Yeah! A “How to RTFM thread” My experience with music gear so far has been good, but I think that I, like @plragde, just picked out the right stuff. Some horrible examples are definitely out there: For instance I vaguely remember the tanzbar having basically nonexistent documentation and only in German or something along those lines.
Computer wise I was thinking more in the area of libraries/frameworks/api’s and the like. Apple is actually pretty decent when it comes to that. Looking at their I-range though it’s indeed basically non-existent. This comes from the Steve Jobs area in which iOS was much simpler and the philosophy was that it should be so self-explanatory that you didn’t need a manual. I think it even had some merit in those days. I remember quite some elder folk in my social environment, figuring it out all by them selfs. Now with al the added complexity this is not really valid anymore, though Apple hasn’t really updated their philosophy on the matter
The DT works very well as a two-in mixer, especially now with the most recent firmware update, where you can pan each in individually, and assign effects as well. So you can easily get it and a Crave, and work with them together.
Others suggest starting with the DT alone, but I think having a budget analog monosynth (like the Crave) won’t be too much of a stretch in terms of complexity, and you’ll enjoy working with them together.
One thing I would highly recommend is getting an external midi keyboard, like a Keystep. The buttons on the DT can be configured to play like a keyboard, and it can be very useful to quickly tap out lines and melodies, but it isn’t velocity sensitive, and it is only one octave. Having keys really extends the power of the DT.
That’s where I allready went wrong. Because I wanted an MPC I bought an Arturia Minilab instead of the KeyStep because the MPC can do sequences and arps. I did not think I would ever need an midi out.
Then someone pointed me in the direction of external synths and I discovered the DT will probably give me way more fun, because I allready have Maschine and the MPC is kind of The same thing. Or better said; if I want to chop and flip samples I can use my Maschine. The DT is a complete new approach.
So that was where I went wrong and why I am asking beforehand now
And for the price of a Midi converter I rather buy a KeyStep. But for the price of a KeyStep I rather buy a Crave or Volca.
Yes, that makes sense. And for sure a midi keyboard isn’t essential at all…it’s plenty easy to program notes into the DT, and adjust the velocity per step.
The DT is super fun and inspirational, all the way from by itself while you’re sitting on the couch up to it being the main brain at the center of a ton of hardware and/or VSTs in a hybrid setup. It’s incredibly versatile!
Thanks. That is one of the main reasons to buy a DT. Been looking for a DAW-less solution for a long time. Because I want to be able to sit on the couch and jam some music. It needs to be enough to play around as a stand alone, but needs to be able to upgrade in the future with hardware.
And that is exactly what I want to do, jam. So I think the DT will do the job very well. I am more of a ‘try and see what happens’ guy, then having a plan first and try to work that out. I used to play guitar in a band and we wrote all our songs with that approach. Starting to jam and see where it goes.
I recently started an ‘online band’ with the old drummer because he moved to another country, but I can’t get anything in my DAW (creative wise).
I’ve been wanting the MPC from the beginning. But the DT was always in the back of my mind. It wasn’t until I saw a comparison on the DAWless Jamming YouTube channel where she said that the DT was excellent for jamming and that the setting per step functions got a lot of happy coincidences in your tracks, while the MPC is like the DAW approach where you start with a blank screen and you need to have an idea before you start otherwise you are lost in sounds and samples.
Digitakt can make use of its class compliant audio and MIDI functionality together with your computer, smart phone or tablet. You can let Digitakt sample audio from the phone or maybe use it the other way around and record audio from the Digitakt on your phone. You can use your phone as an effect processor for the Digita- kt, and among many other things. In this example, we use Digitakt to sample audio from the phone.
I wanted to keep the manual for that special moment when I have my DT and use it for the first time.
But I’m getting more and more questions so I will start reading it now.
