It’s January and it’s time to dig in and relearn some instruments. For me it’s the Analog Rytm that needs some luv and attention.
I haven’t used my Rytm for the last 5 months due to other drum machines taking all the focus but I wanna get back to it with new approach and work flow.
I’ve been using the Rytm a lot and actually feel good about the sounds I’m getting out of the synth (and samples layering) but I never really got deep into the scene and performance thing.
Mostly cause I find it to being distracting while playing/recording /jamming and a bit fiddly to set it up, kind of kills the flow….
So it’s been a feature that I kind of left out or at least didn’t use to its full potential(some reverb on sn or filter on the whole mix etc) cause I don’t
know how to setup it up in a smart way.
I’m thinking that I should maybe create some kind of template so I wouldn’t need to start from scratch every time I make a kit/pattern.
How do you guys get around to set it up, do you use a template or other smart ways to make this easier?
Do you use the scenes/performance a lot?
Please share your thoughts or and experience.
Scenes and Perf Macros can really bring stuff to life. Also don’t underestimate fills/no fills for some quick pattern mangling (classic would be to have all kicks set to no fill and maybe a hi hat, clap or snare roll in addition to that with trigs set to fill).
For Macros, I like that you can go to another page (mute page for example) while keeping the pad pressed, that will “freeze” the Macro state until you come back to the Macro page and press it again. You can also freeze more than just one Macro. One of my fav applications is using this on a Macro that ramps up the revern send level on hats and maybe other percs and also ramps up the reverb decay. I can drown my tracks in reverb, change to the mute page and mute all those tracks that are feeding into the reverb. The reverb rings out nicely in a huge wash and I come back to “unfreeze” the Macro.
On the Mk2 you get a potentiometer to control Macros.
I also like to use a midi controller for Macros, it lets me basically “mix and match” macros. BCR2000 or a different controller with LED rings and a 4x4 layout (or dividable into 4x4) is nice to keep track of things.
Also midi lfos from OT or DT, DN to modulate Macros!
To help me further, I usually associate Scenes and Macros with tracks and since my tracks are also always organized in a similar way (kick on BD1, sub bass/rumble on BT5, clap or snare on SD2, bassline on RS3 and CP4 etc.) I usually know what to expect.
The Scenes for all my hi hats are organized from left to right with increasing intensity, so Scene on CH9 shortens decay, Scene on OH10 has longer decay, Scene on CY11 adds delay and reverb, last Scene adds more reverb and modulation. Similar for Macros.
Such a layout makes it much easier to come back to older patterns and just pla, but of course it also just makes it easier to perform in general. No spontaneous formation of knots in the brain while you’re trying to check your cheat sheet for the pattern^^
It kind of restricts the craziness, but you gain playability.
If you want, you can save your layout as a kit and use that as template.
I got fills going and a happy with those, use a setup where tracks are the same over most kits and using macros but it sounds like you are on another level with those. Will look into this…
So back to the studio and cut a good template to use as a standard kit. Can you share a kit across projects?
Sorry, I know that I got some work to do regarding Transfer and Overbridge as well.
Yes, you can. You can just copy a kit and paste into another project. Navigate to the kit with up/down arrows and press [Function]+ [Rec] to copy. Then load another project, navigate to a kit slot and press [Function]+[Stop] to paste.
Remember to save the new kit.
Edit, checked the manual. Doesn’t seem to be possible with Transfer. Only OS updates, projects, sounds and samples via Transfer.
If you have to deal with multiple kits and don’t want to jump between projects for half an hour, you can do that via midi sysex with a software like Elektron’s C6. On the Rytm, go to Sysex Dump in the menu -> Sysex Send -> Kit. Then select all kits you want to transfer or transfer them one at a time. Prepare the sysex software for receiving files and send the kits. Save on your computer and name the file accordingly. Change project on the Rytm and select Sysex Dump -> Sysex Receive -> Kit. You can choose if you want to replace the active kit or specify a slot #. Send sysex from computer via sysex software.
The process is detailed in the manual, best to backup all projects with Transfer (which is super quick and easy with Transfer, just drag the project onto a folder on your computer on the “My Computer” tab in Transfer) before fiddling around with sysex.
When I first got my Rytm I found the process of making scene/performance macros a bit clunky, but with practice I now have the muscle memory to do it fast without thinking. I use scenes a lot, performances less. Performances have the advantage that you can use multiple at the same time, and by freezing them they can kind of work like scenes. You don’t have to switch to another page to freeze performances, just toggling the performance page off is enough.
One thing I realised recently is you can affect sample slot with scenes and performances. So you can hit a scene and change to eg. a snare sample with a longer decay.
Other fun tricks with macros:
Changing sample start/end point and loop on/off for glitch effects
Switch between synth and sample layer, eg a scene that lowers SD synth volume to zero, and raises volume of the sample layer
Scenes that add eg. 2 semitones, or subtracts 5 semitones, to the tuning of melodic tracks, for modulations/key changes
One thing to bear in mind is that there is a limit to the number of locks per kit, so it’s best to think about your scene/perf locks and be efficient with them.
My template kit doesn’t include macros, but it does include my preferred velocity behaviour. I found the default velocity setting too difficult to use, so my INIT kit has velocity-to-volume switched OFF for all sounds, but with velocity modulation set to affect volume. This made the pads MUCH more playable.
One of my most used, favourite Performance techniques is to have it raise the feedback amount of the delay. This way you have a very easy to use & responsive ‘dub echo’ function at your fingertips. Just need to be a bit careful with latching this one, as it might blow the roof off if the feedback keeps building ghehe.
Another fave one is to set it up as a ‘turbo boost’ for the kickdrum. That effect it’s a bit similar to how Techno peeps often work the 909 kick (increase decay, lower tuning)
