So I’ve been trying to get into my Digitakt for a while now but honestly I keep hitting the same wall. Every session feels like I’m just going through motions and ending up with really bland sounds. I spend way too much time diving into menus and tweaking parameters that don’t seem to make much difference in the end. Maybe it’s just me but a lot of tracks I hear from these machines have this similar vibe to them. The whole process feels really slow compared to other gear I use. Like with my Liven units I can get interesting variations and subtle changes happening in no time. The hands-on approach just clicks better for me. Same thing with my Roland P-6 - it feels more like playing an actual instrument rather than programming a computer. With the Digitakt everything feels so menu-driven and clinical. You either get the setting right or wrong, there’s not much middle ground. Am I missing something or is this workflow just not for everyone?
The Elektron workflow has a specific mindset that doesn’t work for everyone. Same thing happened to me with my Octatrack - felt like I was fighting the machine instead of making music. It’s not about skill level. Elektron boxes want you to be methodical and systematic when building tracks. Some people love that complexity, others find it kills their creativity. Your Liven and P-6 setup sounds way more intuitive and immediate, which keeps the creative flow going. Nothing wrong with preferring gear that responds to how you naturally play instead of forcing you to adapt. Sometimes you just gotta recognize when equipment doesn’t match your process, no matter how good everyone says it is.
yeah man, i feel you. when i 1st got mine, i felt lost too! just experiment a bit & try layering sounds. sometimes less is more ya know? and those yt vids can be super helpful, they show some cool tricks to make the flow easier.
Same thing happened to me six months after getting my Digitakt. I’d compare every beat to what I could knock out on my MPC in half the time. Everything changed when I stopped using it like a regular drum machine and started treating it as a performance sampler. Now I mostly mangle vocal snippets and atmospheric textures instead of programming straight drums. The conditional trigs and probability stuff gets way more interesting with longer samples. But honestly, some people just click better with immediate hands-on control. Elektron’s whole thing is building complex sequences over time, not instant results. If your current setup helps you finish tracks, that’s what counts - not using whatever gear’s trending.
The Digitakt’s learning curve doesn’t click for everyone. Had the same issue when I got mine.
What worked for me? Stop trying to make it do everything. Treat it like a basic sampler - longer samples, go easy on the filters and amp stuff. The real magic is in chopping and sequencing, not crazy parameter tweaking.
Try this: grab a 30-second drum break, set different start points on multiple tracks, then just jam with the mutes. Way more fun than diving straight into LFOs and effects.
But honestly? If the Liven units and P-6 work better for you, stick with them. Elektron’s workflow either clicks or it doesn’t. I mostly use mine for chopping breaks now - melodic stuff goes to more playable gear.
Don’t force it if it’s killing your creativity.