Best way to export songs produced in Ableton to Octatrack

[rempdx]

Hi there,

New Octatrack owner here! I’m currently working on a live set with a minimal setup and i’m still trying to figure out the best workflow.

Live setup:
Octatrack (Brain - Play samples and sequence the Moog)
Moog - Mother 32 (Sequenced by the Octatrack)
Mixer + FX (Ch1 Octatrack - Ch2 Moog - Reverb and Delay pedals insert)

All my songs are produced in Ableton using different hardware synths, samples etc… What I would like to achieve is (supposedly) pretty simple. I just want to export some parts of my songs (let’s say a track at 118bmp with 36x4 bars loops) to the Octatrack. Each 4 bars loop can be a pattern and I can have a MIDI sequence (if needed) for each pattern.
What would be be the best way to organize the set? Should I try to have 1 bank per song? Obviously each song will need to have a different BPM. Not sure if the loop approach is the best approach yet and If i should stick to 4 bars.

I’ve already tried using static machines with one shot triggers + the arranger. That works well but I can’t figure out how to make my songs more “flexible”. I would like to be able to repeat some parts/loops on the fly and have more free playing. Really curious to hear about similar setups and how you guys export songs/loops to the Octatrack.

Thank you so much!

[tsutek]

Your song has 36 discreet parts??

Yupp, I’d try to cram those into the 16 patterns of one bank if I were you. Consolidate if at all possible?

[stark]

hey man, check this thread out:

Octatrack Livesets

My Music House-ish Techno-ish Psychadelic Loops. My Gear My Octatrack controls a Bass Station II, Volca bass and TR-8. My band mate runs a Korg X5D and Directional Mic through a Kaoss Pad and into the Audio in of the TR-8. My Octatrack Setup 1 - THRU Volca Bass Lo-Fi & Spring Reverb Gives the little Volca a bit more character and turning up the reverb builds tension really well. 2 - THRU Bass Station II The effects we put on the BSII really depends on the song but some delay on an A…

I have a very similar setup to yours, but a Circuit instead of a mother and no extra mixer.
I use banks as tracks, patterns as segments, and render full-stems that I auto-slice into bits, then p-lock the slice on the different patterns. you can increase the four bars with the master tempo division to gain longer loops, maybe think about 8 bar / 16 bar segments? way more manageable for me.

[rempdx]

I’d try to cram those into the 16 patterns of one bank if I were you. Consolidate if at all possible?

Sounds good! Yep with the master tempo division this seems manageable

I use banks as tracks, patterns as segments, and render full-stems that I auto-slice into bits, then p-lock the slice on the different patterns.

I will try that. Do you slice your stems directly into the Octatrack? Only static machines for your segments?

The Octratrack Livesets thread is awesome. Maybe I’ll try to get rid of the mixer and just use a THRU for the Mother32.

Thank you so much guys!