The day is here: Elektron has announced Digitone II, the follow-up to their 2018 instrument Digitone. I'll venture to guess that Digitone II isn't so much of a surprise for most. When Elektron announced the Digitakt II earlier this year, speculation about a Digitone follow-up immediately followed—and today, we're happy to see what this updated take entails.

Meet the Machines

Before getting into the details about the specific synth machines, I'd like to quickly address an important note about the Digitone II's general synthesis structure. You can think of the signal flow in each audio track as being more or less the same, regardless the selected synth machine. The idea is, essentially, that a synth machine generates the initial sound; it then passes to a filter (with selectable filter machine type and dedicated envelope generator); it then passes to an amplifier stage with dedicated envelope generator. Distortion-style effects (overdrive, bitcrushing, sample rate reduction) can be added before or after the filter machine stage. Send levels to a global reverb, delay, and chorus are implemented at the end of the voice's signal path. Additionally, per-track mod sources (LFOs, random generators, etc) can be used to modulate a track's local parameters.

So, no matter which synth machine you choose, all of these other aspects remain intact. Regardless the selected synth machine, you'll still get additional filtering, an amp stage, envelopes, modulation, distortion effects, and send levels to global modulation/spatial effects. You can think of the synth machine stage as being primarily a sound generator, in the same sense that an oscillator section generates sound in most conventional synthesizers. The key difference is that synth machines are much more complex than the typical oscillator—combining multiple sound sources, envelopes, etc. into a single, larger function block. In some cases, the synth machine can be treated as a full synth voice without needing to think about the downstream filter machine and amp stages; and in other cases, you might approach the synth machine as a continuous sound generator that gets shaped primarily by these later stages. I hope that makes sense.

So, on to the details. As of the release date, Digitone II ships with four synth machines, each tailored to a different sound design approach. The four synth machines are FM TONE, FM DRUM, WAVETONE, and SWARMER. So, what are these all about?

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[Above: Detail of the FM TONE primary edit page.]

FM TONE should be familiar to users of the original Digitone—it's the same style of synth engine found on the 2018 predecessor. That is to say, it's a sound generator based on a four-operator Frequency Modulation synthesis structure. it allows for selection of several FM algorithms—allowing for various types of interrelation between the internal operators. Each algorithm features two audio outputs (X and Y) with a "mix" control, which allows you to continuously crossfade between two different points in the FM signal path. Additionally, there are two variable FM indices, each with a dedicated depth control and associated envelope generator—allowing you to create FM timbres that evolve over time. Additionally, you have control for the tuning ratio of each of the four operators (A, B1, B2, and C). The first page of controls allows for the establishment of integer ratios (keeping your FM nice and harmonically stable), but fear not: the final page of controls for the FM tone engine allows you to introduce offset values to each ratio for creating inharmonic, unstable ratios.

Other primary timbral controls include the HARM parameter, which allows you to alter the waveshapes of either operator C or both operators A and B1. This gives you access to a wide range of timbres even without employing the frequency modulation itself—and when modulated, the HARM parameter is something akin to the sounds of scanning a wavetable. It's a nice touch. Each algorithm also allows for internal feedback at some point in the FM signal chain; its effect can range from subtle graininess all the way to explosive blasts of noise (nice). Likewise, the Detune parameter, which applies an offset to operator A and B2, can be used to introduce a subtle sense of movement or a significant degree of sonic instability.

The envelopes in the FM TONE machine are quite complex, allowing for many types of articulations and timbral evolutions. I won't cover this aspect in detail here, but suffice to say that there's a huge range of options for creating timbral evolution within the FM TONE machine itself without even needing to touch the filter or mod sections.

Moving on, we can look at the FM DRUM algorithm, which—you guessed it—is an FM-based machine optimized for creating percussion sounds. It's worth mentioning that you can, of course, make percussive sounds with the FM TONE engine alone...but FM DRUM makes it much faster to do so, and offers additional tricks for shaping your transients, distorting your tones, and more.

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[Above: Detail of the FM DRUM signal path.]

FM DRUM uses a three-operator FM structure, with many parameters carried over from the FM TONE machine. You get selectable algorithm, variable waveshape for operator C and operators A/B, respectively, continuously variable feedback, and complex envelopes for shaping two FM indices over time. Additionally, you get Sweep Time and Depth controls for introducing a decay-only pitch envelope at the beginning of each note, great for crafting kick and tom sounds. You also get a pre-filter wavefolder, great for extra distortion and grit.

One of the strengths of the FM DRUM algorithm when compared to the FM TONE algorithm is that it deprioritizes the use of harmonic ratios between the operators, and deprioritizes a 1:1 pitch mapping between the played note and the sounding pitch. Instead, you get a continuously variable, wide-ranging tuning control, with continuously variable ratios for operators A and B. This makes it much easier to dial in inharmonic ratios, great for percussive tones. Additionally, the wide-ranging continuous tuning means that you have a lot of options when sequencing tracks that use the FM Drum algorithm. For instance, when programming a kick sound, you don't necessarily need to make sure that your sequencer trigs' note values are in an especially low octave—you can just tune the machine low and never really have to think about the specific pitches you're programming. Additionally, you can then sequence pitch just by parameter locking the tuning control rather than changing the trig pitch—nice for folks who feel more comfortable ignoring the pitch-based sequencing workflows.

Another interesting aspect of the FM DRUM machine is its transient and noise section. The Drum Transient control allows you to select between a variety of transient sounds, great for adding extra punch to the onset of your notes. You get an additional transient level control, and you can, if desired, even turn down the "body" (FM voice) levels to listen to the transient tone alone. (This can be a good approach for creating snare or hat-like sounds.) Additionally, you have a granular noise generator with its own hold/decay envelope, level control, continuously variable density, and variable-width bandpass filter. If you want abrupt bursts of noise, pitchless percussive sounds, or even just a little fizz and crackle, this is the place to look. It is one of my favorite parts of the instrument, altogether.

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[Above: Detail of the WAVETONE primary edit page.]

The WAVETONE machine is a wavetable synth engine with two oscillators per voice, a flexible noise source, and a variety of inter-oscillator modulation options. Each oscillator offers a variety of variable parameters: tuning (great for dialing in harmonies or subtle offsets), waveshape, phase distortion, and loudness. As of the time of launch, WAVETONE allows you to select between one of two wavetables for the WAVETONE machine: one which gives you access to classic synth shapes (triangle, saw, square, etc.), and one which focuses on more classic wavetable-like combinations of harmonics. The phase distortion control is somewhat like a pulse width parameter, but it works with any waveshape: allowing you to "squeeze" the shape toward the left or right side of its period for peculiar filter-like characteristics.

You can choose between several types of inter-oscillator interactions: hard sync, ring modulation, and a "fixed" type of ring modulation in which oscillator two does not track incoming pitch changes. Additionally, you can specify a linear pitch offset in hertz (vs. cents)—great for patches in which the beat frequency between the two oscillators is used to rhythmic effect.

WAVETONE features an even cooler noise section than FM DRUM. The Noise section offers a dedicated attack/hold/decay envelope, level, and variable width bandpass filter. The fun, though, comes from the noise Type and Character controls. You can choose between Grain Noise (like in the FM DRUM machine), Tuned Noise (sample and hold noise that tracks pitch), and S&H Noise (sample and hold noise that does not track pitch). You can even use the mod section to modulate the noise type and character—creating a huge range of non-pitch-oriented sounds with very few parameters. So, while WAVETONE might at first seem to be mostly about virtual analog and wavetable-style tones, it's great for percussive sounds and textures as well.

Finally, we reach the SWARMER machine. If you want supersaws—supersquares—or otherwise generally super sounds, this is the place to turn. Using one primary oscillator and six "swarm" oscillators, SWARMER is designed for trancey tones, buzzy drones, and fun, fuzzy, fizzy business. The main and swarm oscillators can be separate waveshapes, and the main oscillator octave can be offset one or two octaves down. Additionally, you get detune/spread controls for the swarm oscillators, as well as noise modulation and swarm animation—which add extra layers of liveliness to the detuned swarm of oscillators.

It's worth noting that Digitone II offers a quite flexible and unique Unison option on a per-track basis, regardless the synth machine you've selected. You can essentially define the number of voices to be used for each trig or incoming MIDI note (from 1 to 16), along with a detune/stereo spread control for the group of voices. What's interesting is that this doesn't automatically reduce your polyphony to 1 on that track: you can continue to play additional pitches until you hit the instrument's total polyphony limit (16 simultaneous voices). Interesting things can happen when using multiple dense detuned tracks with the sequencer—once you start using conditional trigs and trig probability, you'll get patterns where certain sounds occasionally seem to "choke" or "steal voices from" other sounds. It's an interesting textural technique—one that I personally plan to explore further.

New Territory

Of course, there's much more to Digitone II than just the synth machines—again, the per-channel selectable filter machines are a huge benefit, as are the many built-in effects and the mind-bogglingly flexible sequencer.

The nicest feature of this instrument is, in my mind, that it can make such a wide range of sounds, and that it can make so many distinct sounds simultaneously. Paired with the right MIDI controller, you could treat it like a 16-part multitimbral sound module. You could, of course, use it to create full live sets, tracks, albums. You could use it as a control center for other MIDI-capable instruments—the list goes on.

I personally have not used many Elektron devices, due to their typical alignment with styles of music different from those that I personally tend to make. However, Digitone II has truly piqued my interest. For the first time, I'm personally starting to see how an Elektron device could fit into my personal workflow—and I'm excited to learn more as I explore. I might be a bit late to the party...but man, it sure looks like one heck of a party.