I’ve started thinking about the next firmware tweaks I want to do with my Octatrack.
There’s stuff that I always do when starting a Project from scratch. Removing effects, putting in Studio mode, sending a MIDI clock, making the buffers 24 bit, turning off time-stretching, etc.
Then I’m thinking about changing the default settings when effects are added. With the Dark Reverb I always switch it to send, add pre-delay, increase the time, and make it darker. Having that be the default would simplify things.
What are the things you always find yourself changing to a better starting point? Some of these things could be handled with a project template, but others (like default effects settings) probably need a firmware patch.
I would just create a default settings firmware editor.
Bring forward the elements of a project that you want to support (start with th ones you want). Then increase the support for the requested. Allow for users to backup firmware versions, to be able to go back to them if needed.
Then, build a file to firmware mapper, so with the tool someone could attach an octatrak project file and make the default settings match exactly that file. Any information not supported by the mapped fields will be dropped.
With that, you don’t need to ask much but just provide the tool and is infinite game for the users.
It is probably a tool that you would only use once or twice but the work it saves you is incredible if you add up all the little tweaks on new projects.
Disentangling the stuff that needs firmware changes from those that can be handled with a project manager is probably important. Loading a new firmware is a comparatively slow process, not something you want to do often.
These are pretty much the same things I always change when starting a new project. I don’t like using templates because I actually like the default filename with the date when you start a new project. So being able to have project defaults would be awesome.
Pattern Settings: Scale Mode set to “per track” by default please and thank you. I hate having to do that every time. Lately its been the thing that makes my brain go “Id rather use Ableton…”
I started building this out this morning. The basic idea is that I’ll have a set of patches that get applied to the current OS from Elektron. The two at the moment are 1. making the Equalizer default to a high and low setting with starting values and 2. fixing the AMF mapping function. I’ll definitely build out other default values for the effects. Then I’ll think about the other settings.
Ideally, this would be a slick interface so you could choose what features you want and it would build the patched OS. I’m not skilled enough to get there yet, but it’ll be fun to learn.
I changed the default settings for several of the effects (EQ, Phaser, Flanger, Dark Reverb) on the parameter page and the setup page. I made tracks default to having no effects in FX1 or FX2 when I start a new project. And I set Time Stretch to off for new Static and Flex tracks.
Next up will be diving into the PROJ menu so I can set the recording buffers to 24 bit by default.
I’ve also mapped out what a Streamlit local web-based editor might look like, built on top of the Python code that’s doing the patching. I see potential …
Spent some time with the PROJ menu stuff, focusing on getting the recording buffers to default to 24 bit. Unfortunately, it is a bit more complicated than I’d hoped. I was hoping it would be something basically equivalent to switching a variable from 0 to 1, but there is a layer on top of that where multiple settings are set in the same way.
A good example of where a project template might be preferred.
I don’t mind it … until I’m in the middle of recording something and I realize I forgot to bypass the filter or turn off time stretch and it starts degrading my recording.