Digitakt - Using Green Trigs/Lock Trigs to Create Evolving Ambience and Textures

To call the Digitakt a “drum machine” feels like an extreme oversimplification, almost to the point of nullifying what makes it such a wonderful instrument in my eyes, but, stripping everything away, that is what is at the core of its DNA. You put a trig on a step, and when the sequencer gets to that step it plays a sound - like almost every step-based drum machine under the sun.
That all being said, I’ve really been enjoying a technique recently that intentionally avoids the idea of playing a sound on a step, but rather manipulating an ongoing sonic event using green/lock trigs. Although there are many ways you could make use of this idea, I (potentially rather predictably) really love it for establishing evolving ambient textures from loops; so in this video I’ll demonstrate the idea from that perspective in the hope that it’ll spark some inspiration for you to draw from and run with.
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[@epochphilosophy]

You are probably the first person who made a tutorial on the Digitakt who didn't navigate the interface at 1,000 miles per hour. Thanks for being easy to follow. Wonderful video.

[@romenpheonixx7005]

YOU DAMN RIGHT!!!!🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@OscillatorSink]

Cheers everyone! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@romenpheonixx7005]

Unbelievable. Changed my life because I’ve wanted this type of control and no one explained it. Thank you so much 🔥🔥🔥🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@OscillatorSink]

You're very welcome!

[@TheOriginalGeekyNoob]

I'm three years behind on this one but, what an amazing technique for the 'takt. Glorious.

[@solongyouth]

One of the best Digitakt tutorials I've watched. Fantastic, thanks so much.

[@OscillatorSink]

Wow, you're too kind!

[@dslavin]

Digitakt late adopter here. Thank you for this, I hadn't seen this particular technique yet.

[@cynefyl1281]

That instantly remind me some Radiohead (Like Spinning Plates..) and Trent Reznor ambient work in some points. Yeah, a sampler machine can't just be just a drum machine, thank you, what an inspiring work you did with it!

[@polyhedron_tracks]

Your voice is now an official part of my stress management… i really like what you’re composing with this beloved black box.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you, and I'm glad I can be a relaxing influence. Perhaps I should do a "generative ambient synth soundscapes + bedtime stories" series...

[@lucid__dream__]

I've had my digitakt for a few days and I am so excited to keep using it. this video is absolutely incredible. thank you.

[@OscillatorSink]

Enjoy it! It's a fantastic instrument!

[@meilstone]

This was the most soothing music production video, I've ever watched. Your technique is so effective and your voice so calming, I fell asleep twice! 😊 Now I'm well rested to go back to my Digitakt and give it a try (keep your fingers crossed I won't pass out). 😅

[@mbarski]

So far the best ambient technique I’ve seen on Digitakt! Thanks!❤

[@samuelsacks4226]

I’ve been kicking over the idea of trading out my digitakt for an MPC One. This video reminded me of why I was drawn to the digitakt in the first place. I’m inspired by how you used the instrument here to let the digitakt create some inflections and impressions that could never exist on any other device. If the MPC One takes you precisely where you mean to go, the digitakt takes you everywhere else. Thanks for this!

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Absolutely briliant! The only thing stopping me from getting a Digitakt is the fear of not having enough time to learn it and explore it...

[@OscillatorSink]

It might be fun to control VCV with though, no? ;)

[@JoseAGomez-bz2rt]

@@OscillatorSink it could be a great tutorial!!!! Thanks a lot Mr. Oscillator and Mr. Omri!! digitakt and vcv rack are full of good surprises!! and thank a lot for both of you to show me!!

[@littlewingart]

I have that concern with creative projects too, he has another great video "How I made my Digitakt set" with advice on how to dedicate time away from distractions that really resonated with me and convinced me to get a digitakt even with limited free time. it's a beautiful machine :)

[@beatnikcafe]

You’ll get the hang of it quickly I’m sure

[@gatorgoforth3097]

I still love coming back to this vid over and over. 💎 💎 💎

[@OscillatorSink]

Nice to have you back!

[@ReinoRankaisija]

Thank you so much. This video opened my eyes, it's by far one of the most useful tutorials I've seen.

[@guiltsburden4274]

you just opened a door to a world I didn't know existed in within my digitakt, thankyou

[@OscillatorSink]

Step through the door, it's nice over here.

[@MassimilianoGallieri]

MORE DT TUTORIAL PLEASE! ❤️

[@OscillatorSink]

There are a few more on the channel if you haven't spotted them yet 😊

[@FluxFreeman]

You’ve been given much praise for this instruction and for good reason. Very insightful!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you!

[@ron2298]

Wow awesome thank you 🙏 trigless trigs huh 🤔 cool very cool. I need to sit down with my boxes and play.

[@emptyhawkinjs]

As soon as you reduced the global trig probability to 70 it hit me what magic you just made possible and my mind was blown. I was walking around the apartment with my jaw dropped talking to myself about what that affords the digitakt. Wow. Amazing video, thank you!

[@OscillatorSink]

Glad to hear I've uncovered some new ideas for you to explore!

[@InnerPeaceSounds]

That's so awesome, thank you for your work!! It would take so much time to mimic anything like that with the software. This machine does really have my attention now.

[@touchthatdial]

This is brilliant! Thank you, such a great technique.

[@Vincenade]

was not even aware that this technique could be used on Digitakt... many many thanks for that!!! it opens a door to a great way doing ambient with this wonderful machine!

[@OscillatorSink]

I use the digitakt for ambient more than anything these days, it's actually has a really fantastic set of tools for creating that kind of music.

[@MilesKvndra]

This is such a great idea! I think it's techniques like this that make the Digitakt so amazing as an instrument and I can't wait to learn it and explore these sound worlds. Thanks a lot for sharing!

[@OscillatorSink]

I'm always learning new techniques and finding new little corners of the Digitakt to explore, it's a wonderful instrument!

[@davidrothschild8913]

That was very inspiring, and I can totally see its usefulness towards creating a sound texture, and or soundscape

[@threerecurring]

Excellent. Lots of interesting ideas and I certainly learned a few things here. It's nuggets of inspiration like these that help rekindle interest when the creative flow dips. And delivered in your usual clear and mellow style too. Thank you.

[@DanielPerryMusic]

Today, I ‘ave mostly been binging all of Oscillator Sync’s Digitakt videos

[@nelio123]

All this whithin a 4 bar loop. A whole ambient track!!!! wtf, dude!!! Blows my mind!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thanks! The Digitakt is magic!

[@IchihoBankai]

Ambient track. Listen to this for 10 minutes and you’re good to be committed

[@rnedp760]

Great - just what I was looking for. This is mostly how I use my DT, I love it - its like a vintage sampler with evolving control, I love the physicality of the machine.

[@neilspoonfluff6426]

Love this so much. Exactly why I picked a Digitakt up! Just to follow along very slowly now to try and figure it all out.... :) Thank you!

[@eduardoloaiza]

Thanks for so much teaching!!

[@meilstone]

Things do indeed start to sound rather pleasant! 👍

[@philconeron867]

Great to see a video on the Digitakt that covers new ground. Inspiring sounds, easy to follow guide and soothing voice. Thanks for posting.

[@OscillatorSink]

And thank you for watching!

[@tubeMonger]

Thanks for the examples with the green lights.

[@christopherowen1776]

Appreciate this so much man, thank you. After 5 months of owning this machine I'm still learning new stuff thanks to channels like yours

[@OscillatorSink]

I keep finding new ideas to explore in the Digitakt - an instrument of infinite possibilities!

[@timt6626]

Holy mackerel, thanks for sharing your digiwisdom and inspiration!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thanks for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@kenb7540]

What wonderful soundscaping. Beautiful. Such a joy to watch someone work with an instrument they know so well. Love it. Thank you.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you!

[@meliskonstantinou9583]

This is excellent!!! This tutorial opens a world of possibilities with the Digitakt. Thank you very much!

[@OscillatorSink]

Cheers for watching!

[@thmbones]

Nice, mate! Love it, will add this one to my digitakt playlist. And thanx for your videos, it expends the perspective, appreciated a lot!

[@plumcharlie]

Awesome. I had no idea about that functionality. Thank you

[@andrewmadec5953]

Beautiful! The trigless trigs are such a unique and useful way of working. Thanks for the inspiration

[@Miltersen]

Beautiful. So cinematic

[@kanepour9691]

Incredibly useful tip- just learned how to do parameter locks but this sweetens it even more. thank you!

[@toslinked]

such an amazing organic instrument. it can sound extremely happy or sad and everything in between. all of that requires some work though, some dedication. I think that’s wonderful.

[@LiamKillen]

Loving this approach :-)

[@darkpolarmusic]

What an inspiring approach! I've been looking into the Digitakt lately and this isn't making me want it less :) Awesome!

[@OlivierSarfati]

As ever. cool tips presented in a friendly user spirit. Keep coming back to your Deepmind and Digitakt videos. Keep up the good work man :)

[@PiotrstrashcanŚmietnikPiotra]

This is wonderful! I am really looking forward to getting one!

[@adpt_music]

This tutorial is amazing! I own a octatrack but can see how this can apply on it. Can’t wait to get started with trigless locks and trigless trigs !

[@hexwavemusic]

Wow this is fantastic, I've never seen anyone make ambient like this on digitakt, love it! I will definitely be bookmarking this for the future. Thanks for the tutorial!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you! Thanks for stepping by!

[@InModularProgress]

Wow - not to trigger the sample from the beginning on every trigger is a huge creativity boost🎉, didn‘t know about this feature

[@OscillatorSink]

These boxes are so flexible, there's always new ideas to uncover! I hope you have fun with this new idea!

[@johnnylucid]

Thanks for the excellent content. Be well.

[@altogethernow]

This was fantastic and precisely the looping technique I needed to find. Thank you.

[@GavinVickery]

Been trying to get some evolving ambience out of my DT. Thanks so much for this 🙏🏻

[@t-93sleep]

Man I was wondering what the green trigs were, I was accidently punching some in randomly. That is a gamechanger for me! Cannot wait to try it for my tracks/vids. Learned so much from this vid and many of your others! That reverse piano you were working on was awesome as well, starting sounding so surreal. Look forward to more of your content.

[@hummahumma3585]

Digitakt is so inspirational instrument.. .Many thanks for this great tutorial!

[@OscillatorSink]

It really is!

[@poxipaul]

Wonderful technique! Very inspiring! Thanks

[@Iain2000]

Absolutely brilliant. Very ingenious and brilliant thinking out of the box (or in the box in this case). Elements of William Basinski at the end I thought. Well done. 👍🏼🙏🏼

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you! Glad to hear that you enjoyed it!

[@ralph119988002]

Wow, this is pure gold! Thank you!

[@RileyGein]

Solid technique. As much as I love my digitakt for being a drum machine/sample player, the more and more I dig into it I'm finding more and more uses for it as a sound design machine of amazingness

[@OscillatorSink]

"sound design machine of amazingness" is about right!

[@johny5w]

This is super inspiring! Great tutorial.

[@DiegoCarvacho]

Great ! Thanks for sharing this 😊

[@jaybarls]

This is brilliant! The first stuff I made with the Digitakt was much more on the ambient / evolving side, and it gets you some great unexpected sound design results really quickly (e.g. one of my favourite bass sounds came from a downtuned choir). Feels like an injustice to see it as just a drum machine, though it's really strong for that too. Biggest challenge is fitting everything into 8 tracks..

[@henryhicut]

amazing work, just what I needed right now. I'm always amazed how well the Digitakt works for ambient stuff.

[@helixrider]

When you showed the LFO part, you sold the machine to me! 😊 Guess, I NEED this!! Great tutorial, would go perfectly as a track!!

[@DBPawlan]

One of the best videos I've seen on the Digitakt yet!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you so much!

[@jakeyboy2929]

I would love some more tutorials on different ways of using the digitakt

[@OscillatorSink]

I need to spend some time thinking about other ways to apply the "machines" in the most recent update.

[@uglyenough]

Yes please!

[@jaguarvssnake]

Brilliant, thank you so much. I'm trying this tonight. Your videos are great!

[@OscillatorSink]

Enjoy exploring some new sound-worlds, and thanks for watching!

[@PreRenderedRealities]

Thanks for reinvigorating my creativity, this was a great inspiration.

[@OscillatorSink]

You're very welcome. I'm glad to help.

[@soup_ostrich]

this is beautiful, thank you for the video!!

[@chitlun]

Not sure if I’ve commented on this before (this is my 3rd viewing) but this is the shit! Probably the first thing I’ll be experimenting with when my Digitakt arrives on the morrow. Cheers for this tremendous spark of inspiration ✌️

[@peladoclaus]

This is really beautiful

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you!

[@yanjob]

Yup, yet one more thing I didn't realize it could do! I've been reading/watching for about a week, but this is different and sounds amazing. Mine is supposed to arrive today and I'm salivating at this. You're getting tones that sound like Lexer Method Granular synthesis. From a "Drum Computer." (Compare w/ vids for Arhbar) Thanks for the help thinking outside the box, there's so much potential in this technique! Very inspiring stuff! I also weirdly find your tone of voice and relaxed demeanor almost as soothing as the sounds you're making.

[@MouthTrumpetOrchestra]

super interesting! can't wait to give this a go on my digitakt. Thanks for sharing!

[@OscillatorSink]

Have fun!

[@nelio123]

"I hope this will spark some ideas..."

[@OscillatorSink]

I'm glad I could help you find some new interesting areas to explore in the world of the Digitakt!

[@inkfingers]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@daxgramuglia3035]

Really rad dive into this. Thanks for the always wonderful insights and efforts to share. 🤙 from Canada!

[@OscillatorSink]

Cheers!

[@benr7177]

Holy shit. at first I thought: what is he doing, this is sounding kinda weird ? :D but when you finished the piano and finally added in the choir I couldn't believe what I was hearing. beautiful. thanks for the tutorial and the beautiful ambient music

[@OscillatorSink]

Thanks for sticking around for the whole journey - appreciate it!

[@kyuss66desert52]

Many thanks for the awesome vid! I ask myself since 6 month's what is really going on with the yellow illuminated button. Now i know....

[@OscillatorSink]

Glad to have helped a fellow Kyuss fan out!

[@kyuss66desert52]

Yeah Kyuss! Let’s make some molten universe with the Digitakt. Cheers from Germany

[@magicdave93]

This is so relaxing..... Grand master of the Digitakt 👌

[@OscillatorSink]

I'm glad that it finds you well.

[@damian4590]

Damn this is super cool

[@Imayormaynotbeatroll]

Brilliant stuff mate, can't wait to play around with some of these ideas on my own!

[@Megallicafan18]

beautiful stuff, great inspiration for a new year of music making!

[@mikamusic5679]

absolute gold my man. thank you thank you thank you.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you!

[@marc444]

Damn for a second i thought this was a new DT, the way the screen is enlarged toi the edge of the box ;)

[@OscillatorSink]

Haha, yeah sorry, that's all "movie magic" - the bigger screen does look pretty good though hey?

[@johnchesters81]

Sounds like something William Basinski might come up with. Great video!

[@G0nz0uk]

So good, I learned more from watching your videos that most others, a nice slow speed, thanks.

[@warpigs330]

I love the way this allows you to use free running loops but the changes to the loop are done in the digitakt grid, so it still happens in a nice controllable way, which is usually challenging when using loops with the digitakt.

[@OscillatorSink]

Exactly, if you have a more abstract loop or something with a more constant tone, you can really reinforce the idea of what's going on in the grid without totally killing the vibe.

[@warpigs330]

@@OscillatorSink I find probability on normal locks to be a little too obvious, but I bet you could do some incredible stuff having those trigless locks be probabilistic.

[@hmmty]

That is both useful and really beautiful. Thank you.

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you, that's very kind of you to say!

[@martzcopr]

Damn it, now I need a Digitakt. Amazing video and lovely sounds!

[@OscillatorSink]

Everyone needs a Digitakt. (and then also probably a Digitone).

[@Manusmusic]

inspiring stuff! I use a lot of green trigs but I haven't really used them this way yet. Gonna be dope as I tackle with a lot of atmospheric and ambient stuff lately. Kudos!

[@OscillatorSink]

Yessss, have fun with it!

[@bloopbleepnothinghere]

Noodles around on a sampler for 15m and up pops a masterpiece. Easy as that.

[@TristanBaldi]

Very, very cool ! Thank you

[@Laskmusic]

Incredible, thank you!

[@rgrant]

This works on the Model Samples as well! Love it!!!!

[@alansalomon]

Love it. Such a wonderfull machine. Excellent video

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you friend!

[@cohaagenup]

This was amazing, really. Thank you so much.

[@brianreilly6545]

Awesome tips! Thx for the tutorial, sounds great!

[@OscillatorSink]

Thank you, I'm glad it was useful.

[@bobz1736]

Awesome! Thank you 😀

[@nubalance]

This is great! More than a few new tricks I’ll enjoy trying. Many thanks!

[@TerekkiTerekki]

Love it