If you’ve been following along you know I’m a HUGE Elektron fan and have been composing and performing with Octatrack MKII, Analog Four, and Digitone for some time. I recently added the Analog Rytm to my rig. In this post I’ll briefly introduce you to the Rytm and offer three 1-minute video sketches that show how crazy things can get with this amazing machine.
Say Hello to the Analog Rytm MII
The Rytm is an eight voice drum machine with 12 drum tracks with pressure and velocity sensitive pads. It has a similar architecture to the Analog Four in that it has a “kits” layer. Each pad can have an analog synth and/or a sample behind it.
It is AMAZINGLY expressive with it’s knobs, 12 performances (which are parameter morphs triggered with pad pressure) and scenes which do momentary and latching morphs of the parameters on the machine.
This is the tip of the iceberg and you can read more about it on the official product page.
Journaling with 1 Minute Video Sketches
I’ve been using Elektron machines for years so the workflow is familiar enough that I could start getting musical results right away. I’m starting off with creating some basic sounds, patterns, and kits so I can improvise short sketches.
I’m journaling these sketches over on my Instagram page and on YouTube at https://YouTube.com/c/MarkMosher. I’ve posted a handful handful out there already so I thought I’d curate them together in this blog post.
PRO TIP: Wear headphones 🎧 as I’m coaxing some amazing low end out of this analog beast!
Analog Rytm and Beer
Day 1: While drinking beer, start with a blank slate with no factory kits. Make a jam with analog synth engines. In addition to drum engines this has 2 dual VCO’s. Learn how to make some performances and scenes. And I thought the Analog Four was beefy. Holy shit 🙀.
Godzilla vs The Carbon Dioxide Ensemble vs Elektron Analog Rytm
Analog Rytm is a monster machine for musique concrète so I made a custom drum kit and performance dedicated to #Godzilla. Source samples are from a recording session by the Carbon Dioxide Ensemble of which I am a proud member along with Tom and Victoria Lundy (https://VictoriaLundyMusic). The source samples were created by Tom by articulating a large copper heart with dry ice. Go to the here to to see some crazy pics and video from past performances http://CarbonDioxideEnsemble.com. Some samples are dry ice in a broken pressure cooker (safety first kids). I used Transfer and Overbridge to build the kit and make some complex Performance morphs. I then use scenes and Performances to do some radical sound design, effects manipulation and wave sequencing on-the-fly 🔊🤓🤖🎆.
Beat Sketch with Elektron Rytm MKII #Industrial #Techno #AnallogDrumMachine #MusiqueConcrète
I continue to explore using the Elektron Analog Rytm MKII using a combination of internal drum synths with same field recordings as above. This thing is a BEAST when you push it. Making heavy use of scenes and performances.
Next Step: The Dark Trinity, Theremin, and Wavetable Synthesis, Oh My!
More videos to come on the Analog Rytm as I progress. I’ll also by combining this with the Octatrack and Analog Four to form the “Dark Trinity”. More on that as well so subscribe if you haven’t done so to get blog post updates via email.
Mark Mosher 