Beatstep and Digitakt

Elektron Gear Digitakt
1

Hi all

I’m considering getting the beatstep pro so that I can separate all of the 8tracks on the digitakt to play them like I would on an akai mpc sample, you get my drift?
Sorta layout the drum/sfx like the rytm and play.

2

I had an original Beatstep and don’t remember the pads being as good as a drum pad midi controller - it’s more of a sequencer isnt it?

Would definitely recommend getting one of the Akai MPD range.
You get knobs, pads and sliders and they can be grabbed on eBay for good prices!

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Thanks for the response. I feel like it could do a lot more than my akai mpk mini. Right now all I can do in record arpeggios, and with the beatstep I could record like the random feature right?

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I have a regular beatstep, if you are thinking of switching for the pads, I don’t think a beatstep is the way to go. It does end up being a decent controller though. You can assigned the midi notes it triggers in controller mode and there are 17 knobs to assigns cc too. The pads are really nothing to write home about. The bonus is probably the random feature and scales.

An mpd 24 or 26 will get you better results than the mpk. The pads on both models aren’t bad, and depending on model 12 or 16 encoders/sliders. There is also banks for pads. Additionally, The mpd will store multiple setups for easy recall. Additional feature brought in from using mpd include note repeat.

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5

That’s a good point, Im guessing by looking at the editor for the akai mpk mini mk2 that I can’t assign each pad to a separate midi channel. I’m sure it would have been mentioned already if it was possible.

Thanks for the input peeps. (edit reason, did not mention the fact that I own an akai mpk mini mk2, thought i did sorry.)

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6

Seems like mpd is the way to go, did a bit of research myself and got the editor, and it shows me that each pad has a midi channel. dank, thanks

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7

If you set midi notes 0-7 in the auto channel for the pads you eliminate the need for using separate midi channels to trigger the dt audio tracks. Notes 0-7 will trigger audio channel 1-8 respectively.

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The rabbit hole goes deeper

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9

So pad one would be midi note 0 and so on?

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Yes, on pad 1 midi note 0, pad 2 midi note 1, etc.

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11

Alright sweet. Haha I’ve had this keyboard for years and only ever used it for a keybed. This opens in up.

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With the pro you can set each pad to send on a different midi channel, you need the latest firmware and the midi editor … You can find on YouTube a demo using the beatstep pro to control a volca sample

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With the Akai MPD range you can also hook them up to the likes of Beatmaker3 in iPad.

You can also pimp up the MPD’s with thicker pads etc from MPCStuff.com

The rabbit hole gets even DEEPER! lol.

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Haha I’ll keep that in mind for the event that I come across and iPad

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agreed with the others, for finger drumming on the digitakt, the mpd218 (or higher) is great and cheap to buy. another good alternative is the Korg PadKontrol.

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For those of you using the MPD218, et al., are you using a USB MIDI host to connect it to the Digitakt?

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I’m using din midi to connect my 26 to the dt. I think if you wanted to use usb midi to connect them to one another you would need one of those iconnect boxes or something along those lines.

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I used a kenton midi 5 thru and host also from kenton. Digitakt is hooked up to USB host and midi is sent out from dig to the thru and the synths or whatever recieving midi in Haha

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Hey something came up! On my Squarp the notes aren’t being recognized as 0-7 and the octave range of the squarp goes to C-1 for kick. What number would correspond with that?