I am a happy Digitakt owner, which I use either by itself or with Ableton.
I would like to go forward with the hardware-only kind of style and add a Keystep and a Behringer td-3 in the mix.
I would use:
the Behringer td-3 for acid basslines that I am looking for
the Keystep for playing leads, melodies, and also a lot of arp
the Digitakt as the brain, the drum box, and sampling machine
I am however unsure of the plugging science behind this and struggle to find definitive information.
Therefore, if anyone has experience or info about the following points, I would like to dig into them:
Which cables & connections I would require
How to set the 3 machines so they can understand each other
Typically, I would like to use the Digitakt as a receiver for what the Behringer td-3 and Keystep play, but is it possible to use those to play a sample sent from the Digitakt? And if so, would the cables, connections and setup change?
I assume that you need at least 1 midi cable between each instrument, from in to out, and the Digitakt-provided USB cable if I want to record anything on my computer using overbridge and/or Ableton.
Thanks a lot for reading me, hope that I am not the first one with that challenge
Just to clarify youâd be using midi data between the different instruments. The samples in the digitakt are audio so you wouldnât send those between instruments to play notes etc.
The âtraditionalâ set up would be to go Keystep midi out to Digitakt midi in. That way you could record the midi note data generated by the keystep into the digitakt.
Youâve got a couple of options regarding the TD 3. You could use a recorded midi pattern from the digitakt and play those notes on the TD 3 and youâd do that by going digitakt midi out to TD 3 midi in. Alternatively You could also use the sequencer in the TD 3 and free up a midi track in the digitakt. Same cable configuration. If you set up the TD 3 in such a way as it starts itâs sequence playing when it receives a midi start message from the digitakt and set itâs clock to external then the TD 3 sequence will run in time with the digitakt sequence when you hit play. Youâd make those changes in the synthtool app for the TD 3 (although I think you can do it with a combination of button pushes from the front panel too) and by making sure the digitakt is sending midi clock out to the TD3. Iâm not sure if you have to turn on transport control send in the digitakt? (Iâve not got one).
So in essence youâd want a couple of 5 pin midi din cables⌠one from keystep to digitakt and one from digitakt to TD 3.
Because digitakt is a sampler you could go audio out of the TD 3 to the audio input of the digitakt and sample the audio out of the TD 3 into the digitakt. That means you could then set up a second sequence on the TD 3 and use it as described above to play along side your recorded sequence. So now youâve got two sequences running!
To be honest there are a few ways rig your stuff up but this is a simple way that should get you up and running for now. Once youâve got your head around setting up midi channels and getting stuff synced and playing in time you can experiment further.
Let us know how you get on. Thereâs plenty of folk around here whoâll help you along the way. Be aware tho that thereâs plenty of anti B sentiment around here, the same as other forums. Donât let that put you off learning and more importantly making your own musicđ
First of all, thanks a lot for the kind & wise words !
I understood the general principles of the suggestions you made there, and will follow them and will therefore get 2 of those 5 pin midi din cables in addition.
If I sum up the scenarios for the DT and TB 3 association: Scenario 1:
1 midi cable from DT midi out to TD 3 midi in, as the DT would send a recorded midi pattern to be played by the TD 3
Scenario 2:
Now, the TD 3 plays as a sequencer into a midi track of the DT. However, would not it be 1 midi cable from TD 3 midi out to DT midi in, as the TD 3 sends a signal to the DT here?
Scenario 3:
Now the TB 3 plays through audio into the DT. For this:
Would you be able to play like scenario 1, midi pattern from DT played by TB 3, simultaneously with audio from TB 3 in a DT audio track, resulting in 2 sequences? Would not there be any overlap in the controls if 2 sequences are both played by the TB 3?
In that audio sequence, which cable & connections would be wise to do between the DT and TB 3?
I have also two last thoughts here
About the Keystep: if I wanted to play a sample from the DT with the key of the Keystep, such as it is possible to do with the chromatic mode of the DT, which connection would be required?
Regarding a basic listening of what I am making, would a headset plugged in the DT jack output be able to hear all 3 instruments?
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, fast track learning going on
Yes youâre right. You could record a MIDI sequence into the DT on, say, midi track 1. Set that to be midi channel 1 and set the TD3 to receive on midi ch 1 and the TD3 will play the notes of the midi sequence on track 1 of the DT. So at this point all youâre doing is sending midi note data from the DT to the TD3. In this scenario youâre not using the TD sequencer, just using the TD as a sound module. Youâd set the TD 3 clock source to internal and you wouldnât hit play on the TD as youâre not using its internal sequencer.
Scenario 2
I think this is where youâre getting a bit confused. In this scenario you would first programme a sequence into the internal sequencer of the TD3. Youâd then set the TD 3 clock source to external. What this means it the TD is âlisteningâ to the midi clock and start/stop messages at its midi input. Thereâs no need to have anything programmed into any of the DT midi tracks.
When you hit play on the DT the TD will start playing itâs internal sequencer in sync with the DT (so if the DT is set to 120 bpm for example the TD will play its internal sequencer at 120 bpm) make sense? The TD is just reacting to the start/stop and tempo messages coming from the DT. So itâs still just a case of one cable going from DT midi out to TD midi in. No other midi cables required and no need to route the TD midi out back into the DT. Both sequencers will start playing together.
I put this scenario 2 forward for a couple of reasons. Firstly because youâre now using the TD sequencer you free up the midi track on the DT that you were using in scenario 1. This would be advantageous if you wanted to sequence other midi gear because youâve now got 8 free midi tracks available on the DT. Secondly some folks prefer to use the TD sequencer for programming 303 type sequences.
Scenario 3
What I was saying here is that you could record the audio from the TD into an audio track of the DT. Once youâve made the recording and assigned that recording onto an audio track of the DT you can play back that recorded sequence. Obviously itâs just a recording and the DT will loop it. Now you could programme a second midi sequence on the DT and repeat the process. So now youâve got 2 different audio recording of the 2 sequences youâve programmed. So in effect youâve got two 303 type patterns recorded and playing back on two different audio tracks of the DT. Of course you could keep going until youâve filled all 8 tracks of the DT and you could then still have a midi track playing a ninth pattern on the TD. All I was pointing out is that by sampling you can build up multiple patterns from one TD.
Regarding the last two questions.
Iâve not got a DT but if it responds to note data and plays back samples assigned to notes then it would be the same keystep midi out to DT midi in connection. Someone with a DT would have to confirm if it can do that from an external midi keyboard.
As far as listening to stuff then you would route the audio out of the TD to one of the DT audio inputs and there should be a menu to set that audio input to monitor or something similar. You would then hear the output of the TD and DT at the DT output. The keystep doesnât generate any audio.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, I understood that indeed scenario 2 involves the TD3 capacities more than scenario 1 does in a way, and I guess that is what I am looking for. Scenario 3 seems to use most of the DT multiple tracks & sampling, which is very interesting for song writing purposes, I will definitely look in that direction.
I also wrote down the set up advice you gave me and will use them once I get the instruments, as I guess I went as far as I could with my questioning while not owning them yet
Hi again, and merry xmas Bunker and everyone else reading this topic!
I am now playing around with a new td-3 and my digitakt, amazing machines.
The td-3 works great on its own, playing it with headphones and having great acid vibes.
Now its time to add some drums and samples to the mix, so I am trying to sync the td-3 and digitakt.
1st thing, putting midi cable from digitakt out to td-3 in for the clock purpose.
2nd thing, setting the td-3 so it can be played on the digitakt. I guess holding both back and write/next will allow me to choose the right set-up. I have the following options: internal, midi or usb.
I guess it would be midi as I have a midi cable connected?
3rd thing, picking the right midi channel, pressing function and ch, then 5 to use the channel 5.
4th thing, setting up the digitakt. I am quite confused here, as there are 3 menus to change settings:
Sync, with clock receive, clock send, transport receive, transport send, prog ch receive, prog ch send.
Ports, with turbo speed, out port func, thru port func, input from, output to, output ch, param output encoder dest, trig key dest, mute dest, receive notes, receive cc/nrpn
Channels
Regarding Sync, I guessed I have to tick the Clock send, as the Digitakt is the master here.
Regarding the channels, I activated the Track A channel, and mapped it to to number 9.
I also use the SRC of Midi A, to put channel to number 9.
Is there any fundamental knowledge I am missing there, and any cable that should be added?
My setup is td-3 slave, digitakt master, plugged from the usb digitakt output to my computer using overbridge to control/record it.
Regarding the audio, I am using a headset in blutooth with my computer.
Merry Christmas! Glad youâre enjoying your new gear!
Youâre right in everything youâre saying about connections and channels etc. Midi cable from DT out to TD 3 in.
Regarding the TD3 settings. Those three TD3 settings are for synchronising itâs internal sequencer and not for midi note data. As long as the channel on the DT and TD match the TD Will receive note data Sent from the DT on that specific channel only. If you want to programme midi notes into the digitakt to be played back on the TD3 you will want to set the TD3 to internal clock. . That way when you hit play on the DT you wonât start the TD3 sequencer. You donât want that because you want the DT notes to be played, not the internal sequencer to start running.
DT settings. Youâll want to send clock. If youâre not using the TD3 sequencer you wonât need to enable transport send (this is midi start/stop data sent from the play/stop buttons on the DT). If you change your mind and decide to use the TD3 sequencer in the future youâll want to check that option. To be fair it shouldnât matter as far as the TD3 goes, as long as itâs set to internal clock It should ignore transport messages. As DT Is the master you wonât need to worry about receive settings too much. If you use the Keystep plugged into the DT midi in youâll need to ensure youâve got note receive checked. To avoid any possible issues Iâd be tempted to uncheck both send and receive program change messages. Youâd use that facility to switch the TD3 between patterns but as youâre sequencing using the DT you wonât need PC messages.
Iâve got my mates DT here and as far as settings goâŚ
Sync - check clock send.
Port config -
turbo speed off,
out and thru ports = midi,
input = midi & usb (you can use either of the ports on the keystep),
output = midi & usb (Iâm guessing youâll need usb out for overbridge and midi out to TD3).
You wonât be using the following functions in your set up as yet but Iâd set
parameters output = CC, encoder dest
Encoder dest = int
Trig key dest = int & ext (youâll have to check this one. You might need the external as well as internal to be able to use the trig keys as a keyboard to play notes on the TD3. Iâve just got the DT on my lap and not connected to other gear at the mo)
Mute dest = int
Receive notes = on if you want to use the keystep for playing the DT. If youâre not using the keystep it wonât matter
Receive CC/NRPN = off
The caveat in the above is that I donât use Overbridge so You might need to change some settings specific to OB but if youâve got it up and running already youâve got that bit sorted. You might still need to enable receive notes for example.
A word of warning regarding the TD 3. You might find that if you enter 16th notes on the DT the TD will trigger its envelope on the first note only. Iâm not sure if this was addressed in firmware or not (some Behringer synths suffer with the same bug but others donât). Itâs no big deal. Without record enabled on the DT just reduce the trig length in the trig menu itâll prob be 1/16 so roll it back to .938 and the TD should fire itâs envelopes on every 1/16th trigger.
Hi Bunker, thank you so much for your quick and detailed answer, it really helped set things right, along with confirming my thoughts.
Nevertheless, I had disregarded a little too fast the âsoundâ connection between the td3 and the digitakt
Therefore I will get a cable 2 x Mono jack 6.3 mm male > Jack 6.3 mm stereo male, to connect the output of the td3 to the input L and R of the digitakt. I will hopefully finally hear something out of my td3 from my digitakt
Regarding the recording, I usually use overbridge, but went back to ableton, trying to set up the digitakt on it. This should go fine, and using the digitakt as an interface for the td3 sounds like a nice bonus to avoid buying an extra audio interface to record the td3!
