umoTalk #5: What's Next for Elektron in 2018 / 2019? My Ideas for new Devices! 

me too! :-) thank you

thx Mathieu. If they would ever make something like this - i would jump around in circles, thats for sure! :-D

there is no difference between sizes of octatrack and digitakt , how much space will you save, 2 inches on your desk? i mean they both compact and small enough

we now have Syntakt. Did this tickle your heartbeat? :D

thanks mate! send it to them as well. that way we are two already ;-)

thank you chat. But idk if i even wanna get hired ... could lead to biased opinions in the future if everything goes wrong ;-)

in my opinion umonox, you do a really good job, why wouldn't you design such a machine if you aren't involved in some kind of elektron research?!

im not an engineer and i have no programming skills whatsover. thats the reason why i havent built my own synth yet ;-)

yeah funny Elektron should hire us both to do product design and field customer sales!

youre welcome ;-) and: Thank you!

thanks! let's hope they find this Video one day - and have the same feeling ;-)

hell yeah! I want them both !!! :-D

yeah, but that would make so much sense, dont you think? Especially because OB would allow them to really make this mixer come alive. It could even become the major Recording Device for everything you have around. This would push OB to its limits quite easily and would challenge Elektron's programmers to make it as efficient as possible. Which in turn would improve OB for all of our other devices. Win Win Situation, so to say :)

umonox I wouldn’t mind seeing a hardware mixer definitely, but I think it’s likely that Elektron see a DAW with OB as covering the same ground. The monomachine mock-up you made is genius.

thats how opinions can differ from each other :-) i get what you wanna say with that. probably you are even right :-D lets see what Elektron has on their mind. At least the Monomachine definitely has to come back, thats for sure! We are begging for ages over at Elektronauts already! Still dont know what they are waiting for ;-)

Benjamin Welch octatrack?

It's probably the closest but still, it's an amazing sampler that can also be a great sequencer. The Cirklon has 5 midi ins/outs, USB, 64 tracks, more than 4 note polyphony, CV bus, etc. That's why I think a standalone sequencer could be amazing. If Elektron made the best hardware sequencer they could with no other priority, I think it would be amazing. The Analog Four MKII has CV in as well, allowing it to be controlled from a modular synth. I imagine a hardware sequencer, built by Elektron, with a ton of ports, CV in both directions, 64 tracks, 20 note polyphony, LFOs, envelopes, Midi/CV effects built in, and of course, conditional trigs/parameter locking. Oh, and a song mode. This would become the hub of all my Elektron stuff and the rest of my studio/live setup.

Use Midibox/MIDI seq4, it's most advanced sequencer engine, and it's open hardware

yeah, the names are actually just names ;-) i needed something to place there and got no better idea :-D

me too a great vintage FM synth. Also love the old Machine Drum.

thank you! :-)

thank you mate! really appreciate your kind words! :-)

awesome! :-)

I was thinking the same thing the next morning. He sold me on a non existent machine!

oh yeah, this ... would be awesome. but i doubt that this will happen. they never said it, but i would assume that the OT's OS is simply not compatible with OB and its probably overkill to rebuilt it from the ground up. but an OT with OB would definitely be awesome, thats for sure!

yep, like i said: im no engineer, so i have no clue if these things feel great and ... make sense :-) i've noticed it while "designing" it though. it was really not that easy to find proportions which somehow make sense. but in the end its Elektrons task to make it happen ;-) Luckily i dont work in this field of product design. I can easily imagine how much headache thinking about the right "thing" could make ! :-D

yes of course, damn. how could i forget that :-D dedicated Mic Inputs would really make sense! As it is right now, you would have to use one of the Stereo Inputs for that. But 16 Tracks which could be Audio Tracks ... i dont see how 16 Stereo Inputs could fit into this format. Really not :-)

umonox I was actually thinking of 16 mono tracks while under the audio format, while maintaining the 4 note poly when any of the tracks are set as midi tracks. Also one input is fine since the sampled data can be assigned to any track.

not a bad idea indeed. this could also cut the cost a little while we stay flexible. should i render again?! :-D

umonox If you have Elektrons ear, I would say render all ideas that are feasible to add to the Digitakt, while keeping the price down for future users.

sadly im almost sure that i dont have their ear :-/ you wont believe how long we beg for similar things over at Elektronauts already :-) our wishes and imaginations will probably often breach their abilities. but maybe they surprise us?! lets see how things go. NAMM isnt that far off anymore and im sure they show us something. even if its "only" a working prototype of the new OB Suite ;-)

im depressed now. if its only the animated models that made you sub - and not my channel and me ... 😁 😁 😁 just kidding! ;-) thanks man and welcome onboard!

if this wouldnt be such a complicated field, i would probably do that :-) thank you!

:-) Send the Video to Elektron mate. Though i doubt that they would listen ... considering all the Model Stuff they did in the past years :-(

@@umonox In my opinion the Model series is just a way to get people "addicted" and make them buy the more refinded machines later on! ;-) Model:Cycles may be interesting for me to get started, cause I'm sure that I couldn't deal with the complexity of a Digitone. But Digitakt is still on my shortlist. PS: Thanks for all the videos (Digitakt, OP-1, etc.) ;-)

I think it has to do with sales tbh. Small and affordable Machines sell better than big and pricey ones. Its an intended side effect to get people into the Elektron ecosystem in that they add the full featured Sequencer to these small buddies ;-) But most of the big machines aged now - MK2 Models gave them a refresh, sure - but something truly unique and truly new should be there asap. People have tons of ideas for ages. But Elektron is very good at NOT listening to customers in that respect :-D Sometimes this is good (the Digitakt was a true surprise and could satisfy both new and experienced users alike) but sometimes this is also bad (no one needed a Digitone Keys - especially not in the format of the old Monomachine Keyboard, which already didnt sell well back at that time). But i agree in terms of the Model:Cycles: It brings back the heritage from the good old Machinedrum times - but is limiting it's machines to FM only. Still looks to be the more interesting Model-Device over all. Will have a look at this ... once its finally available in Germany :-) We still have to wait here :-/

i so damn hope that Elektron has the same opinion about that. Because you are right! Small machines for the win :-)

thank you :-) but i think its enough to give them a heads up for what they could do. whether they use these ideas or not - is nothing i really wanna be involved in ;) i fear biased opinions from my side after a while ... are you an engineer? can you program? lets stick together, start a kickstarter and built these machines on our own instead! :-D

umonox I wish I was an engineer, I would jump at the chance

well, Modular is getting more popular each year and literally tons of new Modules come out every Month. i dont think that there's a huge gap for Elektron. although the possibilities are nearly endless, thats for sure. i still think they should stick to their boxes and make these self-contained dream machines instead :-) but thats just my 2 cents. maybe in a year or so, no one needs self-contained boxes anymore :-D

i think Arturia has this covered quite well. cant imagine the complexity of the Elektron sequencer paired with the noodling nature of Patching stuff to infinity :-) this would be a time waster like nothing else - we dont live forever man :-D

Let's see whats coming next year ;-) Currently the "Lineup" of new machines is a bit boring for my taste. Lots of MK2, just the Digitone as a new machine which is too limiting because its FM only ... i also hope for the next big thing from Elektron, but this wont happen before NAMM next year i think.

I can’t say that I’m bored by the mk2 since i’ve only adopted Elektron gear since the MK2 series... but I can understand looking back on the legacy products. I’m actually more tempted to pick up say a monomachine than the digitone. Also as per me having the Rytm Mk2 and the Octatrack Mk2- are so extensive that I feel it will be years before I have explored its full functionality. Most of the time the new release is a tempting distraction from the course.

each machines biases are the parameters we adopt for creation...

yeah but its only distraction for as long as youre still new to the Elektron world. If you live there since - basically - forever ... new doesnt last that long anymore ;-) the Monomachine is a good idea. But be prepared that its sounding rather thin compared to modern synths. Its more flexible though, thats for sure.

do you recommend the analog heat as an end of the chain fx unit? Or is there something else on the market that you would say is as versatile and unique?

hrhr, yeah, but sadly not exactly. Digitone is purely FM based, Monotakt has the heritage of the Monomachine and delivers more synth methods - not just FM ;) but at least they really gave it 8 voices. that was a good decision. missed the pre-order - like before with the Digitakt last year :) lets see how long the wait will be.

thats my guess too. but i still have hopes for something new :-)

it's cool, for sure. but im not a big fan of FM, so it probably wont be for me. unless i try it out i assume :-D yeah, we cant have everything. but at least they gave it 8 voices. this is going into the right direction now. some more of these Digitones with specialized Synthesis Methods under the hood and we have a nice little small trinity going on. kind of like the volcas on steroids! :-D

thank you mate! Nope, i cant go to NAMM, its out of reach - financially, and in terms of time and distance as well. I try to get to the Superbooth in May though ;) This year time will hopefully be on my side for these 300 km from there i live :-)

umonox Superbooth is awesome! I can't wait to hear your reviews of it.👍🏽😎

haha maybe im so stoked that i forget them?! :-D lets see how things go.

hell yeah, me too !!! imagine that this box would combine analog and digital effects and that it would have at least 8 Stereo Inputs as well :) yeah, i see lots of creative energy inside such thing; especially for live performances where DJs could use this to re-structure their tracks on the fly.guess what? Elektron should build ALL of our ideas !!! :-D

same!!!!

absolutely agree !! two different sizes would be awesome, thats right. and in addition to more mixer channels the big box would also need Hardware Sends. so you can build proper Send/Return Chains. Separate Headphone Mix Busses would also be amazing; this way you could do pre-Mixing of a Live Set while you go ... hell - so much ideas ... we should all group together, start a Kickstarter and build such thing on our own! Because if we wait for Elektron to do these, we may wait forever im afraid :-D

Seriously, I'm surprised with how popular hardware is again NO ONE is producing a professional live mixer with good built in effects and features. Uggggggg! I've been tempted to make my own with a Raspberry Pi interface but I just don't have the time or space to make custom built hardware.

OB2 isnt even out for Win 10 yet :-) Dont expect this to come out for Win 7 anytime soon. And - multiple Synth Engines on the Digitakt are surely not possible because, you said it already, its a Sampler :-) The Digitone is exactly what i was aiming for with the Monotakt Idea. Except that Elektron made it an FM-Synth only - which is a shame! Because they can do better in that respect. They did with the Monomachine back then. I really dont see why they wasted so much potential with the Digitone ... but it makes sense from a selling PoV: Make more Digitones with different Sound Engines and sell more machines that way. Its not the nicest aspiration towards us customers though ...

@@umonox Yeah, but you can do FM by just using a single cycle waveform and then modulating it, and it's like a cross between FM and granular. I don' really know of to many synth engines overall, but just simply being able to sample your waveform for the start point is really where you can get anywhere you want sonically. They do have the Beta of Overbridge for the Digitakt out and people in the Elektronauts forum's have links to get the drivers for it to work, so if you use Win10 you can I believe at least use the Beta version for now.

Yes, the Beta is out for ages already. And its exactly this: A beta :-) Unless its final, its probably not worth messing around with it. Taking single-cycle Waveforms and looping them while sculpting the Amp Envelope of the Sound is a feature of almost any Sampler ;-) The Digitakt only has a very great workflow for that. So it really doesnt have to do with Synthesis here, its just the usage of a feature the Sample Engine offers. Synthesis creates sounds from "scratch". Either with Oscillators or with granular Engines that take Samples and divide them into millions of different Pieces - when resynthesizing them in any way you like. This is true granular Synthesis btw. An "easy" example is Steinbergs fantastic Padshop. One of the best Granular Synths i got a chance to use in the past. Its Software though. And FM is basically the weird combination of Sine Waves put together in various Modes (where Operators and Carriers create the Sound by modulating each other in different ways). It always tends to sound metallic because of this. This is the Synthesis Method that the Digitone uses. And sadly only this. Wavetable Synthesis on the other hand puts various waveforms into one single Wavetable which is loaded by the Oscillator and this one allows you to scan through these waves and interpolate between them. Thats why there is no stepping if you dont want it. Theoretically you could achieve this with the Digitakt but it will eventually fail since you never find a balance between interpolation (which you have to "program" into the Sample) and correct tuning while you move through the Wave. All in all: We need actual Synth Engines. And basically all of them in one Box :-D I hope that Elektron works on a new big Box, a Monomachine 2 of some sort, which offers this freedom again. Until then: Lets keep fingers crossed :-)

@@umonox Cool. I don't really know how the various types work in as much detail as you do, so I was just guessing from other sources that have given those examples as at least a limited approach. Well I hope they do make a good multi-engined synth, but until then I'll just use my two subtractive synths and the infinite samples available online to get by on. Again, really thought your design visual's were great. Do you do that for a living or is the software you use fairly easy to learn?

No, (sadly) im not doing this for a living. I learned these Tools in self-study throughout the years. They are not easy to learn, but worth it. If you are a student you can head over to Autodesk's Education Community and grab them for free. Specifically im talking about 3ds max, which was the Tool i used for this Video. But Maya is also awesome and it seems to be used more often these days. Its really nice to see that Autodesk decided to offer Students these Tools for free so that they can learn them on their own pace. If this would've been possible in 2000 already, as i started learning, life would've been much easier i think ;-)

:-)

Or add in a stereo sampler for each track on your digimix with pattern selector (like the a4)

:-) so far i havent received a wire transfer yet ;-)

at first i was like: digitakt format? check. 8 voices? nice! check. a full Synth again? check. but when i read the manual and thought: have they missed something? does this thing really just FM synthesis? was a bit disappointed then. i feared: with FM only it would surely sound waay too much like the 80's in the end. but now that some audio demos come to the table i slowly start thinking about giving it a chance. some demo patterns that loopop showed sound quite modern. But to be honest: This can only be the beginning! they should either release several new machines in this format with different synth engines now (a DigiWave - Wavetable/Phase Distortion synth - would be something i would buy without a question) or they should unveil the full fledged, full sized big Synth at Superbooth now. one that integrates different synth engines again. like the monomachine before ;) So ... i think im testing out the Digitone if nothing else comes to the table. But im not particularily interested in pure FM synthesis as this will probably get too old - too fast again.

umonox thanks for replying so quick. I really like your montotakt concept that would be something I would consider before the digitone

thank you :-) if i could code FPGAs and if i wouldve studied electrical engineering, i would probably start a Kickstarter and build this thing on my own :-D im almost sure that Elektron will never satisfy our whole needs. and probably: they cant, since they have a couple of mouths to feed :) production of the Monotakt could surely become quite expensive due to the time necessary to make this thing great :) So, to all who are reading this: Lets start a kickstarter and make our own Monotakt! anyone around with some decent technical skills?? :-D

:)

thanks :-) have them inside of 3ds max, yeah. But there's no need to share them since it isnt really hard to build these on your own ;-) these are mainly boxes, shaped into the right form, extruded and beveled a little - i havent done proper subdivision surface modeling here, because it wasnt necessary :) the Materials are the key, mostly. this is all rendered in Arnold btw. Cheers

just wrote you a message in Elektronauts forum ;)

me too! :-)

xD

oh, and they actually did !! how the heck could you know that??? :-D

xD

Well, i wouldnt like the Digitakt becoming a cluttered DAW in a Box! More Effects and Stereo Samples would be a Dream. But for this: We have the Octatrack ;-) So - i think its just fine the way it is. Its limitations forces us to use it to the Max - which is something i like!

id rather have an mpc in digitakt format with the dedicated knobs. people are buying the digitakt for sampling anyway. octatrack only has 8 tracks of audio as well. you could limit yourself anyway you wish.