I’m constantly browsing the web looking for this kind of helpful info. Nothing on youtube about the Arranger mode whatsoever.
It’s odd that is wasn’t included in the ‘Pro-tips’ nor 'Know-how" tutorials, as it seems like a pretty big (and deep) feature.
Maybe Cuckoo or Dataline or miketheman could put something together? Every little bit helps to wrap our heads around this lovely instrument.
Thanks
This isn’t the greatest video, but the Machinedrum’s Song Mode is essentially the same thing. I know I’ve seen a better video before, but maybe this will help:
Does it have to be a video? So many people just zoom past the obvious manual that’s here http://www.elektron.se/products/octatrack?section=downloads
It cost me $26 to print it in black and white and to laminate it. So now it’s much easier to read and learn from versus reading PDFs.
The arranger overwhelmed me. But the manual has ALL the info. Make some very basic patterns with synths and drums, like 5 or so, make sure they all sound different. Open the manual and try to arrange them and then watch them play and just mess around with all the arranger settings, like loops and repeats and silence places.
Does it have to be a video? So many people just zoom past the obvious manual that’s here http://www.elektron.se/products/octatrack?section=downloads
It cost me $26 to print it in black and white and to laminate it. So now it’s much easier to read and learn from versus reading PDFs.
The arranger overwhelmed me. But the manual has ALL the info. Make some very basic patterns with synths and drums, like 5 or so, make sure they all sound different. Open the manual and try to arrange them and then watch them play and just mess around with all the arranger settings, like loops and repeats and silence places.[/quote]
So many words for RTFM, but just as helpful.
I guess I won’t hold my breath…
My momma didn’t raise no rude asshole.
Besides I was speaking from personal experience. It took me 2 weeks to get it together and go to a print shop. What exactly are you looking for?
that would be so cool to be able to chain the 6 arrangers per project
My momma didn’t raise no rude asshole.
Besides I was speaking from personal experience. It took me 2 weeks to get it together and go to a print shop. What exactly are you looking for?[/quote]
The arranger was the last great unexplored area, until recent times. Yes all info is in the manual. YOU then need to experiment, and see what all the commands do, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Just have pen and pad handy!
My momma didn’t raise no rude asshole.
Besides I was speaking from personal experience. It took me 2 weeks to get it together and go to a print shop. What exactly are you looking for?[/quote]
Ahem…
A helpful video tutorial on the arranger similar to the ones they have done on many of the other features the octatrack has. I have the actual printed manual. I have read it. But seeing the process makes learning easier. Call me lazy.
So with youtube having 50 different videos on the most efficient way to cut an orange, I am surprised that there is not 1 that shows some of the great capabilities of the arranger.
That way I can lie in bed watching a vid before sleep about how to better use the octatrack, like I did for the other features. Crazy idea no?
According to the manual you can have 8 arrangements per project - and you can chain them, but you can only chain 1 at a time… says the manual. But I haven’t tried it myself.
Ouf, I’ve been using Song Mode on the MnM for a long time to make my tracks, and I just recently got an AR. I oh so wish there were offsets/lengths available via the AR’s Song Mode.
As for learning OT’s arranger mode, just play around and experiment with it. It’s not really that much different from a tracker.
No I meant like what functions exactly you want to learn? There are:
-enable arranger mode
-edit arranger by placing patterns
-edit the parameters of the arranger (enable loop, silence, etc…)
And that’s really all I know or need because I am kind of a believer into the whole “music should be played live thing”. Call me crazy.
I detect a bit of sarcasm, I don’t know what caused it, I am genuienely trying to help. I never tell people none of that RTFM nonsense. Let me know what’s not clear and I’ll try to explain. That’s what the forum is for.
Can someone help explain offsets in the OT arranger. Does it start t zero?
Because say I want my pattern to start at step 2. I offset it by two and get weird timing issues.
Curious
I never used it and am wondering why it’s there. You are going to get timing issues because you are skipping steps. Maybe put trig mutes instead so you get all 16 steps in?
The arranger is my next step in ot science too. Is it possible to use the ot arranger in combination with ar/a4 song Modes? As I would like to use the ot as the central arrangement device in my setup with elektron trinity.
I never used it and am wondering why it’s there. You are going to get timing issues because you are skipping steps. Maybe put trig mutes instead so you get all 16 steps in?[/quote]
Pattern offsets is one of my favourite features of the OT. I fact, I find it so useful I got angry when I received my a4 and realized it didn’t have it. Which means I have to sequence the a4 from the OT if I want to use offsets. Very annoying.
Back on topic, offset means the pattern will start playing from the step you select. So “8” will mean the pattern start playing on step 8. Length is for how many steps the pattern will play before jumping to the next row in the sequence.
Simple example:
Pattern A01: OF 0, LN 48 (a pattern with a straight beat)
Pattern A02: OF 48, LN 16 ( a pattern with a busy, crazy beat)
= a “full” 64 step pattern in total, but with a rhythmic variation or fill in the last sixteen steps.
You could do much more interesting things than this, though. I sometimes have a pattern running at 2/3 tempo and “insert” it here and there for a few steps to introduce rhytmic variations. For the fun of it I once made a pattern play backwards by setting a lot of rows with length 1 and decreasing offsets.
It’s looking like this should be the next Mission
Sorry for hijacking this thread, but i just noodled around with the ot arranger, and i like it! But i realized that the muted tracks set by the arranger interface are not visually indicated on the device via track LEDs. Is this possible? So that if i mute a track on arranger row, the track LEDs on the device are unlit?
Not possible! It’s one of the shortcomings of the arranger, and makes things pretty confusing…