It’s the end of an era. The Elektron Machinedrum (2001) and Monomachine (2003) will see this month their last batch from manufacturing. It’s pretty remarkable how far these machines have come – spurred on by passionate users and a string of software updates that kept them fresh.
Our Swedish friends at Elektron aren’t being terribly subtle with their marketing announcing the event, either, going for a funeral motif. Wait. Let’s back up. These are new units arriving, and unless a software update is going all Blade Runner on these things, not sure “funeral” was what they were looking for. But it is nice to see out these boxes.
And meanwhile, the whole industry has shifted toward Elektron, not the other way round. Now musicians are increasingly clamoring for standalone hardware, drum machines, techno boxes – and, let’s be honest, very often away from the laptop when it comes time to play onstage (at least they aren’t satisfied leaving the laptop solo – it’s very likely with an Elektron or something next to it).
But Elektron remains on fire, with the Octatrack going strong and the Analog line – marked by particularly rich sound – one of the hottest pieces of kit out there. Not to mention, we’re even seeing those CDJ folks, Pioneer, entering the standalone drum machine hardware market.
Still, these instruments remain milestones in electronic musical instruments. Everywhere I saw discussion of this announcement today, people were jockeying to get their own (used or new).
You’ve got until the Summer Solstice – this batch are on sale online at Elektron until Jun 21. Delivery 1-4 weeks.