Hey guys, must say I’m stoked to finally be a part of the Elektron community with my first box - a MD UW mkII with +drive.
I’ve been playing with it all day and have already picked up a great deal… lots of my own samples have been uploaded and I’m starting to create my own kits and songs etc etc.
I’ve learnt lots from forums as the instructions aren’t incredibly compelling to follow if I’m honest and there are a few things which I’m not too sure about so I hope you wouldn’t mind if I asked a few noob questions?
Is it possible to copy patterns from multiple tracks at once? ie. the entire pattern for my BD, SN and CH in A01 into A02 or do you have to do it one by one.
Can I have a different set of kit parameters between patterns. Ie. in pattern A01 i have a synthy sample pitched at 0 but when changing to pattern A02, I’d like to change that pitch to 5 but have the original pitch still waiting at 0 for when I go back to A01… I’ve tried in classic and extended mode and couldn’t get this to work. Infact the only way I could was by going through all of the A02 trigs for the synth and parameter locked them one by one up to +5… this seems long winded though!
What are the parameter encoders pushable for? I thought maybe I could increase reverb on a snare or something slowly with a build and then press the encoder to reset it to 0 but that doesn’t seem to do anything… Am i missing the true function for the push?
Sorry if they are silly questions and I’m sure I’ll have some more in due course. I’ll be sure to scout through all the old threads too and check if any of those can help me out!
Looking forward to posting up some of my work for you to hear soon too.
The MD will amaze and delight you! It is endless, and is much much more than just a drum machine
You can copy the whole pattern all at once (COPY/PASTE Pattern) or you can copy one track at a time (in RECORD mode, COPY/PASTE). *see the manual
You can have a different kit loaded on every single pattern, if you want. Just make tweaks to an existing kit (or make a new one) and then SAVE as a new kit. Done. You can also TRANSPOSE an individual track to get tonal shifts. *see manual
When you press the encoder knobs, the rate that the parameter changes is increases. So, you can make slow tweaks, or really fast tweaks by pressing down the knob when turning. You can also clear P-locks by holding the trig key that has the P-lock on it while at the same time pressing down on the encoder knob of the P-locked param.
The manual is going to be your new best friend/worst enemy
One thing I do hate about how Elektron does things is the kit/pattern relationship. I wish you could assemble a kit with the machines you want, say using a pattern with the BD pitch set to 0 on A01, and load the same kit on A02 but with the pitch set to 5 just for that pattern, without needing to make a new kit or p-lock every trig in the pattern to the new setting. I understand that patterns and kits are somewhat separate, but I find it counterintuitive to essentially create a new kit for a pattern that I just want to make a few changes to. Too often I will get a groove on a pattern, then copy it to a few other pattern slots to make changes and start tweaking knobs on a new pattern instead of p-locking each note so it doesn’t drastically alter the kit in my original pattern, thus changing the values from my original pattern (so if I want to use the same kit on A01 and A02, but with the BD at 5 instead of 0, I have to lock each trig). Or if I like the kit I used on A01 and want to use it for a different song with some slight tweaks for a pattern on B02, I have to save it as a new kit or p-lock every variation on every step.
I don’t imagine this will ever change, but I’d love it if kits and patterns were intertwined better, so I could use the same kit on various patterns without locking everything or making 5 variations on the same kit just so I don’t mess up the settings for other patterns.
Of course, if I’ve missed some key workflow element and there is an easier way to do this, please tell me.
Thanks for all the helpful input guys - I think I’ve got my head around these areas now. I like how the sheer flexibility of the interface allows you to work through minor workflow problems in creative ways… I guess you just have to use your head a little at times… Nothing wrong with that for us electronic musicians every once in a while!!
One more thing seems to be bugging me and that is… when I am editing a pattern for… say… the last few steps of a 64bar sequence (in the 4:4 and final section)… Is there any quick way to loop just this section so i can quickly audition my pattern as I’m inputing it? At the mo i get a quick run through of it then i have to wait for the 1:4, 2:4 and 3:4 sections to play through before I can get another stab at it.
You can do this in song mode. Go into song > edit. Then select the pattern you want, then set the start point to where you want. Then on the line underneath set it to loop infinite and press play. You can still edit in song mode.
