Analog Rytm vs. Machinedrum?

Midi sequencing and live sampling.

Unrelated - be very curious to hear what yall are doing with yer XD-5’s as I’ve got one stuck up in my closet.

Folks, need your help
I’me leaning towards machinedrum as my next elektron purchase, but want to make sure that I don’t need rytm right now. With which one it is easier to make drums like these:


especially those snappy and punchy snares and kicks.
If they’re both are not good enough for this, it is totally understandable, and I will continue to use OT for drum duties.

had a quick listen… these drums in there sound very "over"processed, over compressed… i am sure it is MD territory … bear in mind the sampling capabilities will reproduce what you feed her…

I didn’t hear any particularly special sounds drums in what little of that mix I listened too. I’d say the MD could easily cover it. Especially the more crispy sounding snares.
RYTM sounds amazing for sure, but you don’t get nearly as many tracks to work with as on the MD.
Or, you can go the really easy/boring route and just buy samples to load on either machine. But then, what’s the point of buying a top-of-the-line drum machine if all you do is load samples into it?

Let’s also not forget the MD’s comprehensive Song mode. Here’s a great example of how creative you can get within Song mode.

The RYTM’s Song Mode is ‘archaic’ in comparison. :joy:

I boxed away my MD when the RYTM arrived, mainly to make space in my studio. However the other week I got a new desk and the MD came back out. I’d forgotten how more versatile it is for sound design.

The RYTM sounds great out the box, but right now, the MD goes much deeper.

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there’s already a thread, probably 5 or 6 positions below this one now, where we already discussed the differences:

Check it out and read the opinions; you will get a lot of info there.

As for the Mix: Yeah, well - compressed/limited to hell, prolly with dedicated comp at 1:10 Ratio and Thresh below -30 with Hard Knee and a lot of Make-Up Gain for the Snares on some parts. Neither the MD nor the AR nor any other Hard/Software will yield such sounds by default. You normally should know that if you want to produce in this style as it is pretty much the default there!! So as already said you have to use overcompressed samples for that or route the audio to the DAW and compress it there. If one would really want the drums to sound that way but anyway - in the end its all about personal favor :wink:

Yeah, as you can see, I’ve appeared in that thread too :slight_smile: I know, about compression, and MD/Rytm have one, aren’t they? Plus you have layering on both boxes when it comes to those steel snares that are hard to synthesize. Anyway, to get rich sound compressed, you have to have rich sound as input.

Hi there,

Seen a SPS-1 for sale.
Don’t know if it any advantages over my AR, anyone?

yes and no

for sharper and upper register sounds it is. Also, the sound design seems a bit more indepth. Larger sound palette, I think. AR is great for low-end. MD is great for upper register. I have both(non-sample MD), and I’m really digging the MD. Right now, the MD more than the AR(though probably because the MD is my latest toy.) If you can swing it, I’d go for it. Since it’s out of production, it might be a worthy investment.

I’m actually considering getting a UW version if I find one at a reasonable price.

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I’ve also been keeping my eye out for a deal, from all the videos and demos i’ve heard they appear to be in different dimensions. I love my Rytm to death and know a Machinedrum UW with it’s live sample mangling and plethora of alternate synthesis methods would open up many doors!

I have an AR arriving on Friday (Cant wait)… but also have my eye on an SPS-1 UW

No ones ever died from having too many drum machines apparently :stuck_out_tongue:

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OK , it’s the one without sampling that’s for sale.
I don’t know the Machinedrum , only from pics and the shop.
It didn’t get my attention.

I’m loving my non-UW, and the GND’s aren’t showcased enough. It’s basically just a tone and noise generator, but allows for a lot of customization.

For what it’s worth, I made this track just with the GND machines.

https://soundcloud.com/ryanpiersoninc/medication

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Personally I don’t think the extra sampling functionality matters too much if you already have an OT or AR which can cover those ‘sampling’ duties… but having said that I don’t own an SPS1 or SPS1 UW so its an educated guess. And most of these guesses come from studying it on YouTube and other media channels.

At the end of the day its not what equipment you have but how you use it… and from my experience having quality gear either helps make the process easier or complicates it further :wink:

Awesome track! Even all the drums are GND’s? I sure wish the Rytm had sample rate reduction.

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Yessir! The KP3 and Octatrack were just for sporatic effects and the ending reverb drone. GND for all the sound sources! I love those machines. Those machines you’re free from any leading as to what the voices are supposed to be. Makes the process require more creativity, and thus making it more rewarding.

Glad you liked the track!

Thanks for the reminder on the meds. I forget sometimes. :loopy:

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I honestly don’t have any reason for why I name my tracks what I do. I guess I’m just a an agent of the universe mothering down on ya.

“HAVE A NICE TIME AT SCHOOL, DEAR!”

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[quote=“KennyJapan, post:26, topic:7797, full:true”]
Personally I don’t think the extra sampling functionality matters too much if you already have an OT or AR which can cover those ‘sampling’ duties…[/quote]
True for the OT (if you dont wanna use it as a resample proxy for the AR) - but not true for the AR!!

The MD UW can sample, i.e. record audio, the AR cant. The MD UW can also resample itself, which offers even more creative orgasms along the road :smiley: Tweaking drum sounds to hell with up to 16 LFOs for a single sound; resampling that very sound and starting the process - again !!! Also, each and every machine on the MD sounds completely unique! The machines on the AR are always pretty similar to each other. Like @OHEXOH already said: The MD is way more versatile for sound design.

And here’s another benefit the MD UW has: It can sample the AR and transfer recorded samples directly back to it! That way you can record Drums from the AR, spice them up with the endless possibilites on the MD and directly send them back to the AR with nothing more than your standard MIDI cable. Now you have the great sound from the MD built into your original AR Drum Sound and you can move on with the ARs great performance features - without ever touching a computerI!! never understood why Elektron hasnt build SDS File Transfer into the Octatrack (that way you could use the OT for that). But yeah, thats another great advantage the MD UW has. And in my opinion it therefore makes a lot of sense to use the MD UW together with an AR. You can add drum sounds to the Track the AR would never be able to deliver without using samples on its own - and you can sample the AR, layer the MD on top and profit from direct sample transfer back to the AR. So AR + MD UW will be the best of both world and makes what i would call a perfect Drummachine :wink:

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