All you need is one Digitakt for a good 2-hour performance. And a looper. Possibly a KP3.
Connected to a Digitone, it brings even more variety and fun. But it is not necessary.
Oktatrack is a great looper. But not really necessary. But very great.
That’s one part of my setup.
I make techno out of that.
On the other hand, I have an AR and an A4. That’s how I create Electro. (means like Drexiya)
This combination dwarfs everything.
To make music successfully, two devices are sufficient: a sampler (Digitakt, AR or OT) and a synthesizer (A4 or Digitone.) Nothing more.
I never use 2 devices at the same time.
Everything else is a luxury. And it’s fun. And it’s great.
PS: Songmode is for loosers
PPS: Effect devices are like powdered sugar: They embellish something good. It shouldn’t be used to drown or save the sound.
Haha. Since I posted that I’ve just fully accepted and understood this as business fact. I try not to be one of those people that buys gear and then complains about the features that were not included (unless they were promised). It is all there in the manual, so if you are going to buy something don’t complain later it doesn’t do what you want.
I’ve found a piece of gear that does do exactly what I want and have moved on from the DT–which I still think is a great groovebox, especially with the new update, which I sadly didn’t get to explore.
Counterpoint. Sample slicing has been around longer than the Digitakt has. Elektron’s own flagship sampler slices samples. If sample slicing was always part of the plan, it would have always sliced samples. It’s a pretty basic feature that doesn’t need some years long build up to implement.
Not including sample slicing or a song mode was always a choice. That doesn’t mean that it won’t be added later. But it was never some feature that Elektron promised was on its way either. I don’t see how it’s a no brainer now as opposed to when it was released.
Personally, I’m pretty fine with it not having a slice mode. I probably wouldn’t wind up using it since I like locking the start points anyway. But I would definitely like having it. I like that my Circuit Rhythm can do both.
If I could only have one feature added I’m team zooming in on waveforms.
the core of your counter point reasoning is something that could be said for any of the features the Digitakt has been updated with since the release date, and yet it’s still been updated with all of those features, from this fact I can safely and spiritedly extrapolate a perfect reasoning for the viability of my counter point counter…
not only do I believe they will implement slicing but I think they will implement two methods of slicing, one that allows you to slice multiple slices spread across the notes of a single pad and also one that allows you to spread multiple slices across the 8 trigger pads, and in addition to that I think higher zoom resolution will be a part of the update as well.
and it’s important to reiterate that anyone who has used an octatrack for 5 minutes should be able to tell that adding slicing to the Digitakt will not an octatrack make… not even close.
My guess would be that if they opt for it, it will be in a mkii version. It was released in 2017 and people have been asking for those functions since day one.
I personally would have liked the option to toggle the second row of eight buttons between midi and sample tracks, but that would probably require more processing power/polyphony.
At the end of the day, I think the Digitakt needs to be appreciated for what it is and you need to play to those strengths, as it doesn’t really shine at MPC or SP style workflows IMO. On the flip-side, those machines don’t do what the Digitakt does, so it all works out.
Despite selling mine and not having much interest in getting another one, I still think it’s an awesome machine. I really like the Elektron sequencer, but part of me wonders if maybe I would like it even more for a synthesizer. If they did an analog synth in the DT/DN format, I would be really tempted I think, particularly with the right feature set.
I love the digitakt for what it is for sure, I don’t even know where else you can go to get what it offers in fluidity, the model samples is the closest but it doesn’t sample… just sampling multiple breaks and scrolling through the sample slots while recording it all into the sequencer in realtime and adding probability to that has paid for my digitakt many times over and that’s just one piece of Digiwonder
they might even wait until they put out a mk2 before adding slicing but I think they will get there
Yeah, for me, I think the best stuff I got out of it, was always stuff that just happened as a result of the unique workflow. Sounds I never would have ever set out to create from the start.
For example the B section of this track that starts from 0.33, just sort of came about from fiddling around, and it added a lot to what would have just been a repetitive beat.
I mean, I guess. But couldn’t I just as easily say that each and every one of those features was something that Elektron saw as a higher priority for the Digitakt than dedicated sample slicing? Each feature is further evidence that they just plain don’t want to add sample slicing. Right? After all, we’ve now got a second LFO that can modulate the first one. Per track. I think that was probably harder to implement than something like sample slicing. My PO-33 can slice samples.
Also, my preferred method if we’re all just wishing on a star anyway would be this:
Give a second mode after chromatic mode. In that mode, have all 16 buttons light up in one color to let me know I’m in that mode.
Let me hold down each button to change parameters like I’m adding parameter locks. Have it change color when anything’s changed so I know I’ve got something there.
Let me then play that into the sequence like I’m just entering notes. And like I’m entering notes, just save them as parameter locks in the sequence.
Since they’re just parameter locks, if I change something on those spots, it should stay the way it is in the sequence.
This would have the advantage of being able to accommodate sample slicing, as well a version of 16 levels and user scales. Even at the same time.
That would be rad. Octatrack users would be very happy.
or it could be evidence of them wanting to save the best for last which is not uncommon in development, they could even want to wait until after they put out the mk2 with slicing and much more and then come back around and just add slicing to the Dt1 to differentiate from the DT2…
also
would be super dope as well
I look at it like this, they didn’t even have to make the model samples and they did, not only that it wasn’t some half hearted effort, they made it special… I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept giving us digigoodness like they have been
DSP limitations are a thing too. It’s not like you can just decide to add a feature to any ol box and execute it. Want slicing, the OT nails it. Get the right tool for the job!
*Pro tip for OT users, setup a pickup machine for quick and easy recording on T1 and then set T5 to use that same recording buffer and set it for a flex machine. A step further is setup an external pedal to initiate record. You can quickly sample in, hands free and then jump over to T5 and slice and sequence whatever you just recorded.
Side note. I’m actually pretty sure that there’s a work around to do exactly what I’d like to do on the Digitakt on the Rhythm. I’m going to try to make a video about it.
Edit: It completely works
Edit 2: No it doesn’t. It works for other things though. Sigh. I was overzealous last night.
I haven’t followed it too closely, but at one point I remember reading here about the DN having twice the processing power of the DT. Someone did a tear down after the DN was released.
If they did implement a slice mode they could probably do it as an alternative to chromatic mode and accessed the same way. Instead of changing note values each button holds start and stop values. I honestly don’t see them doing this as others have said; too much Octatrack overlap.
Slice mode and slot mode on the OT are the main reasons I bought mine to accompany my DT.
infrastructure is a good point. I’m sure there’s a way to wedge it in there. but it’s a question of “should you?” there are plenty of things in the OT that are kind of obtuse to get to. i.e. not clearly labeled on the front panel. you have to know it’s there to get to it sort of items. I mean… so much was added to the OT after initial release that they re-did the front panel with some functions more-clearly labeled, and released that as a mk2 version.
anyway… I think the reason people love the DT is the immediacy and simplicity of the workflow. so Elektron likely wants to stick to that path as much as possible. personally, I like that it has limited options. I like that it’s simpler. I like that you have to find workarounds if you want to accomplish certain tasks. this can lead to happy accidents. it can also force you to ask yourself “is it worth the trouble, or am I over-doing it here?” and if you need those other options all the time, the OT exists for a reason.
The slicing part might be easy to implement, but there’s no real easy way to capture a perfect loop. Or timestretching. Which are things that seem kind of necessary to make slicing useful
This sounds like an amazing solution! Way more powerful than slicing, without really adding that much complexity. My workflow for this is to make a 16 step drum pattern by p-locking start points and filtering and Amp settings and a ton of small edits like that. Then I duplicate it to as many pages as needed, then move trigs around to add variation. But with your solution you get a list of “pre-p-locked” trigs that you can live record, which sounds amazing.
Fitting more features into an already mature device often ends up being clunky, I get why people want it, but often implementing such a feature isn’t a simple undertaking, and there are lots of considerations which end users might not even be aware of:
Fitting it in the UI wrt to accessing and displaying
Memory and processor considerations
Backwards compatibility with older versions/projects
Time and money to implement VS recouping from additional sales because feature was added.
Bug fixing
Yeah even just being able to place different saved sounds on chromatic notes would be a big plus… I’m pretty sure digitone got this feature, seems silly that the more drum focused box did not.
