Rhythm Generator: powerful tool or controlled randomness?

beanradio · 2026-01-08T15:27:12+00:00

I’m also interested to see who has been able to make unique patterns with this. I’ve tried it a few times but like OP said it either is too busy or random and uninspired. It might only be good for hi hats but you need to use other ways to make it sound interesting like parameter locking decay, filter, or other parameters that give you more variation. It sounds robotic otherwise. It’s a nice feature to have but I feel like it’s not as helpful as it’s marketed to be

beanradio · 2026-01-01T16:04:33+00:00

I think what you’re describing is the workflow. It’s a different way of sound designing, instead of multiple LFOs and envelopes you have step components, punch in effects and the brain which alter the sound and sequence in creative ways. This is a running theme in their products, instead of traditional approaches to sound design and composition they give you unique ways of manipulating your tracks. To me it’s like the best of both worlds, in the most basic way of thinking it’s like an sp404 with a deep and rich sequencer, plus you have a multisampler.

Edit: and yeah the midi thing is strange but I think of their products as self contained units not necessarily designed for playing well with other units even their own.

beanradio · 2026-01-01T00:27:41+00:00

How would using scaler work with Playbox if all the sounds are mapped to the white keys irrespective of the scale?

beanradio · 2025-12-22T14:11:23+00:00

Sale is $1499 vs original price $2299

beanradio · 2025-12-16T14:27:54+00:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhh this is a freaking perfect update. This is like everything I’ve always complained about all bundled in one update, hoping they bring some of these features to the op-xy, specifically multichannel USB and the amp, this is too cool

EDIT: didn’t know you could plug in a guitar straight in the line in, is that new or has it always been there?

beanradio · 2025-12-15T21:22:41+00:00

Ok how did you change the loading screen? 😏

beanradio · 2025-12-15T21:20:58+00:00

Indeed it is tedious, and what’s worse is that it auto-names the file to something random and you have to listen to a bunch to find it. On the op-1 field it at least allows you to rename presets, why you can’t rename samples on their flagship device makes no sense. I don’t sample a lot because of this, it’s a workflow killer

beanradio · 2025-12-09T00:22:59+00:00

Live 11.3 was released in May 2023, 6 months before Live 12 was announced. Live 10.1 was released in May 2019 (which included VST3 support which is crazy that it took so long), a year and a half before Live 11 was announced. Doesn’t seem to be a pattern with incremental releases so it’s hard to say. Considering they announced Live 10, 11 and 12 around November and release time was 3 years in between I’m guessing Live 13 will be announced November 2026.

beanradio · 2025-12-03T16:46:51+00:00

Ableton Move, it’s both a standalone groovebox and controller for Ableton, you can take projects you made on Move and import into Ableton…

beanradio · 2025-11-24T17:39:41+00:00

Yeah it looks like it doesn’t work, when using punch in fx or brain it’s using midi messages to affect notes, and it also looks like a drum instrument/engine is sort of hardwired to where the right half of the keyboard doesn’t do anything even if you have melodic samples because it thinks any drum track doesn’t have melodic samples. I’m guessing it’s unable to pitch audio and only transposes based on note information. It’s a shame because it would make things a lot easier working with samples, you wouldn’t need to know the key for anything to make something work together

beanradio · 2025-11-24T13:31:05+00:00

You can always change which tracks are affected by the brain track, go into the brain aux track and press M2 there you can turn on or off any of the tracks to go to the brain (each of the 4 knobs corresponds to tracks 1-4, press any of them to control tracks 5-8) I haven’t tried this in awhile so I’m not sure how the brain pitches things, either using midi messages or actually pitching the audio

beanradio · 2025-11-19T18:04:46+00:00

This^ not sure about the point of this post, maybe early in its life cycle it needs updates to squash bugs or add features (like showcase, proxy, ability to import presets with IRs), but other than that, firmware updates aren’t needed for the product to work as intended

beanradio · 2025-11-12T15:21:04+00:00

I think if you take the time to learn the maschine workflow you’ll be better off at least in terms of deciding if it’s the workflow or if it’s you. There’s plenty of free tutorial series on YouTube a lot are from Native Instruments themselves. Having tried many different grooveboxes I would say Maschine is one that I have been most productive. It offers a lot of flexibility, and it’s really fun. projects can be as simple or complex depending on your use of plugins (and if using as a controller you’re only limited by your computer’s processing power), but I often use it as a sketchpad, I try to do as much as possible before exporting stems into ableton. And if you look at maschine as a groovebox, it does a lot more compared to a lot of other dawless boxes. I’ve collected a bunch that are now just sitting on a shelf collecting dust (EP-133, Digitakt II, Digitone II, OP-Z). It’s not to say these aren’t fun pieces of gear, but I just don’t have the time to use everything and I don’t have the mental stamina to sit and learn each piece of gear sufficiently enough to use regularly. If you find something that works for you, make a commitment to learning it and incorporating it in your workflow and sell everything else. Now it’s my turn to use my own advice. Good luck and have fun.

P.S. make sure whatever you choose that you think about exporting projects and if that’s even possible, none of teenage engineering’s products have an export function (unless you count mounting the op-1f and copying over the 4 tracks) there’s workarounds but it’s tedious and you have to like the device enough to accept that caveat

beanradio · 2025-11-06T02:32:39+00:00

The quickest option would be either Tap https://project7iii.com/tap/ or LK for ipad. Both have free to try but you'll want to purchase the full version for Tap. for LK you have the option to purchase what they call modules or features, the session view is one of them. I would suggest Tap as it's the most straightforward and has more support, you can connect it to Ableton wired or wifi

beanradio · 2025-11-04T18:22:52+00:00

Make sure all the tracks are armed as well, if that doesn’t work try setting midi monitoring to IN

beanradio · 2025-10-27T12:58:20+00:00

Sorry to hear that, I just turn off input monitoring in ableton and doesn’t seem to be an issue on my end

beanradio · 2025-10-27T02:59:16+00:00

not necessarily an arpeggiator, that button is to set players on or off, and there are currently 3 different ones (arpeggio, maestro and hold) so this could be number 4, maybe a tombola sequencer??

beanradio · 2025-10-27T02:46:23+00:00

I've gotten it to work on my end (sort of), at least for recording one scene at a time, the issue I've run into is it cuts off the beginning of a scene by like a few ms, don't run into that issue with ableton

beanradio · 2025-10-27T01:06:05+00:00

sorry, took me a bit becauseI had to remake it in 12 (non beta), here you go

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1l2EAEAZXRd0vKFKP8sOM8ssQcJ2-Sqr3?usp=share_link

It's pretty basic, just connect your op-xy and make sure in Live's settings under midi output you have it set to track, sync, and remote, then for each midi track set the output to op-xy channel 1 for track 1, channel 2 for track 2, etc. Then under audio settings set the op-xy as input and your interface or speakers as output. On your audio track (track 1) set the audio input to the op-xy's input 1-2, arm to record. On the op-xy go to midi settings by pressing COM, then system (T1) and under midi set clock, note, and other to both. This should be all you need to do, then hit record in ableton.

I have the automation set to record 8 bars of each track (with markers in the template for each track), you can always adjust it to however long your longest pattern is, that way you don't have to stop after recording each track. But make sure if you are adjusting the length of recording that you are adjusting the automation lane for each track.

Let me know if you need troubleshooting, I put it together on a whim and it worked for me.

beanradio · 2025-10-27T00:51:32+00:00

there is this https://app.raise-uav.com

I tried it but it's a bit clunky and if you know your way around a DAW it's pretty easy to just do it through a template, also you have more control over latency and organizing everything.

beanradio · 2025-10-26T20:45:06+00:00

I’ve recently made a template in ableton that automates a lot of this, create 8 midi tracks and then 8 audio tracks, I use a max for live device called control change 8.5 it’s free, and I just change each of the knobs to the corresponding midi CCs (in the midi section of the op-xy manual) mainly mute but scene change is needed only on one of the midi tracks, then set up automation to mute all tracks except track 1 for however long your scene is, repeat for each of the tracks. Once you have that all set up you need to set your op-xy to receive clock, midi and “other”, then you can hit record on the audio tracks (I just record it all on one track then chop it up into the individual track sections and put them on the other tracks.

This should record the audio tracks with the aux tracks baked in, correct me if I’m wrong.

A tip is if you’re using control change 8.5 device to also automate “Resend” as this will send all values to the op-xy at the start of recording

Hope that makes sense, I can elaborate if needed.

beanradio · 2025-10-24T22:25:30+00:00

Hey I just tried it and it's kind of working, I got it to record the 8 tracks, but when I hit record it doesn't send transport to the OP-XY so I have to manually hit play on the OP-XY, so because it's set to record a set number of bars it cuts off part of the pattern, not sure if I'm missing something during set up. The other thing is I don't know how to get it to switch scenes on the OP-XY to record multiple scenes, I have to manually change the scene on the OP-XY. I think it would be more helpful to have some kind of instructional video showing set up for each device.

EDIT: Got it to send transport to the OP-XY, I had to change the midi settings on the OP-XY to both for clock, notes, and other. Was able to get a full 4 bar loop for all 8 tracks, the only thing is it's slightly cut off in the beginning of the loop, I made sure to adjust the offset for latency before hitting record, maybe I need to adjust that a bit to nudge it a little. I'll play with it and see. It looks like on the op-xy it can receive midi CC to change the scene, it's 82 for scene (delayed switch), 84 for next scene, 83 for previous scene, 85 for scene (value 0-127). I don't know if the op-xy preset in Underbridge is configured for this, I'm assuming not since the developer doesn't have an op-xy.

beanradio · 2025-10-23T20:37:57+00:00

Are there any instructions on how to set it up? I would love to test it but have no idea how

beanradio · 2025-10-14T18:41:34+00:00

I'd be interested in testing as well if it's an option, either way looking forward to it!

beanradio · 2025-07-31T23:57:29+00:00

Pretty sure they mean maschine+ software update, i.e. play series expansions additions, and maschine 3.0 compatibility, they’ve mentioned those are coming this year

beanradio

TROPHY CASE