Products that complicate your workflow

[ghettosynth]

12 string guitar. Twice as much tuning, twice as much hassle changing strings, harder to play... If I didn't love the jangle so much....

I've owned three, I currently own zero. They come, they go. I'm tempted by the Squire 12 string. It will probably never happen.

I've got the two electrics and two acoustics - love the sound, hate the string changing..

You might like these (of which I have one..);

https://www.revelationguitars.co.uk/guitar/rjt-6012/

Great guitar and fairy cheap (about £350 new). Neck is verrry wide mind, so not everyone's cup of tea, and they're apparently a bit of a bugger to get outside the UK, being a small company.

Looks like they are hard to find, and also, I prefer a narrower neck. I do like these, but, the point that I was trying to make is that they never stay long. I buy them with the best of intentions, and then never use them, and then sell them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYvll3Jwn2M

[sockofgold]

Per the discussion about synth recall, Elektron synths are really great for this. Synth state is stored directly in the patterns/kits (depending on the unit), and all controls are endless encoders. So you get instant recall and no need to worry about knob positions and value jumping. (And with Rytm and Analog 4, you get really good performance controls too.)

Pair that with Overbridge, and you have a pretty amazing hardware synth setup with seamless DAW integration when you want to automate/record/etc. I sit in front of a computer all day at work, so I really only use my DAW as a tape machine these days, and then everything else is hardware.

Agree with all the comments about Maschine and MPC—not a fan of the workflows. I have been happy with Hapax as a sequencer/brain, because it will handle any amount and combination of hardware devices you want to throw at it, and you still get clip-based sequencing with all of it.

[egbert101]

So here is the problem for me: I love the Korg Opsix and Modwave and just how powerful they are, but just don't want to program them with that tiny LCD screen and menu diving, while the Native versions are so much easier and better (but still far from perfect).

And this is what Elektron are getting right about their newer stuff, such as Syntakt, breaking down the sound design into smaller machines rather than one big synth, which you can incorporate into your performance.

Even so, there are also of course the same disadvantages, meaning you are constrained by the machines Elektron gives you. Now wouldn't it be great if you could just design your own machines? Then have the best of both worlds.

Unless of course, these synthesizer companies improve their performance workflow for complicated digital synths (hello touch screen? or per knob function, multitimbral, song mode, etc.). Roland started doing this with their SH-4D, and now Yamaha are going backwards with no screen for their SeqTrak...FML.

But yeah, now I've finally identified my basic problem above, bad workflows from synth manufacturers and having to learn each unique workflow per synth.

[Uncle E]

That’s why I use the System-1 as my controller. It’s lain out super logically and it’s pre-mapped to Roland plugins. The newer soundforce controllers are even better because they have 2-way communication with Arturia synths.

[pdxindy]

Even so, there are also of course the same disadvantages, meaning you are constrained by the machines Elektron gives you. Now wouldn't it be great if you could just design your own machines? Then have the best of both worlds.

I don't feel constrained by the Rytm. There is really no end to the sonic possibilities. And the sound!!

[egbert101]

Even so, there are also of course the same disadvantages, meaning you are constrained by the machines Elektron gives you. Now wouldn't it be great if you could just design your own machines? Then have the best of both worlds.

I don't feel constrained by the Rytm. There is really no end to the sonic possibilities. And the sound!!

Well the price constrains me! But yeah, samples and analog drums, very nice combo. I was talking more about the Syntakt, although I think it would keep people happy for years.

[cryophonik]

Even so, there are also of course the same disadvantages, meaning you are constrained by the machines Elektron gives you. Now wouldn't it be great if you could just design your own machines? Then have the best of both worlds.

I don't feel constrained by the Rytm. There is really no end to the sonic possibilities. And the sound!!

Well the price constrains me! But yeah, samples and analog drums, very nice combo. I was talking more about the Syntakt, although I think it would keep people happy for years.

Yes, the Syntakt certainly has a more constrained range than the RYTM, but there's so much sweet spot in that range that it's not really an issue IMO. That said, my dream is still that I'll wake up one of these days and see a new Syntakt update that allows us to fill up that 1GB drive with samples and a new sample machine.

[Uncle E]

Isn't Syntakt the most complicated (aka versatile/feature filled) of the Elektron boxes?

[cryophonik]

Personally, I think it's probably less complicated than the Digitone and not really any more complicated (just different) than the Digitakt. The Syntakt machines are pretty straightforward, assuming you're familar with common synthesis types, and each slot is limited to either the analog or digital machines. But, yes, it is versatile an feature-rich. The common keys to all the Elektron boxes is understanding the sequencer and the perhaps unintuitive way projects and sounds are managed. Once you have that down, it's pretty easy to jump from one box to another.

[egbert101]

I have a sneaking suspicion that Elektron's next box will be a wavetable synth. WaveTakt or something like that. People will go bananas over it, and that will be the next new thing.

[pdxindy]

I have a sneaking suspicion that Elektron's next box will be a wavetable synth. WaveTakt or something like that. People will go bananas over it, and that will be the next new thing.

I'd love another analog synth, polyphonic and based on the Rytm with analog osc's and samples and analog filters etc.

[cryophonik]

I'm generally not a huge fan of wavetable synths, but I'm sure Elektron would somehow make a WaveTakt an insta-buy for me. Wavetables modulated by that step sequencer, yeah ok,... sign me up.

[egbert101]

I'm generally not a huge fan of wavetable synths, but I'm sure Elektron would somehow make a WaveTakt an insta-buy for me. Wavetables modulated by that step sequencer, yeah ok,... sign me up.

Wavetable with analog filters would get my attention. But yeah, they could make it killer with their sequencer.

[Moe Shinola]

My MIDI setup is Korg SQ64 going into my Volca Sample for drums on track D, then bass on track C(Volca Bass or Crave), then whatever melodic tracks I want on A and B. I have a 5-way DC adapter for my Volcas, but it adds way too much hiss(a complication) and so I just use the Volcas with batteries. I also have an Elektron Model: Samples, but the SQ64 is way better for multiple hardware instruments since I can assign each of the 8 subtracks on track D to a different MIDI channel on the Volca Sample(each sample slot is a separate channel) then have 3 melodic channels on top of that. I don't think I'd MIDI up more than one instrument to the M:S since it only has 6 tracks, so I guess it would complicate my workflow to use it as a studio brain.

[DrGonzo]

My MIDI setup is Korg SQ64 going into my Volca Sample for drums on track D, then bass on track C(Volca Bass or Crave), then whatever melodic tracks I want on A and B. I have a 5-way DC adapter for my Volcas, but it adds way too much hiss(a complication) and so I just use the Volcas with batteries. I also have an Elektron Model: Samples, but the SQ64 is way better for multiple hardware instruments since I can assign each of the 8 subtracks on track D to a different MIDI channel on the Volca Sample(each sample slot is a separate channel) then have 3 melodic channels on top of that. I don't think I'd MIDI up more than one instrument to the M:S since it only has 6 tracks, so I guess it would complicate my workflow to use it as a studio brain.

That actually sounds like a really nice setup. Volcas are great for simplifying the workflow. How do you feel the Korg SQ works with the Volcas?

/C