Im having big problems sending midi notes from the Octatrack to my 909.
I would like the Octa to midi sequence my older machines, i.e the Roland 909. However, i cant get the two to communicate. Its quite annoying, cause i the 909 is getting midi trigget by accident by almost all my other gear. But the one machine i want it to receive midi notes from, the Octa, is not woking at all.
Here are some screenshot from the settings im working with. I would really appreciate if someone who knows how to set this up could have a look and hopefully nudge me in the right direction. I have been troubleshooting for 2 weeks now, with no luck…Thanks:)
If you are truly trying to send MIDI notes to the 909, then the first four screens that you attached are mostly irrelevant.
However, if you have clock and transport send activated, then the OT might start the 909’s sequencer and control the 909’s tempo, which is not what you want.
You need to focus on the OT’s MIDI sequencer, as in your fifth photo. You showed a photo of the Note page for Track 1 of the OT’s MIDI sequencer, which you have set to use MIDI Channel 1. You need to make sure that the MIDI Channel number matches the MIDI Receiving Channel on the 909 (I believe its default is 10).
You then need to send MIDI note numbers in the range from 36-51 to trigger the 909’s drum sounds. From memory, that is note range C2 to D#3 on the OT’s MIDI sequencer.
Nice, thanks Peter, just by eliminating the four other pictures you have helped me a long way.
I tried what you said and i got it partly to work when i in addition pushed function + left. On the left side of the keyboard thing in the display there is a small dumber, this needed to be on 2, not 3 like i had by default.
However, its only the kick and the clap that works. Is there a reason why the midi trigging is not linear. I have kick on the C and C# key, and clap on the D# and E key
It sounds like you are using the OT’s Chromatic mode to enter notes in its sequencer. The [FUNCTION]+[LEFT] key combination moves the range of the trig keys down one octave.
If you put note trigs on a bunch of steps in a MIDI track that is set to the MIDI channel that is working for you, I believe that you should be able to parameter lock the Note value using knob A to a value between about C2 to D#3 to get each individual drum sound.
However, I don’t have a 909 so I cannot confirm this. Give it a try and see what happens.
Adding on to Peter’s good advice, you may be able to “play” the Octa in Chromatic mode by sweeping your finger across the trigs. This should trigger most/all of the sounds in the external unit assuming the right octave and the right MIDI channel are set up first. Might help you find the missing drum sounds.
I think you can re-map the midi notes for the drum sounds on the 909. It might be shuffle + drum button then hit your note from OT or keyboard.
I’ve seen other drum machines that have more than one note per drum sound. My guess is so you can trigger the drum sound with more than one finger. It seems useful if you are doing 16th or 32nd hits.
