Arpeggiator recording into Digitakt

Elektron Gear Digitakt
1

Hi,

I connected my Korg Volca FM 2 with my Digitakt via a Midi splitter box. I can perfectly record single notes from the Volca into the Digitakt, however when I want to record the arpeggiator from the Volca I run into problems because the Digitakt seems to struggle recording the arp part. I am using live recording mode here but it does not work. Any idea what the problem could be?

2

My DT receives midi arp from OT with no issues, I have a feeling the Volca might not output midi arp correctly…

I don’t have a Volca FM to test though

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3

… Expectation that a sequencer with finite resolution of 16 steps per bar can capture greater detail than that ?

Assuming there is midi to capture, is it arriving too quickly to be properly rendered back wrt how you heard it arrive

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4

The thing is that when I create a pattern using the Digitakt as a main brain (sequencer) and I record an arp section from the Korg Volca, it DOES record it. The problem arises when I hit STOP on the Digitakt and the hit PLAY again…then it struggles to playback the Volca arpeggiator section from before. The only thing I hear then is one or two notes from the Volca, and they even sound differently than before.

5

Did you disable the arp function on the Volca when playing back after recording?

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6

No I did not touch it at all after I recorded. I will check it again, I suspect there is something in the Midi settings on the Digitakt that I have to maybe properly setup but not sure…I will try to use my Roland S-1 and see if I run into the same issue

7

Are you attempting to record audio or MIDI? If MIDI, not all synths output their arpeggiated notes via MIDI – this could be the case with the FM2.

Tell us your exact MIDI connections and what you’re trying to do. There’s not enough information here to diagnose.

8

Most synths with arpeggiators don’t send out the midi notes from the arp. I’m 99% sure the Volca FM is one of them.

9

The dt will only record 1 note per step , so you may need to increase the bpm on that track and also reduce note length for play back

I doubt it’s actually recording the arp, just a few of the notes. ( unless it’s a slow arp )

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10

If the arp of the Volca FM isn’t sending out midi notes you can try everything you want, it can’t be recorded.
Unless you have this custom firmware for example:

11

Maybe make sure the track you’re recording to is quantized?

12

How do you know it’s recording the arp section? Because the only way to know this would be to hit stop and play again to hear if it recorded the notes. And if you do this you’re saying it doesn’t play it back.

13

I try to record the Midi signal I guess. So lets say for example I have a nice beat on the Digitakt, I want to overlay it with a nice melody from the Volca (with arp on the notes). My setup is: DT is the main centerpiece/sequencer. From there I have a midi connection via midi out to a midi splitter and from there my midi cables go into the midi in of the Volca (and other synths)

14

I think you’re glazing over this.

If the notes are recorded as a sequence into the digitakt, then the arpeggiation on the volca is no longer necessary and will produce unpredictable results when triggered by an arpeggiated sequence of notes coming from the DT. Each note that hits, it will try and trigger it’s own ARP.

Disable the volca arp then play the midi sequence from the digitakt and see if it plays back the sequence of notes you intended or expected it to.

Otherwise, to sequence the same thing you’ll need to trigger the same root notes that the arp is seeing natively for the same duration of the “presses” the volca is seeing, that should have the function of triggering an arp externally, because you’re giving it the same input as it would receive to get back the function you want. However, playing back the arpeggiated sequence to an arpeggiator is not going to make your arp play the way you want.

So input midi data that recreates what input the arp is seeing on it’s own hardware interface, or disable the arp and play back the notes as recorded by the digitakt because it should be the same sequence in which the notes were recorded, if it was captured properly.

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15

Thanks! I will give it a try

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16

I’m pretty sure it’s just the overlap in the functionality between what an arp does vs what a sequencer does, let us know if that resolves the problem.

17

This thumbnail is a little obscene :sweat_smile:

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18

@shigginpit I managed to solve the issue, had to fix 2 things:

  1. Midi map the two CC values of the Arp from the Volca FM2 (49 = Arp Type; 50 = Arp Div) to the Digitakt in the Amp page (CC select) and then save the project. Then I could live record a sequence by triggering the arp from the Volca via the chromatic mode on the DT and recording that on the DT. By assigning the cc values from the Arp and saving it I made sure that the DT remembered all the details of the arp section, meaning the arp type and speed in this case.

  2. When I then decided to switch off both the DT and the Volca and switch them on at a later time, I realized that the DT was still not playing back the arp section correctly as I recorded it before. In fact, it was not playing the arp at all even thought it still had the Midi CC values saved correctly. Now comes the trick: what I had to do now is to first press a random key on the volca keyboard. After I just hit one note on the Volca and then hit Play on the DT, it played back the correct sequence including the arpeggiator. It seems like the only thing the DT needed (apart from mapping the Midi CC values from the Arp of the Volca ofc) was to get a signal from the Volca keyboard.

I am still a beginner and just know too little about how different instruments can work together but that seemed for some reason to solve the problem :relaxed:

Thanks for all your help in the first place!

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19

I think it’s great that it worked period, but that it worked in such a way is pretty interesting. I have a volca beats and it has some strange characteristics when being midi controlled as well, I’m not positive if there are some aspects of the native volca sync system which either inhibit or conflict with normal midi (it has a pretty low pulse rate from what I understand) but I wouldn’t think it would matter, I’m just thinking maybe something in the firmware which controls triggers for both types of sync (midi and volca pulse sync) are somehow connected. I wonder if that’s why it’s not playing back correctly and what it’s looking for is a program change message instead of just a transport start/stop. I really can’t say with any certainty, just that volcas are finicky. Thanks for the update, I’m positive this will help someone else at some point.

Nice work!

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20

For the people who want ARPs on the DT2!
Easy Fix/Workaround:

I found out that if i load up a track slot with a time synced arp sample and set it to ‘STRETCH’ mode, the tempo doesn’t obviously change when pitching the sample note! faux ARPs! :muscle:

It’s range is obviously limited before you quickly start noticing the hack, but i think it’s a nice workaround to a certain degree within a limited range (and where other modulation limitations obviously apply - best stay within 1 octave of the original sample, and switch between sampled octave variations of the ARP)

I also found that in my quest for ARPs workarounds, Arpeggiating samples doesn’t give a satisfying result, like you would with a normal synth engine, becaise of the abrupt cutoff by means of note stealing and attack time variations when pitching (when the next note is triggering the sample) Maybe ‘stretch mode’ can also come to the rescue, i reckon? I haven’t tried it yet…

ARPs on the DT2 :metal: Yay!

It also works on other timebased samples/instruments/loops ofcourse.
(like this mode intended to do in the first place)

Another possible ARP fix is resampling a hand programmed ARP sequence played at eg double speed to service as the dedicated ARP.

Cheers :metal:

@Elektron Note stealing or an option to record on multiple Tracks (of a duplicate patch) at the same time, whereas the next note wil jump and cycle tracks, to have a faux synth effect (add some reverb to overlap, so it doesn’t sound too obvious)

Also if one could engage multiple tracks for recording (e.g. three) One could fake some polyphony. (whereas an instrument from a sample waveform/SCW would obviously outperform a static pitched oneshot sample)

Cheers :metal:

(saw a ‘leaked video’ yesterday of the ToneWerk prototype - if actually real - , not the ‘Vulf’, but i think it sounds equally nice: Elektron TONEVULF. Somebody must be concsistently checking those patents being filed for registering by yours truly to get a scoop of what machine is coming next :laughing:)

Can i sign up for early beta :laughing:

:metal: