Alright, I’ve watched tons of videos, read the manual a few times, and Merlins guide. I think I’m ready, but a voice inside me is saying “nope, not even close”
We’ll soon find out as my OT arrives on Tuesday. I wanted to throw out some impressions before it arrives just for fun.
First, why am I getting an OT?
I thought I was done getting gear, but it turns out I need a box to take with me where I can explore and compose ideas for tracks. I did some testing with my MBP, and DT, and they came up short for what I wanted on the go.
So a while back I thought “I need an MPC!”, so I started putting money to the side to get one. But when I had enough saved to get the Live 2, I suddenly realized the OT was probably a better choice for me and ordered it instead.
The main reason I didn’t consider the OT, was because it was “old”. I dropped that point of view, and it helped a lot that there were recent OS updates, and the black MK2 looked good to me.
Now, what do I think after reading about the OT? Well, I think it’s a very intriguing box, and I find myself relating everything to the DT because it was my first Elektron. The DT sampler feels like 1 recorder from the OT. Having 8 simultaneous audio samplers and manglers is a lot, and that part has me very intrigued.
For recording guitar, the memory limit on flex machines is a concern when overdubbing and having other tracks dedicated to other things. I think it can work well if it’s fairly quick to save a recording buffer, and replay it through a static machine to free up memory. I’ll definitely need to explore pickup machines, as those seem ideal for live composing with loops, and there are many YT videos showing how to do this.
IOW - I’m confident I can record guitar just fine, but what I’m not confident in is how much elbow room I’ll have for other things (drums, melody, chords, etc).
Regarding sound, I’m impressed by what I’m hearing from the OT. Lots of creative and amazing sound scapes utilizing the sequencer, and scenes for transitions. The liveness of it, is infectious. I’ll need to make sure I can record the master from the OT, as live mangling is a big part of what makes it unique.
One feature I wish it had was to record the master track to the card. That would be ideal for capturing a performance.
Anyway, I have no idea if anyone is interested in my ramblings on the OT, but I’ll throw it out there, and update it as I learn.
Gino