When I’m asked what to buy if you want to get into making electronic music, I often recommend Elektron’s budget-minded Model:Samples and Model:Cycles grooveboxes. They don’t grab headlines the way Teenage Engineering’s gear or the Telepathic Instruments Orchid do, and even compared to the company’s higher-end and more niche musical offerings like the Digitakt, Octatrack, or Tonverk, they’re often overlooked. But as my collection has grown to include fancier and far more expensive instruments, I still find myself coming back to the Model series.
Don’t overlook Elektron’s budget electronic music instruments
I keep coming back to the criminally slept-on Model:Samples and Model:Cycles.
Those looking to get their first groovebox are often drawn to more familiar brand names like Korg or Roland. And lots of people on Reddit will be quick to recommend the Novation Circuit Tracks (which I personally find confusing and mediocre-sounding). This is probably also partially due to the reputation Elektron gear has for being obtuse. If you’re an established music maker and aren’t deterred by a complicated workflow, you’re probably going to pick up a more powerful Elektron box, like the Digitone or Syntakt. That leaves the Models lineup in a weird no man’s land, and that’s a shame.
