RS001 Akai Rhythm Wolf: Much better than the Internet tells you!

[@x10dc90]

I got one last year on clearance pretty cheap and I gotta say I like the sounds it makes, It can sound even better if you take advantage of the velocity function. The alternatives where mostly 808 clones so I applaud Akai for trying something different. As this was my first drum machine I didn't have high expectations for the functionality of the rhythm wolf, even then I found it to be intuitive and easy to use in live performances. The most apparent issue for me was the out of tune bass synth, but after calibrating it with the official software the bass now stays tuned.

[@rejectedsynths]

The bass synth needs some warm up time but then it usually stays in tune or at least stays 'interesting'

[@16riz]

Ya it need about 10/15 mins to warm up

[@rejectedsynths]

Hey there again, world! One of the most fun things while doing this channel has become diving through analytics data to see who (it turns out 99,5% guys my age and apparently 1,5 or so women) is watching this from where (anywhere in the world - woo hoo!). As this video has collected a fair number of views, I've got quite a bit of data to look at. One thing that really stands out with this video is that a lot of views seem to come from facebook. I tried combing facebook for the source of these views but that didn't lead me anywere (actually I discovered a lot of cool synth related groups but still...) Someone in one of these groups suggested to me that I should ask my viewers directly, so: Hello there anonymous spreader of my videos on facebook, thank you very much and who are you anyway?

[@ActionlessLoveless]

just a lot of meme groups are private

[@gnarlysoundscapes7210]

Damn, you made that infamously bad drum machine sound badass. Now I kind of want one...

[@rejectedsynths]

Get one while they're still hated! 😉

[@albertkristmas59]

Imagine how good it would sound on a good drummachine.

[@rejectedsynths]

I own good, bad and ugly drum machines and love em alll 😍

[@VestedUTuber]

Honestly, this is a really good example of how even legitimately bad gear is generally still usable. While the sounds are an acquired taste and the bass synth's envelope is definitely no Moog, it's still got some decent features and above all, it's functional and outputs usable sound. I wouldn't buy it when there are other options like the Arturia Drumbrute Impact or Korg Drumlogue in its price bracket unless you specifically want a Rhythm Wolf for its... unique... sounds, but if you already have one a couple FX pedals can really breath new life into it.

[@markussamnell6408]

Bought mine for 90 euros from an old blues guy who wanted something to Jam to but got this as a mistake. It is indeed limited and I have though of selling it many times, but the cash you get is nowhere near worth it - a GREAT interface and workflow, nice build, nice basic sequenser and for better or worse a sound of its own. I have always thought it will get reevaluated someday.

[@RaverOperator]

I picked one up recently but can't get it to play my drum sequence. The display has EHt and I can't seem to set a tempo. Does anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[@rejectedsynths]

Transport Control might be set to external or gate, this way the start button does nothing. Grab the manual online to see how to change this 😉

[@RaverOperator]

@@rejectedsynths thank you, I did just that and although it didn't get to the display I had, I did get it pushing some sequences out!! I'll look up the Transport Control there and see if I can understand better what I've done. Thanks very much for the help! 🤗

[@cmd_f5]

This has a cool sound. It's not just another" 808 clone, and I like the noise on that snare. It's awesome. peace.

[@rejectedsynths]

Yes, it definitely sounds like nothing else 😁

[@rexterrocks]

I totally agree with you. I manage to dial in some nice drum sounds. It never comes across well on recordings done like this, and this is a particularly bad recording. I certainly don't hear the click of the buttons on mine as the sound coming out is generally louder. I do use the sequencer to drive other equipment. I like the 4 patterns of 16 notes with the ability to switch between them, it's a very useful feature.

[@rejectedsynths]

@@rexterrocks I have to admit, the recording is pretty bad, one of my first, sound quality is complete rubbish

[@rexterrocks]

@@rejectedsynths As I'm using a laptop I've never heard the kick drum on any recording of it. It has a really deep bass that doesn't come across. I don't think people realise it was sold as a standalone step sequencer with CV and midi, and a drum machine and bass synth. As sequencers go I think it's particularly good. 16 banks of 4 patterns with the ability to switch patterns and banks on the fly is pretty cool. It's also very easy to programme. I like the drums, but I'd buy it for the sequencer anyway.

[@rejectedsynths]

I really dig the sequencer too, very easy and somewhat intuiutive to work with. I guess People who were raised in DAWs can't understand the appeal of something like this. I spend ages on a Roland MC303 as a kid, step sequencing my heat out 😜

[@streetwithoutjoy]

I swear by mine. It's like a very programmable Boss DR-55, but with that noisy snare it only has in program mode. I've had mine apart to fix one of the step switches and it's interesting to note that there's a section on the main board marked "individual outs here". It's obvious Akai initially intended this to have outs for all of the drum sounds individually via 1/8" outs. There are mod tutorials for this online but I chose to keep it as is as I thrive on its limitations.

[@rejectedsynths]

Yeah there really are a few signs that it was rushed to the market half finished 🙈

[@streetwithoutjoy]

@@rejectedsynths Good old Akai...

[@rejectedsynths]

At that point in their history, they were already sad new Akai 😝

[@streetwithoutjoy]

@@rejectedsynths bwahahahahaha poor Akai Dan...

[@RussellWakely]

The track in the second half is wicked - really lofi, good work! I think if you ran that thing through some lofi outboard (like Container does) and made music like that - well, I would happily listen to a record of that

[@skipper6528]

I'd like to hear that sounds cool How do I find him? I Iooked up container lofi, no joy

[@RussellWakely]

@@skipper6528 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fF65eHSJdpebfcU Here is some Container (I think his music would better be described as "noize / techno / electro" but who knows!). He's also released some stuff on Diagonal records (alongside Not Waving, Powell, if that helps)

[@RussellWakely]

And yeah from his artist name alone, he can be surprisingly hard to find on youtube! But he has some Boiler Room sets on youtube

[@rejectedsynths]

Hello World!

[@chinmeysway]

Yoh. I gots this plays Rythem cat. But are great and bad 🤓

[@ItsNova816]

Of course it's going to sound passable when you add so much compression that the background noise is as loud as the drum hits.

[@rejectedsynths]

Nope, no compression at all, it's the growl knob a.k.a. the worlds noisyest overdrive built right into the unit itself. All sound is 100% directly from the main output

[@fender97]

You can get more sounds out of it by placing a microphone above the drum pads.

[@wiidlbeetle3857]

I like the sound of it but the long decay worries me.

[@rejectedsynths]

It feels more like a 'mono bass pad synth' 😅

[@ActionlessLoveless]

why no any mention of tuning issues?

[@rejectedsynths]

It's oldschool down to the tuning issues 😁 Keeping it running for some time helps a bit, but I guess most people aren't willing to warm up their equipment for half an hour anymore

[@ActionlessLoveless]

@@rejectedsynths unfortunately even after warming if you turn it up again other day, when you have different gear powered on, your neighbours have differernt electric appliances on at the moment, moon phase is different or anything else - it still wouldnt be exactly the same and imo for main bassline it's especially important to tune with the score

[@ActionlessLoveless]

although i dig the sounds if somebody would make some small arduino-board addon with reverse-engineered tunining utility (and some extra features like mb additional button for stutter of currently pressed pad - they could put it inside, mb also add standard multi-out mod, and resell modded rws for real money or akai could do their homework and make rw2 - i would grab one fo sho

[@rorz999]

​@@ActionlessLoveless I don't think there's ever going to be a RW2 😅 I do wonder why they didn't do what the Volcas do and have the oscillators retune themselves when not in use

[@rejectedsynths]

@rorz999 my guess is that rhey had people design this thing that didn't have an awful lot of expiriemce with analog circuitry

[@OCEANSINSPACE]

What about the other akai drum what was that? it was yellow....cheers

[@rejectedsynths]

You're lucky, just did a video on the yellow one (Tom Cat) a few days ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYbMaJ9pdpahosU

[@punkrockwithbubbles1041]

I had one and my hatred for it was legitimate.

[@kevinbirge2130]

I want one.

[@ET2carbon]

There is an easy mod for individual outputs so you should put an asterisk on the CON list

[@scottfarrell1906]

Love the intro

[@rejectedsynths]

Thanks!

[@Schemez-16vhiphopbeatz]

I got the timber wolf synth for 80 quid with a stand it's a badass looking synth but it's not great it's great for basslines and 303 type stuff and g funk type riffs but that's about it I make hiphop beats so I use it for basslines and it hits really nicely the low end is really nice iv never used the rhythm wolf ...I think it would make a better sequencer to sequence another synth or keyboard with no sequencer on board ....

[@SouthShoreSonics]

The Tom Cat is where it is at! Put it through the JOYO Vintage Phaser and it is a whole new world! With the noise on the snare phasing, it is instant Kraftwerk!

[@rejectedsynths]

I've got a Tom Cat as well and it has a much more dominating and agressive sound. I think the two might have a Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde thing going 😇👿

[@MegaDieseldriver]

Are those pads really that noisy ?

[@rejectedsynths]

Audibly quality parts 😉

[@Liliedugg]

No they are not. I have a Rhythm Wolf and I'm now trying to watch this full video. Last time I switched it off because I was so annoyed about those clicks. So loud one can barely hear the sound the RW makes. It is quite possible to make WAY better sounds. I love my Rhythm Wolf and wont part with it.

[@9uidin9li9ht2]

This channel is great! :)

[@rejectedsynths]

Thank you! ☺️

[@N8oRMusic]

I don't think you're helping with the terrible quality of audio on this video

[@rejectedsynths]

Sorry this was my first video, quality is a bit poor, but most of the noise is actually from the wolf, it's noisy as f&€#@

[@theseoldbeats]

I can hear you tapping the pad more than the actual sounds 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@rejectedsynths]

Sorry this was my first video, didn't know much about editing back then. On the other side it's a good demo of how the machine sounds, like, you know, on the outside 😁

[@robguitarwizard]

The tapping buttons sounds better than the actual synth sounds ( kidding! )

[@rejectedsynths]

It sounds taptastic! 😝

[@jasonbeatty831]

I own a tomcat, and I love it, I still often wonder why they put such a long decay on the snare, but the clap sounds really good and the bass drum is pretty great.

[@Average-AL]

It is pretty amazing that Akai could make and release a product as insanely flawed as this on obviously is. That said with some creativity it can be useful.

[@andycohen468]

Sturdy as hell and I can’t get $50 for it online because of the limited garbage can sounds. The bass is pretty fly so I use it for that; you can get it tuned like a 303 or an 808 so I just marked those points with a sharpie on my board...seriously tho the bass synth sound is dope aside from the bizarrely long delay. I run it though a delay pedal and just keep the delay down/off. The howl feature is very awkward so I usually keep that off or very low. I still want to figure out how to expand on this thing but this video kinda confirms it’s a pretty shitty drum machine that is build like a tank. The BIG thing is you need another machine or two to enjoy the wolf...

[@107-c4l]

Its pretty dope.

[@robguitarwizard]

Love the little Lego men scene. That sold me straight away!

[@Pan6888]

Got this as a trade and with all the bad reviews of the wolf around the net i thought it would be a really crap and would sell that the other day. This never happened and especially when you use some fx eg some phaser on the drums - and especially the perc sound you can get some very interesting KRAFTWERK sounding patterns, i think it would be a very sought after machine in the future, btw has serial nomber 303 ! (hehe) also there are times that we need the sound to be FAT, DIRTY AND NOT GOOD SOUNDING ! Although i insist that is sounds really nice and authentic especially if you use it with modern or old analog synths you can get some really nice 70s drum machine sounds and i am pretty sure than if KRAFTWERK had this in their arsenal back then in an era where drum machines didnt even exist, they would make some more albums using this one as their main DM, dont forget to use FX with you gear, many of the massive sounds in older records require a lot of outboard processing.the only con for me is no seperrate outs for the drum sounds.

[@rejectedsynths]

This baby is as old school as it gets soundwise

[@Pan6888]

@@rejectedsynths Most people expect other things that they should this is why they get dissaponted, in the world of VST s and if someone reads the history in electronic music and how primitive tools they had back then, then he will rethink about the value of this drum machine, apart from that when a genre is born and uses the tools then these tools regain value. All these i write them cause i think that reviews here have nothing to do with the reality.

[@chinmeysway]

The most punkno drum machine maybe ?

[@technodrone313]

the kick is pretty weak but other than that it's a good drum machine.

[@rejectedsynths]

It depends on how the parameters are set, some different flavours of bassdrum are possible, adding some compression and low boost does help though

[@stixvane]

At first all I could hear is your fingers hitting the pad and not the sound... mix your audio plz

[@rejectedsynths]

Sorry, this was my first video, I still had a lot to learn back then 🙈

[@rejectedsynths]

Watch seb4242 absolutely kick ass with the Rythm Wolf, guaranteed to make all the haters cry: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHS0dGatdpuDqs0

[@robguitarwizard]

Good starting drum machine/bass synth for kids!

[@Liliedugg]

Yeah. Especially as it will still work when they grow up!

[@Goettel]

People whined about 303's and 808's too back in the day. Time will tell. I like mine, even if I'd say you're much better off saving up for a new Behringer TD-8 and something like a Volca Bass if you're just getting started (I own and love all three). Whiners don't make music anyway ;-)

[@punkrockwithbubbles1041]

Oh yeah. WORST SNARE EVER?

[@rejectedsynths]

That title is already reserved for the volca beat's cheap imitation of an analog snare ☝️

[@vtechk]

it's really a hopeless piece of gear

[@rejectedsynths]

There might be 'A new hope' 😜

[@xisotopex]

clik clik clik.... clik clik clik....

[@rejectedsynths]

It's a rhythm machine even when you leave it unplugged 😉

[@robguitarwizard]

More Lego!

[@wickedmonroe]

Nah it bullshit

[@freddymercury2259]

Sounds 💩💩💩 !