This video, via The Free Radikal, captures a live performance featuring the often-maligned AKAI Rhythm Wolf drum machine and synthesizer.

Here’s what they shared about the technical details:

“The Rhythm Wolf is sequencing a Korg MS-20 on the bass section and a Vermona DRM1 plus itself for percussion. The Akai Timbre Wolf is sequencing an Analogue Solutions Impulse Command on 1 channel and a Waldorf KB37 with Analogue Solutions Medic Modules on another channel.”

The Rhythm Wolf was introduced in 2014, before the renaissance of analog gear of the last few years. The Rhythm Wolf generated a huge amount of interest, because on paper it looked like it was going to be great. This was followed by a backlash when initial demo videos came out, and the instrument just didn’t sound very good in many of them.

While the Rhythm Wolf is built like a tank and has a straightforward interface, the design is let down by pots that simply do not give you enough range of control over the sounds.

This is most notable on the kick, which is pitched. The controls do not let you tune the kick over the full range of an octave, which means that the instrument will only sound in tune if you’re playing in a key that you can tune the Rhythm Wolf’s kick to. This is the instrument’s biggest flaw, and one that you have to work around, or the results will sound bad – like most of the early demos.

Open Music Labs has an interesting discussion of this at their site, and some suggested mods that they say fix the issue. If you’ve tried them, share your thoughts on the mods in the comments!