I have seen this channel in passing and the few videos I have looked at although stuffed with info are really not beginner friendly. And videos are good I find them irritating to follow along with because if something is missed I need to rewind either by clicking or double tapping your screen or what have you. I personally learn better with written steps or instructions because rereading something makes things stick better. Once I get more familiar with the machine I will definitely view his channel again
I’ve been tripped up a few times a long the way.
Grasping the different triggers on the sequencer:how trigless locks and trigless trigs effects LFOs or not and another page for filter env retrig behaviour on the amp set up page.
Subtleties of variable behaviour like this takes time to explore and is unhelpful in the manual.
The way samples play into the next pattern also can change how you use it.
Getting use to the different key trigger modes was useful to ,ie slice play back or slot play back, chromatic or quick mute mode.
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Hey man. I am a jazz musician, and wanted a looping device and effects tool, with a foot pedal, so I got into the octatrack. It drove me crazy and I almost quit multiple times. About 4 years later, I can do what i first imagined being possible. I’d be happy to help. You can email me at randal@deltasoundstudio.com
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A beginners guide would definitely probably be useful to many new users, I do think though that the manual covers everything pretty well, Elektron manuals are probably among the best manuals for electronic musical instruments IMHO, and don’t forget the quick guide which is probably worth going through before delving into the full manual:
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Seen it. Own it. Read through it. Not saying it’s not bad but it’s not like “hey, got samples and wanna make a song let’s get started!”
Well, that’s the thing about the OT: it doesn’t provide one single workflow, how to accomplish whatever you want to do. You could fill complete books with just that simple “got samples, wanna make a song” premise.
So any guide either doesn’t do justice to what’s really possible (by just showcasing one workflow) or it needs to branch out into a whole forest of workflows.
I guess what’s suits the OT best is a kind of recipes style guide like Merlin’s Guide, but which goes far beyond it (IMHO Merlin’s Guide stops far to soon). But that’s definitely not a task for someone fresh on board who may even still struggle with the concepts and terms involved. Peer learning is in most cases not really a good idea (compared to learning from someone with experience) …
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I think the best recourse for learning how to operate the OT is still, the manual.
Learning what to do with the OT, or how to play octatrack , completely different thing. You could literally start a “1000 ways of using an octatrack” series and never finish because its open ended and you would keep finding new things to do.
Not saying what I do will be the end all be all. But I feel like something with at least 1 outlined work flow would be useful. And I’m writing a how to on my own time because it’s how I learn new machines. I’m not doing it for any of you. I was asking if what I do write would be of interest to anyone or if you thought it would help newer folk. Just like with Ableton and other very full featured DAW and machines, sometimes too many options can slow down the process of learning. Everyone wants to do everything but doesn’t know how to put them together in a way that works for them. I’d simply be taking notes of what I learn to accomplish what I want to get out of the machine right now and maybe share that with people that may be interested. Once I can start making things that I’m proud of and happy with I’d share, this is where I started from knowing nothing and this is what I do with the Octatrack to create full tracks that sound like this. Not writing another manual, not writing a guide on all features. Just a work flow that I’m developing for myself because I enjoy taking notes and it’s gonna be written down anyways
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Yeah I’ll be interested.
I’m sure many will too.
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Agree with absolutely everything you said - apart from beginners teaching beginners. This can be a good thing as its fresh in our minds what is important, relevant and sometimes discover new paths.
I admit though that OT could prove difficult in this regard if things get overlooked.
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I say go for it. If writing down exact steps for everything helps you learn, then nothing is lost. Once you’re proficient, refining and sharing your notes wouldn’t harm a new user imo.
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Behold!
Men have written many words concerning the great Octa;
As they chop wood and carry water,
Yet none of them are The True Path,
Can you answer the riddle
Of where the eye ends
and the hand begins?
The Merlin’s guide or revised Merlin’s guide is close to what you are talking about doing.
Maybe not, you might want to glance over it and see for yourself.
Maybe you can make a better one.
This might be handy if you want to sample longer than 64 steps.
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I’m getting an OT1 for the first time Friday; care to share what you’ve come up with so far?
Any news on your project? Sounds like an amazing plan.
I would buy this book.
There’s an african proverb for that: « too much sauce doesn’t spoil the meat » (translated from french « trop de viande ne gâte pas la sauce »).
One approach would be a good starting point.
Or just write about different approaches? Like for example, Octatrack as a multitrack looper, Octatrack as a performance mixer and midi controller, Octatrack as a generative sampler etc.
I think it would be a lot more relatable way to show the many sides of OT with examples like that, instead of the manual with all the features in a list without any context what to do with them.
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Life got a little bit complicated 
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