I’ve been seeing a lot of clips online of folks using those little pocket operators, which piqued my interest, and after much rabbit-hole diving, decided I’d like to give this music making thing a go.
After spending the last few weeks reading and researching, I finally decided to grab a Digitakt II, Digitone II, and to round it out (for now), a MiniFreak.
I was really tempted by the MPC Live 3, and still intend to grab one, but there’s just something alluring about these Elektron boxes that pushed me to start with them.
It sounds like I have a learning curve ahead of me, but it should be fun! It also sounds like I have a bit of overlap with my chosen devices, but I wanted at least one synth/MIDI keyboard to incorporate into the setup.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to getting started. My wife and I will be heading to my in-laws next week, so I’ll pack this new gear along and see what kind of trouble I can get into
Welcome to a wonderful new addiction, hope your wife is on board Many here will advise you to focus on the Elektrons for a long time before adding anything else and that is good advice. That is a lot of horsepower to last you awhile. Elektron is a great company that takes really good care of its customers. You have probably at least 5 years of significant updates to look forward to with those machines, even as you begin to master them.
Thank you both. I come from the guitar world where GAS is just as relevant as it is in this segment of the hobby, so I figured I’d overdo things a bit initially in an effort to keep me busy (ideally too busy to shop).
If I’m being honest, trying to pick between the Digitakt and Digitone was getting painful, so opting for both was the quickest solution.
My goal is to get familiar enough with this setup that I can actually make an informed decision on what I might be missing/wanting if (or when) it comes time to add something new.
I’ll check out those courses linked above for sure. This forum as already been an excellent resource; I’m thankful it exists.
Its about synth vs sampler and the creation/design of sounds works quite different on both.
If you are more of a “step-sequencer” person, your selection is excellent.
But if you are more of a “play-a-classical-instrument” person the MPC would be a good choise too, because it combines synth and sample techniques and playing the MPC pads is different from pushing the knobs on typical step sequencers.
What a start kit you treated yourself with - congrats! That setup could honestly be one I’d be set with for life (but then there’s more GAS of course…).
I don’t think there’s too much overlap in that setup actually. The DN2 and DT2 complement each other really nicely, and the MiniFreak brings a synth sound and effect space that push it into even larger dimensions. The DT2 obviously happily samples the most lush effects from the MiniFreak so I highly recommend experimenting with that pairing alone too.
It can be a little overwhelming to start with multiple devices so if you really want to learn the ins and outs of the Elektron workflow, a great starting point is to just grab the DN2 and sit down with it and build out a few patterns on it in solo. You can make full sounding tracks on it in standalone. Once you figured out the workflow, switching to the DT2 (or vice versa) is a breeze. My approach to music making with them is different on each of them, but the overall muscle memory is shared across the two. So, learn one first, then benefit from the gain workflow speed on both.
Feel free to check out some of my tutorials on my youtube channel. I do a lot of track breakdowns showcasing how to build up tracks, as well as specific sound design tricks and that kind of stuff. Also keep in mind that a lot of the general Elektron workflow tips can be adapted to all of these Digi boxes (including the Syntakt), so you can watch tutorials for the ST and still translate much of it to the DT2 for example.
Before you go down the MPC route, I would think long and hard about where you will want to finish tracks and what ecosystem makes sense for you. If you end up loving Elektron, you can use Overbridge to track your machines into Ableton or Bitwig. With something like Roto Control midi controller, you can make working in a DAW feel a lot more like hardware and the options are limitless with a decent spec computer.
The new MPC looks amazing, but it’s also another ecosystem, with its own plugins and ways of working. I personally did not enjoy the workflow after learning Elektron and it feels kind of like a superfluous system for my needs. My MPC One Plus mostly sits on my desk taking up space…however many others here love it, so do your research and really try to answer what it could do for you that DT2 can’t.
Regarding the Live 3, it was mainly the pads that intrigued me - finger drumming looks like it could be pretty fun, but I have no intention of delving into that system any time soon. I’m also not opposed to incorporating my DAW into the equation, so the MPC workflow probably isn’t ideal for me right now.
I will say, it’s easy to see how things can quickly spiral out of control - there’s just so much cool gear that I’d love to try.
Thanks for all the kind words and helpful input, it’s much appreciated!
Welcome to GAS-central! You’ve got an amazing setup to start with. You may feel overwhelmed at first and my advice is to pick one of the Elektrons and begin to learn it for a while because once it makes sense, the other will as well. You’ll find a very friendly group of insanely knowledgeable and talented people here. Congrats!
Many here will advise you to focus on the Elektrons for a long time before adding anything else and that is good advice. That is a lot of horsepower to last you awhile. Elektron is a great company that takes really good care of its customers. You have probably at least 5 years of significant updates to look forward to with those machines, even as you begin to master them.