I have mixed relationship with the Elektron Machinedrum too. I struggle with the older elektron workflow and end up mostly sampling it. Sounds good here though. Love the spaced out vibe.

TBF to the machinedrum, the 606 (and I assume the clone) have "that sound" that you hear in records. I always find it just sounds right. It's also incredibly immediate.

I've had a similar experience with the polyend Tracker. I thought I'd love it but the hardware and buggy software issues kind of spoiled the experience for me. It sounds flat to me too. I could never figure it out.

I have mixed relationship with the Elektron Machinedrum too. I struggle with the older elektron workflow and end up mostly sampling it. Sounds good here though. Love the spaced out vibe. TBF to the machinedrum, the 606 (and I assume the clone) have "that sound" that you hear in records. I always find it just sounds right. It's also incredibly immediate. I've had a similar experience with the polyend Tracker. I thought I'd love it but the hardware and buggy software issues kind of spoiled the experience for me. It sounds flat to me too. I could never figure it out.

i've not used any Elektron gear (tbh, most of the electronic gear y'all mention is outside of my experience), but i can relate to what you're saying. had a couple experiences like that in the past and felt burned so now i'm probably over-cautious when it comes to getting new gear. probably for the best though, in my case. i tend to do better with limitations.
anyway, i dig the dubby feel of this track! really nice bounce to it 

i've not used any Elektron gear (tbh, most of the electronic gear y'all mention is outside of my experience), but i can relate to what you're saying. had a couple experiences like that in the past and felt burned so now i'm probably over-cautious when it comes to getting new gear. probably for the best though, in my case. i tend to do better with limitations. anyway, i dig the dubby feel of this track! really nice bounce to it :)

digging the dub vibes throughout.  That deep bass with the snare is a nice combo.

digging the dub vibes throughout. That deep bass with the snare is a nice combo.

I really like the drums here! I had pretty much the same experience with the Monomachine, probably more than any piece of gear people really wanna know 'how it sounds' and the raw sound isn't anything special to me

I really like the drums here! I had pretty much the same experience with the Monomachine, probably more than any piece of gear people really wanna know 'how it sounds' and the raw sound isn't anything special to me

Oh, yes. The Polyend tracker: it looks gorgeous, though after I while I started to wonder "hey, I think I have like 5 laptops that could run Renoise at full performance, and I've spent like a decade learning the shortcuts for top editing speed... then why would I need this, again?"

About the Machinedrum, here it is, sampled as hell, downpitched 3 to 7 semitones, timestreched. There was even a time I thought I needed an Octatrack to make THE SAME SOUNDS I WAS MAKING IN ABLETON but in hardware, because... well, because reasons. You know... "hardware is authenticity and commitment".

It took me a while to come to the most obvious conclusion: "Hey, I'm already doing the sound I have in mind, today, without any new gear!".

About the 606, I agree with you. I got the clone and thought that maybe it will get boring after a short while, but instead it has become the "I don't know what to do so while I'm thinking, I'd make a 606 beat" machine of reference. Never owned a Roland one, but I couldn't be happier with this one.

I'll say it quietly, but it feels even better than my 808 clone... and I've lusted for an 808 half of my life

[quote=ENC_]I have mixed relationship with the Elektron Machinedrum too. I struggle with the older elektron workflow and end up mostly sampling it. Sounds good here though. Love the spaced out vibe. TBF to the machinedrum, the 606 (and I assume the clone) have "that sound" that you hear in records. I always find it just sounds right. It's also incredibly immediate. I've had a similar experience with the polyend Tracker. I thought I'd love it but the hardware and buggy software issues kind of spoiled the experience for me. It sounds flat to me too. I could never figure it out. [/quote] Oh, yes. The Polyend tracker: it looks gorgeous, though after I while I started to wonder "hey, I think I have like 5 laptops that could run Renoise at full performance, and I've spent like a decade learning the shortcuts for top editing speed... then why would I need this, again?" About the Machinedrum, here it is, sampled as hell, downpitched 3 to 7 semitones, timestreched. There was even a time I thought I needed an Octatrack to make THE SAME SOUNDS I WAS MAKING IN ABLETON but in hardware, because... well, because reasons. You know... "hardware is authenticity and commitment". It took me a while to come to the most obvious conclusion: "Hey, I'm already doing the sound I have in mind, today, without any new gear!". About the 606, I agree with you. I got the clone and thought that maybe it will get boring after a short while, but instead it has become the "I don't know what to do so while I'm thinking, I'd make a 606 beat" machine of reference. Never owned a Roland one, but I couldn't be happier with this one. I'll say it quietly, but it feels even better than my 808 clone... and I've lusted for an 808 half of my life :)

Oh, yes. I completely feel you about the gear thing.

I've never considered myself a gear head. Once I could afford some purchases confortably, I got the basic tools (cables, mixing, soundcard, some patchbay... you know, tools). Suddenly realized the idea of "you have all that you need, now go write some songs" was considerably less popular than "hey, check this game-changing pedal, you totally NEED THIS right now!"

It is one of the things I mostly respect from WB: Every time I think there are limitations, somebody come out with something twice cooler with half the resources than the track before

Thanks a lot for dropping by and commenting BTW, Josh

[quote=jwh]i've not used any Elektron gear (tbh, most of the electronic gear y'all mention is outside of my experience), but i can relate to what you're saying. had a couple experiences like that in the past and felt burned so now i'm probably over-cautious when it comes to getting new gear. probably for the best though, in my case. i tend to do better with limitations. anyway, i dig the dubby feel of this track! really nice bounce to it :)[/quote] Oh, yes. I completely feel you about the gear thing. I've never considered myself a gear head. Once I could afford some purchases confortably, I got the basic tools (cables, mixing, soundcard, some patchbay... you know, tools). Suddenly realized the idea of "you have all that you need, now go write some songs" was considerably less popular than "hey, check this game-changing pedal, you totally NEED THIS right now!" It is one of the things I mostly respect from WB: Every time I think there are limitations, somebody come out with something twice cooler with half the resources than the track before :) Thanks a lot for dropping by and commenting BTW, Josh :)

The final snare is a happy accident, because the 606 is modulating the filter of the whole Machinedrum track.

You could hear the Elektron (well... sampled, downpitched and "drumbussed" though Ableton) box in the first two bars with beat.

I've built a whole set of delay and reverb presets so I've got "instant dub" just adding some hot water, ramen-style

Thanks a lot for listening, Eric!

[quote=Tone Matrix]digging the dub vibes throughout. That deep bass with the snare is a nice combo.[/quote] The final snare is a happy accident, because the 606 is modulating the filter of the whole Machinedrum track. You could hear the Elektron (well... sampled, downpitched and "drumbussed" though Ableton) box in the first two bars with beat. I've built a whole set of delay and reverb presets so I've got "instant dub" just adding some hot water, ramen-style :) Thanks a lot for listening, Eric!

Thank you , Matteo. Drop me a line if you want some beat slices clean and ready for the grab.

Yes, about Elektron, or even Teenage Engineering stuff... I won't say they could yield fantastic results on the right hands, but I feel they're not for me. I haven't sold it simply because I was afraid I was missing or overlooking something AND at the current prizes, I would never rebuy the box again.

On the Machinedrum the resampling is clumsy and in order to keep anything, you'd need an external editor that, IMHO, defies any of the promised immediacy. The drum engines are, well, underwhelming, I'm afraid.

Build quality is superb, and it offers separate outputs and stuff, though... Why should I have an underused copy of Native Instrument's Battery gathering "virtual" dust and yet when I wanted to tweak the filter via MIDI, I needed to figure my way through configs like this was a JV-1080?

I guess it's a mental thing, of course. "Analog warmth", "unique workflow", "character", "sounds more round and full" and all those buzzwords that had been abused until being almost meaningless, lately.

I maybe sampled the Factory Defaults hihat and toms set in a Renoise Redux preset and be done with it

[quote=Bleeoop]I really like the drums here! I had pretty much the same experience with the Monomachine, probably more than any piece of gear people really wanna know 'how it sounds' and the raw sound isn't anything special to me[/quote] Thank you , Matteo. Drop me a line if you want some beat slices clean and ready for the grab. Yes, about Elektron, or even Teenage Engineering stuff... I won't say they could yield fantastic results on the right hands, but I feel they're not for me. I haven't sold it simply because I was afraid I was missing or overlooking something AND at the current prizes, I would never rebuy the box again. On the Machinedrum the resampling is clumsy and in order to keep anything, you'd need an external editor that, IMHO, defies any of the promised immediacy. The drum engines are, well, underwhelming, I'm afraid. Build quality is superb, and it offers separate outputs and stuff, though... Why should I have an underused copy of Native Instrument's Battery gathering "virtual" dust and yet when I wanted to tweak the filter via MIDI, I needed to figure my way through configs like this was a JV-1080? I guess it's a mental thing, of course. "Analog warmth", "unique workflow", "character", "sounds more round and full" and all those buzzwords that had been abused until being almost meaningless, lately. I maybe sampled the Factory Defaults hihat and toms set in a Renoise Redux preset and be done with it :)

well said. and thanks for making inspiring music 

[quote=laguna] It is one of the things I mostly respect from WB: Every time I think there are limitations, somebody come out with something twice cooler with half the resources than the track before :) Thanks a lot for dropping by and commenting BTW, Josh :)[/quote] well said. and thanks for making inspiring music :)

I agree with this completely, I even wrote a blog post on this that will be restored when my website is back up but it is very much so. It's not about Elektron which makes really cool gear but for sure years ago some pieces of gear were the only way to get some results, for acid music in 1991 you had to have a 303 but nowadays you can do almost everything a digitakt does in your browser in tahti.studio it's really more about ideas and knowledge.

[quote=laguna] I guess it's a mental thing, of course. "Analog warmth", "unique workflow", "character", "sounds more round and full" and all those buzzwords that had been abused until being almost meaningless, lately. [/quote] I agree with this completely, I even wrote a blog post on this that will be restored when my website is back up but it is very much so. It's not about Elektron which makes really cool gear but for sure years ago some pieces of gear were the only way to get some results, for acid music in 1991 you had to have a 303 but nowadays you can do almost everything a digitakt does in your browser in tahti.studio it's really more about ideas and knowledge.

Like this reverb drenched beat, has the nod factor and nice dubby vibe goes well with it.  I always wanted an MPC, bought a used MPC live a couple years ago, great piece of equipment but I really struggle with the workflow and find it hard to find the time to learn it.  In the end I can always sketch out the ideas way faster in Ableton, so the MPC continues to collect dust in the corner.  I recently got an Ableton push 3, so now I really don’t know when I will explore the MPC.

Like this reverb drenched beat, has the nod factor and nice dubby vibe goes well with it. I always wanted an MPC, bought a used MPC live a couple years ago, great piece of equipment but I really struggle with the workflow and find it hard to find the time to learn it. In the end I can always sketch out the ideas way faster in Ableton, so the MPC continues to collect dust in the corner. I recently got an Ableton push 3, so now I really don’t know when I will explore the MPC.

Had to update my post, I take back my comment, after the new beta software update on the MPC I love it, arrangement and building a song is more like a standard DAW now, built in stem separation, it’s been really fun and I have started using the MPC last few weeks.

Had to update my post, I take back my comment, after the new beta software update on the MPC I love it, arrangement and building a song is more like a standard DAW now, built in stem separation, it’s been really fun and I have started using the MPC last few weeks.

Glad to hear you brought back some gear from the limbo. I stopped buying any gear after a "hey! there's a synth inside this box!" moment cleaning my closet, so I know what you mean. Stem separation is a pain and I'd love to have time and build an automation script for Linux so it can take care of that automatically (don't know if it is possible to automate MUTE/UNMUTE actions through MIDI, though).

By the way, sorry for letting your last comment unanswered. These last months have been quite hectic when it comes to personal life.

Thanks a lot for droppin' by, listening and commenting, for sure

[quote=Jason Nijjer]Had to update my post, I take back my comment, after the new beta software update on the MPC I love it, arrangement and building a song is more like a standard DAW now, built in stem separation, it’s been really fun and I have started using the MPC last few weeks.[/quote] Glad to hear you brought back some gear from the limbo. I stopped buying any gear after a "hey! there's a synth inside this box!" moment cleaning my closet, so I know what you mean. Stem separation is a pain and I'd love to have time and build an automation script for Linux so it can take care of that automatically (don't know if it is possible to automate MUTE/UNMUTE actions through MIDI, though). By the way, sorry for letting your last comment unanswered. These last months have been quite hectic when it comes to personal life. Thanks a lot for droppin' by, listening and commenting, for sure :)