Chapter 6

Songs & performance

Arrange patterns into songs and play the machine live.

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In this chapter · 2

6.1Song mode
6.2PERFORM KIT mode

6.1IntermediateManual §10.13 p.53, §10.13.1 p.53, §10.13.2 p.54, §10.13.3 p.55, §16 p.86

Song mode

Song mode turns a set of patterns into a finished arrangement. Each row of a song plays one pattern with its own play count, length, tempo and track mutes — the intro twice, the verse four times with a track muted, then the chorus, and so on. A song can be up to 99 rows long, and each project holds up to 16 songs.

Create a song

Press SONG, then one of TRIG 1–16 to choose a song slot and enter SONG mode.
Press FUNC + SONG to open the SONG EDIT screen.
On an empty slot, choose INSERT ROW and press FUNC + DOWN to add the first row — or choose CREATE ROWS FROM CHAIN (below).
Press FUNC + DOWN to add more rows. Each new row appears below the selected one as a copy of it; FUNC + UP removes the selected row.
Move around with the ARROW keys and change the highlighted value with LEVEL/DATA or any DATA ENTRY knob.
To name the song, go to SETTINGS > SONG > RENAME (SONG settings menu).
Press NO or FUNC + SONG to close the SONG EDIT screen.

Start from a chain

On an empty song slot, choose CREATE ROWS FROM CHAIN and press YES.
Use the chain you’ve already built, or make a new one by pressing TRIG 1–16 keys, changing bank with LEFT/RIGHT.
Press YES to create the rows and open the SONG EDIT screen.

The SONG EDIT screen

SONG ROW: The row number, 01–99.
LABEL: A keyword for the row’s part in the song, such as Verse, Chorus or Fill — or the pattern’s name.
PTN: The pattern the row plays. Hold FUNC while turning the knob to jump between banks.
ROW PLAY COUNT: How many times the row plays before the song moves on to the next row.
ROW LENGTH: How many steps of the pattern the row plays, from 2 to 1024; the last 25 values appear as K00–K24. It starts at the pattern’s own length.
ROW TEMPO: The row’s BPM. A row takes the BPM and swing of its pattern unless you change it. Press TEMPO, or YES with the BPM highlighted, to open the TEMPO menu for the row’s pattern, where you can set swing too. You can also give the whole song one BPM: choosing song tempo on any row overrides every row and pattern tempo. Swing is always set per row.
SONG POINTER: The playhead’s current time and position in the arrangement.
ROW MUTE: Mutes tracks of the row’s pattern. Highlight it, press YES, then mute and unmute with the TRIG keys. Rows with muted tracks show a mute icon. When you choose a pattern for a row, its mutes start out matching the pattern’s.
END: The closing row every song has. It decides what happens after the last row: LOOP, the default, plays the song again from the top; STOP ends it.
Selected row: Shown between dotted lines. Choose it with UP and DOWN.
PLAYHEAD: Marks the row that’s playing — or the one that will play, if the sequencer is stopped.
SONG SLOT and SONG NAME: Which of the 16 songs you’re editing, and its name.

SONG EDIT screen

SONG, then TRIG 1–16: Selects a song and enters SONG mode.
FUNC + SONG: Opens or closes the SONG EDIT screen.
ARROW: Moves between rows and columns.SONG EDIT screen
UP/DOWN: Selects a row.SONG EDIT screen
FUNC + DOWN: Adds a copy of the selected row below it.SONG EDIT screen
FUNC + UP: Deletes the selected row.SONG EDIT screen
FUNC + RECORD: Copies the selected row.SONG EDIT screen
FUNC + STOP: Pastes the copied row onto the selected row.SONG EDIT screen
FUNC + PLAY: Resets the selected row to its pattern’s default BPM, length and mute state.SONG EDIT screen
Hold FUNC + turn the knob: Changes bank quickly while choosing the row’s pattern.SONG EDIT screen, PTN column
YES: Moves the playhead to the selected row.SONG EDIT screen, row number highlighted
YES: Opens mute editing; then mute and unmute tracks with the TRIG keys.SONG EDIT screen, ROW MUTE highlighted
YES: Opens the TEMPO menu for the row’s pattern.SONG EDIT screen, BPM highlighted
TEMPO: Opens the TEMPO menu for the selected row’s pattern.SONG EDIT screen
TRIG 1–16: Previews and plays the track presets of the pattern on the playhead row.SONG EDIT screen
NO: Closes the SONG EDIT screen.SONG EDIT screen

Play a song

Press SONG, then a TRIG 1–16 key. The song last played or edited is the one selected.
Press PLAY. The top of the screen shows the song number, the row that’s playing, the total number of rows, the row’s LABEL and its pattern’s bank and number — and fills up like a progress bar as the row plays.
Press STOP to stop. PLAY then carries on from the playhead; press STOP twice to send the playhead back to the start.
To leave SONG mode, select a pattern with PTN + TRIG 1–16.

Playing a song

PLAY: Plays the song from the playhead.SONG mode
STOP: Stops the song.SONG mode
STOP twice: Moves the playhead to the start of the song.SONG mode
SONG + LEFT: Loops the row that’s playing; press again to return to normal song playback.SONG mode
SONG + UP/DOWN: Moves the song pointer up or down a row, choosing the row to jump to and play next.SONG mode
SONG twice: Opens the SONG EDIT screen.SONG mode
PTN + TRIG 1–16: Selects a pattern and leaves SONG mode.SONG mode

From the community

Elektron Digitone II - Lessons For Complete Beginners - Video 19 - Getting In & Out Of Song Mode
Daddy Long Les
A quick how-to for moving between pattern mode and song mode.

Tips for playing a Live Set entirely with the Digitone 2 onlyElektronauts — Ideas for transitions, build-ups and per-pattern mutes when the Digitone II is the only instrument on stage.

6.2IntermediateManual §10.14 p.55, §10.14.1 p.56

PERFORM KIT mode

Normally each pattern brings its own kit. In PERFORM KIT mode, changing pattern doesn’t load the new pattern’s kit — you keep playing the current one, tweaks and all — and changes to preset parameters aren’t saved automatically. A filter you open during a breakdown stays open as you move to the next pattern, so the performance evolves smoothly instead of snapping back, and nothing gets saved by accident.

Press FUNC + PRESET/KIT to turn the mode on or off. While it’s on, a flashing P appears beside the pattern name and PRESET/KIT lights blue.

Key combinations

FUNC + PRESET/KIT: Turns PERFORM KIT mode on or off.
PRESET/KIT + NO: Reloads the current pattern’s kit instantly.PERFORM KIT mode
PRESET/KIT + YES: Opens the SAVE (KIT) menu to save the current pattern’s modified kit.PERFORM KIT mode

From the community