Octatrack DJ

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hey guys I have been getting a lot of mixed messages from people at stores and on the internet about this so I thought I’d ask it here : )

I know this question has been asked before but my question is a bit different. I know the octatrack is great but there’s some new alternatives that have come out.

Lots of people are telling me to get a pioneer toraiz and at my local music store they suggest getting the new mpc live. I’m not experienced with elektron, mpc, or most hardware gear so it doesn’t matter to me which one I get or which one is easier because I’m a fast learner :slight_smile: Sound quality is the only thing I could see mattering.

I honestly really like the crossfader on the octatrack and that’s what’s making me lean the most in that direction. I really like the idea of mixing between parameters in that way and electrons parameter locks and stuff seem very cool as well!

The purpose is something that’s capable of DJing when I want to (small events and such) and can hold my drum loops or melody loops from the songs I make on my computer so I can manipulate it and play it live. I know mpc live seems to be made for this because it has the ability of doing a straight transfer of what’s on your computer, it even exports things with vst’s with bouncing the audio, super cool! It has a battery, big pads, and looks nice. But to be honest to me it feels like too much like a computer, if it had a cross fader and more performance tricks I would be really into it. But my hands are small and clumsy when I’m moving around, a touch screen is not as good for me as having a bunch of knobs. I know that you can customize knobs on the mpc or even have external midi gear but it’s not the same.

Am I wrong in thinking the octatrack looks very cool even though it was released before over bridge and other features that the competitors have? I really love the look of the new one, it’s so perfect IMO and I like that it doesn’t remind me of a computer but some sort of strange renegade machine I need to learn and talk to : )

If you know any huge limitations of any of these products, I would love to know as it will help me make my decision but I have to be honest that I’m very much so leaning towards the octatrack when it comes to it’s style, it being different, I love the cross fader idea and morphing samples and loops in ways that doesn’t seem as fun on the other machines out there IMO.

Thanks to any of the advice you guys provide : )

#2

I think the OT might be the box for you. It will take a bit more preparation and effort than the MPC live, but it sounds like you will absolutely love the fuck out of what you can do with that crossfader!

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#3

Lol I do!! I really have no hate on the mpc live at all. I was actually going to get that one because I really like the battery, I like that you can transfer songs easily to it. But I don’t know how to make 4 knobs looks exciting when I DJ and I’m so bad with touch screens in a live environment, especially if my hands are wet or sweaty or any of those other lovely things that come up when you’re bopping around for 2 hours aha

The videos I’ve watched of people DJing or performing on the octatrack is kind of hypnotizing and alien, I like it :). Are there some key limitations I should know about with the octatrack? I heard it can’t do polyphonic midi which is a bit odd but not the biggest deal for me.

#4

First off, how experienced are you as a DJ? Any fave workflows/setups for playing records?

For traditional “2-decks” style of mixing, I find the OT to be unsatisfactory to me. Gainstaging and crate managing is a PITA IMO. If I feed the outputs to a DJ mixer, things get much easier. However, I still struggle to find a workflow I’d enjoy. For other things though, like realtime looping, resampling and sequencing I love the OT! The crossfader scenes are very, very cool too, and allow for very impressive buildups etc

I wouldn’t recommend the MPC live at this stage, still early days with the software… Also, fingerdrumming and deep MIDI sequencing is where the MPC shines, it’s not really meant for DJ-style performing… although with the new clip programs, timestretching audiotracks etc, it tries to be… But, again. at the current state of the software/firmware, its only trying… no cigar yet IMO

#5

This is maybe a bit simplified, but maybe this might be a decent summary:

  1. Get the MPC Live if you’re already using MPC for production and just want to be able to transfer projects 1:1 from your computer to your MPC and the other way round. Keep in mind that the MPC Live in standalone mode is a bit more limited than running the MPC software from your computer. I don’t have extensive experience with the MPC Live, but I think live usage is somewhat limiting; the Ableton-like clip trigger mode is for sampled loops only (no sequences) and even though the X/Y FX is cool, it’s not nearly as flexible as when you can assign to the crossfader on the OT.
  2. Get the Toraiz if you already have a Pioneer DJ rig and you want a great performance sampler to integrate with it. It sounds great. has good FX, and a nice analogue filter on the master bus. It does a good job combining pads with X0X-style sequencing which makes it more immediate than the Live, but it’s also less deep. There are supposedly some limitations on sample length and it’s not supposed to be very strong when working with loops.
  3. Get the OT if you do your production work mostly ITB and your workflow allows you to export loops and stems that you can import into the OT and your musical style and DJ approach allow for a more extreme and hands-on “mix and mangle” approach. The OT is also great for jamming, inspiration, and ideas, but it’s not a linear sequencer or (almost) full-production box like the MPC-Live, nor does it offer the sound quality and effect selection of the Toriaz.
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#6

You can do chords, but it is a step sequencer and not a linear sequencer that will play back anything exactly like you played it like an MPC.

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#7

toraiz also has the pioneer link, so it syncs to a pio deck automagically (assuming you’ve gridded your crate in recordbox, that is)

The OT has tempo and sample track nudge, very handy for syncing up to a turntable or a CDJ. The MPC has no nudge capabilities whatsoever.

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#8

Thank you so much, this really helped me! : ) I’m excited to learn the octatrack !

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#9

Good to know ! And no I don’t have any other hardware, this will really be my first one. Other then my laptop which I have a bunch of software on but I don’t want to DJ on my laptop, or at least not make it the focus of the performance. This info has helped me so much : )

#10

I called my local music place and they can rent out both the octatrack and rytm for me at a good price for the month so I can test out which I like and how they both work! I’m excited !!

I know I didn’t mention the rytm before but I’m definitely curious about it, after seeing the new version coming out that’s also a sampler. It doesn’t have a crossfader but it has other things I find useful. I don’t know whether to do both for the ultimate experience or just do one for now lol But I’ll know soon I think !

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#11

I know you don’t want a laptop but traktor is great for djing tracks and syncing your own loops or stems. You can split productions into bass, drums, melody, vocals etc then trigger the stems over existing tracks in a traditional djing format. You can buy a controller for stems and not have to touch the laptop at all. Far more instant and less setup needed than octatrack. I think octa far better for live and bit overkill for dropping beats and loops over mixes.

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#12

Congrats on taking the plunge into elektrons :smile: Thats awesome that you can rent both before buying. You will love RYTM it’s an amazing drum machine.

My one warning for OT is be patient and expect there will be lots of learning. Read the manual twice and get merlin’s guide. The guide will really get your mind wrapped around the sound/memory/file structure of the OT, which is really complicated at first, but later you will totally understand and it makes sense in a workflow and performance mindset.

I perform gigs live using the OT as the DJ mixer and FX unit. I write all my songs on RYTM and A4 using a few OT tracks for extra sample flavor (usually little vocal snips and stuff I sample from other sources).

I essentially run two decks but they aren’t like a A and B deck …they are essentially virtual. The A deck is what you’re hearing … and the B deck is what you aren’t hearing. I essentially have a track thats set up to record a 4 bar loop of what is playing now… then I X-fade to that loop and I queue up my B-deck which is the next song.
When I fade back you stop hearing the recorded loop (the past) and you hear the new loop (the future).

These can consist of live audio from the RYTM and A4 or can be full songs pre-BPM synced on OT. You can always have stems pre-recorded and live mix those. To flow between two pre-recorded songs there is some preparation work you need to do on the songs to have them properly tempo synced. They have to be setup to start on grid and then the OT time stretching does the rest (if you change bpm etc). To transition on OT between two long songs you use the static machines and have a one shot trig for each song on two tracks. The samples should not be set to loop and will continue to play the full song even though the OT is looping a 4 bar loop. You arm the track you want to play next while you are in your “the past” loop. The track will start playing on grid and you won’t hear it until you X-fade back to it. The benefit of this method is I can switch from one song to a new pre-recorded track, or just change patterns to one of my own live sequenced songs.

This allows me to flow between my own live material and pre-recorded stuff or other artists songs.

It’s complicated to get going, but now I can flow through a full 1+hr liveset very easily. I think it took me around 4 months to sort out and practice proper transitions between songs, but I’m pretty good at it now.

I had a gig a while back where I seamlessly went between live RYTM and A4 stuff, then incorporated a small external synth (meeblip triode) and played some long pre-recorded songs. It went really well :slight_smile:

If you want any info don’t be shy you can hit me up with questions.

Oh also I just recently mounted all three elektrons into a nice flight case with all the cords all pre-hooked up permanent so I can just grab my case and rush off to a gig ! JA ! :3lektron::cb::smile_cat:

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#13

I luv your stormtrooper pic! that’s cool aha

And thanks for the advice but I’ve used traktor before and it’s really good but I think I’m really curious to give elektron a shot because it’s so unusual to what I am used to : )

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#14

Thank you! gosh, I’m really glad I posted and stuff before I rented or bought anything. This has totally helped and helped me realize that my silly gut instinct with elektron may be right. It seems like my thing! : )

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#15

I’ve been toying with an octa for years myself to dj with though I also love turntables so serato has done me for now with its added sample slots

May get an octa one day

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#16

You’re very welcome ! Octa is extremely versatile for live, but there are a few sacrifices. It is getting a bit dated in terms of the sound quality. I’m starting to notice a bit the difference it makes when you’ve put sound through the OT DAC. Not to mention 16bit 44.1k is a bit old school. I guess though there is a flavor and vibe it imparts, but definitely I can hear the difference between one of my live productions and lets say a clean DAW made track.

There is also some fun to be had live that I didn’t mention. In my last two shows I did a live remix of what I was playing. Also I did some live sampling of the crowd and morphed that into a beat. Live looping sort-of :stuck_out_tongue:

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#17

all this being said … there’s nothing else like it on the market ! heh

You should rent one for a while and then get a MKII when they come out.

Get yourself your own compact flash card as big as you can afford and when you get your MKII just pop that in and you’re off to the races.

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#18

Aww okay, I didn’t realize about the audio output thing. That’s really good to know actually! :slight_smile:

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#19

If you get to borrow both OT and a rytm, I recommend you borrow the rytm first, and after returning it, borrow the OT. The OT can be very difficult to grasp IME, and by getting familiar with the rytm first, you will already be familiar withthe elektron “user interface”, which applies to both Ot and AR. This will help tremendously with getting to grips with the OT.

In addition to this, reading Merlins guide to OT is a must.

The OT is a super cool, quirky machine, that does things no other box does… But it is also a diva bitch that can be hard to tame.

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#20

Aww gosh I shouldn’t rent both? Hmm I understand what you’re saying but the octatrack is the one I’m the most curious about because of that crossfader.

I’m okay with diva bitches! lol I wanna learn! :slight_smile:

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