ELEKTRON'S MONOMACHINE and MACHINEDRUM
There’s a new Wonder Twin Duo on the scene, but their names aren’t Jayna and Zan! Elektron, a Swedish company, has gone back the days when dance music was fun and thriving to bring us a new space-age pair. And much like the WonderTwins, Elektron is treating their new babies like cult icons, with an extensive marketing and accesory campaign. The Elektron MonoMachine and MachineDrum are essentially 2005 versions of the Roland TB Series (the 303) and TR series (the 606, 808 and 909). While Elektron hints at this (but can’t completely own up to it for legal reasons) I can totally call them on it....and thank them for bringing glory back to the step sequencer and improving upon it. Especially since the company that originated the legendary 303 haven’t been able to get it right since!
If there’s one thing that the Swedes understand more than anyone else, it’s gotta be design! This pair of sequencing machines are glroious to behold (much prettier than the Roland gear ever was) and one can only expect as much coming from the same country that brought us Ikea! They’re solidly built too, I would totally feel comfortable taking both machines on the road and on stage with me. The programming is all that can be expected from a hardware sequencer, but I must say, the menu’s are much easier to get your head around than most sequencers. Okay, enough with the introductions, let me formaly introduce the new super teens. Wonder Twin powers activate!
The MonoMachine SFX-60
The people at Elektron have packed many useful features under the hood of the mono machine. For one, five different forms of synthesis which include SuperWave, SID, DigiPro, FM+, and Voice Modeling. The most unique of the five is definitely SID, which is based on the same SID-chip technology as the Commodore 64 gaming system from the late 70’s. Using it I was able to create very avant-garde 8-bit video-game style lead lines that sounded like theme songs from early video games. (And yes, the first thing I did played was that stupid song from “All Your Base Are Belong To Us”!) If you don’t want to go retro however, just switch to FM+ for crisp FM synthesis or SuperWave for really fat analog sounds.
Again following the suit of early Roland, Elektron’s MonoMachine is dead easy to program. There are 16 buttons that double as sound trigger pads and step sequencer input buttons. Just like those other guys, there’s a pattern and song mode so you can program loops and link them together to make full songs. The onboard arpeggiator can be routed to the MIDI output to control your other gear or soft synths. While its name is a bit confusing, MonoMachine refers to the fact that you have five different forms of mono-aural synthesis and six-voices of polyphony to play them back on. So, yes, the MonoMachine only has six-voice polyphony but you can either make single complex sounds (using all six voices) or you can program sequences using each voice as it’s own “instrument”. To match this, Elektron has ingeniously included six 1/4” out-put jacks! Thus, you can send all six voices out of the MonoMachine separately for additional mixing and processing!
The MachineDrum SPS1-UW
Drum Machines are dead, long live the MachineDrum!!!! If you thought step sequence beat machines died when Lil Jon discovered he could use them to make “Crunk” music, well, you were probablly right. But Elektron has devised a solution in something too advanced just to use for just the 808 booooom, tight snare and syncopated hi-hats. At first glance, the Elektron MachineDrum looks remarkably like it’s big sister, the MonoMachine. However, there are few cosmetic differences and a number of internal differences.
First of all, where the MonoMachine specializes in five forms of synthesis, the MD has four. TRX emulates the classic Roland TR series, EFM, E12 emulates Emu style sample based sounds and PI synthesis which is supposed to emulate natural acoustic percussion. For all you people determined to turn this thing into the new hip-hop or booty-breaks fad, it’s got an amazing recreation of the popular 808 and 909 kits. But there’s so much more! You can use it in classic mode, which emulates Roland-style sequencing, or the new Elektron extended mode. Extended mode is an amazing sound design tool that allows you to link the synth and effects engine to your sequence engine! What this means is a sound in each step in your pattern can completely differ in the type of synthesis or effects than the sound before it! To give you an example, I used it to sequentially change a kick drum into a distorted snare and back all within 16 steps. It’s a feature that many IDM producers will no doubt appreciate.
With the new SPS-UW (The UW stands for User Wave) update, the MachineDrum is now sample enabled meaning the sounds are no longer limited to synthesis or even percussion. Although highly limited (32 samples direct to ROM and two samples to RAM), the fact that Elektron listened to user complaints about a lack of a sampler option reflects highly on their company. The sampling engine allows you to manipulate the pitch, decay, hold time, bit rate resolution, start and end time, and retrigger rate of the sample.
Elektron had number of US distributors for a while but I think there may have been a problem and they’ve since all but disappeared from retail shops around the country. You can still buy them direct, however. Visit their website www.elektron.se for details.
THE ONCE OVER
Design – 10 It’s Swedish. Need I say more?
Ease of Use – 8 Everything makes perfect sense, although there’s quite a bit to remember.
Performance – 10 Sequencing machines never sounded better. Period.
Packaging – 10 Even the box looks good.
Price – 7 Fair, but still a bit pricey for a six-voice synthesizer and drum machine. For the little that it offers, the UW sampling upgrade is way over-priced.
Expandability – 5 Huge userbase on the net, but the company offers little as far as additional presets or samples.
Features – 10 A combined 10 different types of synthesis (including the MD’s new UW sampling engine)!
Necessity – 10 If you need a live groove box or step-sequencer, only Radikal Tech’s new Spectralis comes close to offering any sort of competition.
Sound Quality – 10 Whether it’s 8-Bit Retro-Funk, or booty dropping bass lines, the Elektron machines are unparalleled!
Troubleshooting – 10 I e-mailed the company about a problem I was having and they responded by that evening (or early morning in Sweden). Final Score - 80% Amazing Swedish architecture, combined with advanced functionality and unique sounds can’t outweigh the hefty price-tag and lack of upgrade options. Still, these are lustworthy boutique machines and I hope to one day own them both.
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The Elektron MonoMachine lists at $1340. The MachineDrum SPS-1 lists at $1240 and $1640 for the new SPS-1UW with sampler upgrade. Both have their own cool minisites www.monomachine.com and www.machinedrum.com respectively.
