Here’s the way i do :
Simple memo, with all i need. Patterns matching beetween my OT and my A4, Sounds/samples affectations on tracks, BPM, and sometimes keynotes to be played on a free A4 track (as the sounds may be de-tunes).
By the way, if you want to see the track “Ambient fields” played, it’s here :
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I need to do something like this.
You don’t synchronise transport between the two machines?
I do, for the sake of my sanity - e1 on the OT is e1 on the MnM, and vice versa. I think it would be too chaotic otherwise.
The OT send the midi clock to the A4, yes.
Since the OT and A4 are managed differently, i don’t find any practical to mach the patterns numbers. For me a track on the A4 is a live song. Not on the OT, i use 1, 2, 3 or 4 patterns for a track.
I got 3 machines here… which is fun… but it gets complicated after a while. start to forget things blabla.
what helps me… is kinda what i did on my mc909… or what i do with renoise…
which is a uniformed way of working…
so all patterns on my octatrack in a current project, work “the same way” the scenes kinda do “the same thing” in every bank/part… just a little bit altered for the crispiest settings for THAT part…
All my patterns on the machinedrum have same kitsetup… something that worked for me
kick hihat snare tom … all others channels, i could just mute at will… it be some percussion that just “fills up space” like shakers or bells, rides… cowbells… that dont really carry the groove… (else it be on the snaretrack) . And most of the first 4 tracks are linked to track 8 to 12… so i can layer the voices… give it extra meat.
Monomachine is always, bass, bleeps, pad, synthiesounds
Its very tempting just to make more sounds and put them all over the place.
and sometimes uniformity can be restrictive… but it does make things easier to play/find back.
@Tintao: nice sheet!
but my answer is: keep things simple.
… and practice, practice, practice 
ps. but this is also why elektron should consider to give us users:
- a way to name stuff within the machines.
and 2. a better organisation.
I’ve made those memo sheets, but it’s not perfect of course. I was using one only project on the A4, and the OT. But projects are full now. I created new ones. I wish we could switch projects without loosing the sound.
I’m still looking for the good/best configuration for me.
I’m constantly trying to strike a balance between the amount of information I can include on a cribsheet, how much space there is, and how much detail I can eliminate because I know a song well enough from practice. This means my cribsheet is in a perpetual state of flux.
I do mainly trinity-based performances, so these days I’m using a five-column format: one for overall song info, one each for MD MnM and OT pattern/track info, and another for miscellaneous reminders (which are often OT scenes).
A typical entry with all instruments playing looks something like this:
Asc 131 B.01 34 (9,11-13) A.02 4A J.01 345 9->10;11
…Basically this reminds me of the song title and the BPM. The tracks on each instrument I might want to start with are bold/underlined; major parts I want to bring in later are not. Anything I need to avoid bringing in unintentionally (fills etc.) I put into parentheses. I can cue tracks on the OT, but I’ll often add a letter next to a MnM track to remind me what it is - A for arp in this case.
This format allows me to transition with a minimum amount of prep time - crucial in front of a club crowd - and know where to reach for its other major elements. Beyond that, I find out how well I’ve practiced. 
Very compact memo.
I tried a similar system. But playing live, i find myself not using it at all, cause i was too busy with the machines and could not decode my own memo in a short time.
This is why i tried with bigger memo sheets, and it works better for me. But still have to improve it.
I keep it simple: One pattern per song when I play live. If I did it otherwise it would surely end up in a horrible mess.
There’s plenty of room for variation within one pattern though, when you have an OT, an A4, a TR-8 and an Ambika (though I’ve been thinking about removing it from the live setup and just sample it to the OT instead, the Ambika’s not that live-friendly), and plan to add some new units in the near future.
I make simple, loopy techno stuff though, it might be different it you write symphonies.
“How do you memorize settings beetween machines ?”
What was your question?
Yeah, but that was not exactly the question. I use one pattern most of the time for live situation. But the question was about memorizing patterns, bpm, etc… beetween machines.
nice system in op! that sheet is so keen!
I use the OT as main operator. All other machines in my park respond to Program Change. I use the octatrack midi sequencer to store the programechange value. Hence i don’t need to organicaly memorize the other machines settings, only the octatrack bank and tempo of the song.
Because the midi-settings of a miditrack is stored in the PARTS (as are the settings of audiotracks.), I like to have 4 songs per bank. This gives me up to 4 patterns per song.
Neverthe less I will take insipiration of the part in the cheat-sheet of OP where specific actions, keys and sound location are noted.
Great thread! thanks for sharing!
Hi Tintao,
I agree with reSet that the best way to go is to establish one machine as “Master” and send program changes. This is by far the most tidy way, and works great with the synths I´ve tried so far.
Using the 4 parts per bank/song approach, you can send 4 different program changes within one bank, allowing for great changes and mixing using the external gear.
It´s normal to constanly add new machines to your setup or change some for others, and is true that some times this stuff gets messy, for this ocassions I like to make a drawing of MIDI or AUDIO routings, like a virtual test version.
Here is an example of my new setup for an experimental project, it just reminds me of MIDI routings and some audio tips, each synth is in charge of a certain sound, Virus TI (leads and pads), Nord (Bass), x0xb0x (Acid), Gameboy and SID (Synths,Fx)… etc.
More of a shitty quick illustration than anything else… lolol and not as tidy as the examples above! 
but it´s key for my brain to see in a graphic way all the gear involved to make sense.
The rest of important things like effects, patterns, duration, or any assignments are not important to memorize if you practice enough your set… this becomes automatic and your brain does the hard work to “memorize” how everything is layed out…
Sorry for the long post and I hope it helps!
Thanks all for your feebacks / advices.
I also have 4 songs per bank… following the 4 parts per bank.
A1 is the main, A2, A3 and A4 are variations.
Idem for A5, A9 and A13.
But sometimes, it’s “dangerous”, as i may forget that i’m on a variation (A2 for instance), and i’m changing a parameter without parameter lock. But it’s ok.
Using the OT midi sequencer to store the programechange values is ok, but if the patterns are in different projects, it’s dead.
By the way, i never used program change. How do you do that ?
Well, i’ve just tried it, and it works…but the program change is always one bar late. I mean my sequence on the OT is 64 steps. When i change pattern, the change on the A4 will occur 64 steps later after the OT has changed its pattern. Is it normal ?
Hi Tintao,
I don´t own an A4, but with a Nord Modular, Virus TI, x0xb0x, the program changes are “instant”. The x0xb0x its totally automatic, some Nord patches or Virus TI ones more complicated, maybe take like some miliseconds, but almost allways unnoticeable.
The way I do program changes is on the first page of a MIDI track (Note), you select Midi Channel, then Program and Bank… this get´s saved to one of your 4 parts.
Hope it helps!
This is how I do it and it sometimes takes a bit of time to follow through, but it works.