Ableton Forum

I'm planning to buy a Machinedrum UW I or II in the next time, and have
some questions for users who are using the machinedrum AND Microtonic / Drumatic.



1. besides the hardware, is the Machinedrum reaching far more out with
synthesis possibilities than the Tonic ?

2. how does the punch from drumatic compares to the punch of the MD ?

3. is it possible to play a sound harmonic with the MD like you can on the tonic ? (maybe by chaining some machines on the UW)

3. is it possible to slightly shift some steps in time on the MD's sequencer ?

4. can you make a set (16 parts) only of fm synths (or others) on the MD, or is each slot/part
dedicated to a fixed machine ?


also, are there any known weak points i have to look out if i go for a used one?


is it possible that a future firmware update will bring the 64 steps to the MKI models?

i know there are some very dedicated MD users here, so let's go.......(Tarekith ?!)
cheers

1. besides the hardware, is the Machinedrum reaching far more out with
synthesis possibilities than the Tonic ?

>>> I think so, there's a lot more potential too when you start dealing with the UW machines. <<<

2. how does the punch from drumatic compares to the punch of the MD ?

>>> Never used Drumatic, couldn't say. <<<

3. is it possible to play a sound harmonic with the MD like you can on the tonic ? (maybe by chaining some machines on the UW)

>>> Yes, check out the Elektron-Users.com forums, lots of examples of this there. One guy named Nils has it down to an artform. <<<

3. is it possible to slightly shift some steps in time on the MD's sequencer ?

>>> Define slightly. You can shift steps forward and back in step increments, very handy at times. <<<

4. can you make a set (16 parts) only of fm synths (or others) on the MD, or is each slot/part dedicated to a fixed machine ?

>>> Each track can host any type of machine you want, no restrictions there at all. <<<

also, are there any known weak points i have to look out if i go for a used one?

>>> It's not a 909, nor is it an analog drum machine, so people who think drum machine HAVE to sound like that are disappointed sometimes. It's still the most flexible sounding drum machine I've ever used. <<<

is it possible that a future firmware update will bring the 64 steps to the MKI models?

>>> We can only hope. Elektron is WELL aware we want it, but are making no promises. They have a major OS revision for the new mono mkII's due out soon, so for now all their efforts are on that. <<<

Tarekith wrote: >>> It's not a 909, nor is it an analog drum machine, so people who think drum machine HAVE to sound like that are disappointed sometimes.

How about dirt or the dark side of MD. Is there one? Thank you for your opinion.

Microtonic is extremely basic in its synthesis options, if you ask me. The MachineDrum is a totally different beast.

PolyphonicPressureGroup wrote:

Tarekith wrote: >>> It's not a 909, nor is it an analog drum machine, so people who think drum machine HAVE to sound like that are disappointed sometimes.

How about dirt or the dark side of MD. Is there one? Thank you for your opinion.

What do I wish was different?

- Longer patterns. 2 bars in the classic is ok, but I'd like 4 of the MKII, or ideally 8 bars.

- Slower lfo's. The LFO's have a min rate of 2 bars, so long evolvng sounds are not easily achieved. It does have a random lfo waveform, so that helps.

- Textured knobs. The stock knobs are good quality, but theya re completely smooth which is weird for something made to be tweaked live. Minor complaint though.

- The Dynamix master compressor is best thought of as NOT being a compressor but some other kind of weird effect. It does useful things, but if you try and approach it like a normal comp, you'll have issues getting predictable results out of it. Especially without gain reduction meters.

- No way to lock or protect a pattern. The data is saved in realtime as you alter it, so if you start changing notes and don't like what you did, better hope you copied the pattern to a free location first. I use the TM-1 midi interface to back up via sysex dumps often though.


Those are thing I wish were different off the top of my head, none of which really would make me think differentl about the MD. IT still has one of the best User Interfaces of any hardware I've ever used, very straightforward and hands on.

Hey Tarekith, thanks for your answers.

Machinate, i've nearly finished the manual of the MD and yes, it IS more powerfull in synthesis
than the Microtonic (which is very basic but def. a very nice gem) - this makes me happy


I'm also very glad to hear about the "polyphonic" abilities (will read later) and the free machine choice per track !
That's f***in great. - makes me more happy.


Yes, i meant something like the incremental shift of single steps - makes me even more happy to see that it's possible.



While hoping for a 64 step update, i think i'll soon be a happy new MD user !!

Oh yes, i definately not want a X0X emulation so i'll be fine

cheers and thx

out of interest (am thinking bout gettingone as well)

Could I use guru to tigger it? was thinking that I might hard wire it inot Ableton so that it comes upon my autoload and use guru for programming the sucker. . .

Also can i use my midi keyboard to play notes into it rather than step locking each note?

Thanks

TS

Just got mine last week.
Liked it so much I had to have the monomachine to go with it.
My wife let me buy it begrudgingly, on the condition that I write a few tunes before I start using it. So shes hidden it away until I can show her a few nice things Ive written! Shes right too.... Way too much time spent mucking about with new bits of gear/rearranging the studio and not writing anything of note.
Totally broke now, but happy

jesso wrote:Just got mine last week.
Liked it so much I had to have the monomachine to go with it.
My wife let me buy it begrudgingly, on the condition that I write a few tunes before I start using it. So shes hidden it away until I can show her a few nice things Ive written! Shes right too.... Way too much time spent mucking about with new bits of gear/rearranging the studio and not writing anything of note.
Totally broke now, but happy

holy cow, she won't let you play with it till you write some tunes?? I'd go crazy.

I will go crazy, but only if I dont write some tunes. As soon as I have some stuff to show her I can take it out of the box!
Shes got high standards though, so I cant just write any old thing... gotta be good quality tunage!

Could I use guru to tigger it? was thinking that I might hard wire it inot Ableton so that it comes upon my autoload and use guru for programming the sucker. . .

>>> Yes, it responds to midi, but to be honest I think the interaction of the sequencer is one of the best things about it, you'd be missing out on parameter locks as well. <<<

Also can i use my midi keyboard to play notes into it rather than step locking each note?

>>> Only in the Monomachine, not the MD. <<<

jesso wrote: My wife let me buy it begrudgingly, on the condition that I write a few tunes before I start using it. So shes hidden it away until I can show her a few nice things Ive written!

She's very smart...
As sensible as only ladies can be

m:o wrote:
I'm also very glad to hear about the "polyphonic" abilities (will read later) and the free machine choice per track !
That's f***in great. - makes me more happy.

I was lucky enough to have a UWII for a couple weeks, great piece of kit, tons of synthesis options ( machines ). OS is really well thought out...
one more thing, the 16 LFOs can be routed to any track you want, so you could if you wanted route all 16 LFOs to one sound. Also, parameter locks are nuts, think clip envelopes for each setp in each track. Then you have parameter locks slides...

m:o wrote: While hoping for a 64 step update, i think i'll soon be a happy new MD user !!

The UWII has 64 step abilities if i remember correctly...

cheers and thx

jesso wrote:Just got mine last week.
Liked it so much I had to have the monomachine to go with it.
My wife let me buy it begrudgingly, on the condition that I write a few tunes before I start using it. So shes hidden it away until I can show her a few nice things Ive written! Shes right too.... Way too much time spent mucking about with new bits of gear/rearranging the studio and not writing anything of note.
Totally broke now, but happy

omfg, you're such a pussy

edit: just dload some stuff she doesnt know and claim it to be yours
then continue mucking around with the new toy)))

Really want to buy the MD UWmkII, because of all the wicked stuff with the parameters and sh*t

But maybe a bit of patience for the LinndrumII