Octatrack help! - backing tracks

Elektron Gear Octatrack
1

desperately need some help from any heros around here! :slight_smile: about to go on tour so its urgent!

for my live show i usually use an 8 track recorder that has audio tracks as follows

1 - backing track, sent to PA
2 - click track, sent to drummer
3 - kick drum track, sent to compressor as sidechain for synths

it has transport controls, play stop etc.

during a live show i press play, the track ends and i play the next track.

i also have a sampler to play bass synths and trigger one shots with a midi keyboard

im trying to replicate this setup with the octatrack so i can get rid all the heavy kit for touring (airline destroyed half of it!)

but im really struggling to get my head around how to do this on the octatrack.

firstly if i set up 3 audio files on 3 tracks, i cant seem to get them to play when i hit the play button, i can only set track triggers on the buttons.

also i cant understand how to get all the tracks to play together at the same time.

and how would i set it up so that i am able to have one song (using the 8 tracks) play, then play the second song in the set using different files / sounds on the 8 tracks etc. when i first sw the octatrack i imagined that i could set up 1 whole song (of 8 tracks) to be cued up by pressing one of the buttons. but it seems they are only used for triggering indidual tracks?

and also im totally lost on how to take a bass note sample and have it playable via a midi keyboard whilst the other backing tracks etc are playing alongside

so sorry if im being stupid, i honestly have read the manual and watched so many youtube tutorials but my brain is fried and im running out of time to work it out. i would literally pay someone to help me out with this! :slight_smile: thanks in advance for any help that comes this way!

2

Sorry can’t help now, many threads about backing tracks :

https://www.elektronauts.com/search?q=Backing%20tracks

3

How long until your off on tour?
With that list of questions it’s hard to advise trying to hurry up and be OT tour ready in short notice.
Without being pretty comfortable with the OT’s workings, it has potential to surprise you in all manner of unexpected ways while your on tour…

I would consider using your current setup and holding off on the OT until you have proper time to prepare your set, get comfortable with the ways of the OT, and know that it will work absolutely fine for you…

I don’t want to discourage you, but I believe it is a realistic warning. If your determined and super motivated to make this work then we’ll do our best to send you off…

Regardless, to try and get you started I’ll say that for your 3 tracks to start with the play button:
-1. Press the record button so that the led next to it is red, this puts you in “grid recording” mode to program sequences.
-2. With your first track selected, press trig 1 so that its led is red, this is your play trig for the sample.
-3. Repeat for your next two tracks…
-4. Press play, your three samples will launch on step 1 of the pattern…

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4

a really good point. i might have to just get the other gear repaired/replaced. its a shame because having something so compact and multi-tasking would have really changed things for me. i run a light show synced from an audio file on one of the tracks so sadly need to be able to stream long files in the set rather than patterns and loops.
i cant even get the octotrack to do what you said (hitting record, setting trigs and pressing play) i must be way out of my league! thanks for your advice :slight_smile:

5

That’s why I’m worried about you out there with just an OT… :slight_smile:
It’s not as hard as it seems, but you got to get through the initial phase of finding your way around.
I’m sure you can get to grips with it and use it for what your up to, but it’s hard to rush it. Once you get the hang of it what you want to do will be super easy, just not at first…

Either way feel free to ask very specific questions about what you get stuck on and explain what you’ve done to get there. It’s likely easier to get you through one roadblock at a time rather than trying to outline an entire workflow. Or ask about workflow ideas in general and then afterwords ask specific questions about steps to employ those workflows. It’s hard to explain OT concepts, workflows, and steps to get there all at the same time without having to write too much and probably creating just as many more questions as answers…
Good luck with your tour whatever you end up using!

6

This is done properly with “parts”, a very strange concept that the OT uses to switch samples in patterns. I am still not versed in parts, bu there are loads of tutorials on Youtube that can show you how to use them.
Or, you could skip parts, like one of my friends does, and set-up your samples on your 8 tracks for your first pattern, then copy that pattern and on your new pattern change your samples by plocking the samples to different ones.

7

Yeah, I’ve about given up 5 or 6 times since I’ve owned my OT. I’ve been working with this sort of thing since my mpc2000 in 97…and man, it aint easy. But, actually this week, i went over to a friends house and jammed with him, and by the end of the jam, I had ended up really messing up my OT project, sort of got lost and alll sorts of little problems came up…When I got home I figured out all those little settings and blocks I was running into. So, I learned from those mistakes. What a headache, but I think through all these mistakes, I am finding how I want to use this thing. As for rou, I would suggest you be patient. There is just too much information to learn in a certain amount of time. I think it will probably take me a year or so till I feel completely comfortable playing this thing live without a hitch.

8

If you hit function up or down, you have other options of how to play samples on a track. Make sure you are not in record mode (red light next to record button) when trying to play samples, slots ect.

9

Also, this is a very straight forward, clear, simply put tutorial that you can watch over and over likie me…https://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/elektron-103-octatrack-dynamic-sampling

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10

thanks so much peeps, really appreciate all the advice, its the first time ive come to a forum and asked newb questions and been treated really well and actually got a big boost of information. think i will keep the OT for the pitch altering abilities and use it in my set later on anyway. cheers!

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11

just try and take your time and don’t stress if you can. it rally is worth it in the end.

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