Digitakt - what's the magic?

Elektron Gear
#23

But that’s not really the point.

If all boxes were created equal then I’d agree, but they’re not. They have different features, workflows etc for a reason.

They’re designed to inspire and enable you. To give you new and exciting ways to perform and create.

Techno, Hip Hop, or whatever would never have been created by someone playing the Spoons.

It’s a combination of both. It’s the symbiosis. If you don’t have tools you connect or meld with, you stagnate.

It’s no coincidence that new genres and culture come about with the invention of new gear and technology.

I’m not very eloquent when writing but I’m sure you get the point.

5 Likes
#24

This.
Same goes for any bit of gear/instrument/paintbrush etc

#25

I remember being massively disappointed when I heard Jeff Mills tracks being played by an orchestra. These obviously talented musicians had absolutely no idea how to interpret that music. They had no connection to Jeff Mills or Detroit Techno. Their talents brought nothing to the table, in my humble opinion. These people generally have no inclination or desire or need to understand or appreciate techno. To me it was a futile exercise. Jeff Mills probably disagrees, so who am I to say otherwise. But there’s a correlation/symbiosis between the right instrument/setup and a particular user/mindset. I wouldn’t be interested in trying to create otherworldly soundscapes with my (fictional) set of spoons. And yes that’s my failing as the user of said spoons, but i simply don’t want to. I would and could with a sampler and synthesiser. The gear itself is intrinsic to that spark of creativity, to our personal way of being inspired and motivated. I cannot use DAW’s. They drain me, but I can jam endlessly on hardware. Not to be cool, but because that’s what gives me energy and focus and results.

Why did you choose the gear you have? Because it does X Y & Z. And that’s what you require. That’s what excites and inspires you. So why didn’t you buy this X Y or Z? Because i don’t like the UI, the sounds, the workflow. Oh right, but it’s the user not the gear, right? Yeah, but…

I truly hate the ‘It’s not the gear it’s the user’ retort. I think it’s a lazy and ill considered response.

Anyway, I apologise for getting off topic.

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#26

The Digis are both quite magical. They’re just VERY well thought out. Some things are condensed and simplified, while still being highly flexible. There’s not really one magical thing about either of them, but rather how their features are distilled into something immediately accessible but still deep enough to allow intricate sounds and tunes.

One can get ideas into them almost instantly, before getting lost in a complex UI could potentially kill the creative flow off. But then, you can keep digging, diving, and refining to the point of a complete track that needs little else to be pretty much complete.

On the Digitakt specifically, you not only have a sampler, but a fairly flexible wave table synth, with minor granular ability on top of it.

All these things can be said of the other Elektrons to a degree, but I think they really nailed it with the Digis specifically.

Also, their limitations push one to playing and creating differently. More on the fly.

I’m someone that has programmed all of my music one sound and one note at a time for decades. The Digis got me playing music live, on the fly, and building a track while I play it. To the point that I haven’t really been able to go back to purely programming the way I once did.

I would definitely call them special instruments.

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#27

The Digitakt is just fun as hell, paired with an AH it’s just so badass. It does feel magical.

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#28

The digitakt is just reaaally good with very short samples and single cycle waveforms. It just sounds really good eventhough the filter and reverb aren’t anything to write home about.

Wish it had ping pong looping though and two LFO’s instead of one.

Also the sampling part (recording sound into it) is just quick compared to let’s say the octatrack with its silly recording buffers, older MPC’s, ableton push etc…

And the trigger buttons doubling as a one octave keyboard is just brilliant. (Same on digitone).

#29

Whatever lines are blurred between the FM, sequencer, and rhythms of the Digitone, it’s the same on the Digitakt. The device as a whole blurs the line between your samples, the sequencer, rhythms, and accidents.

The experience you have with the Digitone is precisely what I’ve described as “getting out of the way”. I’ve only really experienced this on Moogs, Elektron boxes, MPC so far, and the Synthstrom Deluge.

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#30

CTR-ALL is magic plus Pitch-Shift ±24 semitones.

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#31

I find the Digitakt filter to be quite good actually. Iv been able to get some real squelchy 303 type sounds out of it and some single cycle waveforms.

To reply to the broader topic. The Magic in the DT is that you simultaneously have unlimited potential and strict boundaries. The challenge is using that unlimited potential to break through the boundaries. Someone made a video recently about how to timestretch on the DT and that was so cool because it gives it its own unique spin on time stretching.

I also find the form factor of the DT perfect for what it is. It fits in well with electronic acts but also has a sort of Linn Drum quality for indie rock (if that’s your thing).

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#32

Quick sampling compared to OTs silly rec buffers? Thats just bs my friend :smiley:

#33

using the digitakt is intoxicating

1 Like
#34

Yes. Do this on the octatrack:
Sample to slot 1. In the audio editor change start/end/loop point. Load recorded sample into slot 2. Adjust start/end/loop point in audio editor. Repeat for all slots.
You cant do this my friend. Mr Bull Shit says you have to duplicate (save to cf card under a different name) the recorded sample 7 times. (Creating 8 physical copies of the sample on the cf card)
While indeed the actual sampling is quick on both machines, managing them on the octatrack is a pain in the bull shit, my dear friend

#35

From time to time, I’ve been pulled back to the Digitakt. It’s one thing and one thing only that’s drawn me back, and it might do so again if I slip - but it’s the sound and its character. The filters, onboard fx - all of them - and the way the envelopes work the samples … there’s something going on there, you won’t find in any other sampler. Even the mono character of the machine adds a tremendous lot to the overall output voice.

If Elektron came up with a high end version of the Takt, I’d consider it my weapon of choice for the future.

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#36

A polyphonic digitakt :heart:

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#37

I would never attempt to write a track on an instance of Kong or umpf. But I can and often do write the meat and potatoes of a track with the digitakt. (Plus the midi tracks for more elements). I don’t know if that’s magic but it is uber fun.

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#38

Digitakt in my opinion would not be quite as “magical” without the midi implementation. It’s so well integrated into using the sampler itself that there’s really no difference between programming sequences for an external synth and the Digitakt itself. When I had it, I was sequencing two synths with it, and the DT was getting master clock & pattern change from the OT and everything just worked like a charm. Extremely capable and intuitive device in that regard. Still, no song mode WTF Elektron…

3 Likes
#39

This is one limitation that taught me something.

On OT, I would systematically use stereo samples, just because I could, and when slicing a long sample I would have occasional misaligned left and right channels. When for hits, all you need is one short sample with a precise attack!

Overall, DT sounds very powerful, and it might be simply coming this stubborn mono choice from the start.

Everyone wish they have a kitchen full of cutting tools, when all you need is a sharp, durable, ergonomic and beautiful knife

10 Likes
#40

I like to give the most props to the player, not the instrument.
I honestly believe the “magic” really happens when someone has mastered their instrument and can take it beyond just the sum of it’s parts.

There’s a lot of Digitakt jams online, most sound amateurish at best, but occasionally there’s something that really stands out, where you ask, how they hell they doing that?

The Digitakt has a simple yet very well implemented feature set.
It’s quick and fun to get a groove going and make it sound “good”.
Most people stop there, never really even knowing the extent of what can actually be achieved with said features. A few take it into “magic” territory :slight_smile:

#41

What if you equally master different instruments, and find some particular quality in DT sound / workflow?

I tend to go towards abstract hip-hop beats on DT, while OT teleport me in glitch land very easily.
But the sound of DT is always crisp and solid, that’s where I indeed find some magic in this instrument: there is something that is beyond my understanding in this machine, and I wish I knew exactly what in the sum of its parts make it sound this good.

The mono aspect is one facet of it, I’m pretty sure of this.
The auto normalization as well, I guess.

Anyway, I have hard time to make it sound bad (not saying all I do with it is interesting, but this is the player corner, not the machine).

1 Like
#42

Totally disagree. The beauty of the Digitakt and the thing that everyone is talking about in this thread is how frictionlessly it lets the user take it to that magic territory.