Hi. I will pick up my new Octatrack tomorrow and have read the manual quite thoroughly I think.
I need advice how to best set up this dark trinity of Elektron hardware to be able to control them in the easiest /most flexible way.
How have you set up these machines?
Octatrack as “control center”?
What about midi?
Please help me with your best tips how you have set up yours / would set up yours. Thanks.
Easiest way:
OT set as a midi master, then the AR, then the A4. Make sure the OT sends midi clock and sync info and that A4 and AR receive them. Midi cable from the OT midi out to the AR midi In, then another midi cable from the AR midi thru to the A4 midi in.
Then connect the AR and the A4 to the stereo inputs of the OT and either use a THRU machine on 2 tracks or turn up the input volumes in the Mixer page, if you don’t plan on using the FX of the OT on the 2 other units.
Takes a few minutes, doesn’t require a mixer. Nice setup for playing live or for setting up on a table at home.
Thanks Barfunkel, that sounds easy enough to start with.
Are there any alternative ways to do it also? Can the OT for example control the sequencers of the AR and A4? Just to know the possibilities.
Does it run smooth with normal midi cables with this setup you described or do I also need the TM1 midi turbo interface you think?
Not related to setup, but since you’re new to Octatrack you will want to read Merlin’s Octatrack Guide:
http://elektron-users.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=611&Itemid=30
(that’s a PDF download link)
It explains each section of the OT in a logical but very different way to the official manual.
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In what way would you want to control A4 or AR sequencers? I think you could at least send program change messages, but with just 3 devices I think changing them manually is a better option. You could also sequence the A4 and (I think) the AR with the OT sequencer, but I don’t see any point in that.
An alternative setup for the audio side would include a mixer. But if you have just these three devices and no external FX or other synths, I think routing them through the OT is the best, most elegant option. Lugging lots of gear to a live gig is not fun, mixers particularly tend to be on the heavy side, even small ones.
Does it run smooth with normal midi cables with this setup you described or do I also need the TM1 midi turbo interface you think?
Just use normal midi cables, 3 devices don’t need anything else. If you have 5+ devices chained, then it might be better to get some sort of a midi thru box, which has 1 midi in and say, four, midi outs. Long midi chains can introduce some timing problems.