Octatrack + Blofeld

[Lucinate]

Hey people,
I’m getting a Waldorf Blofeld this month to accompany my Octatrack for a new live setup.

Thought on the combination of the two?
So far it seems like it’s a match made in heaven.

[djenzyme]

I use this combo quite often, the Blo needs sequencing which the Octatrack provides, and the Octatrack needs sound which the Blofeld provides.

It’s not perfect though, Blofeld has a few outstanding bugs that aren’t likely to be fixed so you have to work around them. Might be worth researching a bit before you buy so you aren’t disappointed

[Riuozami]

I used to have a blofeld but it was a bit buggy- i used a nord lead which is wonderful synth easy and not buggy

[PekeDorty]

what are the bugs?

[Inakito]

Swapping from poly to mono using multimode make the rest of the voice synth parameters not working properly, like the sound stacks and doesn’t take into account changing the values, at least desktop version…
In any case you can edit a sound as you want in poly and once you happy, change it to mono. Besides that, I have not experienced any bug to date … and I have used it with Electribe er1, Digitakt, or Machinedrum, as sequencers.
In any case is a big companion and such an amazing synth to have. It has an enormous sound palette from pads to percussion, and its matrix routin makws it an amazing an inspirational tool to work with

[Lucinate]

Thanks for the responses so far.
Strange thing about the bugs.
If I would like to control 8 custom patches with the midi from my octatrack, would that be possible?
Or would I encounter a lot of frustrating stuff/bugs trying to do that?

[djenzyme]

It doesn’t always sync to midi clock properly without small glitches, the arp also doesn’t sync properly, and there are sometimes small glitches if the Octatrack sends program change messages. Also, I never use it myself but I have heard of issues changing multis live.

[PeterHanes]

@Lucinate

If I would like to control 8 custom patches with the midi from my octatrack, would that be possible?

Yes.

@Lucinate

Or would I encounter a lot of frustrating stuff/bugs trying to do that?

No.

[djenzyme]

You should be fine depending on the voice count of the Blofeld. I had success with a project with 7 Blofeld channels all receiving midi notes & cc.

edit: ah PeterHanes beat me to it

[Lucinate]

Hmm, interesting. Conflicting signals. Seems like some of you are really “bugged out” by its bugginess, while others seem to think it’s fine.
Could it differ from synth to synth?

My idea is to make a liveset fully reliant on the octatrack + blofeld.
So I’d have to load different patches and sets with all kinds of control changes.

Maybe any suggestions for alternatives in the blofeld pricerange?
Synths that work well with the octa, also with multiple patches at the same time?

[PeterHanes]

@Lucinate

Conflicting signals. Seems like some of you are really “bugged out” by its bugginess, while others seem to think it’s fine.

No conflicting signals. The Blofeld is basically fine but has some bugs in certain functions that cause some users some irritation.

@Lucinate

Maybe any suggestions for alternatives in the blofeld pricerange?
Synths that work well with the octa, also with multiple patches at the same time?

That’s different topic:

Companion synth recommendations?

My fave setup is a multitimbral synth on the OT’s CD input and external effects on the Cue out and AB input. Right now I have a Blofeld on the CD ins and an iPad on the AB ins, though sometimes I’ll replace the Blofeld with a Micron and replace the iPad with the Biscuit or the SU700’s super effects. A streamlined, versatile setup lets me focus on creating interesting, complementary sounds and arps as the foundation of my songs. After each song, I use the OT to slice and dice the stems to make 2…

[Lucinate]

Top! Thanks. gonna go for it

Really appreciate the swift response and help from all you guys.

[Inakito]

Go for blofeld, you will be amazed on how enourmus its sound palette is and how easy is to program sounds from scratch. Enjoy the trip

[Lucinate]

Thank you Inakito. I found a second hand one from an old college classmate.

[loopdude]

I have never noticed any bugs with my blofeld. Only problem could be voice count. Depending on how you program your sounds they can minimize quickly.

[tr909]

Amazing synth, amazing possibilities. After many, many hours of use I’ve never had a bug that stopped me from doing what I want. I did encounter the mono to poly bug once. But this is only if you are editing a voice in multi mode I think and switch from mono to poly. I can live with that. Lot’s of “bugs” regarding arp and delay sync and such but many seem to be it not working the way people wished it did. Maybe true bugs - never bothered me and my use at least.

[brisket]

The Blofeld can sound really nice, but don’t expect heaps of polyphony. I found it pretty easy to make patches that turned it into a 4-voice synth. The amazing modulation possibilities are kind of the point of Blofeld, but they also chew through the voice count very quickly.

[sezare56]

Polyphony depending on settings, comb filters reduce it too. I didn’t noticed modulation was reducing it. Sold for a Micromonsta.

Sequencing a Waldorf Blofeld? Noob MIDI question

I am REALLY new to MIDI. We touched some basic stuff at school and I was able to sort out virtual MIDI inside a DAW. First I had weird timing issues the notes in Waldorf Blofeld only reacted with first 8 trigs and chromoatic keyboard didn’t work. Then I looked up the manual and set my channels right, local control off. So everything is working fine on track 1. Now I got my kick on MIDI track 1 sequenced. And now I want to add another instrument from Waldorf. I know it’s multitimbral (16 parts)…

[brisket]

That is a handy chart! Yeah I loved the comb filter but it was definitely eating voices.

[loopdude]

I have a blofeld, but I cannot for the love of God read that table… the right part is clear. But the left part I have no clue what most of it means