[FOLLOW-UP walkthrough video added!] Ambient Re-sampling Arrangment for Octatrack

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

brief explanation and playback of original source samples @ 4:20 - essentially it’s all about feedback and overdubbed re-sampling, which is very easy to do with the Octatrack. I’m not altering the arrangement at all, simply rotating between the waveform displays of the recording buffers I utilized in order to illustrate real-time recording and the transformed playback that is occurring. We can frequently see recordings that are still being recorded at the same time they are played back, often overdubbing onto themselves. I’m currently working on producing a step-by-step walkthrough of this approach, but I think this video is helpful for illustrating the different moving parts, and why you might want to use this technique. I’ve generally used it to produce more atmospheric and ambient compositions, but it is not limited for use in any particular style or genre; it’s mostly up to your imagination to use it in a way appropriate for your goals

FOLLOW-UP WALKTHROUGH VIDEO

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Updating the gear
#2

Thought provoking - thanks for sharing this.

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#3

I quite enjoyed your piano piece you posted the other day, which has a lot in common with the techniques used in this video!

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#4

I appreciate you saying that; I think we’re merely scratching the surface here as well. The OT is a mind-boggling machine whose possibilities will take lifetimes to explore.

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#5

I did the same sort of re-sampling arrangement initially using a MDUW, and this video was inspired by someone asking if the same could be done with the OT - while practicing and experimenting with the OT in this paradigm I found that the flexibility and number of options afforded by the OT were overwhelming in comparison to what is possible on the MDUW, which is already quite substantial. Very nice though that I’m able to show the waveforms and recordings with the OT, the MDUW makes everything quite a bit more opaque to demonstrate

#6

Neat. I am much less familiar with MDUW (OT is the only Elektron box I own), interesting to see the pollination of the design/ideas. The linked composition is spooky :ghost:.

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#7

definitely spooky and unsettling! I had wanted to bring that aspect of the original composition to the forefront, which on the surface is a rather pleasant piece, but has a submerged dissonance and uneasiness that I subtly played with quite a bit

the RAM playback and RAM record machines on the MDUW are directly analogous to Flex machines and record buffers on the OT, in the OT manual introduction they discuss how the MDUW design led directly to the final vision of the OT. I love the OT but it being only a sampler is a bit of a drag sometimes, the MDUW is a more complete device for me in that it can produce its own sounds

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#8

thank you for the inspiration…
It is the simple things I had not even thought about. To resample an alter a given track and let random trigs do their thing to what I created before… And while I am busy doing that I could then alter the outcome of that in another track… ideas lead to ideas…
again, thank you :slight_smile:

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#9

yes! it is very simple! the simplicity makes it a bit hard to explain, the implications are difficult to communicate without demonstrating

#10

follow-up step-by-step video for further explanation/edification :mortar_board:

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#11

This is sick!!

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#12

Brilliant use of the octatrack.love how your using it.watched these two videos about 10times now

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#13

Thanks for sharing, I’ll be trying this out later! Very interesting use of the recorder buffers :slight_smile:

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#14

Thank you for this

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#15

Very nice!!

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#16

I will study this technique as I would love to work with octa in this way. Thank you for sharing!

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#17

Instant FSOL. :sunglasses:

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#18

Question: Is it normal to be getting tiny clicks in the audio when using this technique? I thought it was the reverb when overdubbing but I turned the reverb off and the issue was still there.

Nice technique though! :yum:

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#19

you will absolutely get lots of clicks if you are triggering audio buffers and you aren’t on zero crossings - which is basically inevitable if you put some LFOs on start position and you didn’t carefully slice your sample at zero-crossings - add in re-sampling, feedback, and overdubs and you can suddenly get clicks all over the place! The quick and dirty way to reduce these is to filter high frequencies and increase the amplitude envelope attack time. You can also go into the recording setup and add fade-in/outs to your recording buffers as an extra measure but I rarely use that method

to completely eliminate clicks and use this method requires some careful work, but it is possible. personally I focus more on how I’m perceiving the clicks and how they are presented, so to speak, although depending on context I will work harder to eliminate them or perhaps find them unworkable, but sometimes they are actually a nice flavor. In a busy mix with a lot of high frequencies these clicks usually will not be meaningful and are often difficult to perceive, but if you’re droning away with a bunch of subby tones and nothing up top the clicks are going to be very obvious and perhaps even painful!

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#20

I’ll have to play around with the settings some more, I love the results I’m getting but through headphones, the clicks are very obvious.

Its weird because the clicks don’t seem to be a looping problem, they seem to be coming from the transients as they are recorded, maybe a feedback or tape delay style issue.

Thanks for the input, I’ll have to play around a bit more til I’ve perfected the technique :slight_smile: