Hey Im looking for tips on a good MIDI controller for changing patterns on my elektron setup. I dont really need it to do anything else, so additional features/controls are not needed - but still welcome if they happen to be there.
Ultimately Id like it to have some kind of LED feedback (where only the last button stays lit), but it doesnt need to.
Im ok with setting it up myself, too.
What are the components of your āElektron setupā? (Some Elektron instruments have different capabilities for changing patterns.)
I use my MPC500 for this: pgm change messages in a MIDI track >Monomachine>Machinedrum.
It has the advantage of being able to store & set tempo per sequence - and send track mutes, ccs etc. as well
Akai seq>track corresponds to Elektron pattern>track more or less so if you treat ea. seq as the setup & changes for a āsongā/section etc, you can just switch seqs & the Elektrons will follow.
it would feed into the ARā¦ thats the master
this is pretty good idea, iāll look into it in the futureā¦ im keen on staying out of the box, but im not quite at the point where im needing more source units or a DAW replacement
currently im looking for something in the $200 range, maximumā¦ hopefully a bit less
really just looking for a few extra buttons in the most compatible setup
hehe yeah I know itās probably a bit over-engineeredā¦
Iāve never used mine for this but a Behringer BCN44 is a smallish box that can be programmed to select & send pgm change messages. Discontinued & hard to find these days though http://www.manualslib.com/manual/214264/Behringer-B-Control-Nano-Bcn44.html
I made the Launchpad Pro do thatā¦custom firmware focused around Digitakt. I suppose it would work for any device listening for Program Changes.
oh yeh I saw that - great work dude
and thanks for letting me know, i might have to go ahead and do that
do you have any plans for the digitone?
Be aware that AR and A4 (my two boxes) respond always one bar later when you send a pattern change command (I use Ableton Live or MPC Live for this). This is a strange behaviour and I dont understand that it is still not fixed the years these machines are available. More and more I have the feeling Elektron builds great hardware but crappy softwareā¦
That is THE PLAN! Haha! Iāve put out a ton of the firmware versions out for free on my Patreon account (public, donāt need to be a patron) But to support me buying a Digitone and making all the cool new special modes I have planned for the Digitone I need to get to my first goal there. Basically it would take 8 Digitone enthusiasts and weād be there.
This is the mode on the Launchpad I made for changing Digitakt Patterns (Could be Octatrack, Digitone, any of 'em I think)
Do you need to control more than one unit and do you want to change pattern independently on those units?
If yes, this would mean that each button of the controller should support to program:
I am not sure that controllers like the Launchpad support this. They have been developed to work with Ableton Live in first place. There is a standalone option, but AFAIK a Launchpad can send only to one midi-channel at a time.
For my hardware setup I plan also having something like Push, but out of the box. I want the buttons to change programs and/or pattern on different units, which would let me improvise on various scenes, like Push does with clips in Ableton. But TBH, I havenāt found the perfect solution yet. Actually I use the scenes of the Pyramid or the midi-tracks of the OT, which is not, how I would like to do it for the rest of my live ā¦ 
yeah Iād noticed this - I like to think of it as āpattern quantizingā, esp if Iāve set the new tempo & the old pattern keeps playing for a while but sounding a bit unwell. Maybe you can send a track mutes to avoid
midi mouse is cool, but i need access to all the 16 patterns at the same time
no i just let the AR be the master, and the AK follows it
honestly im trying to keep it pretty simpleā¦ im just trying to avoid the cumbersome dual-button time-out thing that it does - and also free up my hands/brain inside the elektron UI for more continuous play with the other aspectsā¦ because as it is, its not nearly ergonomic enough for me - also i dont want to be switching banks in a set and therefore i dont want to risk switching banks either
im contemplating switching the AK to be the master and just use multi-mapā¦ but i kinda need to have the ability to rock the AR alone without having to carry the AK around too
figuring this out is only a side project but its also something i would LOVE to solve
You might already know that neither AR nor AK support to generate or transmit midi pgm-ch messages.
AFAIK the only midi they can broadcast are midi-clock, start-stop, and record. Since both units need pgm-ch messages to switch between pattern, you need at least a unit in your setup, which can generate and send pgm-ch messages to the Elektrons.
Routing could be like this:
Now the AK is receiving the midi-clock from the AR, which synchronizes both, and both receive pgm-ch messages from the controller.
If you need only 16 pattern to be switched and wish to have your hands free, what about controllers like this?