Digitakt 2 - Tips & Techniques (Chopping Breaks, Pads & FX)

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Welcome to part 2 of dive into the Digitakt 2. I've tried to cover some of my most used techniques in this device and why I love it. ❤️
Even with the lack of manual slicing, we can still use digi chains to achieve a very similar result so that will have to do for now.
Thanks to Brian (Digi Chains creator) I realised that digi chains reads hex perfectly and you can drop renoise projects directly into it!
If people want to rename the slices in order I found another workaround also:
For Renoise users, map all the slices across the whole keyboard in the keyzones by hitting 'Layer'. Then hit 'Batch Rename' on the slices and call it whatever you want. It will label them from 0 -100 not in hex rather than by note and key etc. 😊
Big ups to everyone that supports my channel, especially all my Patreon crew who have stuck with me on this journey so far! 😊 / groovining
💎 My new 90's Style, Aquatic Jungle sample pack!🐬 www.groovingbiz.co.uk/aquatic...
Intro: (00:00)
Digichains from the DAW: (00:23)
Transfer App: (02:02)
Grid Slicing Digitakt: (02:23)
Why This Slicing Method is Superior: (02:58)
Break Trick Pitch & BPM: (04:20)
Break Trick Gating: (04:55)
Break Trick Ghost Snares: (06:40)
Layered Pads: (07:25)
Custom Ping-Pong Loops: (08:12)
Vocal Chops Technique: (09:14)
Favourite FX Technique: (10:48)
Outro: (12:13)

[@dokma_eu]

Thanks for the Digichain info - I too have Digitakt and now I am considering getting Digitakt 2, but I had no idea of Digichain URL and what it is used for, so thanks again for this valuable info! and if there are other tools that you consider useful, please do another vid! Cheers!

[@groovining]

The other one that I used to use a lot for organising was electric.kitchen/crunch/elk-herd/ They will probably update this to Digitakt 2 soon also though the transfer app is getting better and better by Elektron.

[@johncitizen8828]

That was great. 👍 More DT2 deep dive chopping tutorials would be appreciated.

[@groovining]

Yea for sure! I'll do one specifically on breaks soon! :) ✌️

[@kylewall8521]

Just got the dt2, the digichain tip is genius.

[@groovining]

Digi chains are actually a game changer when you get into them. You can set up your chops just like an old akai all up and down the keyboard. Proper slices inside the Digitakt would be incredible but Digichains is great for now :)

[@HL-ji5bs]

Nice!! I didn’t know you could trig lock the note so easily with a midi keyboard

[@groovining]

This is the technique! 🥷

[@The_Invisible_Man]

Ping ping looping per slice is the most underrated feature out there. Ableton doesn’t have it on simpler when warp is off which is insane since hardware samplers from the 90’s have this built in. Octatrack has per slice ping ping looping.

[@groovining]

Yea it's so essential for pads and sample work in general. I use it more than any other loop type. Octatrack is to blame 😡

[@synthphilosophy]

It would be handy to have ping pong indeed. The way I substitute that on the og digitakt is by triggerless triggers and changing the play direction in the sequencer. It's not the same and sometimes I even prefer this as it allows for a more evolving sound over time. Then there is always resampling to free up the sequencer for new triggers :-). It's those little experiments that make me love that device. If I had the time I could spend days on end just experimenting with it.

[@groovining]

Yea I do like the restrictions sometimes that make you come up with cool workarounds but pinp-pong loops would be amazing. I get clicks and pops when I use trigerless trigs which are easier to avoid with Ping-pon loops.

[@ProfilerGman77]

Some great tips keep em coming 😊

[@groovining]

Thanks friend! Will do for sure ✌️ 😊

[@MUNRO13]

Great stuff, thanks!

[@groovining]

Cheers mate! ✌️ 😊

[@Alckemy]

Tbh I’d recommend just getting the placement of the trigs down and then adjusting a few slice start positions. Then just copy the hits in the subsequent triggers. Would also prefer to have the kick and snare separate if you’re going to use the aidechain compressor. Just my 2 cents!

[@lawdviola]

Agreeeeeed

[@groovining]

The lock start point technique does work well but you can't be super accurate with it is the problem I find. If you could zoom into the waveform in the sample mode that would help a lot! ✌️😊

[@benjiwill]

Such a great clip, thanks for sharing these Digitakt walkthroughs and tips and tricks! 🙏

[@groovining]

All good Benji! The Digitakt 2 is a beast - I loved the first and very happy with the upgrades even without the slicing. Digi chains is a great workaround. Lots more on the Digitakt 2 coming soon. Do you have any other Elektron Boxes? ✌️ 😊

[@benjiwill]

​@@groovining I've had most the Elektron boxes over the years, the OG Octatrack being the main one from way back, but the parts/samples management just became too much to work with in the end (pre overbridge etc). The DTII looks like a solid option to just play back some stereo pads/foley stuff finally. Here's hoping they get the slicing ability for the DTII in a future update though! Cheers again, looking forward to more breaks chopping tips n tricks! 🙏

[@jackherz2584]

Awesome video! Really appreciate the info on how you use Digichains, surprised how little video info there is out there on it

[@groovining]

Thanks mate- Yea I know, I use them all the time now as they're a great way to have breaks ready to go for multiple DAWs devices. 😊

[@Bobo]

Thank you for these great tips and tricks. Do you possibly have a sample packs with these ready made amen breaks? 😄

[@kylewall8521]

Yeah that amen sounds really crisp

[@groovining]

I'm currently working on a Sample Pack of breaks like this but it won't be for a month or so. I do give a lot of this stuff out to my Patreons as a thanks for supporting me. 😊 www.patreon.com/groovining I explained it a bit in the video but the Amen was sampled from Turntable sped up, recorded hot into the Akai which adds some clipping & crunch. Then pitched back down in my Akai s1000 to get it back to close the original tempo & reduce sample rate for more crunch/lofi. Then EQ'd just on my mixer channel. I used the analog heat mk2 for pseudo compression but a normal compressor would be fine here. Slow attack 30ms, fast release. Finally I soft clipped the signal in StandardClip just to roll off some of the peaks and get it nice a loud. Maybe a bit of extra overdrive in the Digitakt but not much needed at that point. I love getting my breaks sounding fat right from the get go and building the track around them. Generally helps things sound a lot more professional in the mix.✌️

[@joepolophotography]

a 13 minute masterclass, take my like and subscription

[@groovining]

Cheers ledge! and thanks for buying some of my sample packs. Hope you like them and appreicate the support. ✌️😊

[@joepolophotography]

@@groovining oh you saw that eh haha wish there was some more dnb drum loops to slice from them but I'll make do with my existing blu mar ten pack for that

[@groovining]

@@joepolophotography haha👀lots of people have been asking me to do drums so I'm building a pack at the moment. I always assumed every had tonnes of breaks like me from all those packs so the sounds, FX etc were more valuable. I've also got a lot better at processing my drums so I'm ready now. 🥷

[@joepolophotography]

@@groovining hell yeah do it, would be great timing with digitakt 2 release

[@dylanmassey7748]

Great tips which I think will push me to a Takt 2. What’s the keyboard you are using?

[@groovining]

Arturia Keystep 37 - it's fantastic

[@kevinkearney3836]

Have you tried the preset performance mode to play in slices live? That seems like a nice upgrade despite the hassle of saving 8-16 presets.

[@groovining]

Yea this is another great alternative. What's cool about this is you can also reverse the chops etc which you can't do in the slicing mode. However, it;s annoying to make 30+ presets with a lot of breaks slices but good for certain breaks and techniques. ✌️😊

[@MrVincent97133]

hi and thank you for the tuto , how to have the auto preview always activated, each time I leave the sound bank and come back to choose a sound I have to reactivate it, thank you very much

[@groovining]

I didnt even know about auto preview! That's annoying about it resetting though. Not sure I can help there sorry - could be something they will fix with an update. ✌️

[@swiggit]

whats this pitch down and up technique do?

[@groovining]

It's an old Hip-Hop/Jungle technique that essentially reduces sample rate. I made a whole video about it :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2OalYR7jreEpac

[@frejmostrom3458]

Is it possible to get a download file for the break fixed and ready to go?

[@groovining]

I used to give this stuff out for free a lot but now it all goes to my Patreons who support me to make more content like this. Breaks all slice and ready are up on there. ✌️😊 www.patreon.com/groovining

[@lawdviola]

That seems way slower than start and end point plocks!