Octatrack as a DJ deck

Elektron Gear Octatrack
21

[quote=““horizon eyes””]

[quote=“secretmusic”]Hi all,
thought I’d add my 2 cents, as I use the OT mostly as a DJ setup when I play out.

When prepping my own tracks, I bounce them without the kick, and I sidechain them a touch. When prepping other tracks, I often EQ them.

All tracks are warped in Ableton, the OT’s stretching engine is absolutely not suited for the job of stretching full tracks over a few BPM. My set is usually at 123, so I’ll warp all tracks at 123 before dumping them in the OT.

Also, I make sure that the length of the tracks is a multiple of 16 bars. This allows for slicing in the OT, and setting up “cue points”.

Once in the OT, I slice the tracks, set length to Slice, and set the length to max, as default.
I have track 1 as deck 1, and track 5 as deck 2. Both tracks have a one shot trig on the first trig. By changing the Start parameter and activating a one shot trig, I can navigate through the tracks. I can loop sections if I want, although I usually choose a different method. Track 2 is resampling track 1, and track 6 is resampling track 5. I can then grab a loop, with filter and FX, and go between the track and the sampled loop, effectively using the OT as a 4 deck Traktor setup with 2 loop decks.

It is quite a bit of prep, but once it’s done, and you save your samples settings, you don’t need to do it again, and it then becomes extremely fun to play tracks live.

I use track 8 as a master track, track 7 has a 16 kick chain, so I can select the best sounding kick for the venue, and the other tracks have a mix of percussion chains.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:
Cheers !
[/quote]

Hi Secret music.
Any chance you can post a project template so I can get my head around this? Trying to transition from Traktor and not sure where to start. Thanks heaps[/quote]
i’m interested in this too. how’s the timestretching on complete tracks? how far can you change the BPM if doing beat-sync’d mixes?

1 Like
22

[quote=““horizon eyes””]

[quote=“secretmusic”]Hi all,
thought I’d add my 2 cents, as I use the OT mostly as a DJ setup when I play out.

When prepping my own tracks, I bounce them without the kick, and I sidechain them a touch. When prepping other tracks, I often EQ them.

All tracks are warped in Ableton, the OT’s stretching engine is absolutely not suited for the job of stretching full tracks over a few BPM. My set is usually at 123, so I’ll warp all tracks at 123 before dumping them in the OT.

Also, I make sure that the length of the tracks is a multiple of 16 bars. This allows for slicing in the OT, and setting up “cue points”.

Once in the OT, I slice the tracks, set length to Slice, and set the length to max, as default.
I have track 1 as deck 1, and track 5 as deck 2. Both tracks have a one shot trig on the first trig. By changing the Start parameter and activating a one shot trig, I can navigate through the tracks. I can loop sections if I want, although I usually choose a different method. Track 2 is resampling track 1, and track 6 is resampling track 5. I can then grab a loop, with filter and FX, and go between the track and the sampled loop, effectively using the OT as a 4 deck Traktor setup with 2 loop decks.

It is quite a bit of prep, but once it’s done, and you save your samples settings, you don’t need to do it again, and it then becomes extremely fun to play tracks live.

I use track 8 as a master track, track 7 has a 16 kick chain, so I can select the best sounding kick for the venue, and the other tracks have a mix of percussion chains.

Hope this helps :slight_smile:
Cheers !
[/quote]

Hi Secret music.
Any chance you can post a project template so I can get my head around this? Trying to transition from Traktor and not sure where to start. Thanks heaps[/quote]
hi !
yes i can, i’m very busy at the moment with vinyl releases, and my OT is dead, as well. So it won’t be right away I’m afraid :frowning:
I’ll keep you posted though !
Cheers

23

i’ve resorted (after a long story involving writing my own external midi solutions) to bouncing tracks for OT at a base tempo of 120bpm, and adjusting the pitch parameter of the machine playback manually, when changing master tempo in a mix situation.

24

Another tip I would suggest if you want to use the Octatrack as a DJ mixer is to label your files with their native key, native BPM and if you slice the tracks label them so that you have the track name, BPM, key, and slice number -or- number of slices in a single file. The best DJ mixes don’t just match tempo/beats but pay very close attention to the key and compatible keys in the circle of 5ths for the best sound.

3 Likes
25

Does anyone use OT as a 3rd deck while mixing with CDJs or Turntables? Wondering if it would be possible to use tap tempo and use the up down arrows as a pitch control?

26

I guess this is made for that purpose.

Pressing [LEFT]/[RIGHT] while no particular menu is open will temporarily nudge the BPM up or down.

1 Like
27

Great thread.

28

Hmm, learning some good stuff here. Hoping once I’m over this cold to get back on top of learning how to apply these tips so I can get the hang of dj’ing and getting scene’s for each track in my mix to do a kind of live remixing. Still need to learn how to do a lot of things, but I’m excited to get there and get a great mix of 80’s pop/rock tracks together for the summer.