Non music theory guy here. Can someone explain to me the connection between the knob values and why a value of 6 should equal 16th note and why value of 12 should equal 8th note?
From manual:
SPD sets the speed of the arpeggiator. It is synchronized to the BPM of the project. A setting of 6 equals 16th notes, a setting of 12 equals 8th notes and so on.
it’s midi clock ticks. there are 6 such ticks per 16th note.
Another example of Elektrons wonderful “man machine interface” - cos everyone thinks in midi clock ticks right?
Especially useful live when you might want to quickly twist a knob and go to 37 midi clicks then back to 6 in one deft audience wowing move …
#manmachineinterface
yeah this param could benefit from snapping to certain even values when holding FN…
nothing that couldn’t be solved in a minor update.
I believe we might see some sort of overhaul with regards to it at some point…
maybe it didn’t make sense to do this before the poly update.
i.e. everyone would love being able to lock the params per step, and it’s also odd that the note length is cut off by muted arp steps…
I’ve been struggling a bit with the arp on the A4.
Having read the woefully inadequate section quoted above from the manual, I was still baffled as to what the speed was measured in.
I appreciate the clarification Void, and if I understand you correctly, the corresponding clock divisions for speed values are:
1=1/96
2=1/48
3=1/32
4=1/24
5=1/19.2
6=1/16
7=1/13.71
8=1/12
9=1/10.67
10=1/9.6
11=1/8.73
12=1/8
…etc
why?
who has ever wanted an arp synced to 1/10.67 clock divisions?
every other synth has sensible, musical speed settings for their arps that include dotted notes and triplets.
forgive me if I have understood this wrong, but I find the decision to have the settings this way inexplicably daft, and a major pain in the bum.
I just wrote that all down for reference, kind of ridiculous that there are decimal fractions in there. That wouldn’t sound very musical. Maybe we’ll see an update. Even just to be able to push the knob in and turn for only the properly divisible ratios.
And add swing to the Arp Elektron!
May be to go to counterpoint and verticality of music .
Today everything has been done to music.
They are strong these Swedish.
I’m all for freeing ourselves from the shackles of convention, but it seems that, all elektron have done here is slapped on some distinctly less comfortable shackles.
imo the arp is quite great as it is… the odd values can be used for wonky grooves…
what I’d like would be a negative octave range, so it could start with the highest octave and go down… and yeah, holding FN & turning speed knob could jump between 1/3/6/12/18/24/32/…
Does this mean 6 ticks = 1/16 or 1=1/96 hold true across all the time-centered parameters?
Cross machine?
Delays on OT
Envelopes?
That would be way too simple 
For example on A4’s delay 8 means a 16th note delay (16 an 8th note etc.), so each step is a 128th note. On OT’s delay each step is a 256th. The manuals usually have these values explained, which is good because they’re not exactly intuitive.
i will say this, i’m attempting to leave software so i make music w/ my ears more than my eyes and a certain portion of my brain. so in that sense i like what it does.
How about an Arp that would follow the machine’s SWING setting ??
That would be revolutionary !!
We could finally not feel like complete idiots when one of our students decides he wants to use swing on a beat, and also use the Arp (I know, it’s a rare occasion)
Secret you have a great brain. I like the. Way it works. Your OT vids are essential viewing.
I wonder if we could table all the different time based modes on the machines so they are easy to access? I have multiple elektron boxes and am about to get a rytm and I reckon most people on here have multiple boxes too.
Haha, thanks 
I was not trying to be mean, just pointing out my biggest bug bear, ever, with Elektron stuff.
I suppose part of the fun is juggling around all the machines, and dialing in different parameters on them, mostly by ear and not visually, or referencing numbers. I still agree that the arp subdivision numbers are a bit silly, I don’t think in ticks that often.
Or why do the start and end parameters on the sample page of the AR do not go to 127 (?!)
In any case, I work around limitations. I’ll do all my arps in Live if I’m working on a track with swing (god forbid), and then record in the A4 sequencer, using micro timing to keep the swing “intact”.
Cheers !
Hey secret music is be very interested to see your methods of working as I think it would benefit my workflow. Any chance that you could go through your process on a tutorial? Your obviously an educator - I’d for sure watch and learn
Hi Dogma !
Sounds like fun, although my methods of working vary greatly depending on the project I’m developing at the time. I do a lot of ghost writing, so depending on the sound I’m looking for, I’ll go for different approaches. Mostly, I use OT, A4, Tempest and now AR as my sources of sounds. All samples I use are recorded by myself, with a mic, or generated in Reaktor using user created ensembles.
I tend to write on kit for a while, then dump stuff in Live 9, one track at a time, jamming it as it goes in. As tracks pile up, you get this nice, organic interaction between them, that is impossible to predict, or orchestrate. I do spend quite some time editing in Live, but not nearly as much as I used to before I got the OT. Now I try to do buil ups and create movement as stuff goes in, and simply edit and arrange after so that it makes sense.
Maybe if you have particular questions you could PM me, and I’ll focus a tutorial on those questions, as I ’ sure it would benefit others as well. Sorry for high jacking this thread, I just got a bit carried away
Cheers !
It is what is and I’ve got used to it.
But just want to know why it is labeled that way.
does anyone know the reason it is like that?
…I still hate this
Elektron. I still hate this.
Yup