Here’s a programmed (i.e., doesn’t require manually adjusting the LFO settings during pattern playback) “solution” that I got to work last night:
- Set the LFO(s) to SYNC TRIG mode
- Save the part you did #1 on (eg, part 1) and link it to some pattern (eg, pattern a1)
- Copy the part to another part (eg, part 2)
- Copy your pattern to another pattern (eg, pattern a2)
- Switch to the new part (part 2)
- Set the LFO(s) to FREE mode or HOLD mode
- Save part 2 and link it to the new pattern (a2)
- Use arranger to play pattern a1 and then infinitely (or however many times you want) loop pattern a2
This way, the LFO(s) will always start at the same phase position and then continue to cycle without resetting each time their hosting tracks restart.
But I’m pretty sure that I’m never going to do this in practice, because it makes the simplest sequence into a Rube Goldberg contraption. I’d rather use Parts and the Arranger for what they excel at and only when I need them for what they excel at.
Hopefully someone else can find a better solution. Doubt that Elektron would prioritize addressing this in the Octatrack at this stage of development, but I feel that it could be quite unobtrusively handled by a new parameter in the pattern settings menu (where you can configure tracks as Plays Free, etc.) that governs whether SYNC TRIG LFOs reset only when patterns start playback. I imagine it would be a taller order to implement an entirely new LFO mode.
I submitted a ticket about this to Elektron because I feel that it misses out on enormous potential and the Octatrack is so very close to being able to support this.