How hard would it be for elektron to add a song mode?

It is machines like the MC-707 that I really wish had song mode, and why I bought the MV1. It has the channels and polyphony to be a good backing machine that can cover lots of parts.

Saving the last pattern chain like POs after power down would be a sufficient enough song mode IMO.

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I love how someone who tried out some random programming language but seems to know nothing about softwaredevelopment, hardware development etc. estimates the work to a day to a week. Even changing the color or a rgb light on a button takes more than a day pure working time, as the pure implementation part is often just a fragment of doing something that gets released to the public.

How hard can it be to add another room to my house? I did some Lego and all you need to do is throw some stones in a row, right?

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…i got no real clue about programming…

but any kind of overall pattern order organisation, especially given the fact of the superflexible and pretty complex pattern options we’re talking here about, a songmode option to keep them all in various order is quite a challenge to make that happen smoothly…

these days many software coders like to use lot’s of space to make things happen…
“easy” if u can count on constantly growing and pretty flexible capabilties…
but quite “hard” if ur dealing with the fixed defined limited cpu ressources of a certain chip processor…
takt got one…tone needed already two of those to make it happen…
coding for hardware needs way more efficiency…
and there was a time, when even elektron developers could not really figure out, what unbelieveable level of efficiency the original code for the ot had…

so, there must be some kind of checkbox problem with the inner architecture of the digis, since many people keep on whishing for a songmode, but still there’s none…

see it a bit like…do u want more filter and lfo options embedded with propabilties, or do u want a songmode…u can’t have it both kind of thing… :wink:

and nope, even older, ot and a4 are not digis, and were created by different people…

but hey…what do i know…mayybee some day it happens…
for now, add a second hand mpc to ur ballpark and u gor the other best hardware sequencer out there… and those can work as centerpieces with all kind of other midi gear and call a super easy songmode their own since ever…

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The DT and DN has a song mode. It’s called a midi cable and program changes. It’s actually way more fun than a song mode. Live a little y’all.

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I buy a lot of music gear and would own both a DT and a DN if they had song mode.

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I think this is mistaking the point of the original post. Some of us with gear aren’t always wanting to do live stuff and instead want an arrangement tool. I personally use a mix of both: I do some live arrangement and record that then layer on top and that’s how I get from start to finish on a track most days. I don’t play shows, so for me a song mode would actually be useful in terms of being able to just write music.

I get your point, but I don’t think it’s lazy to want an arranger. You can still play live and get a song out of it at the end.

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I get your point too :grinning:
I might even be using it if it had one.

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If Elektron announced that they had added song mode to the Digitone, I would order one within 5 minutes.

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@Meriphew

If Elektron announced that they had added song mode to the [Syntakt], I would order one within 5 minutes.

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I think what we actually needed is just an automated pattern sequencer. That should not be too difficult.

No joke. If Elektron announced that they had added song mode to the Digitone, Digitakt, and Syntakt, I would order all three within 5 minutes.

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Realistically you’d only need a song mode on one box and all the other boxes’ patterns would follow. You should be able to do this already if you have another box with song mode like the Rytm.

In my view. the only one you’d realistically be able to do a full song on is the Syntakt, the others don’t really have enough tracks (unless you were using the Digitakts 8 midi tracks to control external gear).

Elektron’s game is making you buy every box. You get arrangers on the more expensive boxes - that’s how you get your song mode.

Then you need your Digitone for Chorus and you can’t skip out on the Digitakt just because you bought an Octa because you’re gonna want that sidechain compressor.

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This appears to be the situation, and I have zero confidence that Elektron will add a song mode to either of products. It is clearly a product spec decision to maximize profitability.

As a A4 MK2, AR MK2, and Octatrack MK2 owner, I would still find value in the Digitakt, Digitone, and Syntakt. However, I am more than likely in the minority.

A lot of posts here, did not age that well.

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I hope ReverseGroove is enjoying their three new machines though!

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I read that announcement so many times here (from a lot of people). Elektron must have had tons in stock in their own and all the retailers stock, that they did not run into backlog after that buying spree of all those people.

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Many thanks to Elektron, I now have a new digitakt and am saving up for a new digitone. I saw a joke online that half the posts on this forum were requests for song mode on the dark trio.

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I instead bought a Modor DR-2 and Jomox Alpha Base within a month of the song implementation. As the saying goes, “you snooze, you lose”. Priorities and interests change with time. But, thanks for your concern.

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