Elektron Musical Instruments

On Thu, Sep 26, 2002 at 10:36:12AM -0000, martinboerma2002 wrote:
> Hello to all you machinedrums out there,
> 
> Not having one yet, and feeling a bit insecure about the sound 
> capabilities despite all the reviews. Can anyone help me out and let 
> me know if it's possible to create those smooth deep GOA-like 
> bassdrums? Like Atmos - Headcleaner e.g. absolutely my favorite. 

In my opinion, the production of bassdrum sounds is not
to be taken lightly.  It is probably THE most important component
of techno, except for the listeners.  If you ask 1,000 people
how to make a good bass/kick sound, you will get 1,000,000
answers.  In my own experience, my best kicks have been the
result of mucho processing.  For me, it's different every time.

For me, no matter how many controls a machine has, it can never
be enough.  Take the 909, for example, only 4 bass controls, and
still generates a good sound, but not highly flexible.  The MD,
with its multiple bass sounds, excellent modulation, plus effects 
and lots of parameters makes one of the widest ranges of bass sounds
ever!  That is the good news.  The bad news is the human condition!!!
It will never seem like enough!  I still use outboard compressors, eq's,
extra reverb, non-linear filters, etc to get the sound I want!

one thing missing from MD bass sounds is an attack parameter.  agreed?
Someone suggested I use a modulation to get that sound, and it has
worked well (trigger, linear or exp ramp on amplitude).

Also, while I'm at it, for crazy-ass MD bass sounds, try an
unsynced frequency-modulated pitch (sloow Triangle LFO on pitch).  
it's crazzzy.

Also, for nice bass, use two tracks for bass-one track for the
initial WHACK hit, and the second for the sustained part of it.
Then you can put your WHACKS wherever you want, trigger the
sustain at the same time, but then, trigger the sustain bits
in a few extra places with switched up pitch for seriously
dynamic sound.

And if you're feeling crazy, put super-fast, but mismatched
and unsynced LFO's on both of their pans with a *light* depth
to make your downstream stereo expanders light up electrified.


> Something else is that I heard a few people ask about the snappy 909 
> snares. It's still not clear to me if the MD can produce them.

for my favorite snare sounds on MD, I send them to reverb, of course,
put on a little distortion, and put a triggered envelope on them
that sweeps the filter from low to high very quickly.  


> Ahh, I should not doubt a buy one, I know...

But I will warn you, if you are just a bit curious about the MD,
and you buy one, you will more than likely get sucked in and
addicted.  I haven't seen (m)any on the used market yet :)


> Thanx
> Martin


Martin, I guess that doesn't answer your question, it was just a chance
for me to rant and rave.  Sorry.  :)

-N


-- 
                                 DSP Audio Effects! http://gweep.net/~shifty
     .        .       .      .     .    .   .  . ... .  .   .    .     .      .
"La la la laaa laaa laaa                   "      |     Niente 
 La la la laaa laaa laaa."  -Stereolab            | shifty@...