Part getting loaded a bit too early on Pattern change [Video Inside]

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hey guys, I finally got myself an OT Mk2 a few weeks ago and the honeymoon is going great!

I’m using it as a super fancy looper/resample/FX box, I don’t have any sample loaded in there, I’m only working with pick-up machines and recorder buffers. But anyway, I just noticed a weird thing : when I switch from a pattern to another, the change seems to happen roughly one step before the end of the pattern. I have different parts for each pattern and I can see the part (and its parameters) changing on the screen right before the end of the bar.

Anyone having experience with this? I couldn’t find anything on the forum, so I might be missing something obvious? The OT is the master clock by the way. Also I’m working at a very slow BPM (48) which makes this very apparent.

EDIT : I now realize I wasn’t very clear, the timing is actually okay, the pattern change happens at the right time, but the part associated with the next pattern gets loaded too early, see video below (around 0:10) :

#2

(impatient bump)

#3

I am super new to the OT but my first thought was to check what I think is called scale setup… I think it can be setup universally and/or per pattern.

I am so new, so I have not done anything with the scale setup yet, so it is a guess.

The OT has a bit of a learning curve. It takes a while to remember the jargon/titles of operations, how the menus flow, and which buttons to hit when and where. Both Merlin’s guide and the manual is helpful. Every time I use the OT, I am still looking into the manual often. I have found that the process is frustration, frustration, and then ahhh moment, followed with excitement and joy.

I have found the OT is more like cooking then say sculpting. If that helps at all.

#4

It’s a little bit hard to describe the OT chaining behaviour and how to modify it in a few words, so please read page 37 in the manual (“CHAIN AFTER”).

#5

Thanks for the help guys! I realize I wasn’t clear at all in my first post, everything is in sync and the pattern actually changes in time, if I listen to the click it’s steady and my patterns are exactly 64 steps long, but the audio change before the beginning of the next pattern! It’s like the part associated with the next pattern gets loaded one step before this pattern actually starts. :confused:

I did mess around with the chaining options but no luck yet! And my scale settings seem normal, but I’ll try with a blank project tomorrow.

#6

I am hardly helpful but… to my limited knowledge, parts are pattern specific. So I do not think the parts change within a pattern. But you can lock in different samples. Hmmm, this could be “the blind leading the blind”.

(Thank you tnussb, I did reread both chain stuff and scale stuff. I personal have not dug into that stuff yet, but since there is a learning curve, it is good to review stuff, so I can keep it in mind).

2 Likes
#7

Hey I appreciate the help thanks! :slight_smile:

I believe you’re right, and that’s the behaviour I need, but for some reason when I switch to a new pattern, the part of that next pattern gets loaded a split second too early, so I hear the audio of the next pattern before it should start and it kinda screws the transition.

#8

Have you checked your pattern chain settings? Funk- Edit in playmode. Just a thought

1 Like
#9

Can you describe your use case in more details to clarify the situation? In your initial post you wrote that you are only using pickup machines and recorder buffers. How are the different parts you are using set up / for what are you using the parts? From where (rec buffer? which one?) is the audio coming you are hearing too early?

Pickup machines are not known to be the most reliable feature of the OT … :wink:

2 Likes
#10

Hey sure, it might be specific to my setup indeed :

I’m using 2 pick-up machines to loop my guitar. I don’t want them to play together, I want to use them to create a verse/chorus structure. For that I use 2 patterns with 2 different parts. I have the Pattern 1 associated with Part 1 where track 1 (with the first PUM) has its volume all the way up and track 2 (with the other PUM) has its volume all the way down. Pattern 2 is associated with Part 2 where it’s the opposite (track 1 silent, track 2 full volume). All the other tracks are flex machines that play their own recorder buffer, they are playing live drums/synth from my Digitakt and they are at full volume in both parts.

Everything works as expected, I start with Pattern 1, record a guitar loop into the first PUM, then later I switched to Pattern 2 and record a loop into the second PUM. But then when I switch between the 2 patterns with my loops already recorded and the problem I mentioned occurs. If I’m going from Pattern 1 to Pattern 2, a split second before the first beat of Pattern 2, the Part 2 will get loaded and I will hear the very end of my second loop.

I did read that pick-up machines had some minor bugs so I tried replacing my PUMs with flex machines but the problem was still there. Again, I need to try this from a blank pattern to be sure it’s not because of some weird settings! (will try that right after breakfast)

@thoughtstarZ Hey, I did! I can’t seem to find the issue there but I might need to look harder. :slight_smile:

Thank you everyone for the help, I really appreciate it<3

1 Like
#11

How do you record into PUMs (quantized)? Are they (verse and chorus) same lenght? Do you sync tracks to any PUM?

#12

Hey, I set my PUMs with a RLEN of 64 or 32 and I use One Shot Trigs to start recording. The sequencer has to be running first. I also have QPL set to PLEN so I can stop my loops manually and trigger them again in time. It has been running pretty smoothly, no drifting, consistant behaviour.

And the 2 patterns are the same length (64 steps) but one the loops is only 32 steps as I mentioned, so it just plays twice. :slight_smile:

I’m not sure what you mean by syncing tracks to any PUMs? Thanks for the help anyway!

#13

I could try your exact setup later and see what will happen. But is it possible to put one shots for PUMs?

#14

No OT access at moment but I know I’ve posted here about part change/pattern change bugs and behaviours. In my case it was more about part parameters changing too late rather than too early, but general unpredictably for sure. Others have discussed part woes here too. Have a look with search.

As a rule of thumb I expect odd things to happen with part changes - and if they do I seek workarounds

#15

Hey guys here is a video showing the issue, at 0:10 you can see and hear the volume of the track 3 changing before the end of the pattern (please excuse the low quality) :

@Clancy That’s a bit sad to hear but yeah it seems like that’s a bug too. :confused: I reproduced this setup in a blank pattern and ended up with the exact same behaviour. A shame but I guess I’ll look for a workaround too!

@WeirdFishes That would be great if you can find the time! And yes, you can’t use regular playback trigs but you can use Recorder Trigs and One Shot Recorder Trigs. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#16

Sounds like quantization/lenght issue.
Does your video start at beat one? I can hear music first, before T3 starts displaying progress on trigs.
Please check or show here the picture of Attributte page in Audio Editor for your recorded guitar parts.

#17

Another thing I check when strange things are happening when sampling- Sample edit menu. Sometimes I may have accidentally moved the start or endpoint, which can make strange playback issues. Have you tried to make a new project, and try again? Or even the next bank?

1 Like
#18

No the video starts halfway through the current pattern, but again, everything is in sync with the metronome, no drifting whatsoever, it’s just the parts/volumes that seems to change at the wrong time. :confused: Here is a picture of my Attribute page for the first pick-up machine :

Capture d’écran 2020-07-04 à 12.43.45
Capture d’écran 2020-07-04 à 12.43.451002×536 709 KB

@thoughtstarZ Yeah I tried from a blank project and got the same result without even touching the sample menu.

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#19

Hmm…If I use one part with a track that is a recorder buffer, and the other part that plays the buffer (not sure if this is what you are trying to do?), I have to match the volumes of the two parts. Simple gain staging. Like if you had two speakers with two differnt mixers and you want to make both sound the same. I don’t know. I don’t even use pickup machines so, sorry I can’t help.

1 Like
#20

Well I just tried something super-super simple and my problem seems to be a normal thing :

I create a new project, I set the BPM around 50 and I press play, then I just try to switch to pattern 2 (for example) and I can clearly see the “A01-A02” on the screen becoming “A02” before the sequencer actually restarts. I guess this is by design? So that the next pattern has the time to load when working at a fast BPM or something? Unfortunately when working with multiple parts and Pick-Up machines this results in weird transition. :confused:

Could anyone confirm that he’s experiencing the same thing?<3 I don’t see how that could be related to my unit but I can’t seem to find anything about it on the forum so who knows!