1) I'm trying to record the parameter locks from my pattern and my sequencer isn't recognizing them. What gives? - Neither the Machinedrum nor the Monomachine transmits parameter locks. They are only relevant to the internal sequencer. 2) How do I get the Machinedrum to transmit/receive a clock signal? - Go into the Global menu and sub-menu "Sync." Then under option "Trig Out" you want to select "On" if you wish for the Machinedrum to send a clock signal. Likewise, if you want the Machinedrum to receive a clock signal, select "On" under option "Trig In." 3) How do I back up the Machinedrum's internal memory? - First of all, you need two other things besides a Machinedrum: a MIDI interface for your computer (assuming you already have on of those :-) and Sysex back up software. If you're on Windows, you may wish to try MIDI-OX at http://www.midiox.com, if you're on Mac OS X, you may with to try Sysex Librarian at http://www.snoize.com/sysexlibrarian and if you're on Mac OS 9, you may wish to try http://pobox.com/~sgrace/sysex/. For a MIDI interface, you might want to check out some of the various USB to MIDI devices available in the 40 USD range from Edirol (http://www.edirol.com) or M-Audio (http://www.midiman.net) or perhaps you have a sound card with a MIDI interface built in. Once you've got these, you need to of course connect the interface to your Machinedrum's MIDI Out port and execute your software. Now that you've got the appropriate external tools, the only thing that you need to do is transfer the data. The software process will differ slightly depending on which software you're using. But essentially, you want to put your software into Sysex receive mode whereby it will begin recording any incoming Sysex messages. Once you've done this, all that you need to do on the Machinedrum is go into the Global menu and sub-menu "MIDI." Then under option "Sysex Send" you want to select "All" and press ENTER. This will transmit the Machinedrums's entire internal memory contents. If you wish to back up only a portion of this memory (for example a song you've just completed), then you can select the appropriate option here as well. To back up a song with it's patterns and kits, simply select the song. To back up a pattern and it's associated kit, simply select the pattern using the bank and trig keys as you would when loading the pattern. You can also transmit a range of patterns here (in case you have several of them chained together) and transmit all in that range at once. NOTE: If you're not in Extended mode, the Machinedrum will not transmit the kit associated with a pattern when it transmits the pattern itself. Likewise if you're transmitting a song, the kits associated with the song's patterns will not be transmitted. This is because under Classic mode, the Machinedrum does not tie together kits and patterns. 4) How do upgrade the OS on my Machinedrum? - First of all, you need the same tools to do this that you would to back up your Machinedrum's internal memory - a MIDI interface and a Sysex/MIDI transfer utility. See the previous question for details on where to get these tools. Once you've got them, you need to of course connect the MIDI interface to your Machinedrum's MIDI In port and execute your software. Once that's squared away, you can get straight to updating your Machinedrum. All that you need to do is hold down FUNCTION when powering it up. This will get you into the early boot menu where you need to then select option "MIDI Upgrade" by pressing trig key five (LT). Then the Machinedrum will await the receipt of the new OS. So then load it into your software Sysex/MIDI transfer utility and press play/send. The update should take around ten to fifteen minutes. If it fails, see the following question. 5) I tried upgrading the OS on my Machinedrum, but it failed. What gives? - The common problem with this is that your software is sending the Sysex messages faster than the Machinedrum can receive them. In the settings for your software, there will be an option for the delay size between messages. Try increasing this and see if the transfer works then. Note that increasing this significantly will certainly increase the transfer time noticeably (i.e. it will take longer to update your OS). If that doesn't work, you may wish to try a different transfer utility. The ones listed in question number 3 are the ones that are known to work best. Also a different MIDI interface, if you have one, might do the trick. 6) I just bought a new Machinedrum, does it have the most recent OS? - Most likely, but not necessarily. It depends on how recently the current OS was finished and how long your Machinedrum has been sitting on a shelf somewhere (i.e. at a dealer). Even if you bought direct from Elektron, they may not have had a chance to update the OS in all of their stock units. It's best just to verify that you have the most recent OS by checking at http://www.machinedrum.com/mdsupport.php and if you don't then simply update it yourself. It's relatively painless, and certainly worth the time spent as newer OS's have bug fixes and sometimes features that earlier OS's did not. Check out the previous question for details on how to upgrade your OS. 7) Am I allowed to update the OS on my Machinedrum or will this void the warranty? - No it will not. The back up does not require that you open your Machinedrum or do anything technical with it. It is simply a file transfer from your computer into your Machinedrum which updates the Machinedrum's internal memory. Check out question number 4 for details on how to upgrade your OS. 8) Is there a patch librarian and other Machinedrum related software available? - Yes. There's one piece of software for Mac OS X called "MD Machine Lab" which allows you to edit the machines within your kits. It will also randomize the parameters of the machine for you. However, it's not currently available. It's being developed by a member of the Elektron community named "Andrew." He's quite busy with school and works on the software in his free time. So don't bug him about it; school's more important (though less fun)! I'm sure that he'll speak up when it's ready. There's also a librarian tool being developed for both the Machinedrum and Monomachine. It allows the user to import kits, patterns and songs from several MD/MnM Sysex dumps and then structure a new Sysex file containing only the kits, patterns and songs they wish. Essentially, one can structure the entire memory contents of their Machinedrum or Monomachine based on several of their old Sysex files. In addition, the software allows one to edit song contents by allowing them to join several songs together into a single song. This will allow, for example, a seamless live performance with no delays in loading the next song. It also runs under Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. However, it's still in the very early stages of development and the release date is unknown. It's being developed by a member of the Elektron community named "Joe." He's also quite busy and works on the software in his free time. And he too will certainly speak up when it's ready. 9) How do I restore the Machinedrum's factory settings? - Hold down FUNCTION when powering up the Machinedrum and choose option 3 ("Factory Reset") by pressing the "HT" trig key. 10) How do I clear the Machinedrum's memory contents? - Hold down FUNCTION when powering up the Machinedrum and choose option 2 ("Empty Reset") by pressing the "SD" trig key. 11) Where can I find Machinedrum songs/patterns/kits to download? - First, you can try looking at the Yahoo group's website here: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/elektron-users/files/ Look under the Machinedrum and Machinedrum contest sections. Both of them will have Sysex files for you to download; the contest section may be the most interesting, though. Eventually, I'm sure that this forum will have it's own section dedicated to Sysex files. So keep an eye out for that and hopefully we'll update this FAQ to reflect the location of that data, once it's available. 12) Where can I find the Machinedrum manual in .pdf format? - A copy is always available on Elektron's Machinedrum support page: http://www.machinedrum.com/mdsupport.php 13) Where can I find what is in the latest Machinedrum OS update? - The easiest way is to go to http://www.machinedrum.com/mdsupport.php and download the latest OS. The OS is contained within a compressed file (.zip or .sit) which will also contain a text file describing all OS changes for the latest release as well as all releases since the first one. 14) How do I find which OS my Machinedrum is running? - When you power up your Machinedrum, take a look in the lower right hand corner of the screen. The OS release that it's running will be listed there. 15) What is the latest OS version? - Currently, it's 1.20 but if you'd like to find out the latest release at any time, you can look at http://www.machinedrum.com/mdsupport.php 16) Does the Machinedrum send effects to the separate outs? - No it does not. Only the machines routed to the main A/B outputs will run through the effects bus; which includes the delay, reverb, EQ and compressor. Any machine routed to a different output will be output as a completely clean signal. Furthermore, if no machine is routed directly to the A or B outputs, then the A/B main output will continue to run through the effects bus. BUT once a machine is routed directly to the A or B output, then the effects bus is bypassed for the A/B main out. 17) Are the Machinedrum's 1/4" jacks balanced or unbalanced? What level do they output at? - They are unbalanced and output with a +4dB signal. So if you plan on running them direct to a soundcard, for example, then make sure that the soundcard can receive +4dB signals. If it doesn't, then make sure to attenuate the signal with a mixer or with the Machinedrum's main level control. And note that the individual outputs always output at +4dB; the main level control only affects the A/B main out. 18) Why do I get error 1 or 2 when I'm trying to upload Sysex data to the Machinedrum? - There are four error codes that you may receive when trying to upload data to the Machinedrum: Error 1: Wrong Length Error 2: Wrong Checksum Error 3: Memory Full, when using specific position Error 4: Wrong Version Usually, the only one of these you'll get is error 1. That usually means that you are transmitting the data to the Machinedrum too quickly and some of the messages got lost/corrupt in transit. Try increasing the delay between messages in your Sysex transfer utility (see question 5). If that doesn't work, try using another transfer utility or another MIDI interface, if you can. 19) Why do I hear noise coming out of the Machinedrum outputs? - This could occur for various reasons. The most likely one is that you have the Machinedrum output set very high and running into something not setup to accept it's +4dB output level (see question number 17). It may work to simply turn the level down through the main output control or through a mixer if you're using the individual outputs. If you're still having problems, you may wish to contact Elektron support regarding the noise level of your particular Machinedrum. That said, many people have complained that perfectly functional Machinedrums still have a small noise level at their main output. The reason for this is unknown at this time. 20) How do the Machinedrum's input machines work? - Quite simply, in fact. Choose the one that you will use based on what you would like to do to the incoming signal (gate, filter or envelope) and which input you would like to use (A or B). Once you have it loaded into a Machinedrum track, you just need to trigger the machine in order to allow the input signal to come through. 21) A Machinedrum knob is not behaving correctly. What's wrong? - Well, an encoder might have worn down over time. To test this out, enter Machinedrum test mode by holding FUNCTION when you power up the Machinedrum and then selecting option 1 ("Test mode") by pressing the "BD" trig key. Once in test mode, simply turn the encoder in question back and forth, both unpressed and depressed. The array of lights in the Machinedrum's upper left-hand corner (which indicate machine trigs normally) will cycle back and forth as you turn the knob. If you experience them jumping over lights or in the direction opposite from what you are turning, then something is certainly wrong with your encoder and you should contact Elektron support. 22) Where can I find CC numbers for the Machinedrum for use with my sequencer? - Well, they are in the back of the manual. But they're not described directly on a channel-by-channel basis and they're in hexadecimal. So if you're alright with doing a little thinking while you're trying to find it, then check there. If you're lazy (like me) and just want a chart listing all of them, then check here: http://f5.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/AN-xQWXaQ2Io53YH3KBqqz8WAcS7kub8O9F3aOPQhX0m-2wW0PfRQdvS3NYr22cVkQPs277Jq2TRuBSQhjA/Machinedrum/Other/MD_cc%20chart.pdf (Hopefully this file name will get moved to the new forum and will not be quite so long!) 23) What if I can't find my answer here? - Then you should ask in the Machinedrum forum to see if anyone there can help you out. Thanks for reading here first, though, to see if your question is a common one!