MIDI Noob setup question

Elektron Gear Digitone/Digitone Keys
#1

Hi everybody.
Spending a lot of time with the manual and YT tutorials to figure out the DigitoneKeys. Love the machine, but for a guitarist, the learning curve is pretty steep.

So. My dream setup would be this but it doesn’t work when everything is plugged in together.

Digitone Sequence plays with 3-4 FM tracks.
MIDI track 1 (Channel 1) is used to send PC messages to the Digitone to change patterns
MIDI track 2 (Channel 10) is used to send PC Messages to the M:S to change patterns as well
MIDI track 3 (Channel 4) is used to play bass sequences on the Bass station.
Everything is synced to the Digitone BPM.

I tested the M:S and BassStation alone on the midi OUT of the Digitone: everything works perfectly. I need to to delve deeper in the trig functions for the bass stations: this will be AWESOME!

Now, I tried to patch them all together:

Digitotone MIDI OUT to M:S MIDI IN
M:S MIDI OUT to Digitone MIDI IN
Digitone Midi out 2 to BAss Station MIDI in.

Nothing is coming out of the Bass station.

My questions:

  1. Could/should I do the full loop: Digitone tone to M:S to BassStation to DT in?
  2. If this is not the proper way to do it, what are my options?
  3. How do we set up trigless trigs to send PC so both the M:S and the Digitone change patterns (because hey, no song mode…). and follow each others?

I’ll work something out for songs beginning and ending afterwards: scrap a pattern for an 8 bar countdown or use the conditions to trick the M:S into doing what I want and end on an empty pattern.

Thanks in advance, gearheads!

#2

Typically MIDI messages generated by a device comes out of the MIDI OUT port while messages that comes in to a device are passed on via MIDI THRU so if I understand it correctly you probably want to connect MIDI IN on Base Station to MIDI THRU on the Digitakt if you want to sequence it with the Digitone, also make sure that the M:S midi out setting is in thru mode.

#3

thanks. But i think I don’t know the abbreviations correctly: I don’t own a digitakt. Ony a digitonekeys and a M:S.

What I’m doing: Digitone midi out to M:S IN, M:S out to Digitone IN, Digitone out 2 to BassStation IN. Maybe the M:S isn’t set to thru though.

#4

Sorry about the confusion. DT is usually Digitakt and Digitone is abbreviated DN (sometimes DNK for Digitone Keys), at least in this forum.

Anyway, you probably first want to try to chain them Digitone -> M:S -> Bass Station to make sure the M:S passes midi messages through to the bass station correctly. Then when you got it working you could try to patch it like you suggested with MIDI THRU on the M:S to MIDI IN on Digitone, MIDI THRU on Digitone to MIDI In on Bass Station. You probably want to double check the manual on MIDI settings for the Digitone and make sure to set it up to avoid any problems with feedback, double notes etc.

I don’t have a Digitone so I don’t know if any specific problems arise when using MIDI loopback for program changes. But I can’t see why it shouldn’t work.

#5

The Digitone Keys (DNK) does not have a MIDI Out 2 port. Did you mean to say “DNK MIDI Thru to BS MIDI In”? That will not allow the DNK to control the BS.

Which model of Bass Station do you have?

#6

I’ve changed my setup a little as it wasn’t working as expected.
Using Logic as a master now.
Each machine has dedicated channel(s).
1-4: DNK track 1-4
5: M:S Fx
6: MS Pg change/notes
7: Bass Station 2
10: Korg Volca Beats

Pretty much all MIDI recording is done in logic then sent out to the respective channel.

Still got some issues with the Elektron machines (and Volca, come to think of it too).

M:S will start the loaded pattern when there’s no MIDI part playing, at Logic’s tempo. But if I stop Logic, M:S still plays but at internal tempo. Same with Volca Beat.

DNK: everything wors almost perfectly fine. Some notes are sustaining, even after I pressed stop, even when I have quit Logic. That is problematic :S