true
i even like the album
but
I love it to play my guitar
without any ambition, or other reason than to enjoy and make something nice
when playing, i find out new things, have problems in a song to solve, etc.
I try, try and try, and this way I my songs appear by doing.
My octatrack makes me stop making music, find the manual, read the manual, check this forum, etc.
OT has fantastic moments, but in many situations it just kills my flow.
i love my Octatrack
by i hate my Octatrack
big chance I am gonna sell it
( it’s not the octatrack, it’s me being tired of work & kids, and still want to make music)
analog four (with heat) gives me the flow I love… so I am happy anyway. i wish I find a sampler I love
I’d say if you use OT everyday, it becomes second nature. Of course OT can be used in many ways and one that mainly uses OT as drum machine and midi sequencer might need to look some stuff up in the manual when wants to do sampling and mangling.
Octatrack probaply is not a good choice for someone that only wants to switch it on every now and then for a quick jam.
So true, even after a long time some stuff can be forgotten if not used a lot. I think all the flexibility and options cost a bit of clarity and overview, but I came to realise I would not want to change much about that.
I think one of the biggest challenges is how to figure out how to fit the idea into the structure of the OT, there are lots of ways to achieve the same thing, but each if them have pros/cons, examples:
Flex vs Static
Slots vs Chains/slices
Pickup vs regular track recorder
Save to Project/Pool
And so on.
I think the key is to just be patient with it. I’ve felt like this at points and then two jams later I’m so glad I kept it. Unless you need the cash for something else right away, just hang onto it and give it time. It’s less immediately gratifying than some other gear, but once you get comfortable with it, there are so many wonderful possibilities.
For me, lately, OT has been a conceptual canvas. What gets me excited about using it is spending time away from it and, using what I know about its capabilities, coming up with different ways to utilize all that it has to offer.
I can totally see how OT can be a flow killer. It’s nothing like the other, flow-centric Elektrons such as MD, Rytm, or A4. It usually requires some kind of a plan, if you want to get the most from it. But lately, the way my mind has been, this is exactly what I need.
It’s like a machine that allows me to take my own conceptual threads and weave them into new and interesting (for me) fabrics.
If, as an artist, you’re really into “process”, then OT is great because at times using it can be a bit of a process indeed, haha. But more to the point, it can allow you to imagine a new creative process that you can apply to it, and that can be highly motivating.
Sure, it has its own construct, with limits. It is not a pure blank canvas. It has rules you have to adhere to. But in the end it is still, at its core, a sampler and sequencer. Yea, a highly advanced sampler and sequencer. But you don’t have to fit your ideas into its synthesis capabilities, or the timbre of any analog engine.
It’s an idea compiler, developer, and amplifier.
And therefor it relies so heavily on the quality of the ideas you put into it.
I think, it all depends on what you want from it, right? Currently I am using my OT mainly as sequencer for synths, a drum Maschine and a mixer/fix unit. It does not take long to understand the basic concepts for it and after that it is not harder to use then any other device for hat purpose. The only difference to most other maschines is, that I need to choose the concept of each track.
From time to time I step over something that does not work as I was intended it to behave or don’t know how to do something. Then I need to research, but I need to do that for every device I use.
I know that I am far from using it to its full potential, but up to now, i flow a lot more with the OT then I did with the Force or the Maschine+ for example.
Maybe i a, just just biased after I spent way to much time trying to get external midi stuff to work fine on the Maschine+…
Great post!
Deffinetly Octatrack(mki for us) is the most inspiring piece of kit I have ever found.
It allows many different setups and possible layouts.
I use it in many different ways, sometimes just using its midi tracks for sequencing other synths such the Blofeld in multi part, and then the audio can get routed back and processed using more fx with neighbours audio tracks if needed. The good think is that this audio can also be recorded or looped, or even extremely mangled using the recording buffers, sequenced, slice into loops, etc… a whole live set can be organised using this technique.
About samples, I’m not too worry about the number of samples to use or load, as the Octatrack allows getting many different posibilities from the same sound source, just chopping, looping, editing, processing, resampling, etc… in many different ways.
Even a single audio sample can be used to generate a whole live act if you have some sound processing knowledge and practice with this machine, as it can be an incredible sound source.
As the Octatrack manual says, it can be a looper, a sampler, a mixer, an FX processor…or all combined…we use it and abuse of it so often. We play live and we use a different setup and template for every live. So maybe one day is looping stuff from simple external sound sources, also sequencing other synths, and processing all of it together, mixed and processed. Some other time we may use it as a drum machine with preloaded samples from the synths and drum machines at our studio, and heavily processed. Other times just as a sample based synth, looping the waveforms and processed, or using its cue send and returns to create crazy ambient and cinematic reverb effects to feedback again and processed back…and I can probably keep going, so many possible different ways to work with it, an impressive sound design tool actually. I’m just so in love with the creative process Octatrack can allow. I always preproduced the live set, pen and paper and study different possibilities, ideas, I’m also a big fan of using the mixing desk(octatrack in this case) as another instrument… With such an open and creative tool, the sky is the limit.
(I started with a Digitakt, and then I have also used a Digitone and a Machinedrum sps mkii, to end up on the Octatrack, but I still used the other ones as sound sources, and also keep alterning them for every live we may have…Octatrack will be on every live act we play, no doubt)
Sample chains allow for another dimension of organization. The most obvious example would be a bunch of piano notes that form a scale. It would not make sense to load 64 individual piano notes when the slice view would allow for much better organization.
This is an excellent point, as organization is the key to harnessing the Octatrack.
It not only helps in live performance, or getting things going quickly when track making, but also in developing the muscle memory that is so crucial to a productive working relationship with the instrument.
With 256 sample slots, and 128 patterns per project, if you’re not organized, you’re not utilizing it all to its fullest potential. And like you say, sample chains is just another opportunity for organization.
One of my favorite things I like to do with the OT for live sets is populate the static engine with a bunch of 4/8 bar loops. I’ll leave every 16th slot empty. This gives me a quick loop stop button per page in slot mode. Basically 15 loops per page with one stop button. Each of the loops are quantized to 4/16-16/16 depending on the loop. This is the closest I get to ableton clip mode on the OT with 120 “clips” per project. Then I’ll go to track 8 and turn the delay into a quick looper and assign the send to the cross fader. Every time I slam left I loops whatever is going on the OT and can change things up before I release the loop. I use the flex engine for melodic sample stuff and I keep a thu track for an external piece. Plenty of fun.
I realize I could test this on my own, but does this method trigger the newly selected slot in time? As in, the current slot plays until the track hits the trig (assume on the 1st step)? Or, do you do this in some sort of Plays Free use case?
I quantize the loops in the sample edit menu. It’s in the ATTR page all the way in the bottom. That way my loops launch in time with my sequence. I launch the clips in slot mode live. I use this method for live jams!
For those sequencing external gear and passing the audio back through the OT for processing & mixing.
Once you hit a good sound, do you tend to sample it and work with that for creating the track you’re working on - changing track from a thru to a flex or static? Or do you just work with the MIDI & audio passing through - even when performing live, bringing synths with you?
I know the answer will be “both” but interested in people’s preferences.
