What about parameter slide, slide triggs…what ever are they called?! Cmon elektron!
2 Likes
I confess, since I had the DNII in my hands, I occasionally miss parameter slides. I would be happy even if it would be limited to one.
On another theme,
Is this really the actual order of effects? I could’ve sworn the effects come after the compressor, maybe even after master overdrive …
Edit: wooot, I never pressed the down arrow. I have to check my projects.
3 Likes
Yeah I’m firmly in camp “lock to scale plz”. Partly reason I’m using an arp (and scale mode) in the first place is to prop up my near non-existent music theory.
I have to keep reminding myself when using the arp, not to use the offsets as invariably it will just sound bad.
Of course my experiance might be totally different from others
3 Likes
I was wondering if there was a way to strum chords.
I’ll die on this hill, if I have to…
With the arp offsets at nil, and the keyboard locked to scale, trust me when I say that you have already accomplished this objective, and maxed-out what is possible, with or without further pitch quantization.
Locking the arp offsets to the same scale would bring nothing more to the table, and you could still end up with notes that “sound bad”, regardless of the scale you’ve chosen. It depends on the number of steps you’ve set in the arp sequence, what chords you’ve presumed to play (be them comprised of diatonic intervals that are quantized to the global scale or not), your octave settings, time divisions, etc.
You just have to know what you’re doing from there.
You could try offsets of 5 and 7 (which equal a 4th and 5th respectively), as those are your safest bets, harmonically speaking. But that’s still no guarantee. There is simply no way to safe-guard this, such that you cannot possibly hit a bad note, without having a basic understanding of music theory, and making calculated decisions accordingly.
I promise, I’m not trying to be a purist or a luddite here. This feature request is literally a moot point.
And the arp offsets will be there waiting for you, should you ever aspire to more intricate compositions in the future. In the meantime, just don’t use them, and you’ll be no further behind.
Cheers!
3 Likes
I disagree. If you could lock the arp to scale, you could use the arp as a “sub” sequencer. Whenever you hold a button it would play your arp sequence quantized to the timing and scale of the pattern. If you press a different note button, it would transpose your arp sequence in scale. This would allow very fast performability of scale locked sequences with the arp and keyboard. You can accomplish the same thing with programming on the sequencer, but you would have to plan it all in advance and make separate patterns for every transposition you might want, and you would lose all the ability to just press notes off the cuff and have it play transposed quantized sequences. I have been using my Keystep for this ability for a while. It is very very fun to just be able to press a button/key and have it play a sequence from that point and quantized in time and scale.
4 Likes
I think I understand and follow you.
Also thanks for making your point passionately but without hyperbole or making me feel stupid. I can certainly see how it’s already locked to scale “for free” when what you input is nicely in a scale already (i.e. it’s coming from chord mode, not you mashing some notes)
I begin to feel the question really is (and it’s very off topic) - why have the arp offsets at all, you don’t commonly see them on other arps and I think I see why now!
1 Like
I hear you. However, the new chord modes effectively accomplish this for you, with even more freedom, particularly in conjunction with the keyboard scale quantize.
So, you’ve got more than a few ways to approach that already, even before you commit notes to the sequencer itself, which can also be transposed on-the-fly.
And, of course, you can still manually choose sympathetic note offsets in the arp sequence as well, as I suggested above.
Cheers!
Well, for the record, I use this feature all the time. There are plenty of compositional reasons to use chromatic offsets in a sub-sequence, even when you intend to transpose (i.e. it allows for modal interchange for starters).
Indeed, this is where the Elektron arp is unique and truly shines. In fact, I often find it frustrating to step back from this functionality, when I’m forced to use the traditional arps on my other boxes.
But you do have to know when and where said chromaticism is going to work, if you don’t want to end up in the harmonic weeds. Such is the paradox of machine music perhaps.
To which end, I will forever tout the merits of learning music theory, if only for the freedom that it provides. In the same way that one’s conversational skills can only benefit from more vocabulary. That’s not to say that you can’t communicate a meaningful message otherwise, but it helps.
Regardless, I maintain that you can confidently ignore the arp offsets until such time as you have a reason to employ them. And instead, just use the scale quantize in conjunction with the new chord modes to accomplish the same objective.
Cheers!
2 Likes
Regarding locking scales, I found this background very interesting.
The main point in the video is that music started as a single scale (the white keys) and notes were added to the keyboard to allow perfect 4ths and 5ths for chords and harmony.
Meaning that you can create dissonance with any 7 note scale within 12TET (12 tone equal temperament). For example if you hit all the white keys, you know that’s a C Major / A minor scale but it sounds horrible as a chord (well unless you’re going for that 
).
It’s a great discussion on how we would want it to work.
Edit: To further clarify this. Avoiding dissonance is tricky, and discussing how we want it to work on Elektron boxes like the DN2 is a great thing to do. Is there a device out there that does what we want? Locking all notes to a scale does not guarantee it will always sound good especially when you start putting in intervals / offsets.
2 Likes
A few additional voice for unison, unison really eating up voice too quickly! Or make unison not use regular voice(just like what the old nord lead 3 did for unison)
Arpeggiator button works the opposite of expected
I find it confusing and awkward that toggling the arp is a FUNC combo, whereas the FUNC of the KB button is KB setup. FUNC+ARP should be ARP setup/edit, and ARP by itself should toggle the arp on and off.
6 Likes
You are so right! Arpeggios on/off should by a singles push, not button combo need 2 hands working
2 Likes
It would be nice to have four independant ctrl all group
Please add more table to wavetone machine. And a option between smooth transition waveform or steppy interpolation.
2 Likes
I’d really like a Syncussion-like machine, allowing similar ratios and envelopes
3 Likes
Track Overview Menu
As the Digitone 2 is the closest Elektron has gotten to creating a DAW in a box, with 16 tracks and 5 diverse “plugins”, and differing track lengths between 2 and 128 steps, I think we are in need of a way to see what’s going on in each pattern from a bird’s eye view. My proposal is a menu accessed by the Setup menu or the Config menu that shows all 16 tracks on the screen at once. Here are some mockups:
Page 1.
The current track is highlighted in reverse.
Page 2.
Page 2 is accessed by pressing [YES], [UP], or [DOWN]. Pressing the same buttons goes back to Page 1. Various indicators give essential info about each track. In order: whether it’s an internal sound or MIDI track, if it has sequence data, the length of the track, and mute state. (Last minute realization: there are two mute states. I propose that what is shown on this screen is the pattern mute state.)
Alternatively, only [YES] toggles between Page 1 and Page 2, and the cursor keys can be used to select the current track visually. Not sure which control scheme would be more useful/intuitive.
Edit #1: As an additional way to quickly inspect the pattern, the TRK SELECT option is overridden in this screen, and the default behavior of the trigs is temporarily enabled. Additionally, as an alternative to the somewhat awkward “M” icon, the mute state could be indicated by reversing the track #, freeing up space for something else.
Edit #2: Shortcut idea: [TRK] + [PAGE]
Edit #3: Instead of the M icon, a knob icon could indicate whether the track is enabled for Control All.
11 Likes
Pressing the Keyboard button allows to play with notes.
Pressing the Arp button allows to play with the arp.
It may be less confusing if you think that way.
Just my two cents.
Digitone II Arp is great. But I’d love to see the following features.
Arp CHORD mode
Unlike TRUE, UP, DOWN and CYCL, this CHORD mode would play all held notes (potentially from Keyboard CHORD mode) simultaneously according to the rhythmic pattern of enabled and disabled steps of the Arp.
Arp alternate motif
It would be great to have a second Arp motif that could be activated via the F or G knob.
During a performance, this would allow the complete change of the arp (mode, speed, rhythmic pattern, length) on the fly.
7 Likes
if add a “play direction” parameter to trig page would be a nice upgrade to already superb elektron sequencer, of course it is per track.
3 Likes