Some thoughts, by the way!
I think the Digitakt is fantastic, for what it’s worth - no one involved in Elektron should be worried about hordes of users jumping ship. I just didn’t use it as often as I expected to, and have been acutely craving:
- long-form compositional and generative tools directly in my hardware workflow (emphasis on long-form - I have enough ways to jam out in the moment, but it’s increasingly not enough)
- something that can get me out of my usual modes of working and shake things up
- the sort of drum sampling and sequencing workflow that can enable the best drum programming I’ve ever heard (Aphex Twin, u-Ziq, Max Tundra, Squarepusher - I realize not all of them used trackers, but trackers are well-suited to that kind of intricacy). I’m a trained and experienced drummer who has never felt creatively inspired by the drum programming tools I’ve used. A mix of live-performed MPE MIDI drumming (using Sensel Morph and drumsticks) and Polyend Tracker sequencing is going to be a hell of a combination to change that around, hopefully.
The argument that Renoise can do everything this can and better is true, and compelling, and yet not entirely persuasive for me - there’s something magical about gear as self-contained instrument you learn, develop muscle memory on, get creatively inspired by, etc. etc. and software has never risen to the level of “instrument” for me in that regard (and I’ve spent hundreds or thousands of hours with music software, so it’s not for lack of trying). Bitwig and the newly released Fantastic Voyage recording software (highly recommended and cheap - check it out) are both my speed, but my main compositional and sound design efforts are best focused on hardware, irrational and expensive as it may be.
