Elektron Musical Instruments

Greetings Elektronites,
Just wanted to send a public congratulations to everyone at Elektron.  The latest beta of the Machinedrum OS is fantastic, and I am having a great time discovering its enormous capabilities.  Even before the midi sequencing capabilities, the MD was radically changing the way that I make and manipulate sounds.  Now that I can use the MD's intuitive and generative interface to control other gear I am positively ecstatic.  Elektron has made the greatest drum machine ever, and then transformed it into a fantastic hardware sequencer with the soul of an analog modular.  I feel totally lucky to bear witness to these great technical achievements, and I can't say enough about the sophistication of this instrument.
On top of that, Elektron's service is second to none: when I had an issue with both my Sid and MD at the same time, Elektron made sure to address these problems and get both machines back to me as soon as possible.  When the MD came back there was a small surprise inside: an updated, bound manual for the new OS.  Elektron understands both instruments and customers.  They have made two classic instruments now, and I hope they get the recognition they deserve.  I for one will be singing their praises (while wearing an "I'm with Machinedrum" tshirt).

I really look forward to getting msgs from this list, but I would like to hear more about how people are using their instruments, what outboard gear is being used, cool experiments, etc.  Eventually it would be great to see some swapping of kits online as a way of learning from each other.

Lately I have experimented with the MD in conjunction with the Nord Micromodular: the two Swedish cousins get along marvelously.  They are both flexible in a similar way, and with midi no's freely defined on each it is easy to get some great modulations going.  I use the MD's LFOs to modulate parameters on the Micromodular, and the six CC knobs in the midimachine give me access to more of the features of the Micro, which has only 3 knobs. Right before Christmas I was hinting to Santa that I might need a midicontroller.  Shortly after doing some research on them I got the new OS and realized that my favorite drum machine was also my favorite midicontroller.  Try getting a knobby to send out cross-modulated, realtime-controllable midi LFOs!!

Ok, I'll wrap this up.  Thanks for listening, and please share thoughts on the way you are working with your gear.

Cheers,
Jason Starnes	

P.S.  Anyone located near Vancouver, BC?