Review: Circuit RHYTHM vs TRACKS, Sampling/slicing tutorial, All factory presets // Novation Circuit

Get my template for playing melodies with sample on Circuit Tracks, along with all my tips and insights from this video and others in my ever-expanding book of electronic music ideas, tips and tricks here:


Check Circuit prices here (affiliate links help the channel regardless of what you buy):

Other gear in the video:
► Half a Bluebox by 1010Music
► Decksaver covers saving the day

Can it be used as a live looper?
► Sort of. You can sample while Rhythm is playing back, and if you pre-populated a pattern with the sample in the slot you're sampling in to, it will start repeating. levels are a bit of a challenge to balance, and the first loop might not work well, there's no overdub (though you might try resampling....) but it's better than nothing I guess.

Other places I hang out:

My music:

TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
1:30 vs Tracks
5:55 Similarities
6:20 Connectivity
7:40 Sampling
10:55 Trimming
12:30 Sound design
14:15 Live slice
16:55 Grid FX
20:55 Sequencing
22:25 Sample flips
24:05 Drum pad seq
24:30 Note repeats
25:45 Seq params
26:50 Mutate
27:40 Pattern settings
28:50 Automation
30:05 Mixer
30:50 Effects
31:50 Sidechain
32:50 Patterns
33:50 Scenes
35:25 Misc
36:20 Pros & cons
40:10 16 Songs

Submit review and video ideas here (sorry I don’t offer 1x1 sessions/setup/purchasing advice):


NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion, and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.

[oletrenner]

"a filter from 'outside the club' to 'phone speaker'" – concise and tangible, perfect description :)

[andrij.demianczuk]

I’m a big fan of my Elektron devices, and yet the rhythm has earned a place in my studio. The thing I like most about it is the portability; with an external recorder I can take it with me pretty much anywhere which I find really inspiring. In a coffee shop, on a plane or at the park this thing is such a beautiful piece of inspiring hardware

[jansenwilder]

This is the review that I need between these 2 devices, hard to choose till we know all their features.

[ruffiankick]

You could always do an old school technique and speed the sample up twice as fast before you record it in, to double your sample time. To get it back to normal, just pitch it down after it's sampled in 😂😂😂 works.

[iancallender]

Just got mine yesterday, I'm now in the learning mode and incredibly thankful for your videos - clear, concise, this has me figuring it out pretty quick.
It is indeed limited, but that's exactly what I wanted. I wanted a sampler to load up samples of classic drum machines into and sample my own synth playing into to get a little creative and groovy. This has exactly the right feature set to do just that, with enough features to keep me interested but not so much that it becomes overwhelming with features I'll never use. I see this becoming a rather nice addition to the setup!

[robertlee]

I think the immediacy of messing with samples is most appealing - it would make me do things I wouldn’t normally do elsewhere

[pepejul]

If they were merged in a single device I'd seriously consider buying it as a travel companion.

[damelos]

I can NEVER sit through a complete review in one sitting. So dense with detail and so much info at once. I need a few trips to the video to get the whole thing. It's like being in grad school. You learn a lot but take it in chunks. LOL Great work as usual. Thank you.

[dinogoldie]

220 seconds is almost four minutes. That's 128 almost-2 second oneshots per pack. Suits me. Most drum sounds wont even be 1 second long so that leaves plenty sample time for loops to slice. My only criticism of this box so far is that it relies on the proprietary "packs" format and the proprietary Components webware. Ideally I'd like something where you could just create a folder on an SD micro and fill it with WAVs.

[Dorachagi]

Really digging those performances at the end, nicely done

[Gainn]

It's almost like they could have made one really useful box..
But split it into two. And still hobbled both of them.

[trevorbrown]

Great videos as always! I got my rhythm today and am very impressed with it especially for the price!! These videos really help you to make a decision which is great!! Thanks

[sea-ferring]

I got really excited about the Rhythm - I am learning all of this as I go, but two things are notable. Many reviewers have been impressed with how effective the Rhythm is for live performance. I also feel like Novation designed the feature set in a way that encourages people to get both. I am now considering the Roland MV-1 because I want polyphony, a mic preamp, and higher quality sample handling.

[AppAxis]

I think Novation will Firmware Update the hell out of this solid foundation. #Novation #Circuit_Rhythm #Dawless

[derbydelay]

Salut! Could i use the effects INSTANT for incoming audio, without recording? For example Loop-Roll like on a SP404?

[matiaslanzi]

Being all software based one would think that features like scales and note repeat would be standard issue. Not mutually exclusive from the same device family.

[NevilleHayfield]

You are THE GAFFER with the gear my man 🙏 ✊👊👊💪🔥

[bullet]

Always check out this channel first for product reviews 👍💯

[romanyel]

Super helpful and professionally created on all levels: video, audio, titles etc. And great tunes that also demonstrate how pieces move through time. I'll look but I don't think you have demo of Components. All this is great as long as it can be saved and retrieved later.

[ruffiankick]

That reverse trick at 12:00 is definitely a trick that many Roland SP-404 users will be happy with 😂😂.