Hi folks. After a lot of deliberation I’m jumping into the world of elektron (a mere 3-4 years after joining this forum!)
I’ve been making polished music in the DAW for a while now. However, since this is a hobby I’ve been questioning how deep into that rabbit hole I want to be, and I’d like to get back to some standalone limited-but-fun hardware funtimes. Previously I have tried Polyend Tracker and I liked it but missed things like encoders for playability, or independent sequence lengths for evolving patterns. With my love of The Field and other tracker people who use Elektron gear I feel Digitakt II will be a better fit for the way I make that sort of music. With the idea of using lfos and especially now with 16 tracks, chopping and Euclidean mode, that sampling workflow I like now has a natural home on the Elektron. I don’t tend to play stuff in that much so I know the sequencing approach is the one for me. And even through my intent is to use it solo, I can see it being a studio workhorse in a hybrid setup as well.
We’re out of stock in many UK retailers for some reason, but i had a few basic questions while I wait/prep for some next steps.
Are there any must read/watch resources beyond the manual? I’m aware of Dave’s courses and Cuckoo’s 2 hour thingys on YouTube, but open to suggestions as to what’s best.
My plan is to use the Digitakt solo for a while. This is a) because a single device like this is different to the limitless canvas of the DAW and b) because I’m aware of the depth of the machine which will take time to learn.
However I am wondering long term if this could be a pair with something, whether that be an external synth or in a hybrid fashion with VSTs. I’m interested in how you all run tracks alongside it. Do you tend to re sample directly into it to get around the 4 note polyphony challenge of the MIDI tracks? (Or by using do external sources sequenced separately from the Digitakt.) if you sequence with the DT, do you prefer individual instruments or just one multi timbral instrument that you can pipe back through the DT’s input for processing?
When it comes to exporting, do you tend to process the Digitakt sounds either via Overbridge, or down to a 2-buss with the Overbridge recorder thing (sorry forgot the name of this one.) Or do you try and do it all on the machine with no external processing?
Thanks for any pointers 