SDS Drop

made a Mac app for the Elektron Analog Rytm:

it's a sample transfer tool, replacing Elektron's c6.

Twice as fast, and lets you drag & drop files directly to the pads.

It also works with any random files, pretty cool with photoshop files for instance.

View on App Store

Amazing if it works - very interested in trying this out!

here's a very rough demo video (prerelease version):

elektronauts thread: http://www.elektronauts.com/topics/view/18093/147423/page:4#147423

How does the connection work - does it transfer via USB or Midi?

it's MIDI via USB :)

sample transfer happens in the MIDI Sample Dump Standard protocol - hence the name. c6 does it the same but I do it faster & more reliable.

the kit-assignment is done via reverse-engineered MIDI SysEx messages.

hang on... so what happens when you drop an image file on a pad? do you just get a noise burst or something?

depends. :)

"noise burst" is relative - for many people, they would say that it's just noise yes.

the app just reads the file byte by byte, and each byte is interpreted as a single sample point. (signed byte, leading bit is the sign)

Thus, the results vary quite a bit between different files.

But the overall feel is not unlike oldschool dial-up modem sounds.

Here's what my Safari browser cache sounds like:

One thing I can say is that compressed file formats tend to be close to uniform white-noise. Apparently, compression algorithms will make data appear random. But even these almost-noise files have some color to them and make good hi hats :D

But a lot of files do sound quite interesting - and if you want to use image pixels to actually shape a sound, you need to have an uncompressed format such as bmp or tiff. Best with 8bits per pixel (256 shades of grey). You can use the file as a wavetable essentially...

-

PCX screenshots from the original DOS version of Doom make good menacing sounds, almost like a distorted guitar. In fact, I used them as distorted guitar sounds in my first tracker files in the mid-late 90s.

  On 2/5/2016 at 2:05 PM, modey said:

I used them as distorted guitar sounds in my first tracker files in the mid-late 90s.

Used to sound just like Gescom's RMI Corporate ID 2:

  On 2/5/2016 at 2:05 PM, modey said:

PCX screenshots from the original DOS version of Doom make good menacing sounds, almost like a distorted guitar. In fact, I used them as distorted guitar sounds in my first tracker files in the mid-late 90s.

that sounds great! so this would work with a DOS emulator...?

here's a Java file which turned out guitarish:

and here's Sonic the Hedgehog for SEGA Genesis:

(listen to the end!)

  On 2/5/2016 at 2:12 PM, mcbpete said:

 

  On 2/5/2016 at 2:05 PM, modey said:

I used them as distorted guitar sounds in my first tracker files in the mid-late 90s.

I used to use other tracker files as sounds in my tracker days. Trackerception.

 

Used to sound just like Gescom's RMI Corporate ID 2:

 

https://geo-samples.beatport.com/lofi/360881.LOFI.mp3

 

das cool! so what are tracker files - basically lists of music events, but also they contain samples?

Pretty much. I think I did the trackerception thing as well, good times :D

You could use a DOS emulator, yeah, vanilla Doom will still make PCX screenshots.

Actually that makes me think about using Doom screenshots converted to audio for some DETHWAVE..

sounds like a dece idea.

I'm gonna check out that Doom.

Just implemented a new thing for the app (next version), so you can drag URLs from your browser into it and it will download & convert whatever is behind the URL.

aka

you can load the internet into your drum machine ;]

wow that's awesome, nice one! Elektron really need to up their software game (or hire you, heh)

yeah - some nice textures can come out of data files. esp. if you chop them up and take out the interesting bits.

it would be interesting if you could 'vocode' one data file against another at the data level. or use a second data file to generate 'slides' in the first data file (like how you can put slides in the elektron sequencer to smoothly move from one locked parameter to another.

the logic would be something like:

1. load data file a.

2. load data file b.

3. set length of data file b to data file a.

4. when the data in file b crosses a certain threshold, set a 'start slide' marker in data file a.

5. when the data in file b falls below a certain threshold set an 'end slide' marker in data file a.

6. render out data file a as an audio file with the generated slides.

...or maybe even better, use a dropped data file to warp whatever audio file already is loaded into the pad using similar logic. so a snare hit or whatever would get scrambled/filtered by the data file dropped on top of it.

i can't code ( other than max/msp) so please feel free to take these ideas and implement them in your app somehow if you like. i would def. buy your app if i had a rytm.

this sounds like a good idea, no idea how it would sound. :D

tbh it might be a bit much for this app, could be a job for another thing which is specifically for messing with files...

tried the pcx format - wasn't able to export screenshots from Doom in pcx, just png. but imagemagick to the rescue. this plain bitmap format is pretty cool.

i'm more interested on what eq/notching/etc. would sound like on an image file

Edit: look like

hmm... I've tried this some years ago, converted image pixels to wav, then processed with audio FX, then converted back. The result was not unlike certain image convolution filters such as edge detection. reverb, delay, distortion, it was all interesting. a high-pass filter is pretty much edge-detection.

Awesome, phling! You really put the in-house software development at Elektron to shame.

i hope they offer u a job

thanks!

well this is a real simple app - I mean sure, one has to wonder why they never improved upon c6, would be a few days worth of work. But Overbridge is another story, looks like they engineered the entire communications with the machines from scratch, it's not a trivial piece of software.

working for them - not sure if it would be a lot of fun working on Overbridge, seems complex AF with lots and lots of issues & no real end in sight, it could be a rather frustrating grind... and for working on the machines themselves, not sure if I've got the chops for that...

you're in cdm today

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2016/02/this-app-gives-elektron-analog-rytm-drag-and-drop-sample-loading/

yea - good times, cheers!

1.0.4 is out

has bulk transfer

but my fav+ thing is that you can now drag browser URLs directly to pads

e.g.

drag the preview mp3s here:

http://sampleswap.org/filebrowser-new.php?d=DRUMS+%28FULL+KITS%29%2FR8+drumkit%2F

or try Facebook.com

boom.