So I ordered a new Digitakt coming on Friday and can’t wait to pair it up with my new Digitone Keys.
I know DT is a drum machine/sampler however I’m looking for a hardware kick drum module to feed in to the DT inputs and control the midi parameters from the DT.
So what specific (Kick Drum ONLY) modules are about today hardware wise?
So far I am liking the sound of these below
JOMOX MBASE 11
KORG VOLCA KICK
I already have a JOMOX MBRANE 11 someplace here never used it for years so it’s still new but never tried the MBASE 11 kick drum hardware although if it sounds like the 999 I owned then I’d be happy.
So are these the only 2 above or is there others? I don’t need a full drum machine just a single hardware module.
What would you pair with your DT ?
PS
If anyone has an MBASE 11 to sell in mint condition in the UK then message me.
I really like the Volca Kick… I got it when it first came out & I still really like it. Great for kicks, sub bass & bass lines. I was surprised by the amount of BOOM… it hits hard. For the price it’s hard to beat. I love runnin it thru the Analog Heat
There is also the Vermona Lancet Kick, which has a lot of tweak ability but no memory.
Another alternative is the Volca Beats and just use the kick drum sound, which is nice and full.
I tried doing this exact same thing using the Vermona, the Volca Beats, and the Volca Kick. However I ended up just going back to using carefully chosen kick samples played from the Digitakt. The Digitakt can really nail those low punch frequencies if you plan your gain staging well and use the built-in compressor. As nice as it was to have a separate kick module, it ultimately made things too complicated during live sets; one too many things to mess up. YMMV if you’re only focusing on a few things at a time but if you have the Digitakt, a few synths, and a mixer, there’s already a lot of stuff to keep track of live.
Moog DFAM is wild and will give you so much more than just kick samples.
sequencing it from DT is not so straight forward though. but as a pure one hit sound source it’s deep.
I highly agree with this. I used to set up a lot of external gear on a Digitakt, but those settings are per project and that becomes messy pretty quickly. Eventually, I booted the external modules from my setup and replaced them with an A4 and Rytm. As cool as the external sequencing is on the Digis, the setup per project is not very fluid unless you limit it to only a few of the same devices, in my opinion.
Right now I’m scaling down on my setup, I don’t have much left now, only the 2 new purchases, DK/DT and a TD-3 + Akai MPC X which I may sell. I just find the Elektron way much easier and hands on.
Don’t need much to play out live here (after Corona has gone) I’m very happy with just the DK/DT and my pedals TBH guess I’m just gassing hehe.
I made a sample pack myself but never released it so I’ll try that in the DT this weekend.
I like my Jomox MBASE 11 and plan to use it more in the future again. I usually end up layering it but it depends on the type of kick drums you’re going for. It definitely has the meat, which is why I still have it. It’s also really versatile for electronic kicks. Not great at the “real kick body” kind of sound though which is why I layer sometimes.
I also need to make an editor for it. I’m sure there are some out there but I like to make my own with Max for Live so it’s what I want.
I didn’t like it because of the fixed sweep depth or speed, don’t remember, but I found it limited.
I just sold my AR to buy a DT, and I’ll pair it with with my A4, and a Tetra I just bought, for more analogue drums, especially kick. Four Tempest voices ! I may sample them in DT to free its voices.
MIDI implementation is pretty standard: you can CC all the functions (knobs) on the Volca KICK (apart from main volume knob). There is a MIDI implementation chart for it.
The only thing you cannot do is use the FX part from remote CC.
Edit: as for the Volca KICK itself, it is one of the most interesting Volca in my opinion: I have managed to pull some amazing sub bass and other stuff out of this unit which has nothing to do with a kick. As someone said earlier in this thread: it surprisingly kicks VERY hard
MS20 filters are reknown
Never had any issue sequencing Volca KICK from DT.
The thing you cannot do is motion sequence: this has to be done from the unit itself.
What is interesting though (more so with synth type Volcas, ie Keys, FM…) is to sequence notes on the DT and motion sequence on the Volca → surprises