This vid demonstrates a few relative (contrasting?) strengths of the BB and the DT.
The sampled the “F* You, Tony” vocals, and loaded a copy of the exact same sample on both machines.
So what you’re seeing/hearing in the video is exactly 1 pad on the blackbox, and one sample on the DT.
chopping and slicing:
the blackbox’s slicer mode enabled me to very quickly create an persist chops that I can revisit and easily lay into the bb sequence (at any time AFTER the chops are defined)
each blackbox chop, or slice, is part of the overall sample. All I’m saying here is that if you’re using one, and only one sample, every millisecond of that sample is represented as part of a slice - so you can end up with some slices that are +/- junk. You don’t have to use them, but they can’t be hidden from the numeric or piano style keyboard that you use to play your samples.
a blackbox preset (project) has 16 pads, simply put, each is analogous to a DT track. using SLICE mode on a pad lets you dedicate a that single pad (track) to summoning dozens (there’s a limit) of slices on demand from that single pad. One could argue that P-locks on the DT enable the same functionality, but this isn’t really the case. There is no master list of P-locks, or slices on a DT track. This is really one area where the blackbox shines .
my Digitakt workflow is different from my blackbox workflow. (how could it not be?). While still using only 1 track on the DT as the voice of Ezekiel, It dialed in each phase in the pattern as I was laying it out. This is in contrast to me doing all the chops for Tony, on the blackbox, all at once.
If I wanted to re-use a chopped phrase on the blackbox, I could just recall that slice position and drop it into the blackbox sequence anywhere I wanted. To reuse a chop on the DT, I would find the chop I wanted from the existing pattern, copy it, and then paste it.
Sequencing
We probably almost never care about this BUT, blackbox min tempo setting is 40 bpm & DT min tempo setting is 30 bpm. If you try to slave the BB to the DT at 30 bpm, you’ll see drift. (Otherwise I’ve never had drift issues sharing clock on these two machines.)
for this Tony & Ezekiel sketch, I only had to use 1 BB sequence to manage Tony’s side of the conversation. A blackbox sequence (analogous to a DT pattern) has a maximum of 256 steps. In a BB sequence, the step length (of all steps in the sequence) can be from 1/64 to 8 bars long. regardless of the step length, you get 256 steps.
a digitakt pattern only goes up to 64 steps. (this sketch required more than the 64 steps available in a single DT pattern, so I had to use 2 DT patterns, but only 1 BB sequence).
digitakt doesn’t have song mode (to link/chain patterns), but it does have pattern chaining. There’s an ongoing debate regarding how easy pattern chaining is and whether it’s a suitable replacement for true song mode. I’m not going to weigh on on this here, but I use pattern chains all the time, and have no complaints to speak of.
BB does have a song mode. I didn’t need to use it here because the sketch was shorter than 256 steps. Note, this wasn’t a musical sketch. Normally I don’t always create 256-step sequences, and I often use many sequences. The consensus regarding BB song mode is that it’s an “opportunity area” for the blackbox.
effects and mangling
if you listen closely, you’ll notice that the only mangling in this sketch is coming from the digitakt. Above, in the section about chopping and slicing I describe the DT’s P-locks and BB slices. Although the BB slices are very useful, a sliced sample is still just 1 sample. As such, and effects applied to the a blackbox pad is “global” to that pad. Any changes to the filter, delay, or reverb effect all the slices in real time. If you want to manually tweak, that’s fine, but for more discrete control, you’ll probably want to use more pads.
BB, in general isn’t a mangling beast at first glance. But it does have a lot of potential if you’re willing to learn how to use it. Besides the filter, delay, and reverb, there’s reverse playback, loop/repeat, and granular. (DT doesn’t have granular) The one drawback about granular is that it’s a pad mode, and not an effect. Tony’s part in this sketch is done using the SLICER pad mode. I can’t use Slicer and Granular at the same time. So unless I want to break out all of Tony’s lines into separate pad samples, and then set those as granular, I can’t use granular FX in this use case.
BB doesn’t do note repeat. You’ll hear a little bit of note repeat with Ezekiel’s lines, (because DT has note repeat), but none of that from Tony.
DT doesn’t have granular or timeshifting (without using advanced tricks). But, it does have P-locks, and so I was able to do a small amount of pitch shifting, delay/echo tweaking, and some filter/eq adjustment (long live os 1.30) on specific lines (individual trigs) from Ezekiel on the digitakt. Can’t say enough good things about P-locks.
I already owned the DT when I bought my blackbox. the TLDR was that I wanted more voices. I thought, at the time, I wanted to be able to focus on drums with the DT, and have another linked instrument to fire off vox, etc. I got more than I expected with the blackbox, and I’m glad I have it. It’s not a DT replacement, and I don’t expect it ever will be. I often use either, independent of the other, depending on my mood, and objectives at the moment.