Hello everyone,
Does anyone know if Elektron will be releasing official software for the Tonverk that would allow us to manage the ‘hidden’ features of subtracks and multisamples (round robin on subtracks samples, loop and crossfade options on multisamples, etc.)?
It could even be integrated into a special Tonverk overbridge (yes, I’m allowed to dream ;))
I’d love to hear even the slightest rumour to give me some hope 
Many thanks.
Apart from Overbridge: So far, users have done outstanding jobs and I can’t imagine it better than what they have created.
I agree that it would be great if Elektron offered a software of their own. Something I could just install and launch on my mac like Transfer that will work flawlessly and be supported and updated for TV’s lifetime, meaning it will also be updated with TV OS updates and possible new features that come with these.
That would also mean that they could promote what a power house TV is sampling wise, currently these features are quite hidden to those “in the know”.
I agree with @Jeanne that the users here have created exactly the tools that are needed, but I think it’s Elektron’s responsibility to provide official support for this stuff, partially as an extension of the user guides and partly to allow people who use Tonverk and aren’t in web forums all the time to still use its advanced features. They shouldn’t have to hunt for this stuff, if you don’t actively read and post in this forum you would have no real way to know that those user-created tools actually existed and you would just be kind of disappointed that preset management wasn’t as easy as you hoped. I don’t think round robin support or how to enable loops/cross-fades on your own auto samples are mentioned in the manual at all.
Having really great features that are just secrets means that a lot of things the devs spent real time putting together aren’t going to be properly recognized and having a sample manager app that integrates nicely with the device (like the Korg editor/librarian for their synths) is the best way to reduce headaches around user sample management. That’s the best place to expose round robin kits and easily create them with presets (especially if the tool lets you work with the filesystem directly on Tonverk instead of bouncing samples back and forth). Likewise, an app-based automated loop/crossfade detection for multisamples you generate on Tonverk that allows for review and editing before committing as a preset is actually just the right thing to do.
If they aren’t going to do that, they need to provide documentation on .eldrum and .elmulti files that give every piece of formatting, every working value that can be set for any parameter, etc. Having people reverse engineering the stuff they find rooting around in the SD card mode isn’t the way to highlight advanced features of a really powerful sampler, giving a tool to easily expose the features is.
In an ideal world, sure, there’s an official Elektron app for managing subtracks and multi-machine settings. In an ideal world, there’s also project/pattern/program management tools for all their boxes. There are lots of things that a company may not have the ability to effectively support while remaining financially viable.
I think making .eldrum and .elmulti more or less human readable and very quickly reverse-engineered was a great move by Elektron, and something already much closer to what a lot of people have been asking for, in terms of file types/data structures that people could modify and develop for. Already as has been pointed out several individuals have created excellent and accessible tools for building out custom presets.
Asking for a full-blown application is quite a lot, I’d say. Development is expensive and time consuming. That said, for Elektron to publish documentation for what all of the different parameters sounds straightforward enough.
If I have to choose between
or
… well, my choice is clear
If you’re saying it’s preferable to do it directly on the device, I 100% agree. I don’t buy hardware so that I’ll spend lots of time on a computer managing it and this is stuff that Akai and NI understood to be important enough to give you a way to do it on MPC’s and Maschine+ without plugging into a computer. As it is I avoid using round robin subtracks just because even the great tools users have made are more time than I want to spend and if I have Tonverk in front of me I’d rather play it than use my laptop.
I don’t know when or if they’ll do that, but they can and should just publish documentation on the eldrum and elmulti formats officially as soon as possible specifically for the reason I said… many users buy hardware with the belief that just reading the official documentation ought to be enough information and don’t think they need to go onto forums to find out advanced features the documentation didn’t tell them about.
The fact that you don’t need any extra software to get the most out of an Elektron product is a huge bonus. It’s also a pretty unique selling point.
Complete integration via plugin is basically the icing on the cake. [I’ve never used it. ;-)]
Sure, offerings like elk-herd are wonderful! I’ve saved so much time with this tool, but to be honest it’s not essential for getting things done.
I hope @mzero can come up with something for Tonverk too, but Elektron should leave their system as it is.
I agree, but I feel that this would be complex to implement on the hardware, as well as the ability to edit multisamples. I hope I’m wrong.
A solution would be to be able to select multiple samples instead of just one for each Subtrack. That way, we could have Round Robin already (and it would be enough for me 
).
A further step would be to be able to select multiple samples and declare what they are, e.g. Round Robin or Random Robin, and for which Velocity Range the selection is. That step could then be repeated for other Velocities.
It would only be complicated if we would expect some kind of overview …
I understand your point of view, and I think Elektron did the right thing by developing an open format. But think about someone who doesn’t know how to programme and is just a musician.
I don’t think anyone who is just a musician is interested in all that. That person just wants to create in a simple and creative way, not read code or spend hours searching forums for third-party programs.
This plus loop and crossfade detection as an automated or manual step in multisamples would be more than sufficient for me as well, and I would guess really most users that are not trying to create commercial preset packs and just setting up the box for their music.
For sure, it’d be best-case if Elektron either supplied a more full-featured approach to creating/modifying .eldrum/.elmulti presets that allowed all users to access all of the parameters that those formats support.
I would also prefer an official Elektron app. Most of the user-developed tools are excellent and extremely useful. I’m grateful for them because, without them, I would have got rid of my TV quickly.
However, the fact that most of these tools can only be used online creates a certain dependency that I don’t really like.
I also think Elektron will release something. It’s unreasonable to create or edit complex multisamples with the TV’s small display. Building multisamples on a computer and then using them on a hardware device is a good compromise.
This 
! We’ve already seen the most powerful tool suddenly pulled. Luckily, somebody else stepped in, but still.
I really wish there was software to take sounds and patterns from one project and get them into another project! This is something which is do-able on other elektron boxes and there is even software which does it quite well. As the Tonverk becomes my MAIN box I just wish there was an easier way to combine past music.
Hello,
I think it’s on the way at least for the sounds – Elektron is currently working on bringing Overbridge to Tonverk, so we’ll probably be able to manage and import samples and presets more easily.
What would be really great is if there were a way to manage subtrack round robins and other nuances of multisamples (loop points) via this software. Because at the moment, this can’t be managed from Tonverk, but only by tweaking text files (.elmulti / .eldrum)
Fyi - on all the other sample based gear overbridge doesn’t do any sample import … that’s for transfer … Tonverk may be different as it’s pretty standard usb drive / compact flash using ‘disk mode’ .
Even on digitakt2 it can edit the grid size in various machines but unsure if it does zero point crossing snap … I suspect you’d have to do that on the device and it’ll display it on overbridge … also overbridge doesn’t allow zoom in on waveforms , it only displays a picture of the waveform from what I understand .
Yes , it can save / load / manage sounds but nothing to do with patterns , songs ( I can’t recall if you can edit song lists ) … managing all of that has been requested since overbridge was released / announced over 10 years ago
Personally I’ve only used it for audio streaming , never for actual sound editing or sound management though Tonverk , with busses / routing options could benefit from larger routing / editing ui …. And agree that making subtracks using their full abilities would be nice