Introducing Octatrack MKII

Anybody know why recorded samples are not saved and reloaded in a track when shutting off and restarting, even though the project was saved? I think I have the system option checked as well to save samples I think. I have not read that far in the manual as of yet. I would think that whatever is assigned to a track (even a recorded sample) would be there when you restart if you save a project.

The contents of the recording buffer do not persist between power cycles. You need to actually save the recording to a file in the audio editor if you want to keep it.

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Thereā€™s a save all command as well, and some options to save and assign to flex at the same timeā€¦

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So the way around this I guess is to save the recording to a file and then add it as a flex track?

yep you can ā€œsave and assign to free flex slotā€, then select that newly saved flex sample on the desired track.

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Some questions to those who also have OT MKII.

  1. Do you also experience that the crossfader is too loose? Especially comparing to MKIā€™s one. If I push it a bit forward (which can happen in heavy action) it gets stuck and canā€™t be moved. The MKIā€™s crossfader is much more stable.

  2. When setting a scene (which is red), the green light of the other scene isnā€™t brighter than the other available sceen buttons. Iā€™m missing that functionality from MKI.

  3. When in recording mode the active page led (above the page button) is not bright enough to find it easily among the other three leds. On MKI it was much better.

  4. The inputs seem to be very quite to me. I have to turn every volume and gain up to the max to hear some sound from external gear (like AK). I used balanced and unbalanced cable pairs.

  1. its definitely looserā€¦ i thought it was because it is ā€œcontactlessā€. works great for me

  2. yesā€¦no difference when scene is pressed

  3. its subtlety brighter than the remaining 3 leds. i can see it but it was easier on the mk1

  4. not my experience

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@JOB Doesnā€™t wobble the crossfader a bit in up/down direction to you? And if you push it a ittle bit forward (upward) does it still move smoothly?

I echo @JOBā€™s responses on all 4 points.

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Ok. Thanks.
I hope scene leds will be fixed soon.

The crossfader is suspicious to me. It often gets stuck on my device. I have to move it very carefully to keep it moving smoothly.

Can someone answer me this question I have about parts?Iā€™m new to Elektron, and reading through the book. Iā€™m a moron though. I have 1 pattern. On a certain track, I have a parameter lock (RTRG) on trig 9. Iā€™m in part 1. Now I copied part one to part 2. I then removed the P-lock on trig 9 and saved part 2. I go back to part 1 and the p-lock is there, go back to part 2 and the p-lock is not removed. Am I misunderstanding how parts work? It says in the book, parts contain track parameters? I know itā€™s probably easier just to copy and paste the pattern to a new pattern and remove the p-lock. Iā€™m just experimenting, I got 1 hour a night to learn this thing. Sucks. Itā€™s gonna take 5 years at this rate of 1 hour per night.

P-locks are saved in patterns (not parts) as they are pattern data.

If you arenā€™t copying and pasting patterns, as well, then you are just adding and removing a p-lock from the same pattern you are residing in. Youā€™ll need to make two patterns.

ā€œTrack parametersā€ are the parameters before they are p-locked. The p-locks are actually saved in the patterns, not the parts.

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i feel like the MK2 is fasterā€¦

loads fasterā€¦
comes out of usb mode faster

am i experiencing a psychological effect?

Adamjay is exactly right, and to just expand a little Iā€™ll say that parts are like kits or your ensemble of sounds. They contain the machine selection, sample, fx, all parameter settings of the edit pages, recorder setups, and scenes.

Many of us stay in one part for a few patterns, thereā€™s 4 per bank of 16 pattern so often people use 1 part for 4 patterns. Each pattern is linked to whichever part was last loaded to it.

You definitely donā€™t have to do it that way and you can switch parts mid pattern but itā€™s often a drastic thing to do unless you keep your parts very similar, which sort of wastes parts. We have scenes for switching a few or lots of parameters mid pattern and you donā€™t nessecarrily have to fade into them, you can have the fader on one side and mute/unmute them and switch through fully activated onesā€¦
Iā€™d talk about patterns but Iā€™ll just leave it for nowā€¦

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letā€™s hear some of your cool tracks Mike

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Shhhhhhā€¦
I donā€™t make tracks I just read the manuals and answer questionsā€¦ :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
And the nameā€™s Open, Mikes my last nameā€¦ :heart_eyes:

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Riiiiight lol ā€¦ hey one quick mention re/ Parts ā€¦ they could be used like an effects button on a dj mixer ā€¦ switch Part on time to add some tweaky filter and subtle chorus for half a bar, then return to regular :slight_smile:

oh btw the mkII arrived today, super beautiful machine, loving it already.
havenā€™t actually made any sounds with this wild creature just yet.
arranging and rearranging leads to achieve a moderately balanced organically supportive scenario.

ever noticed how devices have a personality all their own?
almost as though they are alive on some level.

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Well they can, but thatā€™s what I was suggesting scenes are preferable for, I save parts for more drastic rearrangement of machine assignments and recorder setupsā€¦

With the fader on one side, muting and unmuting a scene brings it full off to full on and while holding the scene button you can jump between all the different scenes. Jumping directly between them can be quite fun, and you can jump to a blank one for a quick scene mute while all the other ones are still available to jump back to.
So as long as you not changing the machines/samples or fx assignments, you have access to all the tracks fx and edit pages with the scenes.

Iā€™m stoked you got your mk2 unicorn!
I tend to think of gear personalities as the character of the sound but yeah your probably onto something.
Somehow reminds me how a few of my instruments have interesting tales of how I got them, to the point where I end up feeling for sure they were meant for meā€¦

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Thanks guys, Iā€™m reading merlinā€™s guide and on the scenes section and it makes no sense to me. I wish there were videos to go along with this guide.

Scene Stacking - Iā€™m not really sure what this is accomplishing. I would tend to think that you would want all scenes on the left to be without effects (1-9). If heā€™s copying 1 to 9, modifying 9, then copying 9 to 2, what does that accomplish?

scene stacking.
The idea is easy:
ā€¢ When the first pattern runs, it runs without being affected by any scene.
ā€¢ I move the crossfader to the right and load scene 1 to the left. Fading to
the left now puts scene 1 in full control.
ā€¢ I copy scene 1 to scene 9 and load scene 9 to the right. Crossfading to the
right now has no effect, since scene 9 holds the same parameter values.
ā€¢ I make all changes I want to scene 9. Since the parameters of scene 1 are
still stored in scene 9, I can move naturally from 1 to 9. The parameters
that changed in scene 9 are stacked on top of what already was changed
in scene 1.
ā€¢ I copy scene 9 to scene 2 which is loaded to the left. Again I make changes
on top of what was changed in scene 9.
20
ā€¢ copy 2 to 10, modify and fade
ā€¢ copy 10 to 3, modify and fade
ā€¢ copy 3 to 11, modify and fade

Patterns store triggers and parameter locks
Parts store machines (+settings), effects (+settings), scenes and track volumes.

I rarely ever have both scenes active at the same time.