Hi, I’m still working out the best, most fluid workflow for how to capture my Digitakt jams into Ableton via Overbridge.
My main question is: What is the best approach for capturing your FX channels?
As Ableton can only take 16 inputs, you have to merge a few channels of sequencing to free up some channels in OB to capture FX in the DAW.
This is fine of course, but once I’ve captured everything, if I start muting audio and chopping stuff up to create a new arrangement, obviously the wet FX tracks will not reflect those edits.
Which makes me think: is it better to not actually bother with using FX in Digitakt, as it is probably easier to capture everything DRY, and apply new FX via sends in the DAW.
(which kind of defeats the purpose of doing any sound design in the Digitakt that uses FX)
Upon reflection, perhaps there is a philosophical element to thinking about this, as broadly, there are two approaches:
1.) To capture a live jam straight out of the Digitakt, with the jammed arrangement more or less being the final arrangement, and then just applying some final mixing in the DAW.
2.) To treat any stems (FX stems included) as just raw materials, that will be further remixed and processed, possibly creating a radically different final product.
Maybe consciously approaching Overbridge with either mindset will yield better outcomes, and reconcile the limitations of the process.
Just from a philosophical standpoint as you put it, or possibly psychological: when you’re normally jamming with the effects lane engaged and impacting the master, it acts a bit like the glue for what you’re hearing. So to say, the sonic product of the effects is a cohesive balance of the sounds interacting and is pleasing to the ear and the brain. I think we mostly use effects in general because they do something similar to the finished product.
I would say that for you, on the side of monitoring, hearing the fx track on the master while you’re recording is probably more important than recording the effects themselves. If you have dry stems, you can always add effects at a later time, but if you like the way the inbuilt fx sound and you want to keep that, it will be more difficult to reproduce the performative impact of the internal effects on the stems after the fact, so you have to prioritize whether you like the performative sound of the inbuilt effects and whether you’re willing to sacrifice the flexibility of the full stem set in order to get it.
It sounds like the biggest impact for you will be muting and then ultimately perhaps mixing. If you have more than one sound going to the same track, it will be a lot harder to mix that track after the fact because cutting a frequency or boosting a frequency could have a significantly different impact on one sound vs the other, therefore if you intend to do it that way, I would probably only use those bounce tracks with sounds that you are fairly confident won’t need extra work to make them sit in the mix.
Just speaking from a fundamental standpoint because I don’t really work with ableton so I can’t help you with the impact of the daw specific choices. Not sure if that’s helpful, but that’s at least how I think about it.
Kind of like eq’ing a drum break is a lot more work than eq’ing a kick a snare and a hi hat all on their own, you have to make compromises or you lose the overall feel and sometimes you end up eq’ing your other sounds to fit with the drum break rather than your original intention of making the drum break fit better with your sounds that you’re already happy with.
Consider consolidating a couple tracks into one (by utilizing sample locks) so that you still have tracks remaining for recording the fx bus with.
I have even outlined a theoretical method how to get the digitakt master compressor into your final mix using OB2, while still being able to multitrack record everything in the DAW… Its all doable once you plan things a bit (and suss out the level discrepancies between standalone digitakt use and OB2 / USB send/retn levels)… I can try to look for the thread if you’re interested…
Once you have the fx track in ableton, you can group/link it with your other track(s) in order to make editing them together easier
If you wish to modify the arrangement in DAW using printed audio clips it makes sense to record dry imo. You can still create the jam with internal fx but probably best to turn them off before recording and just set up similar sends in DAW.
Alternatively, you could automate the song structure using OB plugin.
I also find it frustrating that the individual tracks don’t have the FX on them. Depending on what I’m recording, I use different approaches:
Record the stereo master track of a full performance via OB and individual tracks just in case. Use stereo master track as final audio that I might manipualte lightly with a compressor or performance FX.
Record the stereo master track of only one or a few tracks at a time so I have them separate but with FX. You could also use song mode and mute/unmute stuff, tweak knobs etc. to record a performance. Probably the best approach if playing with FX is really important to your tracks.
Record stereo master track as reference and all individual tracks with DAW FX on them that resemble those of Elektron. Ableton stock plugins for reverb and echo sound relatively close to Elektron FX imo, the Ableton chorus is different but I like it better. You can also use other plugins of course so that it sounds different than Elektron stock plugins (like Valhalla stuff for example). If you perform a lot with FX, not ideal, but a MIDI controller might help. You can also build track groups and put compression, EQ, saturation etc. on them.
A mix of all these approaches: Setup an OB project that has individual tracks or groups of them with FX like on your Elektron, plus additional FX Elektrons won’t give you. Build groups of tracks for performance FX. Map a MIDI controller to these. I did this with an ST/DN performance and liked the result. ST tracks are bundled into two groups: drums and melodic elements. Both groups have some performance FX mapped to a MIDI controller. DN is running into an FX pedal and recorded via ST input in OB. I’ve set things up so that I record the individual audio tracks pre Ableton FX and two stereo tracks with the two groups plus the Ableton performance FX.
Yes, i think that is probably one of the approaches that I will explore moving forward. Its rarely essential to use all 16 tracks, and of course, tracks can be combined, using judicious placement of trig locks — thus freeing up tracks for recording the various FX independently.
Another variant of this is that I have two other keyboards (Nord Electro and Nord Lead) that I sometimes sequence using the DT2, so I can capture those channels using my SD card on my Mixer, and then recombine them in the DAW, and i will also have those two channels freed up to capture FX.
Very curious to read about how you have figured out how to capture the master compressor (and master drive?) into your final mix in the DAW — I’ll seek out your thread on that.
Oh, if anyone has a hack/recipe for accurately replicating the Digitakt Master Overdrive in a DAW, that would be appreciated.
I really like the sound of it – so I guess it is just a matter of testing a few different Saturators/Overdive FX on my DAWs master channel to see what sounds good. Not exactly rocket science!
Not exactly rocket science!