Model:Cycles

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#1838

love it hate it or just meh… The Cycles is limited - it should remain so because those limitations make it unique and I personally think that is the most important and interesting thing manufacturers should be concerned with in a market already oversaturated with feature rich gear that all does pretty much the same shit but in slightly more confusing ‘management menu divey’ ways (depending on the manufacturer). So the big deal is or should be how to make a new synth, grooveboox, drum machine, whatever more of a unique instrument. I think Elektron actually pulled that off.

I wasn’t overly impressed by it at first but it’s grown on me. I do still have reservations. Those reservations are not necessarily anything to do with it’s functionality. It’s feature packed all things considered. The sound however… pretty samey. But then so is a Fender Telecaster (my all time fave sounding guitar). Another incredibly unique instrument.

3 Likes
#1839

Model:cycles is a drum machine.

They only call it a groove box because its trendy.

The Korg EMX1 didnt have an attack envelope either, some killer tunes have been made on it. Funny, I always liked the synth sounds on that thing, but not the drum sounds. Model:Cycles is like the electribe I always wanted.

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#1840

Yeah this is it for me. I’m much more inspired by limitations (whether self-imposed or not) and am often left with such debilitating option paralysis when presented with gear with such huge possibilities, cf. the Matrixbrute I’ve had on loan since July last year which I should be making presets for but it’s just too much; my “maximising limited hardware” mindset makes me think I need to use every feature on the synth always :stuck_out_tongue:

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#1841

I tend to agree more with @AdamJay and his point. The point of all this stuff is to make music. While there is a buzzing community here on the forum for talking about gear, we still should stay focused on using the gear we have, whatever it may be. Frankly, it’s still so early in the model:cycles life… cycle? to be trashing it for what it “lacks.” It is a wildly capable synth as it is. On top of that, it’s freakin fun to use. There’s something about it (and the model:samples) that invites me to twist knobs to the extremes, probing for new sounds. Anyway, no one needs me to soapbox any more than I already have. Just trying to stay positive, vs. trying to find faults.

1 Like
#1842

I love the cycles, it just says pick me up like no other gear I’ve had.

#1843

Finally got my package after some work quarantine, updated firmware, I’m seeing trigs not turn off until I’ve hit them several times occasionally. The trigs can be set without problem, it’s just the removal that seems sticky.

Anyone noticed this? Never had that come up on any of my other boxes.

Didn’t appear to be a physical intermittency.

#1844

Well Said!!

I see that a lot. We all tend to do this to some degree. We all tend to look for that perfect all in one machine that does everything we need in exactly the way we want it to. Unfortunately that unicorn :unicorn: doesn’t exist, and probably never will. Hence us buying multiple machines, mixing and matching, getting G.A.S., etc.

So back to the point. These “limitations” can be overcome with some creativity and / or combining with another piece of hardware. This is all part of the fun and the different ways to get what you want out all your gear contributes to your own style and sound as well.

I think Elektron did a fantastic job with the MC. If you take the company’s other offerings out of the picture and pretend that the Models were the only things offered… they are still fantastically designed, well thought out, lots of features, complete instruments. There are tons of instruments with far fewer features used to make amazing music all the time.

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#1845

I love my M:C. I would still like panning plocks. It’s just such a simple subtle way to open up a sequence… It’s a go-to thing I do on both of my Digis, so I was surprised when it didn’t work. It just seemed simple enough, that I was caught off guard that it wasn’t supported.

I think it’s fair to request (or else Elektron wouldn’t have a dedicated email address for… wait for it… feature requests!). Is it stopping me from making music? Hell no. Would I be super stoked to see it listed in an OS update, hell yes.

1 Like
#1846

Which knob on the interface would you swap out for pan?

Because it is clear that pan isn’t p-lockable because it’s not on a knob.
The only p-lockable parameters not on knobs are in the LFO menu, and that’s full.
So, pick a knob. Which one?

Some things have to be cut due to decisions made in the design.
I reckon Elektron decided this was the least important parameter for parameter locking, and since there are ways to work around it, it was the least impactful parameter.

Ya gotta have priorities when you’re abandoning ship. Women and children first, ya’ll.

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#1847

Like a guitar or a piano, to name a few.

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#1848

What I was expecting, was to be able to hold down function, and turn the level/data knob, to set pan. In live record mode, there is no issue with this (and is in fact, how I first attempted to make pan plocks). I can see the concern of ergonomics of holding down a step, while pressing the function key, and turning the knob, but I sat here and gave it a go; it wasn’t as effortless as turning a dedicated knob, but it was by no means impossible. I’d take a quirky implementation over none (and I’d probably live record it anyways).

Func + level/data doesn’t have any alternate behavior at the moment, when in step record mode, so it is an available possibility.

The fact that there are other non-knob plockable parameters actually made it unclear that pan was not p-lockable. But even then, it does have a knob, albeit as a secondary function.

I am certainly aware of what it takes to get a product out the door, from concept to deliverable, so I get it. That being said, Elektron do do (ha!) OS updates, and often they add functionality. And, as I said, there is an official email address for submitting feature requests. I imagine if at some point a feedback threshold was met, they’d give it proper consideration, and time allowing, take a go at implementing it, (and could probably find a more elegant solution at that!).

I honestly skipped a bunch of posts on this thread, as I can’t keep up, and I came back in just in time to to see your previous comment, which came off as a little frustrated, and to me, a little unfair. I’m not sure if prior posters were giving you grief – I am certainly not trying to – but I felt the need to respond, since I was the one who posted the request for pan plocks, in the Mode Cycles Feature Requests thread, and thought it’d be worth a bit more explanation as to why I wanted and expected it.

OK, time to get back to my M:C. Cheers!

3 Likes
#1849

When two tracking (panning some sounds to the left and others to the right) into a 2 input soundcard, I’m finding the p-locked sounds are still in both channels. This is an issue for me.

I’d like to have a track with the kick and bass on 1 track going out of 1 channel.

#1850

Yup, same here.

1 Like
#1851

Could it be a timing thing? Timing as in you hold the step for too long and the device thinks you just want to edit parameters on that step thus not deactivating it after release?

I had no issue of steps not turning off personally.

#1852

I think I was the one who started up the panning thing again :confused:

…and then posted the midi implementation with CC 10.

People are exploring this box at their own pace and I’ve just seen it mentioned a few times about a lack of p-lock and thought I’d recommend a solution to the thing that was nagging: use another piece of gear / daw that can send CC 10.

It not only solves the problem, but it’s also part of the fun of making music with outboard gear. And the way we each work around any limitation plays into helping shape our own style.

No grief or anything, it’s just where this long meandering thread took us. I agree though, bottom line is we should get back to exploring! That’s why we all come here to this forum, to share our experiences in that exploration. It’s a beautiful thing! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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#1853

Maybe they could put pan in the lfo menu then…no much use the way it is now anyway

:sweat_smile:

#1854

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It is in the LFO menu.

3 Likes
#1855

I just tried that iPhone app. It works, but I need to look more into triggering the LFO from the cycles. It works from the iPhone, triggering from the cycles also seems to work but I can’t work out how to disengage the rate from the trigger. Will report back… otherwise pretty painless, plug the USB into your phone, that’s it

#1856

I am talking about main pan setting, but whatever…

#1857

I don’t really get the difference. Could you explain?