaven though

All the glitchy shit on this was done on the MD

http://soundcloud.com/dust/leons-twitch

I love Hector. Blatantly not his hands using the MD and MM though!

Mark I think you've done everything to convince me I need one. Tell me more about the kit making, you say that twist things up and you've got a new kit. Do you mean a bit like resampling and chopping in the sample world, mess with a kit and various synthesis methods, twist and mix to taste, then just click save - for want of a better way of describing it?!

Im horrible at describing this stuff too, But from what hector said..If i understand right () The kits are saved to each pattern... So real cool, like you make one kit youll be working with for a song by choosing the hits you want, then chosing the lfos and filters and pitch on each hit right... You can then save that to say like 4 patterns.. Then you could go to pattern 2 and change maybe just the highhat or really any changes you might make while playing with the kit and save so when you are working with a song you can have all these different variations on your pattterns.. see? cool huh?


Mark what is this + drive? When your talking that its slow in midi is that cause your slaving stuff from your computer to it?

+ drive
http://www.elektron.se/products/drive-upgrade