AR Mkii, DFAM, Small Modular, DAW..Ocatrack?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi all. Title is my gear that I have all synced and working together.

Does it make sense to add an Ocatrack as a sampler? I’d be sending stuff out of the DAW into it (Synth chords, vocal chops, stabs, bass hits), sending my modular into it sometimes, basically no rules, but my sampling game is probably my weakness. I usually process samples in Simpler or manually chop, and while I can get some pretty nice stuff working I can’t help but wonder what I could do with a creative hardware sampler.

I see some used DSP1s for under$800. I know the learning curve is high, but I love my RYTM and click rather fast with Elektron gear.

What do you all think?

#2

After owning the Octatrack for 6 months and using a daw in my setup also…
Ableton is more capable to do anything I need with samples but…
Octatrack is much more fun to work with as dedicated hardware sampler for me anyhow.
It is an expensive alternative… think it comes down to if you are willing to spend the money and know it doesn’t have the latest timestrech and effects… but it makes up for it with hands on control and the awesome elektron sequencer and workflow.
I thought I made a mistake at first but love it now after getting past the initial learning curve…

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#3

Yeah I dont mind some limitations. I was wondering if you record into the Octatrack a lot since I know it is finicky about samples being a certain bit rate. My thoughts are that I could send the sample out of ableton into the octatrack and just record things instead of loading them in all the time. Maybe the MKii doesn’t mind the sample rates like the DSP1, I am not sure there,

#4

It’s easy to do both, putting samples on is just like putting them on external drive or
recording them in is easy once you learn it as well but can take some time to learn the recorders though… much easier than AR…I’ve not had any issues with sample rate etc on mk2…
I’m only using fairly basically at moment and know it’s capable of much more haven’t had it for very long time, Maybe someone else can give some insights aswell

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#5

Agter 5 years with Octatrack… and previously being in the box, I hardly ever use ableton now. Basically I use ableton as a mutlitrack recorder (and that happens rarely)

Sure ableton has its sound quality advantages, algorithm advantages, but… I dont enjoy using it anywhere near as much octatrack.

Everyone is different, everyone has their preference. If you are happy using ableton alongside your other gear, do you need an OT? Probably not. Would you like one? Possibly.

The key to understanding octatrack is written on the front panel, dynamic performance sampler
That is exactly what it is, and what it does

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#6

Thanks, yeah I like Ableton a lot for plugin effects, arrangement and things like that, but for sampling it’s ok. I would like to record ideas either into Octatrack or into ableton and then into Octatrack and get creative with my sampling ideas in that. So it sounds like a nice fit.

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#7

DFAM and OT alone are an amazing pair. So I am not going to say much more. The general rule is that if you are thinking about an OT, you are going to get an OT.

Good luck :sunglasses:

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#8

And you are correct. I have bought a DSP1 and should have it this week :slight_smile:

Really intrigued with what I can do with my DFAM. I love sequencing it already with my modular.

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#9

THRU machine with a filter LFO and a comb filter for the DFAM. You can always sample it later, but what a NICE sound. I would def try that out first :slight_smile:

Have fun with it!

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#10

better send that back, friend!

It’s the DPS-1 that you want.

In all seriousness, yea the OT will definitely allow you to take the small modular more places. Just have some patience in getting to grips with it. If you get frustrated, ask questions, and don’t try to learn everything it can do at once.
Decide the first thing you want to do with it, master that. Then move on to the next. Pace yourself, and you’ll have a lot more fun with it. :slight_smile:

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#11

Yes, I appreciate that advice. I will probably start by recording my modular and then also feeding some vocal samples into it and seeing how I can manipulate those. Of course my mind wanders and I want to feed some bass guitar into it and make basslines…lol. So yeah, I will need to focus on one thing at a time. I get up to speed pretty fast on my Elektron devices but I know this is the most complex offering.

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#12

I’m sure everyone will tell you to read Merlin’s Guide, and that is great advice.

If you do, I’d like to add one addendum to section 9.3 Sampling Guidelines
It mentions that the “OT features eight fully independent recorders on each of its tracks.”

Firstly, I think this is oddly worded, and it could be understood by some that it has 8x8 recorders.

Instead, it features eight fully independent recorders. One recorder for each of its 8 tracks.
But more importantly, understand this:
The RecSetup1, and RecSetup2 buttons… These are not global. As you adjust their settings, they apply only to a single recorder, on the track you have selected. So each of the 8 recorders has their own, custom RecSetup settings.

Getting my head around this part of OT’s recorders scheme was huge in getting me to be more comfortable with recording on the OT. I hope it helps you too.

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#13

If you are happy to use DAW, you shud look at push 2. It looks insane and basically gives you the full power of ableton but fully configurable in hardware. It even has step sequencing even with p-lock type step parameter locking!

#14

Whatever you do, don’t watch and listen to every song in this thread :upside_down_face:

Towards the end OTs and DFAMs start to populate the soundscape but most sketches are quite experimental and will overload your brain with ideas.

oops

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#15

Excuse you! works of fine art thank you very much :stuck_out_tongue:

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#16

epic tracks

#17

Thank you. That makes total sense on the recsetup. I will definitely abuse that function since the way I sample my modular wont be the same I sample my bass playing or my GF talking…etc. Thats really, really cool functionality.

#18

If your big on Ableton you may find the time spent on the OT will give you a hard decision in the future. A few peeps here have noted the migratory effect this box has. If your not prepared you may find you just haven’t the time to put into it.

#19

I wouldn’t say I am big on Ableton, I just really enjoy using it for certain things - softsynths, FX plugins and arrangement. I’ve done full arrangements on a Cirklon before, but coming back to Ableton for stuff like that was quite nice.

Thanks to Overbridge syncing abletn to my Analog Rytm the hyrbid workflow works really well for me.

That said, I am open minded!

#20

With my octatrack arriving in a few days, i have a question. Say you have a patch running like this and make house/techno.

What machines and techniques would you suggest i try on the octatrack to really process this idea?

https://streamable.com/fbc4s