I’m considering downgrading my 4x Elektron supply down to two(A4/MDUW) and selling off my AR and OT(surprising, I swore I’d never sell that again)
If i got an Analog Heat with some of the fundage, you suppose that could provide a similar “BOOM” that I’d miss from the AR?
I’m thinking I need to focus on learning ableton and explore my music with that. That divide from the music using a computer, apparently, isn’t there and if I have trouble getting started I could jimmy up a start on the hardware. I don’t perform live yet, but I suppose I pull off a decent show with the A4/MD with some iPad and OP1 action?
4 Elektron boxes is a lot, by my reckoning if you need more than two you’re taking it easy on pushing the two (or maybe playing to the strengths of a third) … there’s clearly nothing wrong with running four, but it needs a lot of parallel processing if you’re improvising with four
owning four is a different matter, you just pick and choose the 2 or 3 you want to use for that particular idea, but if I were you and you liked the AR i’d explore removing the MD from the picture, that way you have perfect synergy between the pattern/song structure of the two modern analogs
don’t forget, both the AR and AF have their own little heats inside
ultimately it comes down to whether you like the sound (presuming you have explored them enough) and the interface (presuming you have given them a good run) … maybe they don’t fit you … and if you can deal with the infinite options and maintenance of a computer then all the better, especially if it’s mostly a studio project for now
if you have too much stuff, it is kinda tricky to learn the nuances of them all anyway, so maybe ditching and replacing with more new stuff isn’t a great strategy … but finding that you can’t bond with something and then parting with it is
either way, all of this is personal, only you will know what’s right, especially if you’ve given something a proper go (i.e. not giving up on the OT after a week) … doing more with less is more in my book
Agreed except for the MD part. I really love this drum machine, would let it go IMO.
Whereas you can always buy an AR back
I do believe A4 + MD is a good choice.
Letting the OT go is an error but you know it
There as well, it’s not like you wouldn’t be able to get another one later.
It really depends on the sound and workflow you want to achieve.
If you are happy with their sound, A4+AR would obviously be a good companion to Ableton, if you want to focus on that. They would bring some analog sound to your digital ableton or third party plugins and you could perfectly integrate them through overbridge.
But if you prefer digital sounds and/or are happy with it’s workflow, then keep your Machine Drum. Of course there are plugins nowadays that can give you pretty “analogish” sounds. U-he Diva is impressing in my opinion.
I personally love the OT and Ableton, but could never achieve to combine them in a nice workflow, they also can cover similar ground. I use either the OT, or Ableton most of the time…
Ryan,
The A4 + MD combo is a powerful one, no doubt.
The two tracks I loved making the most on my next album were with this combo.
As far as regaining some boom lost from the AR. You have a couple options. First, sampling some of your favorite AR kicks for use in the MDUW. Second, check out the Roland TM-2 .wav trigger module if you’d like to process those sounds outside of the MDUW or have access to many more samples. (You get 99 kits of 4 samples, and they play from an SDHC card).
The great thing about using a TM-2 with the MD+A4 combo is you can either trigger the four sample voices from the MD’s MIDI sequencer and get some MIDI velocity going, or you can use A4’s CV track to get trig conditions and fills going (which will return some of that AR sequencer mojo).
They’re pretty inexpensive too.
That’s IT! Thank you for that, sir! That TM-2 looks like it will be a perfect replacement for the AR! I suppose I’ll hold on to the OT for instant sample access and sound processing for now.
Those samples you spoke of. Where those factory samples or did you load your own in there?
Yeah, I swung too deep on the maximalism I suppose that I wanted to swing towards the other side. Losing the OT would definitely eliminate some potential(even though it not currently using it) the only box I could lose that doesn’t fill a complete need would be the AR. It adds a lot of good things, but-to me- doesn’t fill any essential aspect of music. The MD has a broader range, but the AR has a special range separate from the MD. Sampling is merely there. And I suppose I could just make samples on my computer and load them into the OT if necessary.
Missed it before I sold it. The plocking made the most sense on digital synthesis(second to percussion) nice shifty sound on a digital bassline was tops
I’ve gotta learn python and data analysis to actually have a career and I just couldn’t invest the time to diving into that awesome box. I was feeling way behind on both music making and career stuff
I have about 180MB of samples that I loaded onto an SD card for the TM-2. All from just about every drum machine imaginable.
It has the kind of system sounds you’d expect in a Roland R8, already installed. A little 808 and 909 but mostly acoustic rock drum / kit sounds. It also has EQ, compression and other FX, plus a master limiter. I like using it with the A4’s external inputs. This way I can put the kick on the Left input, panned center, and the other sounds on the right input, with p-locked pans and FX sends.
I made a workflow video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cavkb-SPes
