Sonic Potions LXR + Pyramid

Other gear, studio & live setup
21

i figured it out!!!

using brendan’s v0.37 firmware:
each voice has its own “channel” setting on the MIX page (you have to scroll through, its one of the last settings)
to reach it easily, go to voice mode, and them press MIX twice (this scrolls through the MIX subpages)
pick your MIDI channel
(i pick Voice 1 = Channel 1, Voice 2 = Channel 2 etc - no muss no fuss)

then in the pyramid, its easy peasy!
go to track mode
with your midi hooked in select channel
sequence away!!!

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS:

  • i can do multiple rhythms for the same voice!!! i can have five, ten, twenty (!) snares! lol

  • @maximee what you said about tonality being different on the lxr and pyramid - this is a HUGE PLUS! i can tweak on the lxr, and then later, “transpose” ALL the tracks i have with the same voice up or down!

  • wowieee!

thanks @maximee and @mongrol

2 Likes
22

How are you liking the RYTM mkii with the Pyramid so far?

23

I have an LXR(built it) and rytm running with pyramid. Both sick! Would never part with either if I dont have to!

24

I gotta say it’s pretty flipping amazing. Not that there’s some kind of natural symbiosis between the two though. More that the Rytm is a shit hot drum machine and the Pyramid is a shit hot sequencer. I got them synced up easy enough (Pyramid has turbo midi - yeah!) and got the Pyramid doing scene switching (that’s kind of like pattern or sequence switching in Pyramid world but with parameter and sound changes bundled in if you want) and Programme changes for loading whole new kits and patterns all at once in time (that’s probably more for switching songs but you can use it for different parts of a song if you’ve run out of scenes within one pattern - not that I have yet.

I’ll probably put the Rytm pattern changes into a bank of patterns on the pyramid when I get to building out full arrangements. You can mute Rytm voices with CCs but I’ve not figured out a smart way to do this on the Pyramid yet… It’s too easy to just mute and solo from the Rytm but definitely need to get my head around it before i start putting full songs together.

(Haven’t got into pattern chaining on the Rytm even though it looks piss easy - will do that on the Pyramid when they fix the sequence chaining bugs in OS 3 - please please please squarp - I need to finish some stuff off now!!)

So the pyramid stays as the brain sequencer and does all my melodic stuff and the Rytm is just for drums.

I’m doing all my step programming in the Rytm, you can trigger notes from the Pyramid but the step sequencer and flexibility on the Rytm is soooooooo good. As are the conditional trigs that just bring patterns and fills a variations to life in such a beautiful inspiring way. Way more flexibile that the chance and probability FX in the Pyramid.

You only get one LFO per track on the Rytm, which isn’t a massive problem because you have so many options for automation of parameter changes and they are so quick to programme. But i like to work quickly and deal with detail later so it’s super convenient just having multiple LFOs available in the Pyramid in the FX that you can just chuck on to get a part moving around a bit without having the trig lock everything to steps on the Rytm. That’s pretty easy but sometimes i forget what I’ve automated or I’m not sure which parameter is doing what on what step. Plus it’s a drag having to delete parameter locks from a tonne of steps when you can have the convenience of just switching the LFO off in the pyramid.

You can programme performance macros to modulate a bunch of parameters all at once on the Rytm but I can’t say I’m crazy about the way you have to apply pressure on the pads to initiate the modulation. There’s a quick performance knob that does the job (once you’ve selected the performance macro you want to modulate) but with the Pyramid I can just assign the macro to one of the five performance encoders and it’s just there to modulate whenever without having to select the macro on the Rytm first. Plus you can tweak more than one macro at once if you like dialling and twisting rather than breaking your fingers on some rubber pads.You gotta press real hard to get the sweep up to full intensity.

All the Rytm parameters have CCs so you’ve got a lot of options for tweaking just from the pyramid via encoders and FX. I like to set up control only tracks on the pyramid too and just drop them in and out. If you want a CC that’s more than 4 bars on the rytm then you are in trouble. (Someone may correct me here with a workaround - there probably is one… it’s a very flexible, very powerful device.)

So, even though as far as I can tell after a couple of weeks fiddling the Rytm has very few limitations - the ones that might have frustrated me aren’t problematic as the pyramid can fill in most of the gaps.

Oh and the Rytm has ‘global swing’ which the Pyramid doesn’t so my tracks are bumping in a way that i was struggling to master on the pyramid. + Step sequencing drums on the Pyramid leaves a lot to be desired.

But I feel like I’ve only really scratched the surface of what the two can do together.

So yeah - very happy. Anyone that likes the Pyramid for its touch feely playability and button bashing fun would love the Rytm. And like the Pyramid, if you like your tracks to be always evolving, moving, doing generative stuff, a bit of controlled unpredictability or patterns and phrases of different lengths and stuff moving against each other - you would love the Rytm. They are very similar in that regard. They just want to be played…

2 Likes
25

Quick self edit here so I’m not spreading mis-information… You can’t change the pattern trigs by switching scenes on Rytm. You need to switch patterns for that with a Pgm change. But easy enough to do and you get 128 patterns per project.

1 Like
26

You did well to go for the Rytm. The LXR is abandoned by its creator and is buggy and low quality. I would not recommend it. I sold mine (as well as an xbase 999) to fund buying a Rytm MK1 and never looked back.

27

Scary when the dev dumps a product. Just how buggy is it? I came close to buying one about a year ago, only funds held me back. I also had the opportunity buy an xbase09 from a friend and passed on it as they are very overrated (thus why he was selling it).

That’s sorta unacceptable…

28

It had some MIDI-related bugs (like the one mentioned) and an unstable MIDI clock, as well as some problem with the envelopes (digital clicking noises). Apart from the bugs, there was also too much unnecessary stuff to scroll through when editing sequences (like having all modulation destinations for all the other tracks in the list of parameters when doing parameter automation, leading to potentially very confusing results made worse by abbreviated parameter names). There was too much stuff crammed in the UI, leaving behind basic things … you had to manually load your project when turning the machine on… On top of all that the track mute/unmute buttons were not 100% responsive, etc etc.

I am guessing some of the issues are hardware related and cannot be fixed by firmware updates which is why the developer gave up on it ( he doesn’t even answer questions any more last time I checked).

BC’s custom firmware made things a bit better and you can get some good sounds out of it, so it could serve as a secondary drum machine for sketching out ideas and sampling it, I guess. But it will not play along well as part of a MIDI setup or for live performance.

29

Yep, I had all the bugs mentioned above. I never used the sequencer on it as I found it too fiddly trying to chain patterns together and drove it from my Midibox. That’s when I hit the clock issues (voltage incompatibilities of all things), env clicking (that drove me nuts) and the structure of the kits, settings, projects was frustrating. The lack of firmware updates was disconcerting but I take it he moved on once BC’s firmware was so far ahead.

Let’s be honest though, it’s dirt cheap for what you get and sounds great. I had to sell mine though to stop myself going to jail.

1 Like
30

@Panason Cheers for the run down.

Hmm, better than needing to sell your Pyramid!

31

Might need to to pay for anger management lessons. Touchpad keeps playing up and setting velocity to zero (despite frequent recalibtration). It’s nearly ended up through the window a couple of times.

32

The touchpad seems like a waste of space and resources to be honest. I’d rather have a few more knobs or faders in that space…

My experience with the LXR certainly put me off independent projects like that… anything that has a wiki in place of a user guide is a no-no for me.

33

I actually love projects like that. I’ve saved an absolute fortune over the last two years by DIY’ing my own stuff. I’ve also made a lot of money too by selling them on when I get bored. Midibox, cost about $800, sold for $800, Ambika, cost $600, sold for $1100 (AUD), Preenfm2, cost $150, turned it on for 5 mins, instantly hated it and sold for $300. LXR, cost about $450, sold for $600ish.

I almost bought another LXR as I loved the sound engine and fancied myself hacking on the source myself to fix the bugs, but a squirrel ran past and I did something else instead. Now I’m allured by Eurorack and building a NLC Null-A2 full voice with SMD parts. I’m getting about $3000 worth of euro functionality for $270.

1 Like
34

After all that… Rytm is winging its way back to Sweden for critical surgery. Uncovered all sorts of erratic pad behaviour and problems with the BT and CY engines.

Elektron forums indicate others have had the same issues with this first batch of units. Suggest anyone considering a purchase have the supplier test it first.

Easy enough to do… Put the pads into mute mode, switch them all off, then sequentially switch them on and off - focusing on pads 3,7,11,12,8,4. Many users are reporting suchandsuch pad also triggers suchandsuch pad on/off. Or in Play Mode Pad 12 triggers Pad 4 too.

Generally the problem seems to affect these pads but there are some units where all the pads are affected and Rytm treats you to a crazy little light show just for laughs. Will miss this beastly device whilst he is operated on. Sad face.

And shame on Elektron for putting a dysfunctional product out there with a 1500EU price tag. Tsk. Almost makes me wish I’d bought and LXR instead…almost…

They can make it up to me by sending me their entire product range gratis. That would get them back in my good books.

1 Like
35

Ahh, I hadn’t noticed you got the MK2. I would warn anyone NOT to buy any of the new Elektron boxes. There are MANY people having problems with them.

Elektron have become greedy and are dumping all over their loyal fan base. The Digitakt is plagued with bugs that have still not been fixed. They have promised firmware updates that have not come, and the new Sample Transfer app does not work on the Rytm mk1, for which there is no official solution other than C6, which uses archaic MIDI Sample Dump speeds (we’re talking back to the early 90s- a one second sample takes over 10 seconds to transfer). Instead of fixing this issue and the many issues with the Digitakt, they rushed out another box and have been wasting everyone’s time with the buggy Overbridge software.

They have been trying to tone down the complaints at the Elektron forums with some heavy handed moderation and the whole thing is a big mess…

Besides frequent hardware defects, the fimrware for the new gear is unfinished and buggy and there are no guarantees as to when and if the issues will be fixed.

The issues with the Digitone are starting to pour into Elektron’s forum. Today I could see several of the eager fans who pre-odered the machine report the exact same issues that plague the other machines: faulty buttons, faulty firmware and crashes.

DO NOT BUY ELEKTRON’S NEW GEAR unless you have a lot of disposable income for toys that might not work.

36

I bet they will not even refund the postage.

37

I’m using the LXR since years … it’s a very inspiring and great sounding drum machine and makes a great companion for the Rytm

38

you think you could stop bashing around ? Just because elektron has some quality control issues - wich can and should be mentioned in a forum - theres no need to generally disrecommend the great gear they make.
Write to elektron if your disappointed - encourage others to also write to elektron. That would help to improve the quality.
Your bashing is not fair.

39

and what I can only describe as a ‘moment of madness’ (involved an early payday, PayPal credit and alcohol)…

LOL
Been there :slight_smile:

40

I forget it’s there and PayPal credit catches me out every time. “Surely you want this interest free for 4 months??” it says. And u r just like “Yes please!!!”

1 Like