My first Elektron machine was 
RYTM. I got use to saving projects and recalling those projects. Now I have a Machinedrum (SPS-1, non-UW) and am trying to write some tracks with it to get use to its flow. The first thing I noticed is that saving a song does not save patterns, kits, etc. Do you just have to save SYSEX for what your doing now? Is there a way to get similar functionality to the Projects in the newer boxes?
An MD song is like a song on the AR. An MD song is not equivalent to an AR project.
Make sure you save your kits!
The MD equivalent of an AR project is a Snapshot (if your MD has a +Drive). If your MD does not have a +Drive, you need to send All Data in SysEx format to a backup device (computer). See page 65 of the manual.
I see. Bummer. I probably would have gotten the UW version with the +Drive had I known that difference. Ah well. Not a tremendous problem to work around. It will prevent me from using it in some live scenarios, but isn’t a problem in the studio.
Thank you for clarifying that point. It is what I suspected.
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For what it’s worth, changing snapshots on an MD with +Drive is not an instant process. I’m not sure how that compares to the Rytm, but it might not have been a great experience for live situations anyway (if you try to have continuous play).
However, with 128 patterns and i-can’t-remember-how-many-kits and a few songs, a single MD snapshot can hold quite a bit of data. It may still not be enough, but in my six months of MDUW+ ownership, I’m just barely getting into filling in patterns in bank E - so I’m barely over half full!
I’ve seen people that use MD or Monomachine live stay within a single snapshot and can still pull off 45-60 minute sets.
Yeah. I think it may just require a change in workflow. Generally changing a Project on the RYTM is only a few seconds. I think maybe I can stretch what I’m doing with RYTM to work more like Machinedrum and get more out of a single Project. I come from computers first, and am fairly new to hardware sequencers. I love everything about it, including the limitations, which just push me to get creative.