Early this year, I bought I decided to go ahead and buy a Digitakt. Before that I been playing with Ableton for almost two years. I was already feeling comfortable with Ableton, but wanted something more immediate and more of an instrument that I can take and ‘play’. I read a little bit about the different samplers, Maschine, Octotrack, SP 404, but nothing felt quite right to me the way the Digitakt did.
I have to admit that I was surprised by the Digitakt’s limitation when I first got it, but the more I use it the more I come to terms with it and realize how well thought out it is. Most importantly it was a big factor that steered my sound into a certain direction.
Before getting the Digitakt, I was more into making deep/lofi house, but with it I’ve been making mostly hiphop beats. I never thought I would be into that. I Definitely like how universal the Digitakt feels. Whether you wanna make techno, house, or hiphop, or ambient, you won’t feel constrained.
Now, I’m thinking of what I can add to my setup that will help get closer to ‘my sound’ what ever that is.
Of course I been looking into different instruments like modular systems, Op-1, Digitione, or whatever.
I’m not asking this for a specific ‘get this’ type of advice. Just felt like sharing some of my thoughts.
I would love to hear your personal stories, how you choose your gear, and how it inspires you …
Allocate time to experiment, and make sounds, split into categories that are relevant. Get good at storing them, building up your own personal sample & patch library which is easy for you to navigate. This will help build your pallette. I find my self often going through my personal library and editing it, deleting weak sounds, or making variations of sounds that I really like, after a while you’ll start to notice a common thread based on your personal taste. Much easier to feel connected to a track when in the writing stage (imo).
Technique diary - If you stumble across your own technique for making a sound, jot it down in a diary, or draw a diagram, this may come in handy for remembering later when a particular problem arises or a track calls for it. I personally feel with my work the more idiosyncratic sounds/decisions I make have come from my own techniques that I’ve found. Sometimes these were found purely through experimentation, sometimes my own take, or a modified technique that I’ve learnt from somebody else, so don’t neglect learning new techniques from youtube vids etc.
If you’re having trouble composing, try downsizing your set-up, limitations are often better for getting to the crux of an idea. If ideas start to stagnate, swapping things around a bit can help re-ignite it. I tend to swap a synth on my keyboard stand every couple of weeks to keep things fresh.
Listen to loads of music, explore all the hidden depths of recorded music history in the time machine that is youtube. If you find something that blows you away, try and find out everything you can about how they made the record, sometimes a candid statement about how a particular reverb, mic placement or synth technique was used can inspire a whole track.
A truism, but it does just take time! Don’t get too stuck up on not having your own sound, keep exploring, and practicing eventually it will become clearer. Set small goals which are tangible rather than the much bigger goal to develop your own sound. A better goal would be to aim to make an EP entirely out of sounds you’ve designed, or choose a particular concept that you’ll base something on. Having a new goal every time will force you to have to problem solve in new ways. Also, the clearer the goal is, the more chance you have of hitting it. Your own sound will be a by product of lots of these goals being accomplished over time!
A synth might be a good next move. You can go a lot of places with just those two.
Also the quickest way to your own sound imo is sampling your own stuff and layering it in with other stuff. An 808 kick is nothing unique until you layer it with a bang on a kitchen pot you recorded, then it’s your kick drum (kitch drum*).
honestly, the best way to learn about what sounds you make best is just to experiment; both with sounds and instruments (hardware or software). eventually you learn what works best for you and what doesn’t. I don’t work great with (non-drum) samples or modular synths; just kinda how it is. I try to improve that a bit, but I’m aware of the limitation so it helps me direct my focus to sounds and instruments I can actually make music with instead. but again, gotta experiment to learn that.
I feel arranging your sample libraries can be super helpful. There is a sample I’ve used long time ago that I wanna go back to… I think it will be easier finding something similar to it online haha.
A lot of what you said makes sense. Thanks for sharing
Funny you guys mentioned resampling… was just watching a video on that. Just watched this video of a guy using the digitakt and resample stuff into a whole loop. Will definitely try that next
I find the Digitakt works great also with non-drum samples. it‘s of course no Octatrack, but I‘ve made some nice beats with all kinds of harmonic and melodic content with the digitakt and it works well.
Already a lot of great advice, especially Jacknoid & chiasticon
Experimentation is huge!! Even after years of making music, I still experiment EVERY SINGLE TIME I play.
I agree that it’s better to not focus on developing your own sound as I feel this is something that comes naturally. I make goals like “make a song using only found sounds” or “make an lp using nothing but vinyl” ect, ect.
Lately I’ve been really into forum beat battles, I’ve improved immensely since I started battling (battles also help you learn a piece of gear inside & out).
For the most part I make my own sounds (unless using vinyl, but even then, I layer & effect), which is a sure way to develop your own sound.
Pick & make sounds that you like (of course), enjoy the process & don’t try to sound like anyone else.
& gear CAN affect your style & sound. For me the process / workflow is most important when choosing gear. Prior to buying something I make sure I have a good idea as to what I’m looking for & what I want from it. Also, if you make a specific genre, choosing gear that normally wouldn’t be used for that genre can bring original results. For example 90% of what I make is Boom Bap/Hip Hop, yet I have a Blofeld. Might sound weird, but when I use the Blofeld in my boom bap beats I def come up with something different (plus I love the sound & workflow of the Blofeld & like stepping outside of Hip Hop from time to time).
Before buying more gear, try to play with wave cycles, m4ml stuff, or resample the digitakt with guitar pedals or moog filter pedal.
think about a great tom sound with some moog filter pedal and distortion pedal, some filtering on the sampled tom and you have great bass sound… oh the places you go
AAaahhh, yeah, I didn’t know spceboi had guitar pedals including a Moog filter pedal, you can def make all kinds of sounds with those & the Digitakt! As long as you have sounds to put in the Digitakt of course
Yea, battles are def worth checking out! Since you mentioned checking out some of my beats, here is my bandcamp, but besides the K.O. beats, they are ALL battle beats (1 Elektron battle, 1 MPC battle & the rest are sp battles…I used a 404sx). www.sharris.bandcamp.com
& too be honest I don’t have anything new I made with the Blofeld… 1 of the main encoders stopped working BUT, I have already bought a replacement encoder, so I need to get on fixing it. I miss it. Besides, for some reason I really only post battle beats online, I guess I need a reason to post my beats (I’m working on this tho, I think it’s just insecurity).
I will say boom bap revolves around vinyl, so when I involved the Blofeld with boom bap, I also had vinyl samples…BUT I’ve also made hip hop & trap with the Blofeld (used the Blofeld for melodies, bass & atmospheric sounds) & it did well. I guess the fact that it has a wide range of sounds makes any genre with it possible. But really my point was just that using sounds that are considered outside of the genre you make would def give you an original sound.
I will say when I first got into beat making I thought about developing my sound. I thought I would get into making trip hop (like Dj Shadow) because that was the music I wanted to make. I wanted that to be my “style”…but I decided to let the sounds take me places & just go by feel…& my beats turned into boom bap (I realized that I love working with chops & I love organic sounds)… OH! There’s a tip - try making beats outside of the main genre you make. It’s a sure way to evolve your sound. & not get stuck in habits. I used to make a lot of different stuff, but recently I got stuck in a boom bap cycle I can’t get out of. I realized it was because I was trying to make other stuff using the same vinyl samples I use for boom bap (which is totally possible, but not a good way to crush the habit). So I started having sessions where I just made sounds. I would hit record & play with my synths & effects modules…twisting knobs, patching cables & just playing the keys. Recording it all. Then later I chop it up, play with the sounds & make a beat. I used to do this all the time (if you check out my bandcamp, the beat named Brosis is me & my brother, he got an electric guitar, the first night we hooked it to a pedal & just recorded us goofing around. the next day we chopped it up & made a beat).
I find the most useful thing for me regarding developing my own sound, was abstaining from listening to any music for a while. I do this every now and then.
The second most helpful thing developed slowly over time as I realised how little I enjoy software to make music. So now I only use software in the final mixing and mastering process.
I’ve gone through large, transitionary periods over the last 5 years. From a drummer - bandleader and sideman - through to soloist playing a melodic instrument. It took me a long time and a lot of experimentation to find ‘my voice’ on the guitar - bands like Hotel Neon, Lowercase Noises and (especially) Noveller were massively instrumental (sic) in bringing my guitar playing to life.
I’m hitting that point of change again at the moment, rediscovering music I loved and was dedicated to a decade ago (Amon Tobin, Telefon Tel Aviv, Boards of Canada) and experimenting again with my 35-year-old’s realisation that, if I want to make music, I don’t have to copy anyone but that it is OK to be influenced and inspired.
One day, I might get back into a band as a drummer (I am doing a mate a favour this week and playing on his record) or I might make a band and play guitar or just electronics with the OT. Who knows. The one constant I have is that I will never be ‘done’ and therefore never bored; I might want to take a break or feel mentally exhausted by ‘creating’ but I know there is always some little hook to draw me back in.
I love making music on the Digitakt, but I been wanting to add a live aspect to my tracks. Been considering learning the trumpet for the longest time now. I wanna get into it once I get comfortable with the Digitakt and with my output. I don’t like to be learning multiple things at once.
I don’t like to be learning multiple things at once.
Personally, I don’t think there is any other way. Gotta take it all in! Just immerse yourself and see what sticks, you know? That way, I feel like you’re more likely to get stuck with the bits that actually matter and drive you to do what you want/need in an unconscious way rather than trying to force pegs into holes.
I spent 20 years playing drums in groups and, about 3 years ago, decided I had to take a break; physically and mentally. I got stuck back into ‘computer music’ (as we called it when I was a kid) and playing guitar. Relearning all this stuff really fired me up to ‘get good’ and try and find some kind of voice that people might want to listen to. I just picked up a Digitone… looking forward to exploring that and introducing it as a new layer in my musical cake!
Re: Instruments. Trumpeting is a good thing to do. There are some killer players out there. Gopher it!
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BUT, I have already bought a replacement encoder, so I need to get on fixing it. I miss it. Besides, for some reason I really only post battle beats online, I guess I need a reason to post my beats (I’m working on this tho, I think it’s just insecurity).