A Portable Partner

Elektron Gear Monomachine
#1

Iā€™m going to live in China in less than a month and will be out there for at least a year.

Iā€™m taking my Monomachine and OP-1 in the Peli 1510.

I generally use both machines on their own and Iā€™m happy to do so, with the help of a BigSky.

I do have a little space left in my case and Iā€™m open to a little last minute GAS for a companion to the Mono, but not another Elektron (too big).

I generally create experimental / ambient stuff and would be interested in any ideas. Iā€™m not GASSING for anything right now, but interested in a curious ā€œwhat ifā€ kind of way.

Any portable suggestions?

#2

Maybe something from korgs volca range?
Small and battery powered.

Meeblip anode
Waldorf rocket
Dsi mopho desktop
Dreadbox Erebus
Doepfer dark energy

All small but powerfull synths imho

#3

Minitaur?

#4

DSI Tetra
Waldorf Blofeld
OTO Biscuit (mono synth if you want it to be)
Qunexus Keyboard (a controller if you need one)

#5

Maybe the most obvious choice is an iPad. If I was going to be away for a year and needed to keep things minimal and compact, iPad + MNM or OT would likely be my setup.

#6

The Blofeld, Rocket and Minotaur look very suitable.

Looked up the OTO Biscuit and they look great, but hard to come by, probably baked in small batchesā€¦

I do have an i-pad mini.

Out of all, the Blofeld has my attention.

No GAS though, which is probably a good thing, meaning a discerning purchase could happen, if at all.
(I did just get a tax rebate in the postā€¦)

#7

[ul]
[li]Audiothingies P6 [/li]
[li]A mini modular in a Pittsburgh Modular cell48 case?[/li]
[/ul]

#8

Small but serious :imp:
Gonna sit on these suggestions for a few days.
Thanks yā€™all :+1:

#9

Iā€™ve been messing around with Blofeld sequenced by MnM lately.
Itā€™s a powerful combination that makes full use of MnMā€™s 6 midi tracks, thanks to Blofeldā€™s multi-mode.
Since each of the 16 channels in multi-mode can have any midi channel assigned to it, you can use those extra 10 channels in multi to do some layering.

It gets very deep if you want it to.
Also, the SL sample option allows you to set up some drum map samples, which I personally love. Itā€™s nice to break free from the FM and BBOX percussion sometimes, and bring in some fresh drums, yet keep it all on the MnM sequencer.

And, of all the Elektrons+partners combos I have (Rytm+midi controller, A4+NordDrum1, MnM+Blofeld), itā€™s the combo that I would definitely choose over the others for travel. The routing+synthesis capabilities are deepest with this combo. With a total of 44 filters, and 66 LFOs to be manipulated, I would never get bored.

#10

Iā€™m thinking Nord Drum 2, 6 midi-tracks on the Monomachine, 6 Channels on the Nord Drum 2. Canā€™t be a coincidence! :stuck_out_tongue:

#11

(I accidentally deleted my confessional post about being intimidated by and thus not having yet discovered the MnM midi sequencer to any effect)

Butā€¦

Good lord Iā€™ve only gone and read the manual.

Midi sequencing really is quite simple, and that makes an extra 6 tracks.
No wonder everyone raves about the MnM sequencing capabilities.

Midi sequencing paradigm shift + Awareness of Blofeld multi mode = Strong possibility of purchase.

#12

Absolutely.
The Blofeld is then a perfect sidekick!.

Check what this guy can do :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :

#13

Yeah, that was partly what made my ears prick up.
Sterling work!

#14

I had also considered the ND2 as MnM partner.
My ND1 makes a great partner for A4 (also, great coincidences with 4 tracks --> 4 CV triggers, A4/ND1 respectively send/receive midi program changes, A4ā€™s ability to p-lock pans of the external input to stereoize ND1ā€™s mono output, etc.)

But then when I saw the video for the Attack pack drum expansion for Blofeld, and looked at how it handles samples, it seemed like a better MnM partner for $100 less.
ND2 is definitely faster to setup for drums with MnM, but I appreciate how deep the Blofeld can go, and how versatile it is. After taking the time to setup a few multi-templates for drums that utilize dense sample maps with 100s of drums hits,it is a bit quicker to go from zero to inspiration.
The Analog Voltage sound pack is another good example of its capabilities as a virtual analog. I always felt the V/A implementation in MnM was a little simplistic, but not in the way the Nord A1 is with its quick results. Blofeld fills the V/A gap well with added depth.

#15

Pulled the trigger.

Blofeldā€™s coming East. :imp: