I’m planning on purchasing an Octrack but I want to just make sure that it is going to suit my needs. I’m very new to sequencers/samplers so please forgive me if it comes across very simplistic!
I need the right sequencer for using live onstage.
Basically, I have tried triggering tracks from my Macbook using Logic X.
However, the sound quality of the beats I have been triggering aren’t good enough.
Somebody suggested investing in a sequencer / hardware to use onstage instead.
So I found out about the Octatrack.
My main question is can I programme a beat for a full song from start to finish (for example a 4minute song)? Can I do that within the machine itself?
I don’t want it to be a continuous 1 bar loop.
I want to have stops and breakdowns and for the beat to change on choruses etc…
I don’t want to manually play the Octatrack live because I will be singing and playing guitar. I just need to be able to press play on each track in the set and know that the beats that I have programmed from beginning to finish will play.
Can anyone give me as a newbie some information/reassurance about this or any links to useful pages/videos that will help me understand the process before I buy my Octatrack?
A more general (and again probably simplistic) question:
Am I right in thinking that the Octatrack will give me a better quality of beat for playing live than the beats I’ve been programming and playing live with via Logic/my Macbook? Will the fact that it’s hardware make the difference?
I love my Octatrack to death but if your only problem is the Macbook’s sound quality, nothing else, maybe using your Mac with a decent audio interface would be a much cheaper option.
No, it does not make your beats better. The OT is just a tool. There is no difference to your MacBook. Both are just tools.
One is a specialist the other one is a generalist. Both can only be as good as the one who uses them.
Well, the MacBook’s own output might really turn out to be low quality as the OP’s suggested (low quality DAC), or at least under some circumstances (impedance mismatch etc.), don’t you think?
Or it can also be that the sample files themselves do not match the OP’s taste.
Either way, agreed, I would investigate possibilities before spending that kind of money.
That’s all really helpful, thank you all.
Like you’ve suggested, I’m going to look into less costly ways of improving the sound quality of the beats before I spend the money on an Octatrack.
Yes, most certainly you will find a better audio solution with a dedicated audio interface for your Mac.
Another option could be the RYTM. The fact it’s analog will give you a sound that no digital source can and you get access to Performance mode which is very much a quick hands on way to play with the audio in realtime.
Agreed, still love my sp404, though the op would probably find programming a whole song a big hassle on the sp404 if he ‘wants’ to program on hardware? If he needs to not have to switch patterns during songs while playing guitar he’d have to program a full song on 1 pattern. Which would be pretty slow/stressful…
OP, Hard to work out whether you’re saying you want to improve the audio quality or the actual drum sounds? If it’s just the quality you want to improve then like others have said, grab a decent audio interface, can be had cheap these days. Or the sp404 could still be useful in this respect though as you could bounce your beat mix down in Mac book and transfer the wav to the sp404 and not lose quality (in a bad way like using Macbook headphone output) and then have a full song/beat per pad.
If it’s the actual drum sounds that you want to improve then I guess either dig around for better samples for Mac book use or look at something like RYTM like people have suggested. Octatrack is maybe overkill/not the best solution for ‘just’ drum programming. Though it can do it great and take you places other drum machines couldn’t…
Edit - scratch first part of this post. Just realised he could program a full song on sp404 using different patterns and then resample a full song/performance in realtime to a pad to use later at shows without needing to touch the 404 during the song… Duh Probably still easier to do in computer and then transfer to mem card though.
I think that’s a good call. The OT is a great bit of kit, but I would not suggest it if you’re only looking to improve your sound quality. There’s plenty of tools in Logic to help with that, and a decent audio interface will be cheaper than the OT as well.
Probably still easier to do in computer and then transfer to mem card though.