Using OT with old equipment - drone & ambient

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hello

Am planning to order an OT quite soon.
I primarily use old analogue synths - Moog Prodigy, Roland SH101 and looper , FX pedals. I do mainly dark ambient, drone stuff.
I used to record tracks and then assemble them in Ableton
I borrowed an old hardware sampler from a friend and was impressed at how I could manipulate sounds from my synths (Yamaha SU700), never really used a hardware sampler before.
I’m not too keen on using laptops as part of my set so I’m looking forward to using the OT to re-shape and manipulate my existing sounds.
Anyone else on here use simailar equipment or do a similar genre of music?

#2

My ambient is not so dark, but I certainly use OT for it. In addition to the OT I have a few analogs and NL3. I think you will use the Dark reverb a lot. Very good for dark soundscapes. LFOs will be inevitable. Long FX samples are easy to import and trigger using one-shot trigs in static machines. Shorter drone samples I load into flex machines, looped and fx+LFO mangled. Live looping + fx with my Microbrute works perfect. It is true as all are saying that there are a lot to learn as a new OT user. It is easy to be discouraged, but a lot to win for those who endure. It would be great to hear your developments in this thread. There are a lot of us who are happy to answer questions around here. Good luck!

#3

Many thanks for the reply, OT on it’s way!.
I’ll have lots of reading and experimenting ahead of me.
I’ll certainly post up some of my efforts on here when I get somewhere with it.

#4

OT arrived early this morning. Spent a few hours using it.
Have managed to import a selection of samples from a track I made on my Zoom R24 a while a go and completely mess around with it…the scenes controlled by the cross-fader are fun. This device is incredible.
I’m getting used to the key combinations and navigating around the system. I’m probably barely scratching the surface of what the OT can do though.

#5

Keep this thread going, I use the OT in a completely different way and never thought of it as a drone machine…

#6

there is some useful information here :

#7

Great, thanks for that. I’ll have a read.

#8

All my bass lines on the octatrack are one shot samples of my sh101, and I do notice analog bass sounds tend to sound very good on the octatrack. Just make sure their loud enough before importing I usually go around -2 to -1db peaking

#9

Managed to do a live set at a small local music festival using the Octatrack, Roland SH101, Moog Prodigy & Zoom MS70CDR. Sequenced field recordings and long samples from the Octatrack with Moog Bass & arpeggios and melodies from the SH101. The Octatrack really came into it’s own as the hub of my set.
I’m discovering new stuff about the Octatrack on a daily basis. Some really good hints and tips on this forum.

#10

OT is a nearly perfect drone command center. I use mine with a LEP Loop/T-Resonator and a Minitaur. The 3 LFOs are perfect for subtle manipulation, but i guess you know that already.

Try samples or even single cycle waveforms with rate (playback page) tuned around center position, values below 64 will play them backwards. Another useful gadget is the distortion of the filter. You can find it on the filters fx setup page