Elektron Syntakt
A 12-voice drum synthesizer.
Tips
Elektron's LFO timings are at once opaque and yet strangely intuitive. LFO rates are specified in terms of two parameters: a speed and a multiplier. These quantities are related by the following formula1): $$\frac{128}{T_{steps}/16}=speed\cdot mult$$
For example, to create an LFO with a period of 8 steps, set $T_{steps}=8$ to yield $speed\cdot mult=256$. We arbitrarily choose $mult=16$, so $speed=16$. This works just as well for odd periods; taking $T_{steps}=5$, we have $speed\cdot mult=409.6$. With $mult=8$, $speed=51.2$. Negative speed values seem to simply invert the waveform.
| Mult | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 64 | 128 | 256 | 512 | 1k | 2k | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPD | 1 | 128 | 64 | 32 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 |
| 2 | 64 | 32 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 | 1/32 | |
| 4 | 32 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 | 1/32 | 1/64 | |
| 8 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 | 1/32 | 1/64 | 1/128 | |
| 16 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 | 1/32 | 1/64 | 1/128 | 1/256 | |
| 32 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 | 1/32 | 1/64 | 1/128 | 1/256 | 1/512 | |
| 64 | 2 | 1 | 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16 | 1/32 | 1/64 | 1/128 | 1/256 | 1/512 | 1/1024 |
Firmware updates
Load the SysEx file into Elektron Transfer, and connect the Syntakt to the computer via USB. On the Syntakt, navigate to Settings → System → OS Update. Press Send in Elektron Transfer. Once the update is complete, the Syntakt will ask to be rebooted.
Mine currently has version 1.21 installed.