The Elektron Digitakt, a Swedish gem
I must admit that I bought my Digitakt quite late, so late in fact, I might have just purchased one of the last batch ever to be manufactured because in the past week, the Digitakt 2 has just been released around 6 years after the first one entered the market. Nonetheless it is still a great instrument and complements the other kit that makes up my little studio.
Coming up in future posts, I’ll talk about the various ways it can be used, some nifty tricks I’ve learnt from others or have figured out one way or another.
Spinning discs
In terms of which turntable to go for, I recommend Audio Technica, this particular model cost just over £200 and I recommend Richer Sounds, who have an outlet in Reading and other towns too. Currently it is connected to either my Digitakt, SP-404 or more often than not, directly into my monitor speakers, for sitting back, listening with a nice coffee or stronger drink if in the evening!
Crate digging around Berkshire
The record I talk about in today’s video, was “The Crusaders, The Best Of” that I bought from Pop Classics, in Caversham, Reading. I very nearly bought the Stevie Wonder record too but had decided, to buy just the one, this is a slow process and I don’t want to fill the house with records or spend too much. I am thinking about what might work well for sampling as much as just enjoying the listening experience.
The record still sounds great, it is in impeccable condition, as I have laid my hands on some that haven’t been in such a good state as this. I will go back to Pop Classics again soon and might have a look at purchasing some more records from online stores such as Juno Records for example, as I have done in the past.
Substack discoveries
‘s Substack is right up my street and was interesting to read about Olaf’s shop.
New recordings
During the production of the video, I recorded some sounds to the Roland SP-404, I include the audio clip below, so that you can have a listen, if you don’t have the time right now to watch the 23 minute long video :-)
This sound was generated by my synth being sequenced by the Digitakt and then some wild FX were applied using the Roland SP-404 to great effect. Sounds like a Krill or some other alien sci-fi sort of sound.
Microphone test
Since I got my Zoom H6 recently, was my birthday present from April, I have tried it out in various configurations and it is absolutely brilliant. I now use it with the Sp-404 and connected to a Rode condenser mic to record my voice or a badly out of tune, dusty guitar rescued from the loft. Don’t worry I’ve ordered some nice new strings for it, so that it can be used properly soon. We will explore sampling guitar riffs, chord progressions and the like another time. My guitar skills though are as dusty as the instrument itself but it should come back to me quite fast I reckon!!!
It was quite difficult talking at the same time as applying the effects, as you start to talk in a weird voice, as if trying to mimic the effect vocally….
The above leads onto this recording, testing the microphone out with an acoustic guitar and a few anecdotes towards the end. The strings with the exception of the “D” are all loose and just goes to show that recording something that is “broken” can lead to some interesting ideas. Playing the guitar as a drum is interesting as the echo of the strings resonating, sounds good. I talk about re-learning an instrument that you haven’t played in years and I bestow the virtues of the versatile SP-404 sampler and effector. Versatile gear is worth every penny.
I am currently running through a load of recordings I made not so long ago along a stretch of coast, these will all drop into the newsletter in the good course of time.
Have a great day. Make noises.
Sampling from vinyl records and other things