Octatrack Live Sampling Tricks

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi,

as I´m about to discover the live sampling possibilities I´m about to learn and understand the possiblities of it.

For now I can think of recording my synth/modular and automate some parameters in the recording and fade back to the live input and so on…But I think there is more magic possible which I´m actually not aware about.

How do you guys use live sampling with pickup/ flex machines and recorder triggers?
How can it´creatively and musically be used? Lets collect all the workflows and tricks :slight_smile:

One great example is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fWvQWsLd6c (im not really understanding the ot workflow there)

Feed me with some ideas of using live sampling :slight_smile:

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#2

A fun live technique is having flex tracks already chopped up and plocked, but pointing at an empty record buffer. Then as soon as you fill the buffer all of your trigs will immediately take effect on your newly recorded audio, and any audio recorded to the buffer after that.

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#3

I start with the pattern transition trick and go from there.

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#4

I use it too :

Some people even control recordings with Ot’s midi tracks, randomly.
Pickups can be interesting for layering long pads.
A lot to say and experiment !

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#5

Could you describe how you actually layer longer pads? Hos is it working ?

#6

I’d use Pickups with Overdub, QRec and PLen set to Pattern Length (Rec Setup 2). I don’t use fade in / out, but you can try lowest values.

To have a longer pattern, you can change tempo and / or change Scale Setup with Per Track, Master Length as you like : up to 1024 steps.
Just thoughts. My workflow is not definitive.

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#7

So I asked the really nice guy of this video to explain what he is doing with the OT maybe this is inspiring and interisting for you aswell so i share his answer:

"The modular is patched in a generative manner i.e. it’s playing itself but I can intervene and easily change what it’s doing. I start the piece off by mixing in only parts of what the modular is doing. You’ll see me using the Nano Kontrol for this. I’m opening and closing about 6 different VCA’s via the FH-1. I then jump to the OT and start sampling pieces of the output and get those looping. I go back to the modular and manipulate it some more then go back to the OT and sample that in. All the while I’m also changing the sounds via the pedals. This is essentially what I’m doing in every video. What is different here is the modular patched in a generative way. Usually, I’m playing everything live as well.

This may sound over simplified but that’s exactly what’s happening. My style is all about live recording while playing instruments and mixing it all in real time. The end result is recorded straight to 2 track stereo with no overdubs or extra processing. thus I had to come up with a way of playing that amplifies my style. thus the reason why most people tell me they love how I record but don’t or wouldn’t want to do it that way. Which makes total sense to me. It’s perfect for how I create but may not be very helpful to others."

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#8

that’s pretty interesting, thanks for sharing it

1 Like
#9

Good share, man. Thankyou.

#10

Becasue I’m using the OT for improvisation with other people a lot, I don’t pre-plan very much. Since I never know when I might want to record something, instead of using thru machines for running synths into it I use track recorders and flex machines with a single record and play trig on step one of each pattern on every track that’s processing an external signal. That way any time I decide I want a loop of something, I can clear the record trig on that track, and because I always set the record time to the exat time of the pattern (usually either 16 or 64), the next time I hit step one the live input gets muted (because it’s no longer being recorded) and the recording of the previous cycle of the pattern starts to loop. Because I only have two or three things running into the OT for this setup (right now it’s a monosynth, a small polysynth and I’ll be adding a standalone drum machine in a few weeks when I have the money saved up) I’ll usually have two tracks set up for this for each external source, but without a record trig for the second one, that way even if I start playing back a loop on the first track, I can keep processing live input on the second track by adding a record trig to it at the same time that I clear the record trig on the first track. There are plenty of more flexible, elegant ways to do similar stuff but for my current project and setup this has been working the best right now.

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#11

How do you control the recording with midi on the OT? Just started exploring the pickup machines…

#12

With Ot’s midi tracks, one cable midi in > midi out, or any midi controller sending notes, you can use these notes for recording :
(Appendix C of the Bible)

Screenshot_2017-10-24-23-48-01
Screenshot_2017-10-24-23-48-01.png720×1280 87.6 KB

2 Likes
#13

Nice! I didn’t realise you could make the machine send MIDI to itself. Thanks, sezare.

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#14

You can make mad things with Ot and a midi cable. :loopy:
You can even use midi Play Free tracks to control recordings and play them with Play Free tracks. :tongue:

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#15

I’d love to see a video or something of how you’ve got this set up. It sounds like a really efficient rig.

Do you not use the pickup machines at all? I’ve just started using them to catch incoming sound which I then resample with a buffer. It’s a bit convoluted…

#18

I don’t have any kind of decent camera right now but sometime later in th winter I’m hoping to get on and do some videos. I’ve got a lot more to learn first, too.

1 Like
#19

I am also interested in this sort of workflow. Have you changed your approach since this post or you are still using this workflow? Could you explain in detail how did you setup your Octatrack or point us to a video tutorial please? Thanks

#20

I believe this approach is in principle similar to what Supercolor_T-120 described. Octatrack Mk2 Tutorial - Record Trigs and Resampling - YouTube

#21

Hey, sorry I neer posted a followup, I didn’t really work that way for very long and honestly can’t follow what I was trying to describe in my own post very well now.

These days I use thru machines on tracks 1 and 5 for monitoring inputs (synths on track 1 and a miced guitar cab on track 5) and use 6 pickup machines on the other tracks, with tracks 2-4 recording the output of track 1 and 6-8 recordng the output of track 5. I’ve got a 6 button footswitch set up pretty close to the tutorial in the manual. Two swtiches for controlling the pcikup machines, two to move between different tracks, and two to change the gain on the amp page of the selcted track to either unity or -5 (using one switch to toggle didn’t work well because its state didn’t necessarily reflect the state of the track). One scene set up to lower the filter cutoff on tracks 6 and 7, and LFOs modulating the balance and direction of track 8. The to thru machines have dark reverb insterted by default and the PUM tracks have echo with the send level all the way down by default. Everything else as far as LFOs, scenes, and effects is a blank slate every time I start. I’m not doing anything fancy, really.

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#22

Well, it just gets better and better. Just learned the Arranger, and am beginning to mess with record trigs and live sampling. Well this thread will be great to comeback to for more hot tips. Excited to get into that.

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