Octatrack - Digitakt style saving patterns

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Firsty, i’m very exited about 1.40, Trig Preview is something i was missing badly on the OT. I loved the possibility to instantly visually see where i place my sample start points. Trig preview is the audible equivalent to this on the OT.

Now, another thing i love on the DT is its possibility for controlled experimentation: I have a starting pattern, store it, then make all kinds of changes and when i like what i hear, i save to a new pattern, then reload the original one. It’s a super fun and quick way to build variations.

I haven´t yet figured out a way to do this on the OT, is there a similar way to make this possible?
Maybe in a combination of Banks, Parts, Patterns that i`m not aware of?

#2

Nope, currently you can’t paste patterns anywhere but the active track while the sequencer is running.

#3

You’d have to copy paste your pattern and experiment on the copy.

#4

@deeait

And, if the destination pattern is in a different bank, you’ll need to copy paste the used part, too (parts are bound to banks).

2 Likes
#5

I guess what i like about DT is that settings like pitch, start, etc are stored within patterns. It´s more intuitive than on the OT. But to be fair, i never heard anybody claim the OT would be an intuitive machine :smile:
I think i can achieve what i’m looking for by using 4 patterns each associated with it’s own part.
If i need more that, then i have to use a new bank.

1 Like
#6

wow I had no idea, this is exactly the kind of thing that should be different in the new flagship… I wish there was a list of stuff like this somewhere.

#7

Ha, hopefully not! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: Elektrons kit system and OTs parts are super flexible.

#8

Why not just use one part? All 16 patterns in a bank using the same part would function like this.
Edit, you meant different settings per pattern probaply. Hmm yeah, then a new part for each pattern.

#9

hopefully no new flagship or hopefully not improving the workflow?

#10

The wishlist is endless.

1 Like
#11

Hopefully a new flagship will come with kits/parts.

2 Likes
#12

As well as the option to automatically have a part/kit for every pattern. I think that’s the annoyance.

2 Likes
#13

kit’s and parts is nice but making a pattern and quickly copying it to make variations is one of the fundamental workflow methods of production… it should be easy and possible.

but I’m not talking about the current 3 versions of the octatrack, I’m talking about the new flagship that will be called not the octatrack, but they should definitely use the octatrack as a reference for things they need to improve

#14

Sure. I still hope for kits. Ability to share parameters across different patterns is super useful. No problem with ‘kit per pattern’ or smt like that.

1 Like
#15

kits should be fundamental to any beat machine to imho…

3 Likes
#16

Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a balancing act. I often fantasize what could be next, there is a thread for that too btw, when it comes to an elektron flagship.

I have a lot of ideas about what would be fun, that the OT doesn’t have that I would love to have inside the box, like a 4-op fm synth engine or the ability to record long samples without running out of memory. But I don’t have a bunch of experience designing grooveboxes so I don’t know what the story is with why they haven’t attempted to make an omnibox in a while. The OT is fine though, it really is.

It’s tempting to look at other offerings on the market that really do seem to be DAWs in dedicated housings and say, “Maybe Elektron can make something like that?” But what would be the right balance between the streamlined elektron aesthetic they have created and the comprehensive nature of a recording studio in a box? It’s a world of possibilities and pitfalls, and with a decade of feature requests piling up, whatever they produce with will make elektronauts excited and disappointed at the same time.

Then they will announce that it is available in grey OR black and everyone will buy one.

1 Like
#17

In the end it all comes down to sale numbers. In this regard the cheaper, simplified and thus more accessible boxes have clearly won (easier to develop, easier to sell).

Compared to the other machines the OT/AR/A4 are too niche with a too high price tag to attract the masses.

Well, IMHO the focus of the OT is being a performance tool and not a DAW in a dedicated housing. That’s quite a difference. Many of the features and design decision makes actually only sense (but then very much sense) when you see the device from that performance oriented angle.

4 Likes
#18

they just need a good marketing campaign that lets everybody know that the next time out is not about complexity for complexity’s sake… as long as they don’t call it an octatrack that should keep the pitchforks at bay… I’ve literally seen people make comments that included ‘now everybody can’ this or that, like why wouldn’t you want everybody to have access… I’ll never understand exclusivity…

but I don’t want them to copy any of the other manufacturers out there, I think they have everything they need in their own camp, imo they just need to combine the best parts of the octa, rytm, digital, and model series workflows…

#19

OMg man we’re gonna have to split the proceeds on this cause you were the impetus but I swear that OMNITRACK ™ would be the dopest name for a new Elektron beat machine!!!

we should sell it to Elektron for two free units.

1 Like
#20

That really does have a ring to it.