Ah yes - storing kit level very cool
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I was talking more of plain sequencing. The Roland is like a DAW as much notes as you want where you want but the Elektron’s are just 4 notes tied to each other.
Speaking with big chords from a polysynth in mind, in relation to this thread.
Elektron is more like mono sequencing but yes the creative features are many.
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(side argument that having limited polyphony per trig could lead to better part writing / counterpoint. I know it’s an odd thought in electronic music, but 4 independent melodic lines that form chords beats independent chords with a melodic line on top and a bass line underneath)
(side argument that any polyphonic synth only sporting 4 notes isn’t really polyphonic and this is the which Elektron box has the best MIDI sequencing for polyphonic synths thread)
This has always sort of stumped me.
My OT works one way, and my AK works another.
I can’t speak much for polys, but for monos these two are different in the way they record your playing.
Something these two comments I wish I understood better
Music history has a lot of material to fight the four voices isn’t polyphonic argument! But my main argument is that taking 1 to 8 midi tracks and treating them as independent voices will let you write better polyphonic parts than stacking four notes on top of eachother.
- Octatrack sends midi note off commands as velocity zero - this is a long accepted and legitimate way to deal with note off, as documented in the official Midi Association specifications - however, not all devices are compliant with this, resulting in unreliable note handling on the recipient device.
In this case the user should contact the manufacturer of the product in question and request that it be fixed in a firmware update, since this way of handling note off is fairly common and as mentioned before part of the midi standard specification.
Lifted from a comment by @darenager in this thread Octatrack MIDI note quirks, help needed!
Note off, and velocity zero, are not the same thing. Hense confusion over what you record into an elektron sequencer, and what it plays back.
Good luck with getting Elektron to change the way the octatrack does anything.
If they ever update the firmwares to do it properly, and If they ever stop using that infernal coating on their buttons, I’d be all over it.
Or buy an OXI One or Hapax which are more powerful than this machine or any Elektron sequencer.
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Yes but I love having samples or synthesis with a good sequencer so Elektron is the main one for me.
They still don’t show more than 16 steps at once which is my main issue. I want something that shows at least four rows of 32 steps and ideally loops round to the next tow to show 64 steps or more like four voice sheet music written on two lines.
That could be argued, but this thread is specifically about sequencing polysynths which are for chords, and chords are the backbone of music. I understand limitations can foster creativity but that’s not what we are talking about here.
Even if 4 notes was sufficient polyphony, the Elektron sequencer can’t even have your chord notes have different start or ends times, which would be the same as pressing a pad on a MPC or Maschine… making a mockery of the independent keys on your keyboard.
So Elektron sequencers are not very good at sequencing polysynths at all. Unless it is quantised house or techno chords. Anything more exotic or less rigid is out.
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I’d argue that they can possibly be better at sequencing polysynths than any other sequencer. You just use different tracks for different voices. Then you can do all the timing edits you want, along with different velocity for each note and all sorts.
I don’t think the nature of the Elektron sequencer makes sense for stacked notes in a single trig.
You literally can’t record your playing correctly from the keyboard. How is that better?
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Which is what I finally did. (Buy an Oxi One.) I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no perfect hardware sequencer. While some argue that the 1 note per channel system can be inspiring, it may work great for horn and string parts, but would be maddening if sequencing a piano or organ. So I now find myself using all options available. Elektron, Roland, Oxi One, and more and more I find myself using Push 3 stand alone with Live. I like it for loop base sequencing covering everything from bass to piano. One thing I cannot accommodate is the Elektron polyphonic way of all notes on and off at the same time. I don’t play that way and I don’t think that way. Even if I use a one finger chord generator to come up with a pattern I go back and edit start and end times of the individual notes, and frequently the individual velocities.
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This is true, but that’s because it’s a step sequencer not a midi recorder. It’s physically quantised to the steps on the step sequencer with the ability to nudge each step. This was my main frustration and disappointment with the Digitakt as I was used to live recording at every resolution with every note. I got an MPC to solve it and only then realised that it wasn’t the Digitakt’s fault I was just using it wrong. It’s meant to be a step sequencer. If you had the resolution and polyphony of an MPC and could live record into it you couldn’t use the trig buttons to edit it and move things about. The two methods are totally incompatible.
The question talks about sequencing. Live midi recording is not sequencing. The MPC is terrible at sequencing. I think it’s pretty much a one or the other thing so I have both Digitakt and MPC.
One solution would be to allow a midi looper machine type that didn’t actually have any trigs but that’d be strange so I’m not sure it’ll happen. Before I got the MPC I got a Midiphy Loopa which is a perfect companion to the Digitakt (I’m going to be selling mine soon on here because the MPC turned out to be better for me but it’s a great bit of kit).
Necro’ing this, is the Digitone2 currently the most capable Elektron box for sequencing MIDI?
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Maybe it’s Tonverk? It has the midi-arp, retrig, higher step count… Don’t know if it has the chord mode and scales for midi? I don’t have one,so… You can have 16 midi tracks on DN2 and “just” 12 on TV though. Both have 16 note polyphony per step.
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digitone2 - its possibly the ‘most capable’ in terms of a stable device with decent latency at the moment … , fully functioning copy/paste/clear in terms of general functionality … and performance ability in terms of ‘mangle’ and then quickly reload the pattern.
but - in a year or so , the tonverk might on par / be better…it does come with more steps per pattern if you need longer patterns in a more friendly way (no need to chain patterns or use song mode if you want 256 steps for example)
i guess it depends if you are buying a device today (oct 2025) … how much you want to spend , how mature the device is etc.
however i dont have either, and it really depends if you need arp/retrig etc… how demanding your needs are.
its better than digitakt 1 & 2 /digitone 1 /Syntakt … it has a more advanced sequencer with less restrictions per step.
perhaps someone with both and has used both for midi sequencing can be a little more accurate.