Digitone key filter modwheel and pitchbend of external midi controller

Elektron Gear Digitone/Digitone Keys
#1

Hi,

I use the digitone key with other synths and digitakt.

I use a second keyboard controller to control either digitone or the other synths.

When I play digitone key with the other midi controller, I’ve got modulations and pitchbend controls.

When I play other synth with the other midi controller going through the digitone, I can only use notes on & off … No pitchbend neither modwheel control.

I encontered this problem with the digitakt, and I thought it was a limitation on purpose because it is a rythm machine. But on the digitone key I cannot understand at all. I need the modulation wheel and pitchbend of my second controller …

I cannot use the merge workaround because I need the digitone to route my controller to different synths depending on the pattern.

I cannot put the digitone key at the end of my daisychain, because it’s also a controller, I want to carry on using it as a controller !!!

Pleeaaaase any solution, I was desesperated because of this with the digitakt and I didn’t expect at all that it was going to happen also on the digitone key.

Thank you very much in advance, and if it’s a deadend, I need to know it and change my setup.

PS: I don’t want to sequence modwheel or pitchbend, just simply use them when I play my midi keyboard.

5 Likes
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#3

I share your sentiments and sympathize. Its pretty maddening that Elektron continues to leave this out, especially considering how simple it must be to implement, code-wise. Storing a few numbers in a buffer and passing it along. done. If they are still adding features to the boxes, im sure that there is enough programming space still available for this! Since it works this way in both the “Digi” boxes, it seems to indicate that it is an intentional decision. Elektron clearly wants us to stop wiggling live. P-locks only :wink:

** Admittedly, there is also fair chance that Im being dense and doing something wrong in setting up my digitone. I really cant believe Elektron would omit something as basic as this out and there dont seem to be a lot of people complaining about it… I would imagine that it would be a deal-breaker for some.

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#4

I don’t think there is a chance that the set up is wrong. I’ve spent so much time searching with the digitakt and now I’m there with the digitone.

It seems grotesque that we can use only note on/off. This is a crazy limitation. Or I have to play only with the 3 octaves of the digitone key, but this is crazy too, and that mean that I have to split the keyboard methodically for each tune !! Or get rid of my other synths …

This is crazy. I would like someone from elektron to tell me :
• « you’re wrong with your setup, it should work » and help me
• « It’s a bug, we’re working on it, be patient for a few weeks and it’ll work »
• « Go **** yourself, we don’t like other midi keyboard pitchbend »

Even with the last one, I’d be happy. I’d move on.

But now I’ve got the feeling I’m halucinating. I’ve bought those Elektron machine to get rid of my computer, and now I have to keep a computer on stage just to deal with my routing (with all the midi merge and thru complexity that it brings to have 2 parrallel path of the midi signal), because Elektron machine filtering some of the midi informations of my setup !!! I’m getting crazy.

I just want to know what is going on. Bug ? Mistake ? Marketing limitation (which I think would be such a huge mistake) ?

Please someone frome Elektron tell me, if I sell back everything or if there is a real fix somewhere, or in the near future.

Thank you very much for the good work that I have difficulties to appreciate right now because I miss a few fingers.

3 Likes
#5

Any idea ? Bug ? Problem with my setup ?

Thanks !

#6

If you want an official response you’ll prob have to file an official support request. They’ll should get back in a couple days. i had been intending to do this myself, but ive been using the OT as my main hub, so for me, at the moment, it is less of an immediate issue and more of annoyance on principle… so basically Ive been too lazy.

Maybe you could post their “official” reply here.

#7

Wow , so no one else getting tripped out by this one?
I’m using a controller thru my Digitone and there certainly seems no controller pass thru (MW & PB).

#8

Ha, so I guess I’m still getting use to the Elektron (& the Digi) way ,having searched some more - no biggie.

#9

This is indeed expected behaviour for the Digitone currently.

A lot of people run into this, it’s one of the most common feature requests.

3 Likes
#10

Wow, this is stupid. I wanted to use my Digitone as the main Midi Controller, controlled itself by a midi keyboard. But now there is no way to play live with the Pitch Bend and MW from my keyboard when I am on the Midi channels? What a huge disappointment. Please implement this, Elektron!

3 Likes
#11

Just stumbled across this problem, too. This is really disappointing…

The fact that modwheel and pitchbend from the external controller are recognized by the Digitone but not the external gear makes me even a bit angry.

Edit: Submitted a ticket…

1 Like
#12

Well, there’s nothing more helpful than a customer service that just acknowledges your problem :smiley:

Thanks for the report!

It is correct that Mod Wheel and Pitch Bend from an external controller won’t control the MW and PB parameters of the MIDI Source page, and won’t be forwarded (except via MIDI THRU). Fixing this is on our to-do list.

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#13

Best news ever !!!

I thought it was a marketing limitation (which I found horrible), but if “fixing this is on our to-do list”, I’m so happy !!!

I will be able, at least, to plug all my controllers into the digitakt, and through the digitakt go to my other synths. And stop the nightmare of scripting through bomebox in order to accomadate this limitation.

YEAAAAHHH !

2 Likes
#14

Well, their to-do list is probably very long. I doubt we’ll see that feature in the near future. That is if we get a Digitone update at all.

My solution is a raspberry pi which acts as a midi hub. I connect all my synths via usb to it, the raspberry pi will then automatically configure all the midi devices so every midi in is connected to every midi out. Just select the according channel on your midi controller and it will speak to the according device.

#15

I do basically the same (Bomebox is a rapsberry pi).

But there is so much we miss:
• first when everything is plugged into everything and the configuration starts to be heavy, it can get really messy
• if also some machines are midi din only, it adds another layer of complexity
=> so I prefer to use script to be sure the routing is neat, but it’s a bit of work and maintenance

Also the BIG missing features is the amazing midi routing capabilities that the Digitakt has per patterns.
keyboard -> digitakt MIDI A
=> in MIDI A I can choose:
- which channel I’m sending info (which synth, machine I’m controlling)
- send a program change, a bank change
- use 8 control change to modify the sound as soon as I play it.
As soon as I load a pattern and I play it (either with a sequence from the digitakt or with notes from my controller), everything is loaded into the synth.

THIS IS AMAZING when you use a lot of midi controller and various synths. And you can change pattern in the middle of a music piece and your whole configuration change instantantly, I’M IN LOVE WITH THIS FEATURE !

But you loose any expression possilbities with MW and PB … so I don’t use it, and I cry a lot.

And for this, scripting won’t help. Because for example if my controller is in channel 1, and in the DT I decide that for this pattern this is controlling my synth on channel 14, I have no way for my script to know that my PB and MW informations of my controller have to be send to channel 14 …

But anyway I have to go back to improve my Bomebox scripting instead of playing music.

Edit: Here I’m talking about the digitakt, but it goes exactly the same with the digitone (own both)

3 Likes
#16

But you can use mod wheel and pitch bend on the Digitone! It’s not really comfortable but it does work. You have to enable those features on the same page where you set the midi channel.

Right now, I have a Keystep 37 connected as well which let’s me switch between the midi channels very quickly.

And yeah, I rearranged my gear yesterday all day and read a lot about midi stuff in the past few days instead of making music :smiley:

#17

I hate myself. I’ve done it again. After posting this morning I thought there must be a way to give a clue to Midi Translator Pro to know on which channel sending the missing midi informations (pitch bend, modwheel, aftertouch) after I loaded a pattern with a specific routing.

The idea is simple. For example if a controller control the MIDI A track with the midi channel 9, in the control change pages, I put a cc119 with a value of its midi channel.

Thus when I load a pattern with a certain routing (for example MIDI A is routed to channel 11) the digitakt (or digitone) will send a CC119 with a value of 9. And my script will understand that it has to route all the PB, MW, and AF informations from the channel 9 to the channel 11.

I did it for 2 controllers.

Alleluyah ? Nope. I spent my day doing this (because I’m not a professionnal developper, I’m not good at this, and Bome Midi translator Pro has a very weird way of handling midi programming). I had to go buy another midi hub because I’m not at my place. By sending program change to my synth by midi over usb instead of midi din like before, I encountered a bug in one of my synth (1 hour lost to indentify it). I had quite a simple midi pluging system, now I have a computer with a script (or a bomebox), and my midi channels choices for controller and synths are spread everywhere:
• on the controller
• on the config of my machines
• in my script (I need a computer to update them)
• but also on every track of every pattern with my CC119 clumsy hack …

I really would prefer to donate hundreds of bucks to elektron to pay a develloper to do this properly into the machine, than to spend days and to have this ugly and akward system with script and hack than I will not understand anymore one month from now.

EDIT: Here is my script in case someone is interested
routing-PB-MW.bmtp (4.8 KB)

1 Like
#18

Everybody has a different config.

When I’m not playing with the sequencers of my digitone and digitakt, but I’m playing live, I have a Roli seaboard on my left hand, and a keystep on my right.

With both controllers, I use aftertouch heavily, and with the roli, I use the slide function (Modwheel), and the glide function (pitchbend). So I can’t use another third hand to turn knobs, and I’m not sure about the result !!!

And I’m not doing something fancy, I’m just daisy chaining my machines.

I love reading about midi, even scripting, but it cost me too much time to work on elektrons bugs. I would prefer to make a money collect with people upset like me and to give them proper money to pay someone professionnel develloper to work on this.

I know I complain, and if I’m not happy I should change my setup. Ok but it’s not an easy choice to do when it’s something that shouldn’t be, but is, and you don’t know when it will be fixed.

#19

I think we’re entitled to complain about this. I spent quite some time figuring out what’s wrong with my setup… It’s not really obvious to the average user that a device like the Digitone would not support this use case.

2 Likes
#20

I know it’s not much of a help, but if you enable modwheel and pitchbend on the midi track, at least you can use the encoders to modulate, while playing on the keys with the other hand. It does not work too well with the pitchbend, of course. You can get it back to proper zero fast with turning the encoder and holding FUNCTION.

It makes me angry too. The first time I returned the Digitone it was because of the blinding bright LEDs. Gave me headaches fast. And it only took them two years to fix it. So, yes it’s the Elektron way, take it or leave it.
The fix only comes after you fully accepted it as is. Or you have forgotten about it. :wink:

I guess I stick a little longer with it this time…

1 Like
#21

I found a fix for using the modwheel on MIDI tracks.

It should also work on the Digitakt.

IF you can assign any CC to the modwheel on your midi controller (often you can), use CC#70 (found in Digitone manual on p.92)
Now on AMP page for the midi track, set first controller to destination CC#1 (it displays WHEEL).
Enable VAL1 on FLTR-page with FUNCTION-encoder press.

Disable MW on the SYN1 page, or it may interact in funny ways.

Done.

If you can‘t assign a different CC to the Modwheel on your MIDI controller, you will need some translator device or software. But it‘s really easy to setup. Just map CC#1 to CC#70.

For pitchbend, you would need to convert it to a CC (continous controller) first (with losing half of the resolution), and then again convert the CC you chose back to midi pitchbend before it hits your midi chain.

Hey, you could even use two CC slots on the Digitone, because pitchbend is a 14-bit value, so one for high and the other for the low byte and after the DN, put them together again!

I will try something and report later. I have
one MIDI event processor handy and might get another one, if it is promising.

Or I’ll try the Streambyter app (x2) on iOS.

I mean, an older iPhone with (charging) USB CCK adapter and a small hub is maybe not too much of a hassle to carry around?

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