Arpeggiator this seems wrong

Elektron Gear Octatrack
1

Using the latest firmware 1.40A. I’m trying out the arpeggiator for the first time and although it seems fun and powerful, I can’t get the most common arp techniques to work.

I created a 3 step pattern using the values 0, 4, 7 (this would be a major chord) and set the arp mode to TRUE and leave range at 1OCT.

When I play a C note on an ext keyboard, the arp plays as expected C, E, G, C, E, G etc. So far so good.

But then I try to change the arp mode to something else and none of them change the order of playback except for the last RND. The UP, DOWN, SHFL, CYCL all sound the same as TRUE.

So I return mode to TRUE and set the range parameter to 2OCT. What I would expect to happen is this: C0, E0, G0, C1, E1, G1, but instead it is playing C0, E1, G0, C1, E0, G1

I can see how that can be fun in some situations but it’s not how other synths would typically play an arpeggio. It’s not a very natural progression of notes if you picture someone playing an instrument. So I try to figure out how to make it do C0, E0, G0, C1, E1, G1 based on my 3 note sequence, and I can’t figure it out :anguished:

And even with the range setting at 2OCT, there is still no audible difference in the modes except TRUE and RND.

So I’m hopeful that OT is capable of playing a standard arpeggio, if I could only get the mode setting to work…

I am very tempted to think that this is a bug, but it would be such a critical one that I’m assuming I must be missing something. What could it be?

2

Have you got the arp locked to a scale?

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3

Yes it was set to key C major. I just removed it, but it didn’t change anything to the behavior, as I would expect because everything I’m trying to do is on the C major scale.

4

I have now followed the same procedure starting with a blank project. Same behavior.

5

Sounds very strange.
What happens when you enter the notes as trigs on the sequencer?

Have you raised a ticket with Elektron support?

6

I have no problem entering any midi note as a trig value and playing it back, but I don’t see how that relates to the arpeggiator.

Have you tried the steps as I described them above? I’d be curious to hear if others can reproduce it. If you have an existing project with some external synth hooked up it should be quick to try out.

Meanwhile I’ll post a link to this discussion in the 1.40A bug report thread.

7

what happens when you input chords as opposed to single notes? its my understanding that the modes other than TRUE and RND only really work (or rather are audibly different to TRUE) with multiple notes input, as they are to do with the ordering of the input notes- so, if only one note is input then there is nowehere for it to go whether that be DOWN, UP or CYCLE (ascending/descending), if that makes sense? im away from my OT atm so cant check but this doesnt sound like a bug rather a misunderstanding of how the different arp modes function. i may have misunderstood the question tho…

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8

That makes sense. I guess that when you set the range to 3 octaves , inputting a C0, you’d get C0, E1, G2, C0, E1, G3, meaning the arp plays the offsets in sequence, and the octaves in sequence, so: root original pitch, next note +1 octave, next note +3 octave, or in your case because there’s only a 1 octave range: root original pitch, next note+1octave, next note original pitch, next note +1 octave. I’d need to check (studio not powered up because heatwave, no airco) but it seems legit. Manual is not very explicit here:

RNGE sets the octave range of the arpeggiator. After each finished arpeggiator cycle the arpeggiated notes will be transposed one octave up. When the notes has reached the octave offset specified by the RNGE setting the notes will be reset to their inital values. From there the octave transpose will be started all over again

but it could be that a “arpeggiator cycle” means “when the arp has finished processing the inputted notes”. So in your case, you input 1 note, that’s the arp cycle as Elektron defines it. But maybe I’m wrong. I agree that this is not what we’re used to.

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9

YES! That’s it! :grinning:

So I completely misunderstood how the arp config offsets interact with the input notes.

If I place a chord as input notes on a trig I get the expected behavior :tada: In the setup page I guess you would typically keep everything at offset 0 and play with the pattern length in combination with muting steps.

The offsets in the pattern will affect the pitches of cycled input notes and I found it can give very interesting results but it’s easy to lose track of the relationship between the input notes and what you hear.

Still very nice to have this as a more experimental feature :smiley:

Thanks for clearing this up!

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10

Yep. It’s always in the manual, which is one of the best manuals I’ve ever encountered, once you get used to the “swedish engineer” way of wording :nerd_face: :face_with_monocle: :thinking:

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