Elektron

In 1998 Elektron laid the foundation for their electronic instruments in Gothenburg, Sweden, which have always had a certain industrial charm and functional design. The first product was the SidStation, a three-voice synthesizer that contained the MOS6581 sound chip from the famous Commodore 64 home computer and sounds exactly the same. Three years later followed the first version of the MachineDrum, a digital drum computer with 16 tracks, whose sounds and possibilities had never been heard from a drum machine before. The MachineDrum underwent several revisions and even sampling was introduced over the following years. In 2004, the MonoMachine was added, a digital synthesizer whose six tracks were always structured in the same way, but offered an interchangeable synthesis element. The "MM" was even released as a keyboard version. With the Octatrack, a performance-oriented sampler was presented in 2010, which took a deep breath of air from all other samplers on the market to date in terms of working speed, possibilities and flexibility.

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Elektron had recognized the signs of the times and was long established in DJ and producer circles. Vice versa, "alternative" musicians and artists found an access to music making through the new possibilities created by Elektron. After the Octatrack, Elektron heralded a new era: analog sound generation and digital control merged in the four-part analog synthesizer Analog Four, which later appeared as the extended keyboard version Analog Keys, and the ten-part drum computer Analog Rytm, which could even integrate samples, to a popular standard in numerous techno/live setups.

The two analog instruments recently received a handsome Mk2 upgrade, which was especially noticeable on the hardware side. Of course they didn't rest on their well-deserved laurels and added Digitakt, a dedicated sampler and Digitone, a synthesizer with FM synthesis, to the two "half size" devices. Recently, Elektron created the "Model:" series to address other users with a very flexible and space-saving concept. Without a doubt, Elektron has an interesting history of innovation and new ideas and ways of doing things. Musicians of different directions use their instruments and with the overbridge platform it was also possible to integrate their own machines into a DAW environment.