Triggering Program Changes with Machinedrum

Elektron Gear Digitone/Digitone Keys
#1

Hi all -

This might be a little bit of basic question, but I’m still fairly new to the synthesizer / electronic instrument world.

I currently own a Machinedrum (and love it) and I’m looking to add a synth to accompany it. I love the sound of the digitone, but I’m a little worried about the lack of a song mode. I’m using the MD to play industrial metal type stuff, so it’s song mode has been great to set up and arrange the patterns so that I can just press ‘play’ and play guitar along with the MD.

My question is, would I be able to use one of the MIDI tracks on the MD to send program changes to the digitone so that it changes patterns along with the song I have arranged on the MD? My gut tells me that this should work, but I just wanted to make sure before I pulled the trigger on the digitone.

Thanks!

#2

No.

however the manual unsurprisingly reveals this!!!

PROGRAM CHANGE
The Machinedrum can both transmit and receive MIDI Program change messages. In this menu you decide how the Machinedrum should react to these messages.

GLOBAL SETTINGS

  1. Select the CONTROL row in the GLOBAL EDIT menu. Then select PRG CHANGE and press [ENTER/YES].
  2. You will be presented with available alternatives for handling program changes. If PRG CHANGE IN is set to ON the Machinedrum will respond to incoming program changes. If PRG CHANGE OUT is set to ON the Machinedrum will send program change messages when a new pattern is selected. If set to OFF no program change messages will be sent. CHANNEL selects which MIDI channel the program change messages will be received and sent on. If set to BASE the MIDI channels specified by the BASE CHANNEL will be used for receiving and sending program change messages. The Machinedrum will receive program change messages on all four base channels, but only send program change messages on the first channel in the base channel range. For more info how to set the base channels, see “BASE CHANNEL” on page 58.

so if your DN is set to receive program change messages (on the same channel assigned on the MD), it will mirror the patterns active on the MD

#3

Cool - so just to be sure I understand, if I set the DN to receive program change messages from the MD it will change the patterns along with the MD as it goes through the song? IE if the arrangement on the MD plays pattern A01 twice and then pattern A03 four times, the DN will also play its own pattern A01 two times and then A03 four times? If so that sounds like it would work perfectly for me. Again apologies if this is really basic stuff, still trying to wrap my head around the different ways these instruments can talk to each other.

1 Like
#4

yes indeed

1 Like
#5

Awesome! Thanks so much for the help.

#6

From Memory the MID machines can also transmit program change, which can be set per step?

1 Like
#7

shit i never noticed this, tucked away on the LFO page (routing window), nice.