In this thread, Monolith deserves a mention. Simple technique turns the OT into a powerful modular synth.
Hey Gigi!
No, I don’t get that feedback screaming sound that can easily occur on the MD. I think they programmed the OT in such a way that it doesn’t occur, or do you get feedback?
@Allerian: interesting, thx for the additions. I tried Monolith before, not so much my cup of tea, or maybe I don’t understand it enough, but you’re right, that’s definitely a special trick setup. Audio loopback and midi loopback at once, really powerful and innovative!
+1
Monolith is HEAVY.
+1
Monolith is HEAVY.
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Are there any good demos available beyond those 3 youtube videos showing how Monolith can sound (when used by an expert)?
@MK7
I get pattern-controllable feedback opening the playback during the sampling on every quarter of a bar.
So…I go back to the root of my answering: I think I haven’t got how you do setup this trick for buildups…I am really interested =)
Can you…please ! 
I started collecting old posts. Here are three I found between OT forum pages 59-67:
Fader Tricks
Crossfade Transition
Part Transition
more to come.
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I get pattern-controllable feedback opening the playback during the sampling on every quarter of a bar.
Can you please explain what you mean here? I don’t understand it 
Think this simple setup:
T1 plays some sound
T5 is muted and has loaded the Recorder 5 (sampling T8 as master or CUE, you choose)
T5 has a playback trig on 1-5-9-13
T5 Recorder has a trig on 1
Unmuting T5 opens the playback of what is getting sampled, this brings feedback.
But it’s something i am testing out these last days when spare time (not at all) allows it…
I think it can get to some results.
But i was only trying to understand MK7’s setup for buildups…
This sounds similar to my simple trick for emulating classic Tape Echo.
I’m sure lots of you have come across this in your experiments, but I haven’t seen it written down.
Basic Method:
Start a new, blank Project.
- Set Pattern Length to 64 (Normal Mode - all tracks).
- Load a short (less than 1 beat) sample into Track 1 (Static or Flex).
- Put a Trig on Step 1 of Page 1 of Track 1.
- In Track 1 Rec Setup, set SRC3 to MAIN, RLEN to 16 and put a Rec Trig on Step 1. (EDIT: Step 1 of EVERY PAGE, so Steps 1, 17, 33, 49)
- Set Track 2 to Flex and select RECORDING 1 from the slot list.
- Put a Trig on Step 5 of Every Page of Track 2. (ie Steps 5, 21, 37, 53)
Now hit play and you should get a rough, looping Tape Echo effect.
Here’s the cool bit though - because Track 2 is feeding back into Recording 1, any changes you make to Track 2’s Flex machine are cumulative. Used subtly, you can get some awesome effects. For example, if you set Track 2’s Pitch to +0.2, the echoes will continue to rise in pitch as they go on.
With certain circumstances, it’s possible to get overloading feedback. You can reign this in by decreasing Track 2’s VOL setting until you have the tail under control. (This is a good way to control the length of the echo)
Advanced Method:
In addition to the Basic Method above, try these additional settings to get closer to a true Tape Echo.
- Add a DARK REV to Track 2 and set TIME to 64, HP to 64, LP to 110 and MIX to 10.
- Put a NEIGHBOR machine on Track 3.
- Set Track 3’s FILTER: BASE to 64, WDTH to 48.
- Set Track 3’s LFO 1: PMTR to FLTR BASE, MULT to 8X, TRIG to SYNC TRIG, SPD to 64 and DEP to 8.
The exact settings will depend on the source sample on Track 1 but the idea is that the Dark Reverb on Track 2 adds noise saturation and the Filter on Track 3’s Neighbor machine adds flutter. Try experimenting with the mix level of the reverb and the depth and speed of the filter.
You might also try a THRU machine on Track 1 instead. With a constant incoming signal, you can Toggle Mute/Unmute Track 1 and 2 to add dubby stabs of the source onto the “Tape Loop”.
Great thread so far - keep the tips coming everyone!
12 Likes
A simple trick that I only came across today:
You can use Live Recording while an Arrangement is playing.
For example, you can make 4 empty patterns of 64 steps and make them loop in an arrangement - and then with the arrangement running (but not in the Edit Arrangement mode), you can use Slot Mode or Chromatic mode to lay down a 16bar recording. The trigs are placed on whichever Pattern is currently active. You can also record parameter changes, as you’d expect.
I’m sure there is potential here for more inventive uses of this - with more complex arrangements - but it was a total revelation to me. I don’t feel restricted by the 4bar limit when recording synth parts now.
8 Likes
To the poster above ^ - rilrak, I think. That’s a great tip! Thanks!!!
Perhaps too simple for this thread, but as I use my OT for mostly live sampled synth bass parts and/or textures, I rely heavily on the effects and one shot recorder trigs (so useful for hands-free sampling whilst I play a synth.)
I typically setup a Part to have:
T1 - flex machine with a pad/texture of some kind - loop == auto
T2 - flex machine with another pad, or one shot sample - loop == off
T3 - Recorder buffer 3, source T5
T4 - Recorder buffer 4, source T6
T5 - Thru machine, input A/B (synth #1), Spatializer + Dark Reverb
T6 - Thru machine, input C/D (synth #2) or input A/B, Lo-Fi collection + Delay
T7 - flex machine with severely chopped up sampled beat (usually from vinyl)
T8 - Master (with Compressor, Delay)
This way, I can - on the fly - mix two different elements coming from the same source, with different effects and capture samples as I wish, or I can use multiple sources. I’ll often have a deep synth bass part on T5 (T3), switch to a different patch on the same synth for a harmonic/textural element, and capture that through T6 (T4). Or, I may run an acoustic or electric bass through my rig into T6.
Tracks 3 and 4 allow me to keep previously captured parts running, at which point I’ll often mess with them through Lo-Fi and Delay effects. I may sample stuff dry, or already effected.
Spatializer really helps me get my more bass-end tones to “fit around” some other low end elements coming from my trio mates.
Lo-Fi is gold for me because of the awesome AMD + AMF controls. I love mapping the frequency to Scenes and using the crossfader to “play” the pulse/beat (I keep it well below audio range to get a nice, rippling flutter.)
Everything I do is very live-oriented, so I have little preprepared stuff. I intentionally keep a limited palette of pre-sampled tidbits.
Oh, and other feature common to elektron gear that I absolutely cannot do without: the sequencer step shift available with the < and > buttons.
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I do this a lot, only I usually don’t make an arrangement for it, I just chain the patterns I want to record to by pressing and holding the pattern button and then the patterns in the order I want them chained.
On a track where I want to do a lot of detailed editing I also tend to chain patterns like this, but then to have, say, 4 separate 16 step patterns instead of one 64. That means I can listen to just the section I’m working on and then chain them when I want to listen to the whole sequence.
3 Likes
Yes, using a Chain would be quicker than setting up an Arrangement. I don’t know why I didn’t think of Live Recording chains. Thanks!
yeah i use the arranger similarly more for functional mini jobs. the nice thing about the arranger is re-arrangerment. you can use the offsets and length to only work on a smaller section or if you want to grab audio non-linearly or do repeats of the same thing with different scenes or have tracks separate by repeating with different mutes .i find it really helpful with moving midi tracks to audio and by syncing the scene changes that are targeting thru machines it can get interesting or messing with bpm or transpose + changing parts manually.
oh something kinda silly that i think makes life easier is locking everything, or a ton, to a scene to start and working backwards unlocking in newer scenes.
Yes! I’m finding ways to collect a bunch of useful samples and chains this way - great tip!
i find it really helpful with moving midi tracks to audio and by syncing the scene changes that are targeting thru machines it can get interesting or messing with bpm or transpose + changing parts manually.
Would you explain this in more detail. Scene changes targeting Thru machines…
oh something kinda silly that i think makes life easier is locking everything, or a ton, to a scene to start and working backwards unlocking in newer scenes.
Are you still referring to the Arranger here, or just in general? I like the idea of writing in reverse though!
More tips and tricks!
Yes! I’m finding ways to collect a bunch of useful samples and chains this way - great tip!
i find it really helpful with moving midi tracks to audio and by syncing the scene changes that are targeting thru machines it can get interesting or messing with bpm or transpose + changing parts manually.
Would you explain this in more detail. Scene changes targeting Thru machines…
oh something kinda silly that i think makes life easier is locking everything, or a ton, to a scene to start and working backwards unlocking in newer scenes.
Are you still referring to the Arranger here, or just in general? I like the idea of writing in reverse though!
More tips and tricks!
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with the locking everything 1st i just find that helpful in general.
lol i’m not sure if this will make it more clear:
a simple(?) example , with thru machines (but you could use anything), and it depends on what you’re sending into the thru machines, but i might use each scene as a mono input for a,b,c,d with different sounds coming in and use the arranger to change what input is active over the same 4 steps, rather than using 16 steps and locking what input is active or trying to manually switch scenes in time. by having scenes also target effects or lfos, or amp settings, etc you can get tons of variety.
it’s kinda using the arranger similar to the lfo designer, or like parameter locking without cluttering up your track’s trigs. with your 4 parts you have more unique scenes (64!!!) that you can use on any 1 step than you have places to place locks (one step). using scenes, steps don’t even have to have a trig on them. basically, it just helps keep things clear and flexible for me.
so a lot of times i use the arranger more as a scratchpad and pattern editor and use patterns more for arrangement. if i try to parameter lock stuff i do in the arranger in patterns i end up with so many trigs i get confused and then it’s hard to interact with patterns live, while using the arranger to arrange large chunks i miss using patterns to jump around.
2 Likes
During the last weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the ‘optimal’ way to to use the OT for drumming with external drum pads (Akai Mpd32 in my case). Straight-forward method: 8 tracks with one sample each. Main obstacle is the OT’s lack of access to slice/slot trig modes via Midi.
I found a good workflow that is less straight-forward but more powerful than just 8 samples on 8 tracks, which might be interesting/useful for some of you:
Integrated drum pad/looper setup
Track 1: kick
Tracks 2-4: disentangled from sequencer, hold mode, 4/16 quantization, always cue’d --> “drum pad tracks”
Tracks 5-7: flex recorders, recording from cue, qrec 4/16
Track 8: flex recorder, recording from main, qrec 4/16, on some patterns always sampling (see build-up trick)
Part 1: 3 basic drum sounds assigned to the drum pad tracks (snare, tom, rim)
Part 2: clap, oh, ride
Part 3: male vocal, female vocal, cowbell or closed hihat
Part 4: bass, synth1, synth2
Part 1 assigned to patterns X1-4, 2 to X5-8, …, where X=bank.
Mute tracks 5-7. Play a sequence on the drum tracks, press record on one of the flex recorders to start sampling, unmute the recorder. Switch to a pattern where part 2 is active, play some hihats, press record, unmute. Modulate what’s going on via prepared slices on the recorders, cue both playing recorder tracks, resample to the third. Mute recorders 1-2 (tracks 5-6), unmute 3 (track 7, resampled version). Switch to the vocal part, record something, etc etc… Additionally, ‘good-sounding’ sequences can be programmed into tracks 2-4 (drum loops, top loops or slice-mangling sequences) for instant goodness when creativity makes a break or accurate playback is needed (16th hats).
–> you get a kit with kick + 12 samples per bank, not perfect but more than the usual 8 samples.
of course, you can still easily scroll through a lot more samples with a knob or lfo assigned to the start parameter on a sliced one-shot sounds sample chain, but with these many flex recorders, it can be done in a more controlled fashion where changes on the start parameter do only change what’s not yet been resampled.
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^ you could use midi to control the lfo depth to choose a slice point or select a scene locked to a slice? i dunno if mpd32 lets you send ccs on pads.
it’s too bad velocity or poly after touch aren’t freely assignable to anything from within the octatrack, but if you have something to remap them or use velocity or poly aftertouch for cc amount, it’s cool to use on stuff like lfo depth, or crossfader position or scene. it’s not bad using some pads to play your sample trigs and then using others to do that.
I have several knobs assigned to slice numbers/lfo’s to select slices, as a workaround, but that’s just not the same as using pads to play different sounds.
@ your second point: a converter might indeed be very useful! can you recommend one? that one looks nice and simple to set up and use: http://www.midisolutions.com/prodepp.htm
EDIT: just ordered a MidiPal, should do the job as well but has far more scope for extensions in the future.
crossfader position? that’s a great idea! of course, you can remap a note to one specific CC value! although not perfect, that’s a lot more precise than turning a knob. it won’t record properly in live recording mode, but combined with a looper workflow as described in my post, you can select a new slice by holding a different pad while all the playing sounds stay the same as before. I don’t have much of a problem with a workflow where 2 pads need to be pressed. I’d already been dreaming about what might be possible with remapping of velocities and aftertouch!
You made my day, dude with your simple hint! one feature I was dreaming for since the beginning is a more-dimensional trig mode: one Midi device in slice mode, one Midi device in chromatic mode. hold a key/pad on the first and play the corresponding sound chromatically on the second device. with some simple remapping that’s already possible! so obvious but I didn’t see that before. I did know that you can play slices via Midi with a small Midi delay and also set it up in iPad Lemur, which also worked, but this delay stuff due to different priorities of Midi CC and Midi notes makes it so complicated and unprecise that I lost interest in remapping, but this changed now. I definitely have to get a remapping device, but which one?
Thanks a lot, jonah!
P.S. Elektron, you should still please give access to slot/slice modes via Midi.