I guess the Supertalk at Superbooth was Superquick then?
talking of DAW, in the box, out of the box …
two things that sometimes are great to use a DAW for along with the OT is recording vocal takes and also midi/keyboard takes.
if there is a lot of material to review, having that visual screen often makes quick work of what might otherwise be a long haul.
basslines are kind of easier to record to the OT midi sequencer.
and although it is quite possible to use the OT midi sequencer for chords, atm i’m still pretty keen to use Ableton (synced to OT) for capturing chord playing to midi… find the gold after the fact from a 24 bar sequence or more.
once a 4 bar phrase is edited on the midi side of things and playing nicely back from the hardware synth, then capture to OT.
but then there’s the timing … a synth sequenced by the OT is going to be super tight.
although to then take it further, often it is fun to capture a sequenced synth line to the OT, and then re-sequence sections of the sample with p-locks on the start time. Slices are cool too but then i wonder if there is a slight quality reduction by using that option.
or for a vintage intense character-filled not hugely versatile option…
might not be totally appropriate although is useful for some styles of groove genres. http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/dynamite.shtml
edit: btw although some forum posters have occasionally claimed the OT effects are not fresh, effectively implying OT fx are just so-so, please don’t listen to them (or at least, take the words with a grain of salt) - as they either don’t know what they are talking about, or have not put in the time and energy to explore the possibilities.
or how about the Octatrack’s onboard compressor … free resources immediately available although it does take some experimenting with.
remember: the RMS setting in the FX doublepress menu “dials in” how much the compressor behaves in the RMS style (brings up the lower volume areas).
all the way left means only Peak style compressor behaviour (lowers the higher volume events).
by default this is the OT compressor’s setting (in other words zero percent RMS behaviour).
Basic Channel… love that stuff, and Rhythm & Sound. Moritz von Oswald is my hero. I try to do what I can to emulate that way of working, bringing some analog-like flavor, noise, and variation into a mix, but ITB.
I use a Livid DS1 midi mixer, send fx like tape echos, dub delays, etc. Put U-he Satin on all channels, Channel emulations like Britson, etc. Run little Ableton racks with subtle white noise recorded from my MS20 and Juno 106, field recordings, etc.
I get the basic characteristics of these things, if not the exact analog mojo, and still have some hands-on control, but also have ability to save, undo, recall songs from years ago, etc. It’s not a bad way to work if you can’t afford to go totally DAW-less.
For the levels, if you have a spare track, try inserting a pink noise signal from a signal generator (or if you have a smart phone, this can generate it), setting it at a comfortable level (or better yet if you have an SPL meter or phone app try -12dbRMS), one track at a time raise each track to just above the threshold of audibility over the pink noise. repeat this process. you will have comfortable levels. watch out for tracks prominent in 2.5-3khz. you can use an oscilloscope to analyze the frequency content of your signal.
…or you could use a daw to accomplish this in a fraction of the time…
I absolutely love the Rhythm & Sound stuff. Such a rich detailed use of noise and ambience - you can really hear the care they take in getting that specific grungy analog sound. I don’t feel like I’m anywhere close to that but would love to learn more of those tips and tricks.
May I ask why you keep recommending this Creme compressor?
Do you own one?
You are saying people who have actually owned and used the OT and don’t particularly like the effects, don’t know what they are talking about and shouldn’t be listened to?
But we should listen to you promoting a product in which I presume you don’t own, let alone have ever used or heard
an emotional fascination, rightly pointed out by your good self.
but yeah the OT effects are actually well worth the effort to explore and use.
to somehow presume they are not particularly good would be a huge sabotage of a powerful facet of the Octatrack.
But in your post you seem to lump everyone who don’t think the OT fx are that good into a category of people who don’t know what they are talking about. The fx are presumably workable, but maybe not that good compared to other things on offer. In people’s opinion of cAnd I can’t say I’ve seen too many people propose that the fx are garbage.
actually i said that people who diss the OT fx have not put in the time to explore and comprehend their value - either that, or they don’t know what they are talking about. so there are two options in my statement. Fifty percent controversial.
personally i think it’s an important point to make, as it would be highly unhelpful if new users somehow got the idea that the Octatrack’s available audio effects are somehow sub-standard, when in fact the OT audio effects are highly usable, recommendable to be used, and an important facet of sound design and audio equalisation throughout the entire workflow of the Octatrack.
A lot of noise and saturation going on there! I also use uhr satin, ni guitar rig amd echoboy for delays or sometimes only to add some noise. For sure those tracks went also through some experienced mastering hands and ofcourse special hardware gear like compressor and eq.
Yeah if you are ableton user you can create your own daw mixing desk controller. I‘m a logic user and the midi controll enviroment is … is like 1900 or so.
As for dub (techno) some people using lowpass filter around 10 or 12k to get rid of the super highs. Also roland dimension d chorus emulation can give synth chords that special modulation. A trick for good deeb bass is also to use 2 compressors in serie like 1176 and la2.
