Midi Trigs timing is of

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi there,

I have both Audio and MIDI Track 1 set up to play “Free”. Both tracks have a trig on 1, 5, 9 and 13 (four to the bar). The sequencer is not running. I’m in MIDI mode and hit Track Trig 1 and Midi Trig 1 (=trig nr 9) at exactly the same time. Audio and MIDI track 1 start playing, as expected. However: the audio in the octatrack plays even fourths, but the timing of my OB6, which is playing the MIDI received by track 1, is of. Audio and MIDI both start together on the ONE, but the first bar of the MIDI is shorter (like it’s playing faster) than it should be. This results in all following OB6 hits sounding continuously anticipated (too early).
Anyone ever had the same experience with this mysterious behaviour? Or any ideas how to solve this?
Kind Regards

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#2

IMG_0644
IMG_0644.jpg2851×2138 2.19 MB

Looks like this…

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#3

IMG_0646.m4v (3.4 MB)
Sounds like this…

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#4

Does it work properly without plays free?
Is plays free quantized ?
Is it just a time offset?

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#5

Hi Sezare,

Thanks for the reply. I just discovered that when I set scale mode to “normal” instead of “per track”, the problem is solved. However, does that make any sense to you? It smells like a bug to me…

#6

What are your scale settings?
Does it work with the sequencer running?

#7

And to answer your questions:
Yes
Yes
and
Yes, except for the first beat. The first beat starts together, after that, the MIDI timing is of.

#8

Scale settings are standard 16/16 for all tracks.
No problem with the sequencer running.

#9

And what about quantize values?
With the sequencer off, maybe audio and mdo plays free track don’t behave similarly…

#10

I tried different quantise settings. The problem is in the midi track. Only the first time, the first bar seems to be at a higher speed. All other cycles, the midi timing is just fine. A trig on 1 and 3 would sound like I programmed it on 1 and 2, but only during the first cycle, and only with the scale mode set to “per track”! Very strange…

#11

Not sure if this is related :
MIDI Plays Free tracks won't play 'Direct'

Could you write minimum required steps / settings from a new project, in order to reproduce your issue?

#12

Thanks for the effort, but I don’t think it’s related.

So the steps to recreate the issue:

Project settings
Channels->Trig channel 1: OFF

Audio track 1:
Flex machine, Basdrum sample. Grid recording, place a trig on 1, 5, 9 and 13.

Midi track 1:
Set to Midi channel 1.
Grid recording: place a trig on 1, 5, 9 and 13 (Same as audio track). Connect a synth or a sampler receiving midi ch 1, any sound will work but a short one will be the most obvious.

PATTERN SETTINGS
Scale mode: Per Track
All tracks (audio and midi) have the same settings:
T1 Plays Free OFF
Trig Mode One
Trig Q TR.Len

Hit play on the Octatrack: everything will be in sync.
Hit Stop . No problem so far.

Now in Pattern Settings set Plays Free to ON for both Audio and MIDI tracks.

Now go to MIDI mode, so all 16 triggers act as Audio Track Trigs (1-8) or MIDI Trigs (9-16).
Hit trig 1. The BD sample will playback as expected.
Stop playback.
Now hit trig 9. Now playback will act weird every time you hit the trig. When you leave it running, it will start weird, but plays normal from the second cycle on.

Now press 1 and 9 at the same time, and the problem will even be more clear…

Dunno bout my other settings, but nothin fancy…

EDIT: With the sequencer running, using the MIDI trig won’t cause any timing issues, unless Track Q is set to “DIRECT”.

#13

Thanks. I’ll try that.
I still don’t get why you don’t run sequencer, and if you don’t, why do you quantize to TR LEN.

#14

So I tried, it behaved normally, sequenced the same way. (MKI, 1.31).
I tried with seq on/off, quantize direct / TR LEN.
Btw quantize doesn’t seem to work if the sequencer is off.

Could you try with another synth?
Edit: I forgot scale per track, it is buggy.

#15

I had no specific reason not to run it without the sequencer. It doesn’t really make any difference. I was playing around, displacing the melody in time, starting it from different places while the sequencer was actually playing. That’s how I discovered. With the Q set to direct, I ran into this problem. It is however necessary to put it in direct Q, because I want to be able to start the melodies on the fly, however it’s not working like this. With scale mode in normal it does work, so I do have a way around it.

And you’re right. Quantise does indeed not make any sense when the sequencer’s not running :-). Tried it with my Moog Sub Phatty, same problem… Thanks for thinking along buddy!!!

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#16

BTW MarkII here, 1.30!! maybe I should try the update

#17

I forgot to use Scale Per Track!

So with Scale Per Track it seems buggy with sequencer off, like a step before at 2nd note for midi track. Quantize direct or TR LEN.

With sequencer on, it is buggy with DIRECT, apparently not with other quantize settings

Maybe you can report it as a bug.
Quantize 1/16 doesn’t suit your playing?

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#18

I tried 1/16, but it’s hard to focus on playing 1/16th ahead of the beat, albeit being a professional drummer :slight_smile: hahaha. Ah whatever. So many great things to do with this machine. Where would one report a bug?

#19

Octatrack OS Bug Reports
There should be a link for Elektron tickets…

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