RYTHYM ECHO DELAYS
MD Rhythm Echo beat repeat using CTR-RE and parameter locks
Ok, ever since the CTR-FX machines came out, one of my favourite things to replicate with the Machinedrum is Ableton Live's Beat Repeat effect. For those of you who haven't used Live, Beat Repeat does exactly what it says on the tin, it snatches a section of audio and stutters it. You can do this easily with the Rhythm Echo thanks to the CTR machine.
It's fairly obvious how to do it, but here's a little guide:
1. Set up a CTR-RE machine in your kit.
2. Set all the steps you want "muted" (as in not to stutter/repeat) by locking the FB and LEV parameters to 0.
3. Likewise set the steps you do want to repeat by locking FB to 64 and LEV to 127. (Note that you only have to do either one of step 2 and 3, I usually go with step 2 so then I can fully adjust what is repeating)
4. Route the parts you want to repeat by setting their DELAY send parameter to 127.
5. You can now tweak away with the CTR-RE parameters to totally screw around with your beats. I use it a lot with inputs. Using the MOD is interesting, really weird time warping stuff. You can use the filter just like in Ableton Live. It's a great little trick IMO.
Great! I've tried! it's a nice tecnique...especiallly setting master delay time to very low signatures like 1 to 6 so you get very close stutter beat repeats. After this I experimented with LFO connected to MOD...
Rythym Echo general
Well I like a delay time of 24.. possibly a bit too much
Also 48 and good old 36
20 is also quite good for something a bit wonky.
I tend to use a bit of HP to prevent bass mud and quite a bit of LP to make it warmer. Also slightly less than the full stereo setting can immitate cross channel bleed and make it sound again more natural/analog/what have you. I usually let the reverb have some of delay's output as well to get more sense of depth but that probably depends on the track. I also tend to like a fair amount of feedback, certainly more than 20 or so.
I often add the CTRL machines to a kit so that i can have different effect settings per pattern without having to save a whole new kit. Just use the P-locks at the start to have different settings
I love to set MD's echo to 40, with a little feedback. It gives a little groove. Not original, but cool.
A thing I did few days ago is :
set feedback to 64, time to whatever you want.
Next, add full delay send to a lock and delete it when the note have been played. Eventually then mute the track or change the note position. So you can make your pattern evolve in realtime with this eternal feedback.
Echo and Compressor interactions:
Try making a short, sparse sound with a lot of echo at say 105 BPM and echo delay of 16/128 or 24/128 or so. Then, employ the compressor heavily. Move your kick to a separate output, so it doesn't affect the compressor. You can actually hear the echoes get quieter and quieter, than louder and louder, then disappear. I was doing this with the infamous EFM Cowbell. It's really weird, especially in stereo.... Simple Compression via the Dist parameter: A good use for the distortion btw, is as a simple compressor type effect. Only use a little bit of it, not enough to where you actually hear the distorted aspect though. Works good on kick drums, or basslines (especially) if you're making instrumental sounds on the MD. Just a little bit can really help a sound come through the drum mix better.
I also use the subtle distortion tip, mainly on kick drums but also on my snares too. I often run bass and bottom heavy drums thru the HP filter with Res to get some extra boom. Can be quite useful when trying to change the shape of the decay, using the resonance and freq to change the low tail off.
LFO Speed Settings: As far as I know (someone posted here long time ago) LFO speeds 0-63 are synchronized to the tempo of the Machinedrum. 64-127 are faster, with no tempo sync. Speeds of 1/2/4/8/16/32/64 are the one who are equivalent to bars/beats/16ths and such (I do not find the right words here, my excuse is being Swedish :).
Reinitializing LFO's:
Just discovered something cool. It seems the MD's LFO's reinitialise each time you reload a kit. So if you have some parameters being modulated by rnadom LFO's, each time you press FUNCTION+Classic/Extended button, it resets the phase of the LFO. Neat way to add some variations to a tune on the fly...
Creating Chorus or a Doubling effect:
Anyway, one more neat tip. You can use the Amp modulation parameters to mimic a chorus or doubling effect. Raise the AMD parameter to about 35-45, then use the AMF parameter to 'tune' the ringing with your pattern. You need to play around with it for the best results, but it can actually do a lot to make a part stand out in the pattern without sounding clangorious (new word there). The key is little steps on those 2 parameters until it's tuned just right.
Yeah, this is a cool trick. I've sometimes tried to apply it to an already programmed melody, but tuning it to an already sour melody, it's difficult to get predictable results. Since it's actually an amplitude modulator when set to 12 o clock (and ring mod at clockwise), it can turn one note into two 
\\— tIB 2009/01/12 18:38
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