Elektron

ManualsBrandsElektron ManualsDrum Machine and Control UnitsDigitakt

FM VERDICT

9.1

With deep sequencing

and a powerful sound

engine, Digitakt is the

‘affordable’ Elektron

groovebox we’ve been

dreaming of

CHROMATIC Each of Digitakt’s

tracks can be played melodically

using Chromatic mode .

MUTE MODE As the name suggest,

mute mode allows quick muting of

Digitakt’s tracks.

RETRIGS The retrig menu allows

quick rolls and repeats to be added

to steps.

FILL The ﬁ ll mode offers a

quick way to create variations

of existing patterns.

overdrive are particularly good at

adding extra body and grit to sounds,

and the sample manipulation and

looping tools mean Digitakt can take

things into esoteric territory well

beyond simple one-shot sampling.

The global delay and reverb sound

great too – each has its own edit

window with the usual size, edit and

width controls, making both solid

tools for adding that ﬁ nishing touch

of atmosphere and space to patterns.

MIDI tracks, meanwhile, are used

to output trigger and CC info to

external instruments. The eight

tracks can each output four notes of

polyphony, which can be edited on a

per-step basis, making Digitakt a

fairly handy ‘hub’ for a sync’d

hardware rig. For the MIDI track, the

ﬁ lter and amp windows can be

conﬁ gured to output CC data, and

each track’s LFO can be routed

externally too.

As with previous Elektron

grooveboxes, the depth of the

sequencer is the real trump card of

Digitakt. While there’s too much to

go into it fully within the space of a

review, there are a few highlights

worth touching on.

For one thing, almost every

parameter can be automated via

Digitakt’s parameter lock capability.

This allows different values for

anything within the parameter

windows to be saved on a per-step

basis. This can either be done in

step-sequencing mode, by holding

down the corresponding step, or

recorded live. Digitakt also features a

Conditional Locks mode, which

allows changes to be dictated on a

probability basis, which is great for

injecting variety into patterns. A Fill

mode is a similarly useful tool for

mixing up patterns, allowing the

creation of temporary variations.

The sequencer allows for pattern

length to be set for each track, too,

making it easy to create complex

polyrhythms. There are also ﬂ exible

global tempo, swing and time

signature options. For deeper tweaks

to the rhythmic feel of a pattern,

micro-timing adjustments can be

made on a per-step basis. Retrigs

can be applied to each step, creating

quick ‘rolls’ of samples locked to

adjustable beat divisions.

Beyond the immediate realm of

the sequencer and sounds, Digitakt

has a ﬂ exible architecture for

creating longer-form creations. The

memory is divided into Projects,

each of which can contain up to 128

patterns and 127 samples. Each

pattern houses its own sounds, and

multiple patterns can be chained

together to create more complex

projects. While eight audio channels

isn’t a huge number – compared to

software driven beatmakers, at least

– sample assignment can be

automated for each step, along with

all sound engine parameters, making

it effectively possible to have

multiple sounds triggered by a single

audio track.

While this is all very ﬂ exible and

capable, Digitakt isn’t necessarily

the most intuitive sampler to use.

This will likely not come as a

surprise to seasoned users of

Elektron gear – it tends to be the

case that their instruments boast

depth and functionality at the cost of

simplicity and accessibility. This isn’t

necessarily a criticism; it’s not that

Digitakt is badly designed – in fact,

once you get your head around it,

most design decisions seem

remarkably sensible – just expect to

spend a good few hours reading the

manual before you can get the most

out of it.

Broadly speaking though, there’s

a lot to like about Digitakt, and

despite a couple of minor gripes

– the reliance on a computer for

loading samples, the additional

Overbridge cost – Digitakt lives up to

the promise of offering Elektron’s

deep sequencing functionality at a

(comparatively) affordable price. It

might look like a humble sampler,

but with great sequencing and a

decent crop of connectivity, we can

see this becoming the centrepiece of

plenty of studio and live rigs. Not a

box to underestimate!