Had an MD on and off for around ten years also - a total work of art.
I was just trying out the trigger input trick from various md machines on ouput c into E12 machines. Then locked in crt8 trigless trigs for the E12 retrig, pitch, filter, and all that. With heavy reverb, a couple of input trigs and 64 steps and low bmp, it all turned into this fuzzy granular weird thing that just went into droneeee land.
Freaking nice.
What trouble are you having with using the Pyramid to control the MD?
The parameters to control midi CC extend between two midi channels(per voice)
I am confused by what you wrote. The MDās MIDI CC mappings cover four tracks (sounds) per MIDI channel.
I completely understand, thereās nothing wrong with the machine, just for controlling MDUW parameters, per voice it can extend over two midi tracks, I believe
I am straight up thinking about getting a second oneā to keepā in storage for if/when my first one dies.
Surprising, i realy like to use MD in conjunction with Pyramid. It confers MD the ānowadayā functions we need, microtiming, numerous Lfo, arpegiator, trigless trigs (by cc control). A real nice drum expander. Futhermore cc are simple to program on MD cause the numbers are incremental organised.
I would say Pyramid is a must have for MD, and contrary 
I just spent a few hours programming my Cirklon to get it to work controlling all the CCs for the MDUW and it is a bit challenging as the parameters are spread out over 4 channels, but the nice feature of being able to reassign how the MDUW responds to midi has been a nice work around and I think it will be an absolute beast - esp. since I will be able, in theory, to program all 16 tracks, with (in the near future) 12 auxes per track, and also throw in instant pattern changes. I wonāt be as instant or smooth as the OT, but will lead to nearly as much mayhem.
Iām sure that youāll appreciate the investment of time. Youāll get some great reward for that. Same with Pyramid : Iāll have to spread the control over 4 chanels. I think, the assignment instrument in Cirklon seems to be more efficient than program each time the cc in Pyramid.
In return, to be able to correctly record MD in Pyramid, I made two specifics kits made of midi engines (16) with correct chanels (4) and notes (one for each engine) assignment. So Iām able to record old patterns from MD to Pyramid, itās a real pleasure cause then I can play MD on more than 4 bars, just like an expander, tweak MD in live, use cc like trigless trigs. So much fun to have the MD being as capable as black elektron units !
The best, for fun, is pattern mapping from our beloved sequencers, oooh what a cool thing !
Once I got the Rytm I stopped using the MD a whole lot, save for the occasional session, because the Rytm has an immediately impressive sound, especially with its low end, and I appreciated the improved sequencer and higher sample quality. I actually tried sending samples from the MD directly to the Rytm because I figured it would be better through the Rytmās analog circuitry. Turns out I donāt really care.
I have been sampling sounds from the Rytm into the MD and have found I actually prefer how they sound in the MD. I prefer the synthesis on the MD, own an Analog Heat, and have a Digitakt coming, so I donāt see a need for the Rytm at this point. I think the Rytm is a wonderful machine but Iāve never had the love for it that Iāve had for the digital Elektrons. The Analog Heat gives me all Iād need for analog flavor (plus a FMR RNLA for compression) and Digitakt will give me the sequencer and many other bonuses.
I donāt use the MD live at this point, but it will be my go to sample source for a long time (had mine since Feb 2011). 
I just jumped back on the MD after spending much time on the Rytm. I dropped some new samples purchased from Elektron and had a whirl.
I think its great to go away and come back to that sound. The sound of the MD. Ass shaking sounds that gets eaten up by this machine. Thanks for the reminder gents.
Some interesting posts about workflow with controllers as well. Will keep that in mind. Cheers.
not only but also the midi clock of the Machinedrum has a built-in super subtle swing.
Fascinatingly, even though the Machinedrum has this built-in swing to the Midi clock signal, the MD will, unsynced, stay in time with Ableton at whole bpm tempoās for up to ten minutes.
Hi everyone,
I guess this is my obligatory, ārecently bought a Machinedrum, and I love itā post. Itās surprising that I feel this way at all, seeing as I went in with a lot of trepidation, but thereās something oddly intuitive about the Elektron workflow that just clicks with me. Certainly more than my Push 1 ever did. Iāve already been able to create some awesome patterns, and I can only imagine how rewarding things will get once I have time to dig through the manual.
That said - I canāt help but feel itās a little strange that Iāve had this reaction. All Iāve ever heard about Elektron is that their gear has a steep learning curve, and that the workflow is nothing short of Byzantine. The Push meanwhile has always been lauded as this intuitive, straightforward tool that anyone can use. Unfortunately that was never my experience, since something about it always feltā¦cluttered? Convoluted? I donāt know. Stranger still is that Iām by no means a ātechyā guy, and I usually have trouble with new gear, but the MD is a whole other story.
Obviously things will get harder as I progress, and the more in depth features are still hard for me to grasp, but Iām looking forward to one day getting there. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long and productive journey. Curious if anyone else had a similar reaction when they first started 
You are in good company. There instruments make a ton of sense to me and Iāve always picked there nuances up quickly and easily. The Machinedrum is a great one, would love to own one again someday : )
When I owned one, I oftern liked to run the Machinedrum into some nice distortion and filter out a bit of the top end. I often used the Electrix Filter Factory for this, but Iām any/many will do
Agree. I believe its the deeper āprogrammingā and options it offers tend to confuse me. But, that said, I am very untechy and my only other digital experience is the LXR. However, I love the MD sound and the crispy texture it offers. Really beautiful machine.
It was the same for me. When I sat down at the Machinedrum for the first time it was a revelation. Totally changed the way I wanted to make music. It was also my first step sequencer. Previously I had only used clunky linear workstation sequencers. And the soundā¦ it was so alive and crazy. It also never stops being inspirational. It has so much depth and itās just amazing the range of sounds you can pull from that machine. 15 years on and I still love mine
I love Elektrons because it seems no matter how long I own one I immediately get a lot out of it, but also continue to find new little tricks hiding in the nooks and crannies.
reason I donāt regret getting itā¦the adventure looks endless and inspiring.
I had the same experience. Machinedrum just clicked immediately. I think it helps, in part, to be starting with Elektronās oldest (excluding SidStation) instrument and therefor one that doesnāt have the wave of more advanced and newer features found on Octatrack and the Analog series.
For me, I didnāt come from Push or anything like that. When I got my Machinedrum I had recently gotten rid of some an Korg Electribe EMX and an MPC500. Those were kindof cool boxes, but for some reason, I could never progress beyond a single bar / pattern with them. That one pattern would sound really good, but I could never make songs with them.
I had my Machinedrum at the heart of a live setup within weeks - and it was the first time I had really done a show in decades that wasnāt āharsh noiseā.
I think that was about two years ago I entered the Elektron world. Itās changed everything. And Iāve got a special place in my heart for these silver Elektrons.
It was immediately accessible and clicked for me within an hour or two. That said, 5 years on Iām still discovering entire universes of possibilities in this machine. Do yourself a favor and donāt write off the sampling capabilities (if you own a Mk II). I was discouraged after some initial confusion about loading in samples and about RAM and ROM machines, and I spent years ignoring this side of the MD. Turns out itās completely amazing as a real-time sampler-sequencer.