Is it possible to use up 2 tracks to gain 8 note polyphony (instead of 4) and could I play a 5 or 6 note chord from a synth into the OT hen it would play back correctly.
Don’t have OT but if it wasn’t for me using 5 and 6 note chords regularly with my synth I would definitely get one.
So was the OT only 1 note polyphony at one point?
Now it is 4 I believe? Albeit all notes are the same length and have the same start and end positions.
As for that special midi cable… I’m in over my head 
These are sort of two different questions
You could use two tracks on the OT to sequence 8 notes - but depending on your workflow it might be a bit clunky - it’s something I would use creatively more than as an intended behaviour. If you wanted those two tracks to perform identically then you’d be having to copy settings between them constantly, things like transposing etc. become a two step process.
In terms of recording that’s possibly more down to what you’re capturing midi from - ideally you’d be using polychaining type functionality to split your keyboard over two midi channels. That’s something I’d be looking to your keyboard for rather than the OT (which I don’t think can help specifically with that part).
The most practical way to sequence poly on the OT, in my opinion, is to set up and sequence the note relationships, and stick with sequencing single pitches, rather than trying to do ‘proper’ poly sequencing. i.e. if you want to play a minor chord technically you don’t tell the OT you want to play a C, D# and G, what you say is give me a C, +3, +7, 0 (like the Chord plugin in Ableton) - leaning into that concept and treating it more as a value to manipulate makes it seem more useful - I think when you start trying to see it as true poly sequencing it gets complicated or clunky.
That’s my take.
IIRC MIDI tracks always had this 4 note polyphony, I have had an OT since it was a pretty new product.
…ot’s midi sequencer is a very special beast on it’s own…
and sure, u can adress all it’s 8 midi trax to the same midi channel to end up with a polyphony of 32 voices…
but as mentioned and due to the fact that it’s a hardware stepseqencer, it can’t deliver the comfortzone of some daw like piano roll grid…be aware of that…
but i can promise u, that “limitation” also opens up possibilities u can’t even think of yet…
while in reality, chordprogressions that really need more than 4 notes in one go to express ur harmonical needs are rare…adding a 5th, 7th, 9th, another root note and stuff are hardly needed on more than one or two midi lanes…
and whatever u think of in realtime processing now, can easily be changed to another twist to give u same results while also solutions that might guarantee even more satisfaction and new ways of expressions…
so yes, if u feel like it, don’t hesitate…there’s always a trick or a little workaround on the ot, just waiting for u to be discovered, to join ur future workflow for next level creating…
not to mention ot’s midi arp…another little gimmick nowhere else to find in such a realtime fashion, also allowing u harmonic shifting, rootnote circeling and polymeter pattern progressions u don’t have on ur mind yet…
Yeah, it works if you use multiple MIDI tracks. Personally I like doing this. The other day I used 5 MIDI tracks on the same synth, all sending notes on the same channel. If you’re cool with sacrificing MIDI tracks I think it works pretty well and can be really flexible.
I like doing this because I can go crazy with conditional triggers and the MIDI arpeggiator — I’ve discovered lots of interesting harmonies this way. Maybe it’s considered more “experimental” or whatever, but I think it’s fun and not too impractical.
Yeah, you also get 3x more midi lfos and 10x more midi cc. Of coure you can‘t live rec more than 4 notes into OT and my OT does not like to have the same program chg set on more than one midi track with the same midi channel, so when duplicating one track, I have to make sure to delete that on the other tracks. Aside from that, it works perfectly.
Right, there are some caveats, of course