Hello!
I bought AR MK2 and then Syntakt in one week.
Now I am thinking about if I even need to keep AR, because Syntakt sounds better and has a lot more features. The ONLY two really strong reasons to keep AR are Scenes and Perf modes.
So I am wondering is it possible to lock params changes from other machines to AR Scenes and Perf? This would be a killer feature.
If not, maybe anyone has other ideas how to combine these two machines efficiently?
I have both. I use them in different set-ups (so far). They have a lot of feature/role overlap - and most of the same Machines. It hadn’t occurred to me to use them in the same set-up. I think that’d steer me towards an overdose of drums. You could use one for melodics/harmonics only, one for drums only. You could use the AR just for samples. The AR’s “designed for” one-shots but you can use loops and sample chains. The ST’s FX block is more flexible for sound design than the AR’s… but the AR has an end-of-chain compressor, which is good for limiting, or gluing a mix together. If you never used the ST for drums, it’d still be a brilliant purchase: Tone, Bits, Swarm, Raw and Toy all sound amazing and more than justify the device).
Some opinions
I disagree that the ST has more features. I am certain the AR has more features: but maybe the ST has more you use, more often. I also disagree the ST “sounds better” - it sounds different: I find the ST cleaner and brighter, the AR a little darker and much noisier (mostly in a good way).
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Thanks! And what about Scenes and Perf modes? Are they limited to be used only within AR? It would have been fantastic if I could lock Syntakt’s params to AR Scenes.
And if not, I am 100% confident that this is possible technically, there are no reasons to not to provide this feature in future OS updates. This would definitely change everything.
I know this is subjective but can you explain more or share a demo/sample which shows what you mean?
Don’t have Syntakt yet and I’m curious
Syntakt definitely has more options to create hats and cymbals. Also, in my opinion Syntakt’s dual VCO is a bit better than AR’s.
That’s why I say Syntakt sounds better. But AR has Scenes and Perf modes, which are great and they make AR a lot better in live performance.
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Cool. I’m a bit surprised cause i heard some people prefer Rytm for detailed sound design
Now I’m wondering if stacking samples on AR synth can push it over the edge a bit to add sonic depth. I’ll check some head to head comparisons
Use a MIDI track on the Syntakt to control Performance macros on the Rytm - all the Perfs respond to a CC.
The Rytm has four different Pattern change modes, but the Syntakt only has one. However, the Rytm’s modes only affect manual play, rather than MIDI sync’d play. I’m keen to find out if the manual modes work independently of the MIDI sync’d ones. Can you manually change Rytm Patterns in the alternative modes, whilst still driving normal sequential pattern changes over MIDI? This would let you play fills and alternative patterns, mess about with rhythmic play completely using Direct Start, but still keep the overall structure of the track driven by the Syntakt (or some other external Song Mode). (My Rytm’s packed away right now so I can’t test it easily)
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And what is the purpose of controlling AR Perf with a Syntakt MIDI?
The power of AR is that you can control a lot of params with only one knob (or pads in case of Scenes). So my question is about an ability to control also a Syntakt’s params with them.
Or do I think about it from a wrong perspective and everything (AR and Syntakt itself) could be controlled with a dedicated Syntakt’s MIDI channel simultaneously?
(For you to better understand my idea: I want to be able to control a lot of params from both machines simultaneously using one knob).
I don’t know, I’m just offering integration ideas you may not have thought of in case they’re useful.
The problem is that the Syntakt doesn’t have CC-driven macros. You can “fake” macros using the velocity modulation, and you can do that on the AR too. Using the velocity modulation, you might be able to control multiple parameters simultaneously. I imagine this would have limitations and frustrations (like having to share MIDI channels between the devices)… I’m not sure. I’ve not used the velocity mod much.
Thanks, this may work, but I will still hope that Elektron will provide AR integration with other machines in future OS updates. If we could control other machine’s params with AR’s Perf and Scenes, this would make AR a must have for literally everyone.
As I said above, it’s the other devices NOT having macros that respond to CCs that makes this tricky. The AR’s fine. (well, maybe it could also send its CCs when you hit the Perf pads… I don’t know if it does this).
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Also… @Speldosa linked this video on the macros already:
The Rytm also responds to Aftertouch, so you could set things up as in the video for the Syntakt, and then MIDI Thru to the Rytm, to have the Syntakt control both itself and the Rytm’s aftertouch macros.
Yes, I saw it. Thanks!
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