Why I Love The Erica Synths PERKONS HD-01

[@mattvlahovich491]

That melodic synthwave track is FIRE!

[@redaxnela]

The Perkons is such fun to play with and as much as I love the immediacy and design of this machine its tone is just not for everyone. I´ve tried a lot but it will never give up its industrial character. So IMHO if you are in the market for industrial, techno and the likes, go for it - its gonna be a ton of fun. If you want a machine with a wider sonic spectrum there is probably better options out there.

[@devinbelangermusic]

I feel that! I thought it did pretty well on my second demo, the chill synthwave one, but I definitely agree that pairing it with traditional drums like I have been in logic is the perfect combo

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

@@devinbelangermusic Erica Synths has brilliant user interface and sound design! I love their eurorack modules and hope to eventually pick up a Syntrx II, DB01 bassline, Perkons, L:XR01, Zen Delay, Nightverb and their Techno system. One of my favorite synth companies nowadays.

[@devinbelangermusic]

@@GuitarsAndSynths same here 100%!

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

@@devinbelangermusic and compared to the 4k plus techno modular system, the Perkons is better value even if it does a bit less. Perkons plus something like my Virus or Korg MS20 would be dope.

[@MorbidManoeuvres]

came for the perkons, stayed for your vibe, tight !

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you so much! I really try to make my synth demos as inspiring as possible :)

[@JamesGiannoni]

Holy cow these jams are so good, especially that first one... goodness

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you so much!

[@rhampton1914]

Young man, you did an excellent Job on this Video creation. You deserve a Ytube award for this for sure...You certainly got out attention....Lot's of energy and Grooving....Thanks for sharing this..i really like...I would buy a perkons but too damm expensive...lol....i see them from time to time on Face book marketplace...So maybe it will happen soon......Keep up the great work

[@fractilian]

Fantastic and amazing jam, great instructional video as well!

[@Jason_Drums_]

Fantastic Demo 👌 So creative and fun 😀 Brilliant Demo Tracks and the final live jam was amazing 🤩 🙌

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks so much Jason! I definitely had a ton of fun with this one

[@Jason_Drums_]

@@devinbelangermusic Absolute pleasure 😊 have a fantastic weekend 🤩 🙌

[@maarzt]

that was good! definitely would love to play with a Perkons

[@devinbelangermusic]

try one if you can it is incredible

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

@@devinbelangermusic same here! Probably on trip next year to socal synth shops! Try Perkons and Jomox AB MK2. Trying to decide between the two drum synths.

[@glennweber9290]

Demo track 1 = totally badass. Drone synth? Surprisingly useful. Great demo dude!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks so much Glenn!

[@in_10z]

I've been owning for about a year so I def know my way around it and I'm impressed man. Great job on the jams, and I can see some serious work went into this video. Respect! I as well use it in many jams...MANY jams. My production style is centered around live takes and Perkons is so perfect for that.

[@devinbelangermusic]

thank you so much! I really try to make my jams as musical as possible for these videos, so I appreciate that

[@CoolJacketCoder]

Good stuff and great music! Thank you!

[@synthesis117]

sick video man! u just made me want one even more now ahha insane track u made at the end

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you so much! Easily one of my fave demos I’ve done, glad you enjoyed

[@patrizio7]

Awesome tracks. The Perkons is magical.

[@devinbelangermusic]

Agreed and thanks for listening!!

[@faf9264]

sounds great! i just got one to add to the studio too, so much fun

[@devinbelangermusic]

Amazing! Enjoy it and have fun :)

[@leetronix]

Superb demonstration very well presented and intuitive 👍

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you kindly!

[@floen]

Seems like the Perkons is a ton of fun to mess around with, and sounds dope to boot!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Absolutely! Thanks for watching man!

[@ElectronisoundsAudio]

Really well done! Super Inspiring! 👏👏

[@devinbelangermusic]

Super glad it inspired you!!

[@probeaTS-uh4eb]

Hotttt!!! With the hot board gear it takes it to the next level 😮😮😮😮😮… the effects make it sound better

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you!!!

[@MrJanHjohnson]

Amazing intro track! 🎉

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks! Hyped you enjoyed!!

[@snörre23]

Best Sequencer and Workflow ever, what i always wished, so at first glance it ticked all the boxes, looked like 4 "eurorack drum modules" but in fact the sounds have few sweet spots, not nearly as versatile as it looks. And mine had a few bugs, hanging up after muting tracks, losing motion paramter recordings - fortunately could return it.

[@devinbelangermusic]

Sorry to hear you had bugs! Was this recent? I totally get I've only had mine for a short time but I haven't really found many bugs. The sound definitely has a specific character which I love, but I get that it might not be for everyone :)

[@snörre23]

@@devinbelangermusic I am not into noisy "industrial" but want vintage style modular style drums/bleeps/blops" and trashy early drum machine sounds and stuff like that, looked like it could do that with all those settings but did not sound like i expected.

[@brianhook]

No micro timing is a pain, and inability to see what a kits settings are makes it tough to understand what’s going on. Jamming from scratch is great until you need to recall and remember what the old settings were.

[@tubeyouricky]

@@brianhookyes, make the Perkons HD-02 motorised!

[@indiefilmcomposer]

Yes I had one for a while, love the sequencer , and it has a powerful sub and its own sound but I found it limited in terms of sound range so a little niche, if I had more space in studio would have kept it ,

[@nagchumpalot]

Played with it a bit at Superbooth It was impressive but very much has A sound.. If you want to sound Proper Techno or industrial its awesome ! If you want to STILL sound Techno and industrial but also everything else you want go with an Elektron Analog Rytm.

[@devinbelangermusic]

I definitely need to give the Elektron Stuff another chance, I wasn't huge on the Digitakt/Tone, but have never owned a Rytm!

[@mmckmusic]

that's an enviable collection of synths!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you! Studio tour video coming soon :)

[@BillyMcBride]

I would love to perform with it while at the same time playing my synthesizer!

[@BillyMcBride]

I wish I had four hands.

[@BillyMcBride]

Thanks too for your video.

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks for watching! It’s a perfect machine for performing while you jam on a synth, did you see me do that on the very last jam?

[@Van_Verder]

These Jams are INSANE! 🔥

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you!!!

[@JoséR.C-e7v]

❤❤LOVE that jam

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you!

[@eyesintheskies]

😮 I did not know it had motion control 🤔 had been steering towards the Modor dr 2 but it’s a tough call. Think the Modor has a bit more variety but the sheer playability of the perkons is hard to beat. Think it’s strength & weakness it’s its tendency to pull towards dark industrial techno.

[@devinbelangermusic]

I haven't heard of the Modor! Need to check it out! And yea the mod on the PERKONS is so sick. I genuinely love this thing lol, easily my favourite thing I've demo'd in 2024

[@Livguava]

That first jam was so good!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks so much!

[@martinallott572]

Your music is so good. ❤🎉 The chords in the second song, were they played on the oberheim? Sounded so good.

[@devinbelangermusic]

thank you so much! yea! Chords from the OB-X8. Check out my recent Synth Chord tutorial, I go over how to make chord progressions like that one

[@martinallott572]

Thanks, I will check it out

[@voxmnemonic]

This is fantastic man, crazy complex and sonically rich jams. I may need to snag one of these things now 😆

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you so much! I can honestly say after getting to demo tons of gear this has to be up there with the 3rd Wave and OB-6 as one of my all time faves. Enjoy if you get one :)

[@shemusmcquillaide]

I see you have Erica Syntrx lurking there in the background. I wonder about that or say a modular rack to expand on Perkons. Of course you could process the sound of perkons with something like that. I was reading the Perkons manual, and it was still not clear to me if you could trigger an external soundsource, say a patch you'd come up with on a modular rack, like say have one of the Perkons channels triggering that external rack. I assume that you could, seems reasonable and awesome, but not sure. But I feel ya, juast Perkons by itself, wow, I really got to love Erica's black wavetable oscillator about 3 years ago which is free in the free VCV Rack virtual modular, its really an addictive module, such a wide of array of good, useful and interesting sounds, its far and away my favorite oscillator in VCV a real joy to have and use. Those Perkons oscillators are different, more focused sound set, but must be a similar joy for machine drummists. Getting Perkons would a bit of a copout for me, but considering it as a more reasonably priced hardware thing to get instead of a very expensive modular rack which could do some of those things Perkons does and others, but 6-7,000 dollars. Yikes. But still considering doing something irresponsible and crazy and shelling out for some Erica hardware modules among others. Or Erica Black Vol III? 4-5,000 dollars. Or what I really want to do, but still too chicken to pull the trigger, which is get a Make Noise rack cabinet with the long narrow center row modulation strip, put some Erica modules into it, maybe Black Sequencer among them, Make Noise Woggle Bug and Maths, maybe the Haken microcomputer type thing Eaganmatrix that has everything in it (modulation, sequncing, sound sources etc) in a 20 hp wide or so module, some Q-Bit Stuff like Data Bender and Bloom fractal sequencer. Another one to consider instead of Perkons is that weird Soma semi-modular drum machine, the name escapes me at the moment.

[@devinbelangermusic]

Syntrx II is great as well! Much more of a sound design sandbox, Perkons I use more in my day to day music. Did you see my video on Syntrx II? Its really cool and worth looking at if you are interested in weird modular stuff.

[@shemusmcquillaide]

@@devinbelangermusic Yes, loved the music you did with it too it really does sound huge.

[@Seanrayamusic]

I like how Erica Synths always influences the darker side of Miles Away

[@devinbelangermusic]

100% 🤣 its why I gravitate to their stuff so much, I listen to and am influenced by so much heavy stuff

[@ubiquitter3981]

@@devinbelangermusic Heya, what keyboard stand are you using for the Matriarch, sequential synth and OBX?

[@devinbelangermusic]

@@ubiquitter3981 i wish I knew sorry! just a random craigslist purchase years ago, no labels or names on it

[@bluematrix5001]

Hi, great video, is there a way to record all the performance within Perkons? or is more a "Jamming Drum Machine"? I mean you play and improvise over 4 bars that evolves as an instrument being played...not a drum machine with sequences?

[@paulsimvient]

great demo - thanks Miles

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks so much!

[@georgekanellos5236]

Dude that demo was filthy as F...!!!!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you fam!

[@vonbatti759]

Awesome jam 👍

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks!!

[@bluematrix5001]

The sounds seems to be more for techno, industrial and heavier/dirtier electronic music .. I did not hear in any video that Perkons can bring fat, dry, hard hitting Kicks and snares with great and solid punch and transients.... but seems like is a very interesting source of sounds and experimentation

[@amitkushnir6179]

You Rock Miles ;)

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you !!

[@billysunshine9100]

I’ve watched so many gear videos…..you’re fuckin awesome at jamming dude

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you so much for the kind words man!

[@alexp7076]

super dope video

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you!

[@mylitz_music]

I really enjoyed the first track . Blending electric metal ish bass with this machine is great. How do you sync the Perkons with your daw for recording and jamming (for instance do you use something like a midi clock) ans how's the latency for jamming synced with a DAW?

[@devinbelangermusic]

Super late reply sorry! But great question. I always start with Perkons first. I find that it syncs perfectly with other hardware, but with my daw over USB clock, there's always like a tiny bit of latency, nothing breaking, but it will be off by .2 BPM. I looked into it and its probably my interface and how its technically not native to Silicon Mac (computers, smh..). So my workflow is get in the zone and write a Perkons only song and then after, line it up on the grid, edit if needed, and record other things around it! But if you are dawless, its perfect in the zone

[@erkydi]

bro ur first beat totally got me man, exact sounds im looking for xD

[@devinbelangermusic]

So happy to hear that, yea I had a blast making that first track :D

[@jonckheerebart9002]

Yess it is

[@tendingtropic7778]

hi, came here affter my comment on your latest video, i'm hearing your melodic synthwave example here, and yes, it could work, but to be honest it would sound better when using samples indeed. when you pair the perkons with samples, fo which sounds do you use the perkons? hats? toms?

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks for watching! Yea I did it to show how the Perkons can handle traditional drums, but it really excels more at the heavy industrial stuff. I personally do 99% of my traditional drums in the DAW with samples. They are just so much further ahead than most drum machines. But if you are DAWless then I'd totally look at a Digitakt or Polyend Play. Most of the drums you hear in pro music are samples, even if they were synthesized at one point. The power of re-processing samples to sound perfect in a mix is hard to do straight out of a synth. Even when I synthesize drums on my Moog etc, I bounce them as samples to trigger from a sampler later so I can tune, compress etc

[@dreamwave_collective]

Send each channel into its own Ampeg SVT head with an 8x10 cabinet.

[@devinbelangermusic]

The world would explode from the heaviness 😂

[@zamplify]

I gotta get one.

[@devinbelangermusic]

It really is something I absolutely recommend if you like the sound. Limited pallet but incredible, nothing else does this this well!

[@veronatragedy7016]

Would this be a good choice for the only drum machine if only making industrial beats? Can this make beats like Nine Inch Nails?

[@devinbelangermusic]

Yes! This and Pulsar -23 are the best industrial machines out there. This one will do Nine inch nails perfectly, just use less of the master compressor. The master compressor maxed out like I have it makes it sound more aggressive, like DOOM/Mick Gordon. Nine Inch Nails have a less compressed sound.

[@blaueswunder]

I demoed it recently and its just pure love. Such a wonderful direct sound. And the black version is the way to go 🌟🌟🌟

[@devinbelangermusic]

agreed 100% there! I hope you get one ! Such a good machine

[@Tripwelleverday]

Can’t wait for the night bass game changer collab or the lxr3

[@devinbelangermusic]

Oh I've never heard of the night bass, is that newly announced?

[@djkanyon]

Thanks man, prolly the best review on the Internets! Also Doom track should be a separate release, too good.

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks so much! And I am glad you like the Doom track, I now have 3-4 of them from previous demos, maybe I should start a heavy industrial side project 🤣

[@djkanyon]

@@devinbelangermusic haha why not? sounds very good!

[@Z33803]

6:44 I think it dosnt have that ending reverb and is misleading

[@diodelad758]

Awesome music!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you!!

[@severetiredamage6754]

I own this drum machine and am struggling to grasp it. I don’t think I am a low IQ individual but feel stupid that I am having trouble. I want to make well constructed songs! Any advice?

[@devinbelangermusic]

Yes! You need to let go of thinking about it like a traditional drum machine, where you launch sequences. Treat it the same way you would a Moog or Prophet synth, it really is more an instrument meant to be played. I like to set up 4-5 different kits and patterns that all work together (same rough tuning/sound good at the same tempo), then I mix and match switching between them, all the while twisting the knobs to morph the sound. If you watch carefully during the DOOM jam in this video this is exactly how I am performing with it. I pre-tuned everything to the same note, and then just went crazy mixing and matching sequences, doing live automation, messing with the BBD. Hope that helps! P.S. I will almost certainly do another video on the Perkons in the fall so stay tuned.

[@SOUNDMAN-r7j]

every djent intro shoud be like this intro

[@eyesintheskies]

Not that id turn down the turquoise but this knight rider make over is awesome!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Gotta do it DARK for the heavy stuff :D

[@psience_1]

Nice one!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thanks!

[@LennFurnace]

That last jam was hard

[@devinbelangermusic]

Thank you!!

[@hueyl3255]

Insane 🙂

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

wait it to go on Black Friday sale. Not worth 2k in my book when Virus TI2 does way more and Rytm as well.

[@devinbelangermusic]

Wait.. genuine question, can the Virus do motion sequencing this tight? As in changing different patches on a per step basis?

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

@@devinbelangermusic no as it is older hardware design

[@LemniscatoLemniscato]

you can play sir 🙏🏾

[@romansfall]

How did you get rid of the compressor noise at that max of its settings?

[@devinbelangermusic]

I didn’t touch it! Maybe the cable I was using worked better or the fact I run my gear through a furman power bank?

[@romansfall]

@@devinbelangermusic Interesting. My inbuilt HD-01 compressor is very noisy at such amplification as in your video

[@kierenmoore3236]

13:46 … It’s NOT a “bbd analog delay” (like eg Matriarch has) … … … It’s a digital emulation … Also, this video (like others, probably?!) should be marked * PAID PROMOTION * …

[@percussionboy4357]

Wow, it’s Autechre in a box (circa TRI REPETAE)…

[@devinbelangermusic]

100% like a heavier Autechre (when you crank that master compressor)

[@Hammerbeats8694]

look the Behringer Crave costs 160€ and the Sound is Amazing I love the Sound is a good beginner semi modular synth

[@devinbelangermusic]

Crave is excellent! Its a clone of DFAM that I reviewed, its great but much more basic than PERKONS

[@Hammerbeats8694]

@ Right the Crave is a Solution for those who can‘t afford Motger 32. Is a good Solution for beginner if had the money, I would rather buy a Moog Mother 32 please Review Even Chester Hardware, Not everyone can afford such Great Instruments I learn topical englisch so sry for a Bad english

[@erkydi]

also would love to know more about how recording the perkons into daw goes about, is it just multiple audio outs or one master out to interface or does it have usb audio? thanks man!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Every voice has its own mono output, but I actually like recording out of the single master output so I can use that amazing sounding built in compressor. But you could record both ways to have max flexibility in the daw later. No USB audio.

[@erkydi]

@@devinbelangermusic thanks for the info !! yea i think i would prefer a master out wit the compressor cuz it sounds great, but its also so nice to have the single mono outs if u ever wanna jus do single drums for better post processing

[@Chucklehead617]

@@erkydifyi, if you record using outs for individual voices, you lose the BBD, master compressor, and level knobs

[@erkydi]

@@Chucklehead617 thanks for the info!

[@Chucklehead617]

@@erkydi np. Still an awesome machine, and I record multi out all the time, just gotta get used to a different workflow

[@Bata9999]

Is this a paid promotion video?

[@devinbelangermusic]

Nope, I will always check the paid promotion box if companies pay me. I mention in the video they sent me the unit, but no money changed hands/no say in the video etc.

[@Bata9999]

@@devinbelangermusic Pretty sure if you get to keep the unit you are supposed to click paid promotion as you are still receiving something in exchange for making the video. Thanks for clarifying.

[@kierenmoore3236]

@@Bata9999. Indeed. 😏

[@Techno_logist]

Demo track: Quake vibes

[@probiogr3863]

Doom Eternal Feeeeel yeeeeajjjjj

[@devinbelangermusic]

Mick Gordon is my idol!

[@probiogr3863]

@@devinbelangermusicHe is a cosmic hero! Cool analogue tones ,so close to guitar sounds, feels really like the gordons stuff. I love everything from Erica except the nazi's name "Erica" ,cool keept it up

[@clucida]

What about midi ?

[@devinbelangermusic]

I sync it with midi in the last Jam ! Works great!

[@ShaunBest]

5 pin midi 1 in & 1 out on the back of synth.

[@SvintMvrcus]

The want is completely overpowering the need. This and syntrx ii has been nagging at me to buy it.

[@devinbelangermusic]

I feel you Erica Synths make amazing stuff!

[@2010Edgars]

Pērkons = thunder.

[@fergusfurlong]

Have a Perskons and love it - who do you think the Poly End Play + compares to the Digitakt 2?

[@devinbelangermusic]

I don't have a Digitakt 2 but I had the Digitakt 1 and sold it, great piece of gear but I prefer the Polyend generative workflow

[@rlg222]

Bad to the Bone!

[@hOFFr3k]

My Perkons is so noisy if I turn on the compressor knob too up.I can hear a noise floor if the compressor on.is that normal?

[@devinbelangermusic]

Maxing out any compressor will always create a noise floor, compressors bring up the quiet parts of your signal to close to the loudest! If you really hate it, you could run out of your perkons with no compressor into your daw and then use a noise gate before adding a software compressor

[@hOFFr3k]

​@MilesAwayOfficial I'm just wondering.is it a normal behaviour of Perkons.because I've got offer for replacement

[@Brendalo1]

why are these called drum machines instead of electric noise generators they generate sound patterns but very little actual drum sounds

[@devinbelangermusic]

Good question, it really is a percussion synthesizer! If you listen to Jam #2 I do traditional drum machine sounds, but yes, Perkons wants to be heavy and weird:)

[@kierenmoore3236]

Because “Electronic Schizoid Sh*tshow” is kinda hard to market … Jjks, I love industrial/noise … ha

[@Vossflying]

Too expensive…. No velocity and no motion sequences… For the same price and 8 instruments you have the Analog Rytm which is a real analog drum machine with import samples

[@devinbelangermusic]

i like the sound and hands on performance aspect of this but yea for versatility Elektron is better value

[@Dekalboy]

So , no bugs anymore ? Was knowned as it is …

[@devinbelangermusic]

What bugs are known? Being 100% honest I didn't encounter any while I was playing, but I also didn't look for them

[@Station2Station-du2gh]

Too aggro for me. While I'm sure you can roll it back, every video out there is absolutely destruction beats overdriven to heck. I prefer beautiful music/beats that draw the animals into my studio, not scares them off. Keep up the good work on your channel, Dev!

[@devinbelangermusic]

Fair enough! Thanks for watching and supporting my channel either way :)

[@auralplex]

TRT is calling

[@kierenmoore3236]

Afraid to ask … but, what happens to these animals, once you lure them into your studio … ??

[@Station2Station-du2gh]

@@kierenmoore3236 they come in on their own and sleep on synths.

[@joeymc5272]

Are you recording just di? Are you going into a mixer or audio interface? Also, do you have any plugins going like compression and eq in daw for the jam?

[@devinbelangermusic]

DI into an Apollo 16 (no pre-amps used). In logic I don’t really touch the Perkons track, it doesn’t need anything when you record with the compressor! Then I mix the backing tracks around the Perkons, then brick wall limit/compress the master together to get it loud!

[@joeymc5272]

@@devinbelangermusic awesome stuff man. Sounded so good. Not my taste of music or gear but very well mixed. May i ask what plugins you are using? Fab/uad/izo?

[@devinbelangermusic]

@@joeymc5272 thanks! Yea mainly Soothe2, UAD Stuff, Ozone for Mastering.

[@PLA.net-DANTE]

The Question is : Perkons or Pulsar?

[@devinbelangermusic]

I have never tried a pulsar but I would love to! It seems better for experimental stuff, whereas (to me) the Perkons sounds better and is more flexible in modern production settings

[@yoanntom6474]

Pulsar I think is more crazy and possibility

[@apache2392]

I have had both, the pulsar is really cool, but the perkons is just as fun imo and much more musically useful