Learning to use my OT again

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi folks,

After recovering from a major injury, I am getting back into learning my Elektron gear again. The Analog 4 has been a piece of cake. I hooked it up to my Make Noise 0-coast via CV and was sequencing both in no time. Getting into my Octatrack MK2 after not touching it for months after a while, I fired up the demo tracks and starting trying out the different features like how to use FX and sequence patterns with trigs and what not. The cross fader is a lot of fun! Anyways been reading the manual and working to figure things out. The tricky part for me is to get the levels right for samples that I recorded from movies. I turn up the volume levels per track to highest and also tried the mix levels. Despite the complexity, really having fun exploring it again.

It really is superb fun and powerful. Hopefully by the time COVID ends, I can jam in northern California with folks and will have my OT skills sharpened to do live sets.

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#2

In the slice grid in attributes you can adjust the gain a further 24 dB + or minus!

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#3

…ha…i hear u…all these different gainstaging options in this machine are driving me nuts even after years…

and i also have to get into the whole thing again and again, whenever i have’nt touched it in a while…

#4

You can change the gain level of the sample itself, then there’s the Volume pre FX and then the Track Level post FX. It doesn’t seem to have so many gainstaging option or am I missing something?
I actually would love to have an extra Volume after the first FX especially for Filter/EQ.

It’s the same set up I have in Ableton. Before any FX I have a Gain tool and after it in case there isn’t a Volume parameter in the vst.
That’s why I would love an extra gain before the FX2.
Generally you want to touch your fader/track level to actual mix your sounds and not for gain compensation.

I would say the OT needs more gainstaging no less!

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#5

What @DanJamesAUS and @FTJ said. In case you’re quite rusty: it’s in the AED menu, and then you switch through it’s sub menus with the buttons under the screen. I think the second to last botton under the screen has the option to change + or - 12/24DBs.

What you then can do is go the the button to the right of it, and select the option to save the changed sample info.

That way every time you use that sample slot (or maybe even always when you use that sample disregarding of the project you’re in, not sure) the sample will have that volume. If you make sure to do this often, first setting AMP and track levels to standard (so zero for AMP and 100 or 127 for your standard track level), and then setting the sample level via the proces described above, then in the end your levels will become way more consistent on your samples. Especcially if you start reusing samples like kicks or hats again later in the set/project. (I sometimes set them to a slightly off value, like -11,5 instead of -12db, so I can immediately see I’m probably already using that sample earlier in the project - so I don’t mess up its levels by changing them again in the new song).

Hope this was clear enough!

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#6

Anyone know this?

#7

I think it’s the .ot file you find when you save a project. So as long you have that file in the same folder it should keep the setting.
I like this but I prefer to easily resample and have the actual audio file with the right settings.

#8

Great thanks. I guess it also depends wether it’s a standard sample that’s often reused, like some favorite drum one shots, for which saving the correct level info is great, or if it’s stuff you’re making for a song specifically, in which case dedicated samples / resampling might suit better

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#9

Thanks and I can resample the clips if need be. I will muck around with the gain settings in the AED slice menu. I have a bunch of sample clips from Japanese anime and 007 Bond films and Star Wars. Love mangling these and creating beat tracks. I only wish that Overbridge would come to the OT but I realize that is a pipe dream.

#10

This is off topic… I am also a native Califorian. Grew up in LA, college in San Jose and Santa Cruz. I spent a little time in Oregon and then moved to Santa Rosa. I ended up south of you, in Fresno. (I often wonder what gods I angered). Spent some time in Sacramento. I am
also waiting for Covid to end so I can get out and do some gigs. Gigging in Fresno has not been as good as the other places I have lived. However, it could be worse. Peace

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#11

…well…there’s amp gain, sample gain, track gain, master gain., input gain…u name it…

#12

I find when I havent used the octatrack in a couple months (I think that’s the longest I’ve gone) I’m surprised to come back to it and find all my muscle memory working.

Now if I went, say, a year…that might be different.

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#13

Hey - If you are truly a “Sac” guy, keep me on the short list for post-vaccine meetups/jams! I’m in Sacto too, and am looking forward to live collaborations if/when we ever get through this. It’s been too long!

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#14

@Zac_Kyoti, indeed I live in Sacramento. Used to live in socal but took govt job after tech layoffs. Sounds good. Also want to see if bay area electronic jams resume after COVID ends. Lots of cool modular synth groups too there.