Syntakt as a midi brain

Elektron Gear Syntakt
#1

Curious if anyone else here has used their Syntakt as the centre piece of the midi routing & how useful/inspiring they found it.

Asking because I’m thinking of having the ST:

  • sequence 3 desktop synths & a sampler (Hydrasynth, SH01A, JU06A & 404mk2).
  • send clock signals to a few other FX boxes.
  • receive midi from the Hydra’s grid to play notes in live &/or set trig notes more quickly.

Is setting up the ST for this kind of use going to be a pain or worth it?

The 4 voice limit on midi tracks doesn’t matter, I almost never use >4 note chords.

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#2

I think this works well unless you want to control the synths in real-time over multiple patterns. That is, if you for example want to control the filter cutoff on the Hydrasynth via the Syntakt in real-time, and you want to play stuff that spans over multiple patterns, when going to a new pattern, the filter cutoff will jump to whatever value it’s set to in that pattern.

However, if you plan to manipulate settings on the Hydrasynth itself, this isn’t a problem.

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#3

I’m using a Syntakt to sequence my Take 5 and then record that into my Force.

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#4

I control 4 synths (Moog sound studio, O Coast, Nymphes) with Digitakt and have considered swapping in my Syntakt, whose MIDI tracks are identical (except that you give up a synth track for each ST MIDI track).

I think it works great. I generally use the MW, BC, AT, and PB controls to manipulate patches on the hardware synths rather than setting up and changing CCs from the DT or ST. The MIDI LFO with these can be terrific—an extra LFO if it triggers on the note, or a sequenceable slow change. CC messages don’t have scale or hook, so values can jump on a first press, but I think they only send a value, even in a new pattern, when you change their value.

I use a midi solutions Quadra thru to split the midi signal (and loopback via a Keystep, too), took time to set up and cable manage but now it’s easy to pull out the Elektron box when I want to.

In your setup, it seems like you’d want to find a way to send clock to the Fx boxes without taking up a midi track on ST. 8 ST tracks sounds like a fine drum kit with this group.

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#5

With the ST, the only question is around trading ST voice tracks for MIDI tracks. Its sequencing is identical to the DT, which I have, and use as my main brain for other gear, and it works incredibly well. I’d love a second LFO on the MIDI tracks, but that’s just being greedy, really. 8 different CC values I can set and plock per tracks…it’s great. The Digis are MIDI sequencing powerhouses.

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#6

Just out of curiosity, why not the sequencer on the Force? Or the that matter, why not the sequencer on the Take5?

#7

I use the Force for longer linear stuff but I love the Elektron stuff so use that for 2-4 bar loops of audio from the Take 5 and use those in the Force. Don’t use the Take 5 sequencer.

#8

If it’s just the Syntakt as a hub, I’m okay sacrificing one or two tracks/voices to sequence an external synth or two, especially for polyphony. Any more than that and I feel like I’m cutting too much into the ST sounds. Luckily, I have the Digitakt’s 8 dedicated MIDI tracks if I need to go there.

All that being said, the entire DIGI line’s MIDI channel sequencing has been really good for me. Enjoyable to use.

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#9

Cool, I hadn’t really considered what the MW, BC etc offer.

Yeah the loss of ST voices is a catch, but that’s why I’m bringing in the sampler. Got a couple of quadra throughs as well, so the clock isn’t a problem either (those things are lifesavers).

#10

Hard for me to sacrifice any ST track for midi. Maybe track 8…
Syntakt can only be a Schizophrenic midi Brain.

I have Octatrack midi tracks, but Digis have the possibility to plock Program Changes, which can be super interesting. So I may use both for midi, OT master, or use OT only with a midi processor allowing Prog Changes from midi CCs or Notes…

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#11

Ha! Yep, won’t lie that swapping ST voices for midi feels kinda messed up. But I’m gonna keep telling myself ‘it’s OK, the 404 can grab the textures & smaller details to free up space for the synths’.

This thread has proven that I was lying to myself that I had my GAS under control. All these mentions of the Digitone is making a really solid case for acting as a no-compromise midi brain/centrepiece.

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#12

I would sacrifice one Track for Polyphony, though. They have to give the option to switch the Trig Modifiers to MIDI Tracks.

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#13

That would be great

#14

Syntakt is not best choice for use as MIDI center piece, any one MIDI track will sacrifice a native sound track, it is much better to use dt or dn to MIDI sequence other devices

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#15

Depends if they use other tracks voices, or a specific paraphonic machine…and I consider that it wouldn’t be a sacrifice. :content:

That’d be the best for me, but then other Digis would be less attractive…

#16

What I meant was I wouldn’t mind pairing the ST with one of my Polyphonic Synth and sacrifice a Track.

DN is still attractive with its 4 dedicated MIDI Tracks and DT is a Sampler. You never have too many MIDI Tracks, at least, in my kind of setup (pedals with MIDI).

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#17

…sure that will work…BUT syntakt is by no means a first choice to work as a midi hub/centerpiece since each of it’s 12 tracks can “only” work as a midi OR as an internal machine track…

so one or two external midi devices triggered by a st is still fine, but beyond that, u really start to miss out on st’s full internal potential…

a 2nd hand dtakt might be the missing link here…it covers the sampling planet AND offers 8 individual midi tracks to adress/snyc/trigger whatever else u got without cutting short on it’s internal strength…

#18

I dunno. I use the analog drum channels and 2 others for weird sounds and so have another 5 or so for midi sequencing other gear. Seems great to me for that.

#19

I’m considering a Syntakt for this use case:

I had big plans for using a Circuit Tracks as a MIDI brain and controlling (among other things) a M:C, but ended up kind of disappointed. The Circuit’s combination of 32-step mode and chaining was unexpectedly cumbersome for the long patterns I tend to make, plus constantly jumping back between Novation’s and Elektron’s very different sequencer approaches felt like unnecessary cognitive overhead.

ST always looked interesting to me, but I couldn’t justify it… until I started considering it as an option to replace both of the above. The ease of setting up 64-step sequences on Elektron gear, plus having only one sequencer instead of two, is pretty appealing.

That said: is ST overkill for my needs? I could, after all, just give up two tracks on the M:C (I never use all six when paired with other gear) for the two main synths I’d be controlling. And yet, all the additional tracks and machines on ST (plus song mode now) would open up a lot of possibilities.

#20

Nah, I wouldn’t say swapping your M:C & Circuit Tracks for an ST is overkill. It’s probably going to be a more efficient workflow. The extra voices are more of a bonus than anything.

But like a few folks said above, the DN or DT might be a better option with the dedicated midi tracks. Advantages of the ST include the modifier buttons & analogue FX path. That might not seem like much, but they’re quickly become go-to features when a little spice is needed.

So I’ve pulled my set up apart & swapped to the ST as a midi brain/centrepiece. Of course it didn’t work the way I imagined, but that’s OK. Here’s how it went:

  • The ST can’t receive & send midi from the same instrument. I wanted to use my Hydrasynth to play notes into the ST & have the ST pick where those notes were sent (including back to the Hydra), but I just couldn’t get it working. Brought back an old Launchpad to play notes in, which is probably better as it has more pads to play than the Hydra desktop & I can bounce between ST tracks using the Launchpad’s interface.
  • Unlike other ST machines, the midi tracks can’t be saved. The workaround is to set up everything I’ll use in each midi track (CC values etc) then save the program as a template. Easy.
  • I chose to use the 404mk2’s pad banks A & B with the ST’s midi tracks, so I’ve given up 5 digital voices tracks for midi outs. Which feels like a fair bit of a hit, as much as I want to sequence my KP3 with the ST, I can’t bring myself to lose another voice.

Overall I’m liking how easy the modifiers, ratchet, off-grid & chance per step are quicker to dial in than on the Squarp Pyramid. Is it a better centrepiece than the Pyramid? Probably not. Is it a more convenient workflow with a song mode that’s easier to parse? Yep. Will I keep this set going for a while or will I return to the old set up soon? Reckon it’s here to stay for at least a few more months, I like where this set up’s leaning.