Elektron Machinedrum SPS-1 UW

[DanielStafford]

Looking into buying this, i know a few of the more experimental artists use it such as Autechre and they've got some serious complex drum patterns. I've searched through youtube and google to find some good examples of it in use, but cant find anything apart from rather poor sounding house/minimal loops, can anyone shed some light on this product?ease of use and practicality in genres such as dubstep and garage?

Thanks,

[b166er]

You can use anything to make anything... if you know how to use it.

[narcissus]

agreed... buying a new drum machine isn't going to help you build complex and satisfying patterns. unless the only thing you got is an old TR 505...

[cloak and dagger]

I think a lot of the complexity in Autechre's stuff comes from them using Max MSP. That being said, the creative possibilities with the Machinedrum are endless...it really is an amazing piece of kit. As far as dubstep / garage goes, it can be done depending on your sound and creativity, but you won't get a lot of traditional sounds from it in terms of those genres.

Basically, I wish I had one.

[machineform]

Hi there,

I use the MD as a centerpiece in some of my projects. It is a very deep machine and not immediate in any way. So it all depends if you are prepared to spend a lot of time with it. If you are just looking for some fat beats it is not for you. Fat beats can be done but only if you spend time programming your sounds, as the preset sounds are really bad and don't do the machine justice in any way. Likewise for complex patterns - this is where the song editor shines, basically it lets you automate mutes, pattern length, patterns offset and tempo but again, very time consuming, but if you have some experience with trackers it will help.

The great thing about the MD is that the synthesis engine is very powerful, you can do anything from organic beats with the PI machines to melodies and baselines with the FM and ROM machines using parameter locks. The 16 lfos are also great for modulating and glitching stuff.

It's good for taking a break from the computer and still be able to do full complex tracks - the reason i bought it actually.

You can check some of my dubstep flavored tracks here http://www.digital-tunes.net/releases/one/25
All done with machinedrum UW incl. song arrangement. Some extra tracks were layered on top of the bounce in my DAW as well as some fx processing.

[DanielStafford]

Thanks for feedback, i understand equipment doesnt make a producer im just looking for an alternate method to write drum patterns without having to constantly insert different pieces of audio hits into ableton all the time, i guess im looking for a better workflow thats more hands on and fun, i also like the idea of creating and manipulating my own drum sounds as to taking samples from elsewhere, not slating sampling And yes those tunes are very nice, im not into the over compressed wobbles with a 2 bar loop containing a kick and a snare. Another question, how well does it run with with a program like ableton, once iv made a drum sequence on the MD would i be able to import for example the kicks, snares & hats into it's own midi/audio section so i could eq and adjust further? or can it only import as a single whole loop into one section?

[machineform]

It has six outs apart from the main stereo out. So yes it is possible to record a multichannel mix of your pattern - but you loose the master fx section (reverb, delay, eq, compressor) by using the multiouts. Though this might not be important if you plan on doing processing in your DAW. You would need a multi in soundcard btw.
The MD has it's own sound and flow (swing) which get kind of lost if the unit is used as a sound module, this is why i never sequence it from my DAW, and only bounce the stereo track (i like the MD reverb and delay).
You can synch it with ableton just be prepared for some headaches as ableton is kind of shitty with it's synch - just use the Elektron TM-1 midi interface which i think is bundled with the MD, and with some work it'll synch perfectly.

[jolly wailer]

im just looking for an alternate method to write drum patterns without having to constantly insert different pieces of audio hits into ableton all the time, i guess im looking for a better workflow thats more hands on and fun, i also like the idea of creating and manipulating my own drum sounds

Machinedrum sounds right up yr alley.. Tho I always still use samples (from an akai) and other drum sources (ex. roland rack mount) to beef up the drum part. the MD is the backbone of it all tho. very hands on and fun. real time tweeking on every knob you won't find many drum machines like this one!