So I am using my first Elektron gear called Machine Drum that a good friend lent me to use for learning the ropes. I know my way around the basic of selecting tracks and using the drum pad sounds. BUT one thing I am confused about it:
How do I record a fresh new drum sample?
How do I toggle what pads I want on and off?
The quick start guide did not show this part and the manual I am still reading the 200 pages of it.
Is there a good quick start tutorial video on the Machine Drum like what cuckoo did for the newer Elektron gears?
I do plan on getting the new Octatrack MK2 and either Digitakt or Rytm MK2 next year when they are available as date right now is late October release and availability.
I found these helpful but cannot find the load button the guy keeps refering to on the MD
Where exactly is the load button on the MD? I figured out most of it and love it but cannot find the load button after selecting the pattern I want to edit.
What are you trying to load? To change pattern, hold one of the bank keys and press one of the 16 trig keys. Itâll either change to the new pattern instantly (if stopped) or when the current pattern reaches its end (if playing).
I am trying to create a new sample and save it. I tried to follow the tutorial from Elektron but get stuck on the part where he tells you to press the load button which is not present on the MD I am using.
If you forward to 1:29 of the video the Elektron guy says âI then press Load twiceâ and I cannot find where to do this on the MD! I can follow the rest of the video and was able to play the samples and tweak those a bit but got lost in trying to edit and save the samples.
Still I do much prefer the Elektron stand alone method compared to my current laptop Ableton Push setup. So when the new Elektron gear comes out then I will keep the computer and push for home use only and use Elektron for live events.
Sorry I was stuck on stupid and the guyâs heavy thick British accent confused me until I figured out that he meant press the âNoâ white button on the MD instead of âLoadâ.
Now I got it figured out and just created a few custom new loops for the BD, SD, and HT. Man this is so fun! I like it even better than Ableton Push so easy to do and fun once you get used to the Elektron way of doing things!
Hopefully moving from the MD to Octatrack and Rytm will not be too much different in terms of the workflow and interface? If so then I am hooked!
The real time trig tweaks are awesome as well. Hard to believe how incredible the old MD is almost 8 years later since it first came out.
The Octatrack is a whole new monster. Itâll turn your brain inside out, but itâs amazing. Iâm not even using a quarter of its functionality but Iâve made some really great stuff with it. I actually sold my MD to get an OT
Right on, well I love the MD and think that the new MK2 version of the Rytm will be awesome or the Digitakt plus the new Octatrack would be great setup.
thanks but I am just borrow the MD from a friend to learn how Elektron works. Does the newer Elektron gear like the Octatrack and Rytm use a different system or will I be able to take what I learned from using the MD to the other Elektron gear? Hopefully the learning curve will not be as steep now that I am learning to use the MD.
You can definitely transfer the knowledge. Elektron gear evolves in features with each new piece, but theyâre all based on the same core ideas, so Iâm sure youâll find it much easier to go from that to an OT than having one as your first machine.
Yeah, Octatrack is a little bumpier than the others just because some of the concepts around âwhere the sound is coming fromâ are a little more abstract and there are more âhiddenâ functions and shortcuts. But the basic layout structure of tracks, parameter pages, patterns, sequencing, p-locks etc all transfers 1:1.
Good to know I am hooked! I will definitely get the Rytm MK2 first since priority is a drum beat making machine and the others like the DSI Tempest cost more and do not offer the Elektron workflow system.
The only comparable drum machine would be the Jomax Alpha and that is hard to get time on and I donât know if it is as good in terms of sampler/sequencer as the Elektron gear.
no worries I figured out how to use the MD in less than an hour to get new sampler drum tracks created and as an engineer love tinker with new stuff. I will build my live rig triumvate of AR MK2, OT MK2 and Virus!
Since I already have and love my Microkorg the first piece of Elektron gear will definitely be the AR MK2.
