Model:Cycles: More sound needs more than just a hack

Nu-Trix doesn’t just leave it at unease: He opens the system display, mentions peak values of 104 and 105, and interprets them as exceeding the CPU limit. With two-channel USB audio transmission activated, the problem worsens in his observation; even the tempo gets out of sync, although the DAW transport isn’t running. He can’t name an exact cause in the code. His experiment thus documents a concrete stability problem, not a blanket verdict on alternative firmware.

On support, he argues from the manufacturer’s perspective: You can modify your own hardware; but the consequences of third-party code shouldn’t automatically be fixed by the manufacturer for free. His stance is clear:

Why the extra possibilities are still tempting can be seen in Ricky Tinez’s review from February 29, 2020. He’s happy about USB audio, but wishes for more separate tracks for recording. More control over the individual sound layers: That’s a musically understandable wish, not just a collector’s urge for features. He describes the state at the time as follows:

At the same time, Ricky praises the dedicated knobs and immediate access. That’s exactly where Nu-Trix draws a second line: An alternative firmware he previously tried ran decently, but didn’t fit his workflow due to extra button combinations and undocumented functions. More synthesis also needs a place under your fingers.

How much life the original instrument already contains is shown by tafony in the jam video from November 27, 2024. Trigger probabilities are thinned out, hi-hats modulated via shape, and percussive sounds moved with random modulation on color. Acoustic realism isn’t the goal, but an explicitly digital character. tafony’s preference sounds unmistakable:

For further tweaks, tafony also uses the external recording rig, such as its DJ filter. That’s not an argument against new engines. It just reminds us what musical criteria extensions should be measured by: Do they enable a desired texture, or do they take away your control? An overdriven FM kick and a sequencer out of step are two very different things.

The most unpleasant twist, Nu-Trix saves for after returning to the original firmware. Patterns created with extra engines no longer play correctly; changing a sound brings up an error. According to him, a fresh pattern with internal sounds works fine. So the device hasn’t become permanently unusable. But the musical work from the experiment can’t be carried over seamlessly.

Still, his thoughts don’t end with a locked-down case. Nu-Trix imagines manufacturers providing an SDK, that is, a software development kit, along with rules. Community code would get a defined experimental area within the instrument. That’s his vision for the future, not an announced Elektron feature and not proof that such a sandbox would automatically be stable.

His experiment suggests a more demanding standard: Documented access alone isn’t enough. A convincing openness would have to consider CPU load, usability, and handling of saved patterns – including the question of what happens to a piece when an extension is removed.