Octatrack Tips & Tricks (OT Tips)

Alas these are just different modes of the major scale (still precious to know) but not different scales.
I guess they could easily implement new scales through a firmware update (even just the most common like the minor harmonic scale).

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It just dawned on me that I can make notes in the arranger even if I donā€™t plan on using the arranger at all. Tonight I added a reminder of what external machine the midi tracks were sequencing for example.

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Good to remind it! :content:

Ricky Tinez posted this nice tip today about slicing in the OTā€¦

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This ones a keeper. Cheers. I hate slice mode as its soooo slow.

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Yes, faster to create slices with Create Slice Grid function.

Iā€™ll add you can apply this grid after you made a TRIM selection, looping correctly, in order to make even more precise grid from a non-synced recordingā€¦

Iā€™d rather count beats, apply grid, then delete slices I donā€™t want, eventually add more!

If there is no more space, you can insert slices reducing one slice length with END, move the Level cursor to the empty area > ADD SLICE.

Pretty fast with accurate loops! :content:
No automatic transients search yes, but if thereā€™s nothing sinced, I prefer to choose / create slices myself, as I usually do on audio editorsā€¦

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I guess nothings perfect. If you could set the desired number of slices to grid(any number)ā€¦ perfect. But going up in large steps makes this method a bit innacurate. He counted 11 transients but had to use 12 slices for instance.

Seems logical, the lower choice being 8. Better to have more slices.

As I said, for recordings of music I understand rytmically (:content:), I prefer to count beats, in order to match grid and tempo, rather than transients, which depends on music content, which slices you want to use.

Delete unused sliced, or not, because it can be handy to know which step corresponds to the slice. Slices can have different length, overlap.

But that depends on the samples? What about irregular compositions.

Definitely. I was editing my post before seeing yours. In Rickyā€™s video example, itā€™s possible to count beats. For non rhythmical things, well, you can also count approximately how many slices you want. In that case, I usually set them one by one with preview, but I think counting them and create an approximate grid after counting is a good tip anyway!

There is also an added benefit as it improves your learning. Especially in difficult pieces with awkward rhythmic compositions like Jazz. You get to understand things like groove better.

Are not always step sequencers friends! :content:
IIRC machting transients/slices/groove with automatic microtiming is already a feature request. :wink:

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Now thats one i would vote for! Would take a crazy algorithm though i would imagine :slight_smile:

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Sorry for off topic but not that crazy imho. Possible with a basic software for my cheap MPC 500 for instance (automatic beat detection, sample slices, midi file creation).
Existing on certain devices apparently.

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Are they very accurate though? Im thinking again of pieces with tricky transients. Even to the human ear it can be difficult to get it right.

Itā€™s a good tip, Iā€™ve had the same frustration when slicing samples.
What Iā€™d like is something a bit simpler: the ability to play back the simple and just hit on the beat where you want the slice. Bam.
Or even key gate it to the trig buttons, so the slice starts recording from the source sample when you hold a trig button down.

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Yes, good ideas.
Feature-request@elektron.se

Not sure if this has been covered, but this was a nice discovery for me:

When controlling PTCH with the LFO Designer: Work within a Ā±120 range and set your Depth to 64. This way, increments of 10 in the LFO designer will serve as perfect semitones (TET).

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Rediscovered controlling some functions of my OT via MIDI, especially CV -> MIDI.

Really nice to start a track recorder with MIDI node #60 (+Trig=HOLD on the recorder setup, if you want it to record for the duration between Note On and Note Off) if your MIDI source has conditional trigs (e.g., Digitone, Digitakt, OT in loopback), or if youā€™re using a CV-to-MIDI converter. (Since we canā€™t have trig conditions on recorder trigs.)

Finding it especially fun to use a CV-to-MIDI converter to trigger samples with totally off-grid rhythms, or use a Turing Machine-type looping random source on slice number (CC#17) or the crossfader (CC#48).

Finding a good CV-to-MIDI workflow with my OT has basically convinced me to sell my Morphagene (which Iā€™ve really loved). OT + Beads will definitely be more controllable and more fun.

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What are you using for CV to MIDI?