One of my projects requires that I use mostly kits to retrieve sets of patches as follow: 1x song = 1x kit
I need to switch kits quickly between songs and I do not really have the time to re-enter the octave information for each track every time.
I could have my patches layed out on the tracks so track #1 is always in the upper range, track #4 the bass, etc… Unfortunately the proportion of bass/lead/pads patches I use vary from one song to another so I cannot really do that.
How would you suggest saving the kits so the tracks’ octave information can be retrieved when switching between songs (kits)?
I just figured I needed to have at least one trig my patterns, even if I don’t necessarily run them. This way I get both the kit and the octave information reloaded when I switch patterns/songs.
Too bad the tempo is saved as global, I would have found it really handy to have it switch when I switch songs… The Analog Keys is still way awesome, even without this feature!
Do you have an Octatrack or Machinedrum? The arranger / song mode can switch tempos per pattern. So if you sync the clock to one of those you will get the desired effect.
I was checking if you had any additional Elektron gear that you could tie into this. I have since acquired the Analog Keys and I although I have not used the song mode, this has traditionally been able to change tempo per pattern change within the song. Unfortunately I don’t think it is possible to save tempo per pattern/kit but I could be wrong.
What I do is every song I work on has a completely new project loaded on the Octatrack which will include the global tempo setting for that project. Since all of my other gear syncs to the OT, I can be sure the tempo will be the same as I last left it for each song. Although I am in no position to perform live I still haven’t figured out a good way to load up projects quickly between songs which would be needed in a live situation.
I use mine live a lot. Maybe my workflow can help you? here is what I do:
I try to keep all the patterns for a given song within the same bank A-H.
I try to leave my patterns grouped by verse/chorus/bridge within a given bank.
I try to leave an empty pattern between those sections, so I can see the sections being separated by blanks on the sequencer lights when I load patterns.
I give my kits the name of the song, with a number next to it - I try to give each pattern its own kit regardless to prevent having changes on one impact the other.
I save my patterns after saving the kits. This way the kit is saved with the pattern - I noticed I needed at least 1 note in the sequencer, which can be muted, for this to work.
This way whenever I load a pattern, I have the name of the song it is associated with displayed in the KIT name, and I know which section of the song it belongs to.
I also use the song mode, and this organisation comes handy when doing so because it allows me to keep track of my parts and punch them in even more easily.
I moslty switch between “projects” when I work on material for different bands, or projects. This way I have all the tools I need for each of my projects right away, and I can mess with one without impacting the others.
I am sure there are way better ways to do this, but I thought I would share in case it can help you
Sounds similar to my setup. I use a kit per pattern or set of patterns for the same song on my MD. I normally do some crazy stuff in each kit that really only works for the one track so this makes the most sense for me. Since mine has the +Drive I plan on just using one of the snapshots and restore each kit/pattern per song in order I want to play each song to a new blank snapshot. This would basically hold my “live set” without me really needing to think much about it. I really like your idea of keeping a blank pattern between songs for visual reference since not every song will have the same number of patterns.
My OT as I explained before I just make a new project for each song. Structurally this helps with backing up and not mixing samples from different songs. It also helps me take advantage of the sample import (or whatever the hell it is called) feature where it will copy all used samples in that project from the global sound pool and place them within the project itself. This way when you back up just a project folder, you have the complete song and not just the patterns without the samples. Also as mentioned global settings like tempo also get stored there.
The Analog Keys is too new for me to know what I am doing with it. I think it has projects as well but since there is no CF card I do not see myself using them the same as the OT. I will probably treat this the same as my MD and just export the sysex dumps and load them to an empty snapshot for a live set. Hopefully Overbridge will make organization better.
The rest of my gear does not have any complicated patch saving so right now I just keep a list of what patches go to which songs and manually switch them. I have played with the patch change option on the OT and I think once I take the time to set it up I will make use of that. So ultimately I will load an OT project and everything but the MD and AK will switch to the correct patch.
For a live situation I see myself treating it more like a traditional band where there is a clear beginning and end of a song with some time in between. This make waiting for the OT project to load up an acceptable wait. On that note, since the AK and MD are not going to be linked to anything but the clock and tempo on the OT, I could probably keep them playing or switch to the next songs beat while the OT loads up. Like anything this will take some planning and much practice.
