Sequence Digitakt from IPad. A lot harder than it seems

Elektron Gear Digitakt
#1

Hi,
So I’m trying to sequence the Digitakt from my iPad in a DAW and I’m finding it impossible to find a manageable workflow.
I’ve tested Beatmaker3 and Zenbeats…

  1. Main and terrifying issue… Digitakt channels. These DAWs expect a “one instrument track - one midi channel” relationship. So if you sequence a beat in Zenbeats drum editor and set it to output midi to the Digitakt you’re gonna get a kick drum festival… or a snare solo…
  2. AUV3 plugins that might get around this issue… hello Drambo!. Midi channel per track, also a very similar workflow. Great!. Not so fast… You insert Drambo as a midi plugin in the Daw’s track (tested both Zenbeats and BeatMaker3. Well there’s no external midi output from a track plugin, as weird as that is. No midi output sent to the Digitakt from an AUV3 midi plugin, be it Drambo or Rozetta or whatever.
    There’s some utility AUV3 like MidiTools to sort of get around this by inserting MidiRoute as a plugin in the same track and it somehow funnels the data out of the daw. MidiTools has an “All channels” setting, but… it doesn’t work with Zenbeats. The one that works, “RouteMidi” only outputs one channel at a time.
  3. sync your daw (Zenbeats) and Drambo (standalone) via Ableton sync. Standalone Drambo sends midi to the Digitakt just fine, until you sync it, then it doesn’t work.

I’m in the rabbit hole, and I hate it.
Here’s the whole thread at AudioBus forum: https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/41416/zenbeats-drambo-digitakt-anyone

Can someone here please help me?. I need a functioning workflow!.
Thank you!

#2

You can use a single channel to trigger all different tracks of the Digitakt by just sending the lowest MIDI notes.

From the manual:

Of the 128 notes in the standard MIDI range, Note numbers 0–7 correspond to notes C0 through to G0, the leftmost octave (which is sometimes called C-2–G-2 in certain applications). These notes will trigger the Sound of track 1 through track 8, respectively (provided they are set to their default channels 1-8). These notes values map to each of the eight tracks, regardless of which track is active.

Of course this way you can’t play the single tracks chromatically.

2 Likes
#3

Well, then use one channel for the main sequencing and if you need individual tracks chromatically then use a second midi track in your sequencing app of choice.

#4

It’s ok if I can’t do chromatic stuff I can always do that on a dedicated track.
How exactly do I set this up?. What channel ?. I know channel 10 triggers the selected track, but that’s not it…
thanks!.

#5

Ok, I answer myself. Here’s for not reading with attention…

Note numbers 0–7 correspond to notes C0 through to G0, the leftmost octave (which is sometimes called C-2–G-2 in certain applications).

The default in Drambo and your average instrument is C2 so I have to map it or convert to C0.
Will try!.
I totally missed this one though I remember having read it
Thanks!

#6

And here comes that really annoying inconsistency with midi octaves. C0 is C2 but can also be C1… we’ve all been there right?.
Added a midi monitor module.

  • pressing the pad shows midi note 48 as C0
  • the same note (48) on the sequencer displays as C2 but C1 when read from the sequence.
  • Key C1 on the Drambo keyboard displays note 36 but “C:0” value.
    So what’s C2 or C0?. It’s inconsistent even within a single app.
    Here’s a screenshot from Drambo.
    image
    image2388×1668 1.22 MB