Octatrack only syncing to pickup master temp the first time

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi, I have an issue with the loopers and it’s just driving me nuts.

If I clean out my project, and start fresh with a master looper - it works perfectly. I hit record, play my guitar phrase and hit play/sync, it starts playing - the tempo is matched to the loop and some pre programmed beats follow allong.

However, once I have done this one, and want to change my loop. I go back to track 1 (master), record a new phrase (in a different tempo), hit play/sync again, and this time it is way of…nothing is in sync… the pickup machine loops without matching the pattern length and even if I change the tempo sync on/off, it still is not able to match the length of the loop.

It seems as though once a loop has been recorded, the length is forever set. Please tell me I’m wrong? Or tell me there is some way of “cleaning” the track, I tried changing to a static machine and back to a pickup machine, but it will not sync to the loop…

I have read the manual and I’m using a foot controller mapped to the explanation on page 133,

#2

If you want to live loop on the Octatrack without the Octatrack changing its tempo, try looping with a Flex Machine. The info is in this old thread.

#3

hi notoms,

one pickup machine acts as master (two dots close to the “p” in the display)… you can synchronize the recorded loop tempo two the OT-Sequencer:
How ever this is tricky, if you record the “wrong” number of bars… this will work properly only if you record a doubled number of bars (for example you can record 1…2…4…8…16…32…64 bars, 7 bars would end in a wrong tempo calculation)

The Octatrack sequencer can be tempo synchronized to a Pickup machine recording. This is useful if you want to mix pre-progammed tracks with Pickup machine loops and don’t want the sync of the sequencer to drift.
Press [TRACK] + [TEMPO] to sync the sequencer to a Pickup machine loop. The BPM value normally shown in the top left corner of the LCD will at the same time be replaced
[b]with information about which Pickup machine that is controlling the sequencer BPM.
the bpm connection is stored as long as you do not re-sync it… thats helpful, if you have a beat programmed in a certain tempo and you want the track to always play in that tempo.

oh: a little add on… flex machines are good if you are familiar with the trig-settings… but only for short loops (maximum 4 bars, 64 steps on 4/4 rythmn)… pickups are more “fast” if you want to record and overdub several times and they are better for long recordings… however i often struggle with counting the right number of bars when recording longer parts (like 16 bars with 256 steps) :-))
[/b]

#4

Thanks for the feedback. I did a few searches, I was getting the “Dub aborted” error while recording, I did not pay much attention to it, but it may be related to the issue with incorrect tempo. I would just use the old tempo, even though a new loop was recorded/synced.

After I stopped using pitch adjustments (I was running guitar as a pseudo bass using -12 pitch) the sync seems stable.

#5

Adjusting the pitch of a pickup causes the ‘dub aborted’ message. (One of many ways to abort overdubbing, either on purpose or accidentally).

#6

You are more likely to get that Dub Rec Aborted error with slave pickup machines than the master.
If you must use more than one Pickup Machine, you should indeed avoid adjusting pitch on any Slaves. The Master should be fine.
One Pickup Machine plus Flex Machines is a more stable config if you want to loop with more than one Track.

#7

Editing pitch on a pick up machine is a guaranteed way to frustrate yourself and the OT. I loop a ton with guitar and do a lot of pitch shifting but NEVER with a pick up machine. It changes the master timing completely and everyone gets confused.

If you want to pitch shift the guitar loop, record it as a flex machine then go from there. You can even use the same recording buffer and not record it again. I.e. loop guitar on track one. while looping change track one to flex with recorder 1, it should have that guitar already in there. (Timign might be messy but play around with trigs)

But I would never pitch shift pick up machines.

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