Can you sidechain in a Digitone?

Elektron Gear Digitone/Digitone Keys
#21

Totally get this.

I’m trying to look at various ‘mixing / mastering’ methods on the Digitone, and coming from a DAW environment where everything and anything is possible and provided, it’s easy to think about this as a limitation. But you’re quite right - And this is exactly why I wanted to leave DAWs. I love the idea of using p-locks and LFOs to play with level.

So if the track I wanted to ‘side chain’ was playing a single held trig on the first pattern, I would add p-locks on the track volume parameter, right?
P-locking the envelope attack wouldn’t do anything because there’s only one trig?

#22

Exactly. If the result is not satisfying, a square wave lfo to amp volume would also be possible, either at the right speed (activate retrig at the first note trig on the trig parameters page for the lfo) to achieve the sidechain feeling or retriggered with lock trigs (not sure if lock trigs can retrig the lfo on DN).

Also experiment with other lfo waves.

#23

Not anymore with Overbridge. Sidechaining is so easy.

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#24

but then it’s not DAWless anymore. We don’t want that!

WE THE PEOPLE DEMAND THE ELEKTRON DIGIMIX - the first Overbridge Hardware FX EQ Box!

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#25

Heck i’ve even got nice pumping sounds with the arp held on a single note and turning off certain steps. Multiple ways to achieve the sidechained sound!

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#26

This Octatrack sidechain pumping tutorial can also be applied to the Digitone.

I used a Digitakt to send the Digitone cc’s. I think you can use a midi loop-back trick too. The Digitakt is set to send midi out to channel 10. Val 1 is set to 127. CC select 1 is set to 27 (filter base). The LFO is set to sent to cc val 1. Speed=2, BPM=16, 0 fade, Wave=exp, Start phase=0, mode=oneshot, depth is -64.

The digitakt is set to send trigger-less trigs on 1,5,9, and 13. (Make sure LFO trigger is on.) I put a kick drum on those steps too.

The digitone triggers a 1/32nd bass note on every sequencer step; 1, 2,3,… You might need to adjust the filter base.

Sounds like this… First the bass alone, and then with the sidechain pumping.

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Octatrack Tutorial: Sidechain pumping effect!
#27

Can this be done with a Digitone alone? Otherwise that method is going to cost me £630.

#28

I actually think it IS possible, though maybe not completely likely. The Digitone (if memory serves) has two of the same processor that the Digitakt has one of. It obviously needs the extra computational power to do what it does, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had a little left over that could be put toward something like this. Whether Elektron decides to do it though is something else. :slight_smile:

#29

We the OTHER people agree with you and your people!!

Like an Elektron version of the Roland MX-1. I loved the MX-1, but it lacked a bit of panache in some ways. Cool concept though.

#30

You should be able use the midi loop-back trick.

#31

Nifty! I’ll give it a whirl.

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#32

How’d it go?

#33

Not bad. I had a track with an LFO linked to amp, but the LFO wave wasn’t great. There’s no way to soften the curves. So it didn’t really pump, it just kinda came and went and ended up as a nice chord-arp effect!

I didn’t try and MIDI loop back trick yet though. Still trying to learn the Digitone generally.

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#34

I have done something similar using the lfo’s exponential wave one single cycle mode with a negative depth to track volume or filter cutoff. I then p-lock the depth on any steps I want to be ducked. The exponential wave really helps.

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