Hello
few weeks ago i come to ask suggestion on a digitone vs cobalt
After that my mind was much clearer for digitone(even not 100%)…meanwhile i discovered the analog four, which would be really nice to have;at glance seems more exciting than dn, though i read about difficulties to get sweet spot, also only four voices of poly and not midi out but cv…which i don’t think i would use.
So despite of the synthesis part that for me is more exciting than fm (i know both only through youtube to make it clear…) there are few things that put me in doubt with a4…and price is not least; second hand i find it always quite more expensive than digitone ( i am talking about mk1 of course)
While debating between the 2…i discovered Digitakt…and somehting different happened!
For me it was a rhytm machine…but i discover that with sample, of course, i can create anything and have it acting like a synth…and i know that as my first machine was a sampler, an Emax!
I heard some track on you tube,and hear sounds just like i want to make my sounds
Now i don’t know how difficult is, if it is hard to produce music with it (not only rhytm i mean) from samples…what can you tell me about it?
And there is another thing on it
I want a box to produce music, portable, indiependent from daw, which of course i use with vst and so on
Now…with vst i can have, and i have, many synth, different types…with all facilities of working on a pc ( i know about syhteshis the real basis but i want to learn more)
But working with a sampler like a digitakt to me seems the real difference…working with samples with daw might be not as immediate as a digitakt
So while a vst can compete with an hw synth (which of course might sound better sometimes)
a machine like digitakt it is hard to be compared with a work on a pc
Eventually, and this is a big point, with a sampler i can create really unique sounds…much more than with a synth when i am not a very good sound designer
Music i want to do is electronic sperimental…and drum is not my first need…that might contrast with digitakt?Might be better a more dedicated samppler?
So i think working with a digitakt may be really somehting different and unique and all of a sudden seems that i find the right machine for me!
What is your opinion on these consideration?using it as a synth, uniqueness of sounds…ecc?
thanks for sharing!
p.s.
when i say working with sample i don t absolutely mean to sample guitar, piano ecc to use as guitar piano ecc…but sample sound…any…to create new sounds. I consider samplig can be just anothe synthesis method
It’s possible to use single cycle waveforms (or just loop a very small portion of any sample) to make an oscillator and shape the sound like on a real (mono)synth with filter, envelopes, LFO etc. It certainly can make sounds that classic analog/VA synth can’t. Can it replace a “real” synth? Yes and no, depends on what type of sound you want. It’s a great feature and makes DT much more than “just” a sampler.
Once you get midi loopback going for polyphonic playing and start getting all sorts of complex per voice modulation going across up to 8 tracks it can be a synth unlike much else but be prepared to do quite a lot of tweaking and setup. I’ve done some lovely synth patches with it but in terms of switch on -> tweak settings live -> sounds amazing an actual synth made to be a synth will win. Especially if you like playing rather than programming.
Tweking settjngs live is not my main interest,i want to create music even more than to play it…at least with the machine i am looking for. Yes preferably not a long process in creating a sound i want this machone like a notepad for idea i might develop later with daw.
I wonder if there are other machine more dedicated to this as digitakt is also a good drum machine which is not so important for me
I think you should give it a go. I love mine, working with samples combined with all the sound sculpting, resampling and excellent sequencing makes for endless experimental fun for me.
Digitakt “the drum machine” feels very similar to e.g. Digitone “the synth”, I wouldn’t worry about this. DN has polyphony (without using “hacks”), arpeggiator and of course more powerful (but also quite different-FM) synth engine, but sequencer and basic workflow is practically the same. There’s even keyboard fold and scales on DT, which is certainly something no drum machine needs.
I mainly got the DT to use as a melodic sampler as opposed to a drum machine and I love it. There are limitations eg each track is monophonic and it doesn’t have an arp but it’s those limitations that push you to come up with more creative ways to use it
I wouldn’t recommend the Digitakt for you, personally. I think you’re going to get bored with it very quickly trying to use it mainly as a synth even though, yes it can technically function as a synth. The workflow is very different from using a keyboard based instrument with velocity and knob per function. Also, you mainly interact with the the Digitakt by tweaking settings, as the non-velocity sensitive buttons get old quick, IMO.
I would look at getting one of the new MPCs, like the MPC One or the Live II. I am not really a fan of them, truth be told, but they do way, way more than the Digitakt and are much closer to a portable box independent from a DAW to create full pieces of music on. The workflow is very different from the Digitakt, but once you learn it, its very powerful. (I personally would rather just use a DAW, but that’s a different conversation).
I had one briefly. As a drum machine great.
As a pseudo synth, meh. It will only ever be as deep as the samples you load onto it. Gets samey real quick.
Synths are for synthing. Get a digitone, way more fun. Endless depths to explore.
And for me is amazing, sound really like i want to do. Now i don t know how much effort he made to create it and how skiilled you need to be.But to have an idea of what i like to do.
For akai mpc yes, i check it and must be very good.It seems more a daw in a box, for review i read, which is not exactly what i need. For what i read elektron is more for creative path, may be not enough to complete a track…but the workflow is intruiguing me, as i want to create in a different way from what i normally do with daw…and creating with mpc seems like creating with daw. Is that correct?
These come from review i read…i repeat i never own any of elektron or mpc
i totally agree, i really enjoy using samples as oscillators as well but as mentioned here, even with a diversity if samples, it all starts to get samey real fast. i play live and as a 2nd oscillator next to my modular it works nicely but as a “main synth” i don’t think it ideal. but then again maybe im just not tweaking enough
Personally I think the Digitakt is great for synthy stuff,
(I own the A4, Digitakt and Rytm + lots of other synths and played with the Digitone a fair bit)
I think if you get the Digitakt you won’t be disappointed, 8 tracks of samples that can be tweaked in many different ways with the filter, effects and LFOs. + you have 8 more tracks of midi that can be used to sequence other gear you might get in the future and then feed back into the Digitakt for live playback + sampling. And it’s very easy to make synth sounds using the digitakt using single cycle waveforms and plenty are included.
Yeah substan is great and big reason for me buying DT and DN. I’ve seen some of his production videos (available on his Patreon) and he usually samples some external gear (often DN) into DT and then further mangles the sounds in the DT. So I seriously doubt this track was synthesized with DT alone (but I don’t know).
glad you like the track !!
Creating the track was almost effortless … but to create the sounds for it, I put in a lot of work and effort beforehand. I almost exclusively used the sounds from my “DigiSphere” sound pack
Sure … it’s definitely possible and a lot of fun to make “ambient” tracks only with the Digitakt. But of course you need something to sample … or at least suitable samples or sounds. The stock sounds and samples will not satisfy you for this kind of music. I used many different sources for the sound pack … field recordings, modular, digitone, hydrasynth … to name a few but of course VST’s also throw off super sample fodder.
In general, however, the Digitakt is more suitable for oneshots and drums. There are a few things that are missing for sounds of this kind and that make workarounds necessary. Above all, I miss a fade parameter (crossfade at the loop points) … it is almost impossible to find a click-free loop point with most samples. So I had to crossfade a lot of samples in the DAW and then load them onto the Digitakt. Stereo samples and polyphony on the individual tracks are also things that would take the Digitakt to a whole new level and open it up more for music of this kind. But it is what it is and even with all its limitations it’s a lot of fun to do ambient with it… it’s just definitely not like you can unpack the box, turn it on and go … It’s a sampler and depends on what you feed it
Since you mentioned the Digitone … take a closer look at it !!
I didn’t find the Digitone (neither FM synthesis) particularly interesting at first glance and only bought it to have a look. Now it’s my absolute favorite synth and THE elektron for ambient.
Simply a piece of art !!
thanks for your exaplanation
Yes of course it depend omn what you feed the sampler…i started with an Emax many years ago and i remember i could create sound just looping part of sounds i would causally get
And i had the problem of the crossfade as you saying…so this is not a good point!(well i also remember that the need of find a point where there was no click sometimes lead to unexepected an nice result)
In general i thought to digitakt more to make my sample than use the pack…at that point i don’t see it as a real sounds madr from samples
When i say my own samples i think to sample anything that can inspire…not other sound i like
I know that likethis is going to be a real hard job…but this is what i meant for sampler as synth
Probably is not the best way though
Tried to listen at mpc…and i don’t like what i hear. I mean i can’t hear kind of experimental or ambient…don’t know if it is because it is not good at or because noone does that on mpc, at least don’t put on youtube. So don’t have and idea on much is the possibility to create new sound
So a part of mpc the only other real alternative remain digitone (or may be analog four?)
- Elektron Gear / Digitakt - Elektronauts
