Cleaning up the +Drive, a useful method

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#1

While you can purge unused samples from the DT’s RAM per project, managing the +Drive is a different beast. What if you want/need to clear up some space, but you’re not sure which samples are used in each project and which can be safely deleted from the machine entirely?
In an ideal world we’d have a sample management setup with the DT / Elektron Transfer where there’s an option to automatically keep any samples used in projects, or we’re at least warned before deleting them - but unfortunately, this isn’t that world.

I’m sure people have their own different workflows/workarounds for this, but I haven’t seen anything really mapped out that gives me confidence I could quickly come back to the same steps and do this systematically - especially after any reasonable kind of break from the DT or music production - so thought I’d write it out. Hopefully this helps someone… I’d welcome any feedback or improvements.

n.b: It may be helpful / reassuring to know that I also did a number of tests on Stage 2’s process below re: removing and re-adding samples to make sure that nothing broke, and was very pleased to find that not only can you delete samples from the +Drive and then re-import the same samples to a different folder, without breaking your projects, but you can even re-import them with entirely different filenames! I had (wrongly) assumed that samples were linked to their project by either their folder or at least their filename, but the linkup seems to happen via some other metadata - if anyone knows how this works specifically for the DT I’d be really interested.

Stage 1 - Tracking used samples

To keep things clean, I find it a good idea to do this periodically as you work with specific project(s), so you don’t have to go through your entire machine/set of projects. This unfortunately does involve a spreadsheet (unless you’re a bit more happy to wing it, in which case this part is optional), but not too heavily, and I’m sure there are ways to automate this further with scripting, but keeping it basic for now:

  1. Load a project
  2. If you want to purge any unused samples from the project, go to Samples / <- / VIEW RAM / -> / SELECT UNUSED / UNLOAD
  3. Fetch the list of samples used in the project. Whichever method you use, you have to do this project by project, unfortunately. Here are your options:
    • If your OS version is supported (currently up to 1.40 in beta), use Elk Herd (amazing tool created by mzero (https://electric.kitchen/, support him!)
      • Elektronauts latest: https://www.elektronauts.com/search?q=elk-herd%20category%3A5
      • Go to Project management and click ‘Fetch Project’. Your sample pool will be displayed.
      • If you didn’t already, you can use the option to select unused samples from the sample pool and delete them (make sure you back up the project though before doing this!).
    • Otherwise, load the project on the DT, go to Samples / <- / VIEW RAM, and you’ll see your samples listed.
  4. Fill out your ‘DT Sample Management’ spreadsheet, listing the samples used in the project.

Stage 2 - Removing and updating +Drive samples:

  1. Copy all samples from DT to computer using Elektron Transfer
  2. Name this folder e.g. ‘backup’
  3. Make a new copy of this folder, and add samples / delete any unwanted samples as needed (you can check these against those used in any projects using your ‘DT Sample Management’ spreadsheet)
  4. Clear the +Drive on the DT (System -> Format +Drive -> tick samples only)
  5. Transfer the new folder containing all the necessary samples over with Elektron Transfer.
  6. Done!
3 Likes
Backup up projects and include samples
#2

If you backup your projects with transfer, delete all samples on your +drive and transfer the projects back on the digitakt, transfer will ask you if you want to upload the samples used within the projects as well

2 Likes
#3

The way I did it was:

  1. Backup all my projects from the DT onto my computer.
  2. Change the DTPRJ extension to ZIP.
  3. Unzip all the files and combine the sample folders.
  4. Delete all samples from DT.
  5. Upload new folder with all used and organized samples.

DONE!

7 Likes
#4

An alternative in stage 1, step 3: the files created by transfer are actually zip files. So you could rename X.dtprj to X.zip and then unzip it and see the samples used.

1 Like
#5

snap :slight_smile:

EDIT: Actually, not snap, but based on the same idea.

1 Like
#6

Does this mean that someone could share/sell a Bring Your Own Samples pack? Like I mean we all own Essential Samples from Mars, right? Then someone makes a project with tons of cool uses of those samples, and as long as you have those samples on your +Drive you can open the project?

PLEASE SOMEONE DO THIS: USE THIS WAV PACK, Essential WAV from Mars, make it available in Digitakt and Analog Rytm format, I will buy it, I love you, thank you.

#7

Yup!

#8

A script to do that (in say node.js or ruby) would be the proverbial p.o.p. At least, the reading of the zip files and combining into a single folder part.

1 Like
#9

Are the sounds managed cleverly enough for this to work. Presumably sound refer to sample files by their hash, rather than their path, so it should all connect up again ?

(Only know the M:S, myself)

#10

This looks great, but how do you backup your projects - via Sysex dump/Send or some other method?

#11

It’s ‘Transfer’ that creates those .dtprj files that @slicetwo referred to.

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#12

I use the TRANSFER app on Windows. It takes a bit of time, but it’s worth the trouble.

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#13

Amazing, cheers! I didn’t realise you could do this, the manual only mentions the C6 tool and I didn’t clock that you can also select projects and sounds to transfer over using the Transfer app. And no idea you could open this to get the samples - feels like this sort of thing should be common knowledge / DT docs could def do with updating) but I really appreciate the quick tip here.

With that in mind it looks like my spreadsheet method may be redundant (which can only be a good thing). Moving closer to sample management utopia…

1 Like
#14

Will probably give myself a crash course in file automation scripting and try to figure something out on this front - had wanted to anyway, but anything to make the process a little smoother.

1 Like
#15

I’m also wondering about this?
I read in the manual that each sample gets some kind of id. But im not sure if it works if you add a duplicated file?

#16

First off, I don’t have a digitakt, I’m only going on what I’ve seen on the Model:Samples.

What I’ve seen there is: If you load two identical sample files, same someA.wav and someB.wav

  • both files are loaded to the plusdrive,
  • both have an identical hash (you called it an id)
  • if you load someB.wav to a project the project knows about the path to the file (ending someB.wav) and the hash
  • if you then delete someB.wav (using transfer) the project gets a bit confused because the path is gone.
  • but if you power off and power up the Model:samples, the project magically finds someA.wav as a replacement file … it must have done this via the hash. (I’m guessing it builds a new index based on the hashes at startup).

That’s what I know about duplicated files from the model:samples. You could try the same thing on the digitakt, but I really don’t know what impact the ‘sounds’ have on all this. M:S doesn’t have ‘sounds’ as part of it’s architecture (not explicitly anyway) that only comes into play on the digitakt.

1 Like
#17

Interesting. Sounds promising!

Hmm, i would assume it would work the same on the digitakt etc. I dont even save sounds atm. I think its more like presets, but when loaded on a track, there is ”no connection”. Its now a track with its own parameters and a sample. So the actual patch in use, is stored per pattern, but there is this global preset bank that you can load from and save to.

It doesnt have kits like the big boxes

But I could be wrong…