Crate-digging Octatrack workflow?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Soon to start a new project with a live drummer… He’s a big jazz head and I’d like to try to run loops and various samples from the OT… I’ve got another friend with an impressive vinyl collection which I’d like to use as source material (think hip hop jazz sampling technique with live jazz drumming).

Given that I’ll have only temporary access to the vinyl (say a single afternoon or evening), what’s the most effective way (in terms of project setup, sampling workflow, storage and organization) to get the most material possible off the vinyl and into the Octatrack?

#2

I guess it’s nothing everyone would like to hear here, but sample into a computer and chop there and then copy that over to the octatrack :wink:
You will be so much more faster, especially if you need to ask this question and only have an afternoon.

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#3

I was afraid you’d say that lol… I was hoping to keep the laptop out of it (my laptop is usually just my “upload music to internet” machine).

#4

Another quick method would be to grab something like a Zoom H5 or H6, or any other decent digital recorder. Or something like an SP404sx, which is a great sampler to pair with an Octatrack, and is battery powered.

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#5

I bought such an audio recorder. So I can sample and record (it has inbuild stereo mic) without a computer. I’m recording my tracks too into it. I use my computer only to chop samples and “master” my tracks. I don’t use a daw, only for such tasks.

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#6

Ahhh I’ll bring the Zoom. Good call, thank youz. :pray:

2 Likes
#7

Don’t forget to check battery and card :wink:

#9

Good shout, whenever I want to gather samples from films or records, even at home, I’ll pull out the sound recorder (Sony PCM-M10). Super quick workflow!

#10

Of course, a portable recorder is both lighter and more convenient but the OT is also pretty good at this stuff.

  1. Max out the RAM so you can have all 85.5mb available (around 8.00 mins @ 16bit)
  2. Hook up your sound source to A+B & set levels
  3. Set the recorder A+B length to MAX
    —
  4. Find the music you want to sample, press REC, drop the needle…
  5. When you’re done, press REC to stop
  6. To save, press FUNC + BANK and hit YES

Rinse & repeat steps 4 – 6.

I wish you could pause mid-record so you can collect multiple moments, but it’s not a deal breaker.

/EX

#11

You’re going to want to use a computer to trim, name and organize - doing that on any portable device will be painful. Hmmmm - are there any audio editing + saving app for iPhone / Android? They probably have the next best interface for tasks like this…

#12

True, but it’s missing one of my fav features from portable recorders - prelisten (?) when armed for recording… mine is set to a 5 second buffer, means you can just leave the source rolling and capture good moments after you hear them without having to rewind.

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#13

That’s indeed very cool :blush:

#14

Recording “after the fact” aka “pre-listen” method:

Set up a flex machine that plays a recorder buffer and have a recorder trig on step 1. It’ll be continuously recording and playing back at the same time, and when you hear something you want to keep, just remove the recorder trig. The last (depending on how you set everything up) seconds will remain in the recorder buffer. Trim, normalize or otherwise edit and save sample. No need to have the sequencer running if you set the track to “plays free”. Play with tempo and multipliers to maximize the lenght of the recording

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#15

If you use only one recorder, you may loose the beginning if its just at the end of the recording loop. A 2nd recorder would be safer.
I think I’d use pattern change instead of rec trig removing (page + clear is better btw).

#16

I didn’t realise pre-listen existed. That’s sounds like a really useful tool.