New to Elektron and probably starting in over my head with “new to me” Octatrack and A4 Mk1s (used prices are so good right now) - which resources do you wish you read/watched earlier when jumping in?
Maybe my way is a bit boring and old-school …
after Cenk made me crave to use Elektron boxes … I had watched some of his presentation videos on the Elektron web-site and some YT videos of his performances … well, I got the OT and started to read the manual. I found suggestions to explore the OT feature by feature, to be patient, and to take some time to get the muscle memory developed. It worked for me and I would do it exactly the same way again 
4 Likes
I read the manual and spent at least two hours every day for about a year with the machine. Would do it all again the same way. I dont find youtube vids very helpful personally.
5 Likes
Self motivation to keep grinding, stick with it, avoid noise of the stream of new gear coming out if you are easily affected by that.
Don’t compare, accept the gear as is.
Macprovideo has 2 courses. I liked them as a noob.
6 Likes
I think the greatest resource after having a) read both manuals (official and Merlin) and b) watched some tutorials, is this forum!
And most important part is of course training.
Although I still have huge problems figuring stuff out even with those resources at hand (e.g. how to make the OT fx sound nice)
3 Likes
Youtube and this forum
2 Likes
And you know, don’t obsess over not “getting” everything. You can use the Octatrack perfectly well without using all of its functions. 
8 Likes
word! most important lesson to learn
6 Likes
Loving the feedback so far - thanks!
The 2 Macprovideo tutorials I watched on ipad and I like it, read the manual and merlin’s guide, and using it everyday. The only thing I wish I had was more time to play with my OT. I am in love with it…
3 Likes
Listen to your favourite non-electronic album and then recreate the theme of it.
The world is drowning in sequences, recreating tutorialised aspirations is a waste of your flexible machine.
We don’t need another _______maus
…the manual.
2 Likes
learn how to use the search function on elektronauts.
try not to ask questions that have been around for years .
my first question was a very obvious ‘read the FUC!@£$!£$%@£ manual’ type thing , sorry about that. was worried my 2nd hand octatrack had a fault.
maybe the forum could add a warning ’ this user hasnt had an elektron device for very long , assume they haven’t read the manual and be gentle with them’ … or use the block thread option.
I’m using that a LOT at the moment… certainly helps as i’m trying to use forum less and not get drawn in to each new thread.
1 Like
This time around, everything but the digitakt and my laptop has gone into storage. Seems a lot easier to focus/learn now that I’m not chasing that mythical “workflow” often associated with multiple gears.
As for learning resources, a combination of this forum and the manual have been all I needed so far. Not real big on video tutorials.
4 Likes
Search function on this forum. 
I never read a forum as much as this one, it’s the best source for all the tricks that aren’t in the manual.
There’s so much menu diving in these boxes that I’d probably have bailed on them in the early days if I didn’t find most of the answers here.
As for the popular YouTubers on this gear, I only found the “loopop” and “sonicstate” channels for gear reviews/intros to be useful before buying the gear.
2 Likes
Probably spend more time reading manuals which is what I have been doing but otherwise probably would have started with just one Elektron box like a Digitakt.
starting over …
look through the forums to see if the product is stable , decent firmware , usable …
this might help to avoid buying early , ploughing through bugs and getting frustrated.
anyone interested in overbridge or any type , on any device - new or old - read the forum before spending money. … know what to expect and what not to expect … I’ve seen many recent new purchasers ask about overbridge , and some people who’ve recently updated to find their usb no longer works … the never ending disappointment about seeing overbridge on the box only to buy and find we’re still waiting .
… Overbridge - DO YOUR RESEARCH.
buying 2nd hand ??? - visit the classifieds on here or check what sort of rare faults are on the hardware so you know what to check when you first buy a device.
buying 2nd hand - the mk1 devices are very very usable and cheap. (rytm , analog 4, heat , octatrack)
old devices are decent , try get the machine drum UW version , more suitable for quirky glitch things .
DONT BUY ANYTHING assuming a magic firmware fix will come along . even if it does unfortunately it’ll possibly still have issues for a number of versions and potentially some of the more quirky ones may never be fixed.
Be cautious with any ‘presentation’ videos , sure they look cool but be aware of what is NOT being shown … many got burnt by this on the Digitakt vids , … midi was brushed over… when the device shipped it was barely working… i did feel a bit cheated , hence my writing it here.
OCTATRACK ???
start simple , triggering samples , then move into the finer details of flex , static machines … thru machines…
what videos to get a broad idea of what it can do , but start simple , get to know where some of the key menus are hidden …
DIGITAKT
learn the difference between sample , sound , sound pool , + drive . tracks , patterns , projects … some may be a little different to what you are familiar with.
Youtube has a lot of resources , some good alternative manuals can also be found on this forum too.
that search function will find them
3 Likes
I’ve found Cuckoos tutorials really helpful and inspiring. Often in the evenings when my girlfriend is in the living room watching some tv-show about gardening or refurbishing the house, I’m in the bedroom watching Cuckoo videos and hoping that I had my Elektron boxes with me to try the things I learn.
I remember getting MonoMachine and MachineDrum for the first time maybe 10 years ago and not having any decent videos or anything. I learned what I learned from reading the manuals and in the end ended up selling both of them. Now I have mk2 versions of both and I’m never selling them.
2 Likes
Oh, you want to know the secret, don’t you?
1 Like
the elektron-users forum has some good resources, i would go back to it again and of course, yt videos+the manuals+this forum 
2 Likes