Octatrack as a looper

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#5

You can use your fader to do multiple things at once… but the more complicated stuff your fader does, the more difficult it is to keep track on what your fader is suppose to do… in my video-example… i can play with it… cause its very clear what each scene did… If I showed you a video of one of my ambient/glitch songs… there be so many things happening with the fader… i cant explain it in a tutorial. nobody would get it… but its simular to what merlin described in his document on fader-techniques… it was amusing to read that one…

Did not view tarekith video completely… but the few excerpts i watched… yeah… he uses recording triggers.
fixed points in time that always start recording… I would do the same… but use “1 shot triggers”
they only trigger once, until you retrigger them…
1 is continious recording… the other is “on demand”

An other option , is to make the octatrack start recording in a quantized manor (thats what you saw in my first video)
i triggered it manually before loop started. but the octatrack quantized that to step 1 / start of bar

:slight_smile: it can be a very long explanation if i explain every step … :slight_smile:

#6

Yes I understand. I fact, I wanted to keep the fader only for controlling the filter FX, this is why I was asking if you know other options to switch from the inputed audio to the loop.

Thank you for your option suggestions! The good thing is that I don’t have to use the pickup machine I guess :slight_smile: I will try it and see if it sounds good in my live, I really see it as a tool to “deconstruct” our music, and add a “sample flavor” to the mix.

#7

Nope most reliable i know is scene… that always worked for me… that or play it live in that input machine your talking about. I (me personally) think that the input machine is more fun if you have a dedicated foot-pedal… and you actually play your stuff live… and not with other sequencer… One day i will build such a footcontroller… but that will not be today… I bet Guga will help me with the smartguy/electronics or something :smiley: so it should actually work…

#8

Just found this thread - the OP asked a question that may determine whether I get an OT. :slight_smile:

Wondering if there’s a way to cut off live input monitoring and replace it with a just-recorded loop of that input, then be able to switch back at a later point - using trigs only, not scenes (as the fader would be used for something else) Talking about points 3 and 5 of the original post. Any ideas?

#9

I’d have two patterns. Pattern 1 with a thru track audible and a one-shot trig that I could arm for sampling. Pattern 2 with the thru track silent and the sample buffer playing.

I guess you could use two parts and switch between them as well, but patterns is probably easiest.

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#10

That makes perfect sense - thanks

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#11

Shouldn’t someone mention the amount of time available per loop?

Is it not just 4 bars?

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but if I’m not, a looper with a 4 bar limit or complex workaround to a 4 bar limit is probably not worth consideration as a real looper, and I think prospective buyers should be made aware of that,

#12

Loops can be as long as the available memory using the “dynamic recorders” option…
Much longer than four bars, sometimes I make 32 bar loops…

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#13

I stand corrected

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#14

You have to use dynamic recorders, one2 mode, and rlen at max. You can set the qrec and qpl quantization to an amount of steps, or pattern length. The recording will go as long as there is memory, you have to manually enter a end record command for track recorders or an overdub or playback command for pickups, but they will follow the quantization settings to capture perfect bar or pattern length multiples…

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#15

I didn’t find it in the manual. The options to clear a record loop are by “replacing” or by manually clearing the recorder buffer, right?

#16

Yeah I think you got it, I never clear them though I just re-record and it replaces…
While in recording setup function+play clears the buffer(mk1 here) and in the audio editor attributes “clear slot” clears the buffer and all slices and modifications made to the slot…

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#17

yeah, thanks, that’s right.
When you use the replacing option (with the “x” sign), can you set a new loop length?

#18

OK, I guess “replacing” technically is going from overdub to making a new recording without stopping, I always stop the pickup before recording again and have considered that replacing.

By stopping it first you can always redefine the loop length, I guess I never really have used the “replacing” feature so don’t I know how that behaves…

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#19

thanks.

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#20

I think Cenk does what you’re asking in this video. He gets a beat going and then samples it and remixes it in real time before switching back to the live input. He does a tutorial too but you have to pay for it. I did and thought it was well worth it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9SYHCHo5SY

#21

+1 for the Cenk video. I think he does exactly what you are looking to do. It also cleared up a few little questions I had about one-shot recording trigs.

He is very clear in his explanation - a worthy thing with this machine!

#22

If you have any midi controller sending notes, you can use it to try.

There were originally no Pickups on OT, made to work with Recorders and Flex.
You can use both.

So yes you can prepare a Flex track playing its recording buffer, switch to a Pickup (better for overdub, reverse recording, auto sequencer tempo change…), then go back to Flex (Trigs, timestretch off possible…).
Recorders and Pickups of a track uses the same recording buffers.

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#23

SICK thread. Merci @sezare56 !!

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#24

I think so.

Playback goes to say track 7. Mute track on/off.

Using 1 shot record trig on track 5, say, to record variants. Record to track 6 buffer with a 1 shot playback trig on track 6. Arm t5 to record. Arm t6 to playback, and mute t7 at the first beat.

Better to do it with the slider though.