Elektron Musical Instruments

I love the robotic sounds from it ! :) thanks for
sharing the info with us! :) 


--- marc davidson <psi@...> wrote:
> Hi ,
> 
> As promised , here is an excerpt from sos magazine's
> paul nagle on the 
> monomachine . This is the conclusion to the review .
> 
> ( I have heard a rumour that future music magazine
> have given the 
> monomachine a platinum award ! )
> 
> marc
> 
> www.psience.co.uk
> 
> 												CONCLUSION
> 
> 
> In preparation for the Monomachine's arrival, I had
> downloaded its 
> manual from the www.monomachine.com web site, as
> well as listening to 
> all of the excellent on-line demos. When I hit Play,
> I was therefore 
> slightly taken aback by the rather cheesy looping
> tune \ufffd not an ideal 
> introduction. However, I soon discovered that
> interaction was the key 
> to hearing the Patterns at their best \ufffd especially
> when I learned to 
> exploit the elaborately programmed joystick
> assignments. Using this 
> simple performance tool, many of the Patterns sprang
> into life; the 
> highlights being Kraftwerk-style romps, various
> Euro-beat excursions 
> and a Yazoo impersonation that was rather too close
> for comfort \ufffd I 
> wonder if Vince Clarke has heard it?
> 
>   As many of the included Patterns reminded me of
> '80s electro-pop, I 
> endeavoured to create more drastic examples of
> electronica. Often I 
> turned to the Digipro machine; I found that stepping
> its waveforms 
> whilst modulating their phase produced some of the
> most harmonically 
> rich sounds I've encountered in a long time. And
> dirty, industrial 
> noises positively flowed once I drafted in the
> sample-rate reduction 
> and a dose of reverb. Another favourite, the SID
> emulation proved to be 
> full of presence, its oscillator sync so razor sharp
> that I often used 
> it on multiple Tracks to produce layered, screaming
> mayhem. SID was 
> equally capable in the throbbing bass department \ufffd
> that simple 
> equaliser on each track being just enough to add all
> the depth I 
> needed. Many of the machines seem happiest squirting
> out dirt, setting 
> the Monomachine apart from most smooth, polished
> contemporaries. But 
> analogue fuzziness was also represented; I dutifully
> managed to coax 
> some ripping TB303-style Patterns from a plain
> sawtooth wave by use of 
> Parameter Locks to introduce portamento, distortion
> and filter 
> squelches. I admit I never fully mastered the Voice
> Modelling machine, 
> but obtained results I enjoyed all the same.
> 
> It's when you really push the boundaries that the
> most unusual and 
> rewarding sounds begin to tear loose. Just how far
> it can be pushed by 
> keen enthusiasts, I can't predict, but the
> Monomachine is definitely 
> not recommended if you only require instantly
> familiar, conventional 
> patches and grooves.
> 
> I found the sequencer enjoyable to use: effective
> and powerful in some 
> areas, but slightly simplistic in others. With no
> means to record 
> unquantised events, the Monomachine has a 'drum box'
> mentality: it is 
> not designed to capture expressive solo
> performances. Even basslines 
> and percussion require attention if they are not to
> feel robotic \ufffd but 
> if that's what you're after, this won't be a
> problem. No reference to 
> the sequencer is complete without yet another
> mention of Parameter 
> Locks. These are the jewel in its crown and come
> into play time and 
> again to breathe life into the SFX6's otherwise
> metronomic patterns.
> 
> The Monomachine is a difficult instrument to sum up
> neatly, perhaps 
> because it refuses to conform to any expectation
> based on products from 
> other companies; Elektron have taken an
> unconventional approach to 
> almost every aspect of sound creation and
> sequencing. Ultimately, much 
> depends on whether their choices of sequencer
> functionality and 
> synthesis appeal to you. At the rather high asking
> price, many will be 
> tempted to investigate other sequencer and sound
> module combinations, 
> maybe seeking a more standard palette or greater
> polyphony. But then 
> again, I welcome instruments that deviate from the
> norm, and the 
> Monomachine certainly fits the bill in this respect.
> As a 
> self-contained loop generator that encourages
> creative interaction, its 
> unique attitude might be just the ticket to set you
> off in new 
> directions.
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
> 
> 
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