Which Digibox with a Yamaha Workstation?

The Lounge Other Gear
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Hello Y’all !

Recently stepped into the Elektron Workflow with both OG Digitakt and Digitone KEYS. Yeah, I’m a keyboard player rather than a knob turner and no extra limb was apparent when unboxing those fine and sturdy pieces of gear.

I happen to play live with a band soul/neo-soul stuff, and lacking a good drummer, I might tend to become an almost one-man band :musical_keyboard: with female lead singer, bass player/Male singer dropping the bass, a :guitar: and a :saxophone:.

I play a Yamaha MODX+7. That thing is a 16-parts polyphonic monster like its Montage-(M) much heavier siblings. Only the first 8 parts can be played through the keyboard itself so I hooked my Digitakt to it to use some of the 8 MIDI tracks and its great sequencer, plus play a few one-shot samples for rhythmic and iconic sounds (which I could do using sample robot :robot: on the MODX anyway). I use it for Master compression as an end chain thing also. The absence of Pitch/Mod wheel integration on DT-OG sucks though.

I also tried the Digitone-Keys (better :musical_keyboard: keybed, aftertouch which the MODX line lacks wrt Montage…), but it’s only four external MIDI tracks (not that I intend to play that many at a time, but organize my “Performances” within a “Live Set” the same way…), and having both hands on keys or Pitch Bend/Mod Wheels, I wouldn’t really make good use of the 8 extra encoders - I barely touch the ones on the Yamaha beyond the Superknob Macro-Control. Plus this would be an extra/redundant (?) layer of 4-operator FMs atop FM-X (I probably could replicate DN sounds I like anyway…).

Now that prices on Syntakt are dropping a bit, I wonder whether G.A.S. hit me hard, or If this could in fact be the perfect companion on top right of My MODX+7 (Tonverk would sit nicely too !). Analog Drums, Leads and Bass when our bass player takes on the Mic + digital sounds, and proper integration of Pitch/Modwheel for expression. Enough controls when not playing the :musical_keyboard: to tweak the sound and trigger breaks, variations etc. and conversely the ability to be played expressively from the MODX+, while the ST takes some of the burden of drumming and playing in a not too repetitive manner thanks to conditional trigs etc… Not sure what to do with the FX track (routing the MODX through it)

Any live Montage-MODX/Digibox user experience appreciated here.

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Since you aren’t interested in turning knobs much, consider the Roland TR-6s and TR-8s as well.

Easy to trigger or chain patterns and you can also quickly flip the faders up and down for even more granular control.

With some patience they can be pretty cheap on the used market. Additionally, you can buy Roland stuff everywhere so if someone feeds it a beer a few hours before you go live you may still be able to get a replacement in time.

these two instantly sound good and readily signify pop/electronic drums, which could be a plus or minus depending on what your musical goals are.

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Thxs for the “beer baptism” advice. I DO have a TR-6s, and it sounds brilliant, but the idea is to achieve a “dynamic/flexible” backing track (i.e. extend a few bars during a chorus/solo) by a given mix of the added box AND the otherwise not playable internal MODX parts 9-16 (be they rhythmic or melodic/harmonic). I know I can import pretty much any sample into the TR-xS, but a drum machine it is and remains. No external sequencing/p-locking etc… Flexibility is of the essence for our repertoire may evolve, but I do not decide on my own to “revisit” all of it and electrofy it.

1 Like
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In that case, adding an Elektron is a very good idea. Possibly consider the Octatrack as well - you can buy a Mk1 used and sell it for what you paid with a little care, but it might be big for your rig.

If I could only keep two of my drum machine a I’d probably pick my TR-8s and Machinedrum, because they are both deep and compliment each other well.

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Yeah, I’m kinda looking into OT as well, but it’s too big for my keyboard :musical_keyboard: real estate (Tonverk would be a maximum !), and it’s not responding to pitchbend or Modwheel If I rtfmed correctly, so basically I would stick to my DT, which purely as a sequencer does exactly what I want, but not as a playable instrument. I would hope people using both Yamaha Workstation/Synth lineage AND any of the digiboxes would share what box they prefer and paired with their trusty Yamy, how they set the whole thing up and what problems they encountered, what use they have and things they didn’t even imagined in the first place…