Octatrack MKII controlls Slim Phatty

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hello, friends!
I have the OT MKII and I have a question. I would be very grateful if you could help me out to understand how exactly can I connect the OT MKII to Slim Phatty for the following purpose:

The idea is to control Slim Phatty by the OT MKII in order to construct sequences using OT so I could tweak knobs on the Slim Phatty when a sequence is triggered by the OT and use effects on the OT in real time.
I get so confused when I read the manual. I don’t understand the basics I guess. All those midi channels numbers etc. The language is too academic for inexperienced me.

I have a midi cable (DIN to DIN)

Please explain it to me step by step like I am a five-year-old :slight_smile:

Thank you in advance!

#2

I used to own an OT and I think the easiest way is to get onto the midi tracks and set channel 1 for your Moog. You will have to set up basic start/stop, send notes, change sequence on the midi page setup of OT. Then you need to do the same on the Moog but to recieve all of the above. To set up controls of parameters you will need to locate the midi channels forveach control on the Moog and set those to specific knobs on the OT.

This is a good starting point.

1 Like
#3

I use my Octatrack with my Little Phatty a lot. Here is how I set it up. There are, of course, other ways to do it.

  1. Plug midi and audio from in on the synth to out on the Octatrack.
  2. Set up a thru machine on the OT with the right input etc. Remember to trig it, either manually or by setting a trig in the sequencer.
  3. Set the the input (and output) on the phatty to a suitable midi channel. I usually choose channel 12 by old habit. This is also a good channel because it does not intersect with the audio track midi channels (1-8) or the default auto channel (9) so it might spare you some headache later down the line. But for now any channel will do.
  4. Select a midi track and set it to your channel (in my case 12), remember to push the knob or [YES] to confirm your selection. You should now be able to trig your midi track and hear the result.

Optional:

  • If you want to use tempo synced LFOs on the Phatty, enable clock send in the midi sync menu on the OT.
  • In case you want to sequence midi CC values (knob positions) it can be very helpful to plug a midi cable from out on the Phatty to in on the OT. Make sure it sends on the same channel as it receives. You probably want to set turn local control off on the Phatty and turn on CC direct connect in the midi sequencer settings page on the OT. (Then when you turn the knobs it will not change the parameters on the synth directly but send them to the OT which immediately sends it back). You probably also want to disable 14bit midi on the Phatty (I have never got it to work properly). You can now select which midi CC values to control in the ctrl pages (FX1 and 2 in )of the midi track on the OT. To learn a CC go to the setup of one of the ctrl pages and and press func+corresponding knob. Twist a knob on the Phatty to learn its corresponding CC value. You can now enable that CC by going back to the ctrl page and press func+the same knob to enable that CC. This process is much better described on page 102 in the manual.
2 Likes
#4

Thank you for your reply, Kalle!

Typing in as I am trying right now:

a) Plugged a mono Y cable to IN (one male) on the SP to MAIN OUT (two males) on the OT.
b) Plugged midi cable to IN on the SP and to OUT on the OT.
2.
a) Set up a THRU machine on the OT
b) Put a Y audio mono cable from OUT on the SP to AB inputs on the OT.
c) Set INAB on the OT to A+B
d) “Remember to trig it, either manually or by setting a trig in the sequencer.” - I don’t really understand what buttons to press here :-)) so I am going to skip this part and keep following the rest of the instruction (please don’t think less of me, I am digging into menu, but this technical language is difficult to understand and I get lost)
3.
a) Set MIDI CH IN: 12, MIDI CH OUT: 12 on the SP.

When I swith to CHROMATIC mode on the OT, I can’t play SP, when those IN and OUT MIDI channels are set to 1, I can…

a) " Select a midi track and set it to your channel (in my case 12), remember to push the knob or [YES] to confirm your selection." - on the OT I went to PROJ - CHANNELS - and where it says “AUTO Ch:” i set up “12”. Pressed a YES button, but nothing happened. It stayed on AUTO Ch: 12.

lost…

Will try Optional:

didn’t get it :frowning:

I would really appreciate if you could teach me in detail how to hook these two up together the OT and SP. What to press on the SP and what exactly to press on the OT.

I will try to say what I expect: I want to set up a sequence the sound of which will be coming from Slim Phatty using the OT. For example when the sequence is playing, I want to play with Filter and Oscillators on the SP.

Sorry for being dumb.

#5

Thank you for your reply, sir, but it is just not enough detail for me. Something like Cuckoo’s tutorials would be very helpful.

#6

So, I will comment a couple of your steps below:

  1. a) You probably don’t want to plug the output from the Octatrack through the phatty (unless you want feedback :smiley: ), leave the main out on the OT unplugged for now and just plug in a pair of headphones in the headphone jack on the OT (Or plug the main out to a mixer, PA, soundcard).
  2. d) The amplifier envelopes on thru (and all other audio) tracks always starts fully closed, to open it you must trig it. You can either do it by pressing the corresponding sample trig button when in track mode (Trig 9 for Track 1, Trig 10 for Track 2 etc.) or by entering grid record mode, put a trig on step one and press play and then stop. If you press stop again, all envelopes will close. You see a little T with a Play icon under it on the screen beside the corresponding track button if it is set up correctly and playing.
  3. I choose channel 12 out of old habit, if it works just by having it at midi channel 1 you can probably just leave it at that and start playing around. But:
  4. The auto channel is the a midi channel that the Octatrack listens to and does whatever is appropriate on the currently selected track. This is useful, for example, if you have a midi keyboard and a couple of different synths plugged in and want to play them one at the time. In this usecase you don’t need it.
    So, reset the autochannel to the default 9 in Channels screen for now.
    Go to midi mode by pressing the [MIDI] button under the headphone volume knob. Choose a midi track you want to use. Track 1 is as good as any. Double press [SRC] to enter the source setup page and turn knob A until it says 12 and press the knob or [YES] to confirm. A small 12 where an X used to be should appear on the screen beside the track button.
    If you enter chromatic mode you should be able to play your synth through the Octatrack now. You should also be able to enter trigs on the midi track in grid record mode and play them.
    To exit midi mode, just press the midi button and you will end up in normal mode.

If everything is set up correctly, you should be able to sequence the via the midi track you set up Phatty and it plays through the thru track where you can add effects etc.

Some troubleshooting tips:

  • The midi button is yellow (on the MKII) when the Octatrack is in midi mode.
  • If midi messages are going out of the Octatrack a pixel on the top right of the tempo indicator on the screen lights up. If it doesn’t the midi track is probably not set up correctly.
  • If the Phatty receives midi messages (at least on the Little Phatty) a triangle blinks on the second row of its screen. If it doesn’t but the Octatrack is sending midi, you probably have the wrong channels set up or a cable problem.
  • If audio is coming in to the Octatrack the indicator LEDs for the input should light up.

Good to know:
The audio and midi tracks are completely separate entities. This may be clear to everyone else but it took me a while to understand that midi track 1 is not the midi side of audio track 1.

I hope I managed to clarify it a little bit.

Don’t worry about feeling lost, midi is complicated as it is without the onion layers of complexity that it is the Octatrack. It takes a little while to wrap your head around it. Don’t give up!

3 Likes
#7

I did like you said and it works now!!! IT’S ALIVE!!! Thank you so much! Your directions were very helpful! So so happy now :smiley::smiley::smiley:

2 Likes
#9

Octatrack MKII controlls Slim Phatty manual

Explicit instruction

  1. Plug a midi cable to OUT on the OT and to IN on the SP
  2. Plug a Y audio cable to Input AB on the OT and to AUDIO OUT on the SP
  3. Plug Main OUT on the OT to speakers/PA system. (I use computer speakers at home so I plug speakers wire to earphones out using an adapter from big jack to mini jack)
  4. Set up a thru machine on the OT: double tap T1 button, press the left on the cursor, choose THRU and press YES
  5. The amplifier envelopes on thru (and all other audio) tracks always starts fully closed, to open it you must TRIG it.
    a) You can either do it by pressing the corresponding sample trig button when in track mode ( Trig 9 for Track 1 , Trig 10 for Track 2 etc.)
    b) or by entering grid record mode (press RECORD button (the button with a circle on it) which is next to PLAY button, put a trig on step one ( T1 under Track Trigs section) and press PLAY and then stop. If you press stop again, all envelopes will close. You see a little T with a Play icon under it on the screen beside the corresponding track button if it is set up correctly and playing.
  6. Set the the MIDI CH IN and MIDI CH OUT on the SP to a suitable midi channel by pressing MASTER on the SP and turning the VALUE knob, to change the channels press CURSOR button on the SP and turn the VALUE knob. Choose channel 12. This is a good channel because it does not intersect with the OT’s audio track midi channels (1-8) or the default auto channel (set it to 9) so it might spare you some headache later down the line.
  7. Now set channel 12 on the OT by pressing PROJ button (it’s under the MIDI button), use cursor buttons to go to MIDI section on the screen of the OT, then go to CHANNELS using cursor, press YES , set AUTO Ch to 9, go to TRIG CH box and set 1 to Ch 12 using the cursor.
  8. Press MIDI button on the OT, double tap SRC button and set CHAN to 12 using A knob, press the knob or YES to confirm. A small 12 where an X used to be should appear on the screen beside the track button.
  9. In order to hear the signal coming from the SP you need to press MIX button on the OT and set DIR to 127 using B knob.
    If you enter chromatic mode you should be able to play your synth through the Octatrack now. You should also be able to enter trigs on the midi track in grid record mode and play them.
    To exit midi mode, just press the MIDI button and you will end up in normal mode.
  10. Press MIDI button and go to the CHROMATIC mode to play the SP using the OT. You can construct a bass line for example. Try to tweak knobs on the SP to change the sound when a sequence is playing on the OT. You are also able to use effects for your SP sequence on the OT in real time.

Thank you for your help, Kalle!!!

2 Likes
#10

Yes as long as they don’t share their midi channel :

15.2 HOW MIDI IS ROUTED If an audio track and a MIDI track share the same MIDI channel, the MIDI track will block the audio track from sending out data while the audio track will block the MIDI track from receiving data.

3 Likes