So, in failing to sync up all my Roland drum machines, I have decided to pursue just sampling all the sounds into the Octatrack’s audio pool. I’m having a hard time with the language in the manual, and finding specifically what I need a video to show me.
Here’s my problem.
I can see the Octatrack can hear the drum sounds I’m sending to the inputs, but I cannot hear anything, I can also see that something recorded , but have no idea how to do much else with what I’ve recorded.
Am I correct in believing that the Octatrack can sample all the sounds in my TR___'s and I can just use the octatrack as a super version of the drum machines I am familiar with.
My computer would not co-operate very well when I tried tohook the octatrack up, and after not being able to hear anything anyways, I gotta give up on it for a bit.
Sounds like you are getting ahead of yourself a little bit, which is easy to do with the Octa 
To answer your question, it can definitely sample your drum machines. There’s lots of ways for it to do that. Just remember that it samples to track recorders. In order to play the contents of those, you either need to set one of your machines to a Flex machine and play it with that, or copy the sample to a Static slot for playback on a Static machine.
To actually hear the machines, you probably need to either set a trig on a Thru machine (which will let you run them through track effects) or use the mixer screen to listen to their direct signal.
license’s advice is excellent.
If you have audio recording software on your computer, another short-term option is to use that to sample the drum machine sounds and then transfer the sample files to the OT for playback.
Sort of have audio software. I use 2 Roland VS 2480s.
It took me full day of head-scratching, reading and re-reading the (somewhat confusing) manual and watching/re-watching some YT vids to actually manage to sample on the OT. Next day I couldn’t get it to work, and had to start from square one. That was about a week and a half ago. Now I can get it to sample from external or internal sources either manually or with triggers and have the sample edited and sorted in no time.
My main point is persevere with it and you’ll get there.
A tip that really helped me: Before you get into sampling your 606 etc (I love that machine too!) just hook up a radio or TV to your Octa. Sampling radio dialog has the advantage that you can tell exactly whats going on when you sample or when recording triggers ‘go off’ and sample a fresh sample - because its a different speech snippet each time, not just drum sounds or whatever. (i.e. you can tell very easily when you’ve - accidentally or intentionally - sampled a fresh sample)
Hope this makes sense - it really helped me. Also make sure you have the DIR setting adjusted to full volume on the record settings page for e.g. inputs AB
(FUNCTION + REC AB) to make sure you can actually hear what you’re sampling. Also make sure you set the sources/settings for the actual recording trigger by holding it down and pressing the REC AB/CD/MIDI buttons (Yeah - bit weird that one, confused the hell out of me at first)
Hopefully by the time you read this you’ll be well on your way!
This looks promising
This looks promising.
Do I really gotta sit at a computer with drum machines and the OT to build my audio pool though. My place is just not set up like that. I have a music studio sans computer, my wife has an office.
…
Anyways, trying this soon. Thanks.
also make sure, that you started your thru machine (play sign next to track instead of stop sign), if you use one.
press track + play
this took me some hours to find out.
I’d say forget the computer for now. Octa can make new sounds from almost any source material once you know how. Just hook up your 606, sample a very basic loop with all individual sounds on each step (i.e. no overlaps) at a fairly low tempo.
This will give you a starting point. Learn the sample edit page, slices, (Really good vids on this on YT) and you’ll quickly be able to get all the 606 sounds from one track by changing the appropriate slice for each trigger/step on the Octa.
You can also start making some bass/synthy sounds by using very short loops on e.g. the 606 toms and changing the pitch on each step/trigger.
By the time you get a rough ‘practice’ track made this way you’ll have learned most of what you need to learn. Then feed the OT with samples and bid farewell to your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/friends/family for a few months!
Its an amazing machine…
BTW the 606 sounds great sampled straight into the Octa . It deals really well with the sizzle/crispiness of the hihats and snare. Also really easy to toughen/fatten up the 606 bass drum if you want using filters/EQ or the comb filter. And you get to tune the toms!
No, you don’t GOTTA do this. With a little practise, you can sample the drum machines right into a sample chain on the OT. I only suggested using a computer as an alternative method for getting started with the OT as a sample player; if you don’t want to use a computer, there’s certainly no need to.
…sorry guys…but how can you tell somebody you don’t need a computer…
ok, you don’t need to make music in first place…but working with the ot always means also getting back ups straight…and therefor you’ll need a computer for sure…
one cf card only, will always let you down at some point…
imagine you finshed sampling ALL your favourite drums…five minutes ago…and it took you days to do so…and suddenly your one and only cf fucks it up…
you can put a new one in, drop the the backup from the computer on it and go ahead…
or start from scratch again…
back up back up back up…
100 % agree. In my previous posts I was just talking about the OP’s short-term plan to sample drum machine sounds.
I am not against using a computer to back up my files, I just don’t want to have to drag all my drum machines out of my studio and over to our office, and if I don’t have to, thats great.
Thanks friends.
Thanks for the help guys. Got some basics going here, and having fun digging up old drum machines and MS-20 patches. So so amped I got an Octatrack.
Out of curiosity:
Do you know why you couldn´t get the drum machines sync:ed to your OT?
I mean, was it:
‘yeah, I did manage to get it all running but the timing/syncing was a no go’
or
‘oh, I don´t even have a single clue of why I didn´t get it to work at all’
(or maybe something inbetween?)
Anyway, given that sync would work and that you could send midi messages that plays the sounds in your drum machines. In a project dedicated to this task, you would (at least theoretically in this case) be able to program an midi track on your OT that plays every each of these sounds. While also having an recorder setup on an audio track to record the input from input AB/CD (source being the very same drummachine).
The trig starting your miditrack would be on the same position in the grid sequencer as the recorder trig in your audio track. Note that you´d need to set correct memory length, and perhaps also needs to adjust at which tempo your OT will do the whole thing (so sounds won´t get cutoff in the sampling/slicing). A bit trial and error there.
If setting the memory length (seconds) to a length that would become divisible with 16, 32, 48 or 64 (steps in the grid sequencer). And each division would be at least enough to fit the longest sounding sound. You´d be able to make an slice waveform out of that recording of your drummachine, an sliced waveform that´s ‘designed’ to be used in your OT.
A cool thing is that such project for this task, could be used over and over at any time you stumble on some cool collection of sounds on your drummachine. And whenever you want to start having fun and be creative, load an new project and use the waveform in there. Never really risk being destructive to this sampling/slicing project trig and recorder settings.
You could make this project at such that sound passes (up to three) Thru tracks before hitting the recorder (which then would be set to record the last track prior to it). Thus enables you applying effects (sequenced or not) or just some frequency/level finetuned into your waveform (which will be written into it).
Initial problem was not being able to integrate the OT into my setup. And that is because the nature of the beast in the 707. It cant recieve midi and send DINsync to thd 606 at the same time.
I need another expensive little box to make that setup work.
Problem solved.
So now im just sampling (or trying to remember how) all the drum machines im not super psyched on giggibg with snyways.
What you described was how id intended to set all this up.
Thank you.
I need as much help with this guy as I csn get.