Octatrack autosave

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#21

Greetings from the alps to australia.
Yes I reload the project constantly. I like the small meditation to watch the loading bar.( no joke)
Well not that constantly, because of general lazyness or other stuff. And because for a quick jam it takes away motivation that i first have to copy pattern etc etc, thinking do I risk jamming without project copy or make version 3 of that (not amazing ) jam.

A bit also the encoders not so inviting to touch as most others ( dreadbox…) , for me, but apart from that a4, dn, ot (rytm also with that compressor i imagine) would be the perfect (quick ) jamming machines for me.

Yes I can achieve what I want ( jumping around patterns, plocks, reloads and trig modes, enjoying elektrons unique selling point) without worries and thinking with a copy of project plus copy of pattern. And then another copy.

I was in the rename menu, thinking I was concentrated but managed to mess it up more somehow. Now I‘m scared to go there again.
I noted now the improvised project names and what the crossfader does on a piece of paper.

On digitone I also already reloaded pattern where i thought its saved to project.
I can tell when i bought a4 and talked about it with the old hippie shop owner he said thats a no go and offered to return it.
The young employee said live with it and its kinda cool.

Since then the fascination for elektron sequencer was in constant clash with that insecurity ( or maybe my general insecurity) and not turning on the machine or not buying another.
The sequencer wins as you see

#22

I kind of see what @pdp means, sometimes you just want to tweak a pattern without it saving anything, sure it is easy enough to get around using reload, and I can see why Elektron decided to do it this way, having an autosave on/off function would probably lead to mistakes.

Main thing to remember @pdp is that there are 2 save states, the autosave (which is cached to card constantly upon changes) and the save project save which is done manually.

When you are happy with a project save it, any tweaks which you do do not overwrite the actual saved project just the autosave cached version, in the instance where you prefer the new changes you made, manually save project again, in the instance where you don’t prefer the changes you made don’t save it.

Also bear in mind that you can save banks, parts and samples, so if you just tweak some sounds you can save the part, if you change some sequences you can save the bank.

The save to new is a very handy feature as @tnussb mentioned because it allows you to compare different versions.

My advice would be to save a project you are happy with, then save to new a version that you can experiment with, then try saving parts and banks. All the while safe in the knowledge that your original project will be just as you left it.

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#23

Maybe it’s more the fact there is not really much undo?
because I don’t see much of a difference between doing it either way
using a daw vs Elektron way except you have to save before you switch off tbh…

Plus unless I’m using the Octatrack I use Overbridge and just use total recall
so it does work exactly like saving a ableton project but the last project is active on the Elektron stuff when turn them on

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#24

I wonder if someone figured how to disable the autosave since (first post, I know, but I feel this is one out of three crucial basic features that would finally allow me to purchase an Octatrack MK2 in original and epic destroyer grey, if that’s still available).

Let me offer a suggestion as to why it is so crucial:

Live set, patterns of tracks known by audience played back & forth, improvised upon. Tweak a pattern for too long because they love it (okay, because I love it). Move on to next core theme, but then decide to return to the previously heavily tweaked one, say after a fogdog intentionally designed to lead into both seamlessly, for reasons of dropping the original core theme on them yet again. Your carefully designed & tweaked pattern is however not only gone, but the seamless transition fro the fogdog is also ruined. No time to reload anything, all this happens within a single track (“song” if you like).

Such a shame, but I cannot risk my work to be silently and unconditionally overwritten by my own live tweaks, to any extent.

#25

This is how the MIDIbox SEQ works, and it’s also a good system. I don’t really ahve a preference On the OT it is easier to accidentally lose work by not saving your project often enough/saving redundant backups and ending up in a situation where you’ve got a problem and don’t have a way to roll back easily; with the MBSeq (no autosave, but autoloads the last saved version of the current project) it’s easier to lose work by not saving enough and having an accidental shutdown (power failure, getting unplugged at a show, etc.) and losing all the work since your last save. Seems more a matter of preference than one approach being safer than the other.

#26

There’s no need to disable it.
Autosave is a soft save.

Make your set. Save the project. This is a hard save.
Go out and play it live, tweak it till youre done.

Next time you turn the machine on, reload the project. This will reload the hard save, eg, the state you want to start tweaking from, not the last auto save.

Done.

#27

There IS a need to disable it, let me try to explain in as simple terms as it gets:

Tweak a theme.
Go on to another.
Return to previous.
Not returning to theme as designed & saved.
No time to load anything, need the first step to match saved, untweaked.
Completely ruins performance.

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#28

That’s what the reload parts functionality is for right? Just reload when you’ve just gone to the next one :+1:

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#29

Yeah, reload parts and maybe do your tweaks on a blank scene?

#30

I love the autosave.
Wouldn’t want it any other way.

So nice to have the device at exactly the same settings as it was the last time.

1 Like
#31

Hence the need to make it switchable, so you don’t force your preferences on everyone. You can’t do tweaks on a blank scene, as you need the whole saved theme to start from, and to return to, at will. There is no time to reload, but alright, maybe there is something that Elektron can do: auto-reload (option) - that is, option to set auto-reload, which automatically reloads ALL once you leave a theme without explicitly saving. I realise the over-organisation of the OctaTrack mkII doesn’t help in that, but perhaps much could be done on software only. And while at that, auto-save (option, not enforced) could also manifest. I so much want an octaTrack, but can’t use it for about 4x critical shortcomings, in which it is way too rigid and limited. Others, it would be just the rig I can’t stop craving.

PS I don’t want to derail this topic from the subjectively important separate autosave en-/disable OPTION request, so I created a topic with those critical shortcimings that stop me from purchasing an Octatrack. Maybe any of you experienced with it could comment / perhaps it is even possible to circumvent some. If so, I’d massively appreciate if you could advise, as I really want to make it work, transcoding my projects to an mkII. See here:

https://www.elektronauts.com/t/grave-limitations-that-stop-me-from-purchasing-octatrack-mkii/198680

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#32

Its clearly not the machine for you. Definitely not the elektron you’re looking for.

2 Likes
#33

I second that. Doesn’t sound like it’s going to work out for you. Let it go. Move on.

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