Hello there
Over the past three years I’ve come and gone with the Digitakt.
Every time an OS upgrade came out I convinced myself to try to love that machine better but, no, the same flaw hit me again and again: the poor routing capabilities of the compressor and the sidechain function.
Oh the sidechain function: the DT is a very good machine, why must I sidechain everything with the same amount? Am I a bad EDM sucker? Maybe, but not at THAT point!
A lot of Elektron users told me to make a way out of this using the LFOs trick everyone is used to, and sometimes, when I’m on the Octatrack, I indulge to that … but having a (to my taste, good enough) compressor with a sidechain function on an Elektron machine and not being able to elektronly customize its routing it’s annoying as hell.
Sorry for the rant. I’d say: it’s quite reductive, on such a well engineered machine.
So, my question is: is there in DT’s software some space left for further compressor development?
Is it technically possible?
I’m not asking about real Elektron projects nor I wish to have some deadline: I’m a romantic, I like to dream with my eyes wide open. I just wish to know about the technical feasibility of such improvement.
This dead horse has been beaten so many times but your frustration is totally understandable
It is a master compressor. So there are limitations to that. It means it will always compress the entire signal.
However, using parallel compression should get you fairly close to where to want to be I’d say. Use sidechain t1 (kick). Heavy compression settings so you get a huge pumping effect. Then blend in the dry signal to get the kick back into it.
It’s not perfect but it will get you close. It’s a great effect in its own right though.
Never say never but the chances of changes to the compressor are very very very slim as DT is already kind of maxed out on DSP. And you can’t route a master compressor differently as it is a compressor on the master out. So it would become kind of a GUI hell to change that I’d think as it would have to become a compression unit that you could apply to multiple tracks of one’s choosing. Not sure how heavy this would be on Dsp but in any case I think it’s unlikely to change.
It’s a drum computer. There is no need to duck the drums to the kick. If that’s the effect that you’re after, you’re using the wrong tool for the task. So quit barking up the wrong tree.
totally not hooked on SC in an EDM way but i like to sidechain cymbals/white noise to the kick from time to time. SC’ing filters between drum elements can be awesome. It’s like telling that you can only use sugar in pastry
Edit: ofc there is always the elektron plock/lfo way
Hey man, you may use any ingredients you like in your cooking, but if you’re after something out of the ordinary, you shouldn’t expect to find it in the drawer of staples.
I’d simply appreciate the possibility to hook selected tracks (in my case: only the LR input) to a master track in DT and make it move with that, without having to interfere with the drums or whatever sample is played in the other tracks.
I enjoy the sidechaining effect because it feels right to me, it’s somehow physical and I dig that feeling – and I’d wish to be able to add that spice in the way I like without having to expand a wonderfully simple and compact setup. I’ve many times enjoyed the Digitakt experience so much that I’d like to have what I’m searching for in an ecosystem I value a lot.
That’s the backstage of my question, but I wanted to let that question stay on a technical level, so I’ve asked if is there the technical feasibility for a different compression setup to be developed in the future.
Dave’s answer is pretty straightforward: it would be nice, but it’s unlikely due to maxed out DSP and troubles lurking in the GUI development. And – yes – it’s a master effect, not a send one.
Seems I’ll have to wait for the never happening MK2, but that’s another dead-horse-beating topic.
In the meantime I’ll use a DAW to overcome my desires.
