Octatrack MK II & Nord Lead A1 - Midi Sequencing Problem (with video)

Elektron Gear Octatrack
1

Hey Elektronauts,

I am trying to send midi from either my mac or OT to my nord lead at via a traditional 5 pin midi cable.

I cant for the life of my work out why the nord won’t pick up the midi signal.

Anyone else had this issue?

Thanks in advance.

Charlie

2

Hey,
the A1 works perfect on any midi configuration:

  1. make sure one of your maschines is master (-clock) device, which sends from midi-out to A1’s midi-in. (A1 detects external clock, otherwise it switches to internal)

1a. I recommend OT as master, switch clock send on.

  1. A1 uses global- and slot-midi. Make sure that global-midi-channel corresponds to the channel of your master device, i.e. Ch1 A1 = Ch1 OT = i.e. track channnel you want to send notes.

2a: shift+midi = Gx, the global channel, must be the same number as OT’s channel you prefer.

  1. Receiving on global channel, the A1 plays notes only on active slots. If you want to use A1 multitimbral capabilities you could adress each slot with its own midi-channel-number (Slot 1 = 3, Slot 2 = 4, etc)

I’m not sure how you send midi from your mac (interface, DAW, App) but it follow the same scheme.

3

Hey,

Thanks for the below!

Are you using a Nord with any Elektron gear yourself?

I’d been reading the manual of both the OT and Nord, also followed the steps above and somethings not right. I’d hooked up the OT with my TB-3 and it worked immediately. Starting to thing it could be the nord. I would only need one midi cable going from the OT to the Nord, right?

Cheers

4

It should be straightforward to get the NL A1 to receive MIDI messages.

There is no need to do anything regarding settings for MIDI clock messages.

Connect a working MIDI cable from the MIDI Out port of your OT or other device to the MIDI In port of the NL A1.

On the NL A1:
In the MIDI Menu, set the Slot MIDI channel number to match that on the transmitting device. Make sure it is not set to “Off”.

Send some MIDI note messages from the other device to the NL A1. Does the MIDI LED flash? Long flashes or short flashes?

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Hello first post - I’m away from my Nord but I think there’s a switch between USB and 5-pin midi.

6

Hey guys,

I’m going to upload a video to show you everything that I have set up, because you are right, it is a simple set up.

Peter - this is exactly what I have done but still having no luck. As you can appreciate, with everyone saying how straightforward the set up is, this is quite frustrating for me haha!

Skintechnician - please let me know if this is the case because I have had luck with sequencing via the USB and computer but not 5-pin midi!!

Thanks all

Charlie.

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@CharlieBroadhead24

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Midi LED flash on the Nord? Just to double check.

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My mistake it’s Nord Lead 4 that has switchable usb/5-pin setting in system menu.

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Yes, the MIDI LED on the NL A1. Does it flash when you send MIDI note messages to it?

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yep, the A1 is my every-day-synth and my main midi keyboard as well. I agree with Peter, this synth is absolutely straightfoward, works without any problem with Digitakt, OT and Digitone (and any other piece of gaer in my setup).

Two ideas you an try:

  1. try another midi-cable

  2. if you have a DAW, route midi via USB to its USB port.

One silly question: Are you sure that you are on midi-in??

If the A1 is connected to your mac, you can use some midi-tools (midi-monitor i.e.) to watch its behavior on USB, wich is the same as on its midi-in.

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No light flashing on the Nord.
Tried other midi cable still no luck.
Could this be

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USB works mate, just midi pin. Tried another cable too.

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Hey Peter,
What do you recon this could be? Do I need to be in performance mode or slot mode? WOuld this make a difference?
Thanks!
Charlie

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Update us on your status:
Your MIDI cable works OK with other gear?
You can sequence other gear but not the NL A1 from the OT?
Can you sequence the NL A1 via USB-MIDI, but not via 5-pin DIN MIDI?
If so, the MIDI In port may be broken.

That could only change which MIDI channel number you would have to use.

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As a elimination process, in the Nord Midi menu turn OFF “receive” for both “program” and “control” changes.
See if it’ll play any notes from the OT or a midi keyboard.

18

I’ve now managed to sort this chaps thank you :slight_smile:

My only question now is…

You know when your in midi mode on the OT, you should be able to play the synth via midi on the first 8 trigs - like a piano…

This is now only working for the TB-3 and not the nord… would be nice to be able to play the nord via the octatrack.

Why could this be, do you reckon?

Thanks in advance - help much appreciated. Love this forum!
Charlie

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@PeterHanes @JamesM @TheDiePie

Hey guys, I had the setup working last night and went to get it working today but its gone back to square one again. I’ve put together a YouTube video to show you what my midi settings are on both the OT and the Nord. I’ve also showed the Nord sequencing the TB3 which works fine…starting to think the midi port is malfunctioning… :confused:

Would really appreciate your help and advice!
Thanks,
Charlie

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The A1 was the worst synth I ever owned for midi issues.

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Apologies: I don’t have sufficient bandwidth to watch a 10 minute video in my phone.

The basic troubleshooting thinking is:

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