Yeah, for me, I think the best stuff I got out of it, was always stuff that just happened as a result of the unique workflow. Sounds I never would have ever set out to create from the start.
For example the B section of this track that starts from 0.33, just sort of came about from fiddling around, and it added a lot to what would have just been a repetitive beat.
I mean, I guess. But couldn’t I just as easily say that each and every one of those features was something that Elektron saw as a higher priority for the Digitakt than dedicated sample slicing? Each feature is further evidence that they just plain don’t want to add sample slicing. Right? After all, we’ve now got a second LFO that can modulate the first one. Per track. I think that was probably harder to implement than something like sample slicing. My PO-33 can slice samples.
Also, my preferred method if we’re all just wishing on a star anyway would be this:
This would have the advantage of being able to accommodate sample slicing, as well a version of 16 levels and user scales. Even at the same time.
That would be rad. Octatrack users would be very happy.
or it could be evidence of them wanting to save the best for last 
which is not uncommon in development, they could even want to wait until after they put out the mk2 with slicing and much more and then come back around and just add slicing to the Dt1 to differentiate from the DT2…
also
would be super dope as well
I look at it like this, they didn’t even have to make the model samples and they did, not only that it wasn’t some half hearted effort, they made it special… I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept giving us digigoodness like they have been
DSP limitations are a thing too. It’s not like you can just decide to add a feature to any ol box and execute it. Want slicing, the OT nails it. Get the right tool for the job!
*Pro tip for OT users, setup a pickup machine for quick and easy recording on T1 and then set T5 to use that same recording buffer and set it for a flex machine. A step further is setup an external pedal to initiate record. You can quickly sample in, hands free and then jump over to T5 and slice and sequence whatever you just recorded.
Side note. I’m actually pretty sure that there’s a work around to do exactly what I’d like to do on the Digitakt on the Rhythm. I’m going to try to make a video about it.
Edit: It completely works
Edit 2: No it doesn’t. It works for other things though. Sigh. I was overzealous last night.
I haven’t followed it too closely, but at one point I remember reading here about the DN having twice the processing power of the DT. Someone did a tear down after the DN was released.
Slicing would take very little to no DSP overhead, that’s basically just using pointers in RAM.
But I don’t see it fitting in the DT’s infrastructure tbh.
You would need a completely new Mode or Page.
It’s not like adding a second LFO.
Think about backwards compatibility (old projects can’t break).
Just my thoughts, perhaps it can be done.
But I wouldn’t bet on it.
If they did implement a slice mode they could probably do it as an alternative to chromatic mode and accessed the same way. Instead of changing note values each button holds start and stop values. I honestly don’t see them doing this as others have said; too much Octatrack overlap.
Slice mode and slot mode on the OT are the main reasons I bought mine to accompany my DT.
infrastructure is a good point. I’m sure there’s a way to wedge it in there. but it’s a question of “should you?” there are plenty of things in the OT that are kind of obtuse to get to. i.e. not clearly labeled on the front panel. you have to know it’s there to get to it sort of items. I mean… so much was added to the OT after initial release that they re-did the front panel with some functions more-clearly labeled, and released that as a mk2 version.
anyway… I think the reason people love the DT is the immediacy and simplicity of the workflow. so Elektron likely wants to stick to that path as much as possible. personally, I like that it has limited options. I like that it’s simpler. I like that you have to find workarounds if you want to accomplish certain tasks. this can lead to happy accidents. it can also force you to ask yourself “is it worth the trouble, or am I over-doing it here?” and if you need those other options all the time, the OT exists for a reason.
The slicing part might be easy to implement, but there’s no real easy way to capture a perfect loop. Or timestretching. Which are things that seem kind of necessary to make slicing useful
This sounds like an amazing solution! Way more powerful than slicing, without really adding that much complexity. My workflow for this is to make a 16 step drum pattern by p-locking start points and filtering and Amp settings and a ton of small edits like that. Then I duplicate it to as many pages as needed, then move trigs around to add variation. But with your solution you get a list of “pre-p-locked” trigs that you can live record, which sounds amazing.
Fitting more features into an already mature device often ends up being clunky, I get why people want it, but often implementing such a feature isn’t a simple undertaking, and there are lots of considerations which end users might not even be aware of:
Fitting it in the UI wrt to accessing and displaying
Memory and processor considerations
Backwards compatibility with older versions/projects
Time and money to implement VS recouping from additional sales because feature was added.
Bug fixing
And probably many more.
Yeah even just being able to place different saved sounds on chromatic notes would be a big plus… I’m pretty sure digitone got this feature, seems silly that the more drum focused box did not.
+1
This.
I got a Digitakt instead of another sampler exactly because of the different workflow.
People act like there is no downside to adding complicated features. What features are not included are as important as what are. They’re building musical instruments. The design of the interface is critical.
The phrases like “they’re holding back features so you’ll buy the bigger boxes” make them sound greedy. Looks like they have around 100 employees? They’re not Amazon. I bet almost everyone who works there could go make better money working for a bank or some other evilcorp. If they don’t put slicing in DT for business reasons it’s because they can’t afford to not because they’re greedy. Software is expensive to make and the music industry is shit if your goal is big profits.
Very interesting thread. I’ve had samplers in the past, and my brain only kinda works in the hip-hop workflow sense - chop up and rearrange.
What workflow does the Digi have? Is it more for one-shot sounds etc? I’m struggling to wrap my tiny mind around it!
Reason I ask is lately i’ve been digging into alot of Dub Techno & Ambient Dub music…not the sort you’d would really chop.
They’re a business like any other, people feel a personal connection to smaller brands but that’s exactly what they sell you on. If I could place a 50 year bet I’d say they go the way of all businesses. It’s already showing. You fail small or live long enough to become evilcorp. Elektron isn’t the small student project it started as. They still make fun toys though.
This is disturbingly cynical, although I can get on board with the idea that money and capitalism ruins human relationships and brings out the worst in us eventually. I prefer to stay optimistic about synth makers etc. They are just people trying to make a living doing something they love. There are much better ways to rip people off than “let’s hold back features from the flagship sampler, MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”.
You can definitely chop samples on the Digitakt. Since any step can play any sample from any point in that sample you’ve actually got a few ways to chop samples.
Where I think the Digitakt falls a little flat is that because there is no slice mode, there are only work arounds for experimenting with chops. I think your best bet is either:
-Put the sample in all 8 tracks, set 8 slices on each track and mess around with it that way. From there if you want to record this you can lock the start points and/or sample slot in each recorded step and combine it to one track. You can also obviously just resample this.
-You can use the method @Eaves described where you place different variations on one track and copy and paste things around. This is my preferred method, as well. You can use trig preview here but it’s not the same as being able to play your chops.
Personally, I like using my Circuit Rhythm first. It’s got a few ways to quickly chop samples. And I think that I would probably use the Rhythm or my Zoom Sampletrak to mess around with sample chops even if the Digitakt got a slice mode. But that’s for sample management reasons. On those two machines I don’t need to name things or worry about folders.
At the end of the day though, once you get your idea going, I don’t think anything beats the flexibility of chopping samples on the Digitakt just because you can basically do what ever you want.
It’s a disturbing world my friend and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. That’s just common business sense.