I love everything about this stupid machine except that you cant use a sustain pedal or mod/pitch wheels! WTF. Does anyone know of a device that can basically do the same sort of thing but i can record using the sustain pedals and mod wheels? I love it but my music sucks now with just straight boring notes. Gonna have to go back to some old drum machine and shitty sequencer from 20 years ago just to be able to record midi with drums? An no I don’t use a computer and no i won’t use a computer. Dawless4lyfe
Boring is as boring does #forrestgump4life 
Sounds like you need a computer
1 Like
Midi solutions foot switch controller?
1 Like
Rytm MK2 has such inputs.
isnt the Rytm just a drum machine? I need a midi sequencer more then a drum machine. Both like the digitakt would be ideal. Or I don’t know…a firmware update to use a sustain pedal and pitch bend?
Would that make it so the digitakt would record sustained notes and or pitch bender inputs? Or do you just mean…still record boring straight notes but be able to actually use my controller by switching away from the digitakt for live use?
What are you trying to do - make synth lines and melodies and add vibrato and things like that? Personally, that is not what I would use the Digitakt for. I almost always write one synth line in the patterns I make, but they are usually meant to add to the overall production - which I play regular synths on.
Yeah, I use it as an 8 track midi sequencer but it’s obviously made for just drum production (which is why you can’t use a sustain pedal) I just thing a 4-8 track midi sequencer with a built in drum machines isn’t that weird but apparently nobody has made one. I’m always forced to use old 80’s yamaha or Roland sequencers and sync them with a drum machine but I just thought since 20-30 years has gone by since the juno 106 with SQ1 or whatever it was called we would have SOMETHING that you could do ALL your midi need on quick easy and small.
Digitakt?
Akai MPC 500/1000?
You’re lucky. If I have a track I think is boring, I assume the problem was me, not some functional aspect of my gear
10 Likes
For me it’s unclear what you need.
- Is it that you want to have more modulation for the DT sound engine?
- Or do you need modulation for gear, which is connected to the midi-tracks of the DT?
FYI … I don’t have the DT myself, but the DN and some others including OT. So this might be theoretical only.
- Can’t you use the parameter locks in live recording mode to record various modulations of the DT sound engine? Since the DN does, why not the DT too?
- Check, whether the DT routes midi-in on it’s AUTO CHANNEL like the OT does. If yes, then the midi is routed from any source received via the AUTO CHANNEL to the active track and can be recorded, or transmitted to external gear, if it’s a midi-track. The OT supports a couple of CCs on it’s midi-tracks. Maybe the DT can do this in a similar way and you can use a midi-keyboard or any other midi-controller to modulate external gear as you wish.
The DT does route it to the Auto CHannel but your sustain pedal and mod/pitch wheels aren’t passed through just the notes. I’ve googled around and this is just how it works and several people are bummed. Obviously if you use it as a drum machines that’s fine but its the center piece of my midi studio that i would like to track with but cant sustain or pitch or mod anything which is sort of a big part of playing a synthesizer. I just want the same or similar machine with the ability to actually use the basic functions of my keyboard other than note on and off. So if anyone knows of a good modern midi sequencer that may or may not also have the ability to do your drum work on it that would be great.
Basically its my keyboard into the DT then out chained to about 4-5 synths. I quickly track a bass line, press the next button, play the next part, jump to the top row, track the drums, then press the 3rd button in the midi tracks and do the 3rd track all going to different synths all while record is still pressed (if you want) all super fast easy and great…except it wont pass along Sustain or pitch or mod so everything I do now has to just be basic note on and off…so much for any actual keyboard playing or anything like that.
It’s not unsurprising for Elektron to provide functionality that fits their unique sequencer approach … afaict, it wouldn’t work to separate the note info from the CCsustain message in terms of how their data is stored in the step sequencer - to that end they do not support Sustain pedal by MIDI - it doesn’t fall into place as it would on a linear sequencer
As far as Modwheel and Pitchbend, I believe these are recordable on the other midi sequencers so there should be some hope, you just need to set up and enable CC1 and PB if available - don’t know DT at all so there may be other factors to consider. But Sustain won’t ever be supported imho
1 Like
To be fair though, there’s quite a lot of folk echoing that there’s no solution here - just surprised it differs from the OT in terms of the MIDI seq side
on the other hand, the manual states this …
5.3.2 THE MIDI TRACKS
The Digitakt has eight dedicated MIDI tracks. They are used to control external, MIDI equipped, gear. Each MIDI track can trigger a chord of up to four notes with adjustable parameters such as velocity and length, control pitch bend and aftertouch, as well as eight freely assignable MIDI control change parameters (MIDI CCs). For more information, please see “12. MIDI TRACK PARAMETERS” on page 43.
1 Like
I love my Squarp Pyramid. Check it out.
2 Likes
I would suggest to review the manual again. I found on page 45 ff a description of very similar functionality as on my the OT. My Digitone is similar too.
12.1 EDITING THE MIDI TRACK PARAMETERS
There are five PARAMETER pages for the MIDI tracks. Press the [PARAMETER] keys to access the MIDI tracks PARAMETER pages. Use the DATA ENTRY knobs A-H to change the parameters. Press and hold a [PARAMETER] key to see the values for all parameters on that page.