Octatrack finally clicked, but

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

I’ve had my octatrack for years and always loved it.
I used to make sound sketches with it, and electronic rhythm-based music.

But at some point I started using the pickup machines and the samplers for live sampling and mangling, and the whole device opened up to me, exactly like it is advertised: Dynamic Performance Sampler. I started organically making stuff on the fly, with constantly surprising creative results.

However, this is when I started to get confused about the setups and settings and some things started feeling random and I got things wrong all the time.
What the fuck? So it finally clicked, and now it’s this weird machine that does unpredictable things?

I am pretty sure I just have to learn the pickup machines better, but I think there might be some bugs as well.

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#2

There are!

I like pickup machines though

#3

I’m still very much in the learning and experimentation phase with the OT and I’m really loving the experience of discovering new and strange techniques that the DPS design makes possible.

The other day I had a lot of fun with just recording a bit of audio from a stream or something into several flex track buffers at once (the default Tx + Rec button mode is best for this I’ve found), and having the tracks do polyrhythmic triggering at different frequencies with the envelopes and filters, and just playing with the resulting mix live with effects and levels. Instant dubby fun. And if you sample a fragment of the one piece of music into the tracks they’ll all be in key with each other too.

This is fun for just learning and practicing the basics of the device while watching something (I find I mostly always need something ‘on’ around me to help with focus for some reason), but trying to use naturally unpredictable techniques like that for more structured performance can be tricky. I think there’s definitely ways to integrate the cool experimental stuff the OT can do into performance but it just takes a lot of practice and careful thought about what works and what might not be so viable. I think with enough dedication the chaos will become something you can intuitively control to create the kind of music you want.

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#4

This has been my experience with the OT as well. It can do so many different things, and getting a grip on one of those things doesn’t mean the others are going to make sense right away or work as you expect. For me the latest has to do with using it to record and play back MIDI in a “live” context (live in my studio, at least). All the time I’ve spent with it as a sample playback device definitely helps, but the MIDI stuff introduces a variety of new variables that are taking a good long time to iron out.

Can you describe the set-up and process/steps you’ve taken that are giving you unpredictable results? I’ve been meaning to do this myself with my MIDI stuff – over the weekend I finally got it working, but unfortunately I can’t remember everything I did and/or changed that got me here, which is a bummer (although having a working set-up is of course good :slight_smile:)

With pickup machines, my experience is limited but they (once again) seem to be their own thing. Lately, flex machines have been better suited for live sampling in my current project, but one of these days I’ll explore the pickup machines more deeply and it would be great to get more detail about how you’re using them and how you’ve set up your OT.

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#5

When I setup a buffer to record 16 beats and loop it sometimes doesn’t loop, or it keeps overdubbing.

I think there maybe a bug somewhere in the recording setup of track settings. I think it reverts back to default here and there.

A while ago I set an LFO on a filter and the sound started to disappear and after half a minute it came back. Also put an LFO over delay time. Was a cool dubby effect, and I realized it’s a bit difficult to predict the lfo times. It came back later because it filtered all sound out. I liked that every time the LFO came back the delay time was different on the beat sample.

Also because live looping is faster I get easier confused because of the quick menu diving necessary. Not really bothered by it. I like that it’s quirky to handle.

#6

If your recording is constantly overdubbing itself, check the record trig that you placed. You may want to use a one-shot trig (green, I believe) instead of a standard (red) record trig. The one-shot record trig will only record when it is armed. To place a one-shot record trig, I think you either press FUNC and place the trig, or place a regular trig and then press FUNC and that same trig button. It’s been a while for me, but as long as the trig turns green, you should be good to go.

The OT has its quirks, but I feel that is to be expected with a machine so open-ended and deep. Luckily, you have elektronauts and the manual for reference!

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#7

It took me far too long to start actually paying attention to the little track status icons on either side of the screen, they can let you know immediately if something is playing/recording/stopped. And the icons show which mode the pickup machines are currently in, if they’re overdubbing/replacing/playing/stopped.

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#8

The buttons on my OT clack more than they click.

2 Likes
#9
#10

This is a really neat idea. You could put the transpose differently on each track buffer to pitch it like a chord, or anything layered with different pitches.

I love setting Flex buffer parameters differently before recording. Pretty fun to record a bassline then immediately hear it being played back in ping-pong reverse and pitched down an octave. Cool machine.