This paper describes the development of a new ELAN parser using ASF+SDF parsing technology. ASF+SDF and ELAN are two modern rule-based systems. Both systems have their own features and application domains, however, both formalisms have user-defined syntax for defining rewrite rules. The ASF+SDF Meta-Environment uses powerful and efficient generic parsing tools, whereas the ELAN parser is based on an Earley parser. Furthermore, the ELAN syntax is ``hard-wired'' in the parser, which makes adaptations of the syntax cumbersome. The use of ASF+SDF parsing technology makes the ELAN syntax more open and adaptable, however, some features of the ELAN syntax makes the development of a parser a challenging problem.