Ok I just figured out how to do it: just set all boxes to “per track” and set CH.LEN to OFF. 
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In fact you can set the master to for example CH.LEN 64 as long as the slaves are set to CH.LEN OFF.
Sorry for the flood, but maybe it will help other people.
Good music to everyone. Enjoy life.
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So 5 mins ago i had same issue as all of you here…
it works, then you enable TRK lenght and youre done, the problem is here…
then i thought i found a “how to” and then it didnt worked 
when i wanted to confirm it…
now it seems to work when CH.len and M.len are same…
Tomorow i will test it again, because all my patterns are polyrhytmic…
so this will be essential for me to work properly…
cheers
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seems working…
no matter what polyrhytms you have in patterns, on boths machines you need to have ch.len and m.len same number
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Thanks for checking and reporting. I’m running into the same issues, especially when DT is receiving pattern change messages from ST. I’ll try keeping CH.LEN and M.LEN the same 
I feel like there may be a bug… But its probably not… I just dont understand it right
-once you introduce M. LEN INF and also you have any TRK set as non 16/16, then things start to break down…
2digi boxes
Master box pattern is 64/64 only… So change is always after 64
Slave box has one or more TRK which is not 16/16
M.Len is INF
CH.Len is 64
I change pattern to A2
Change happens off sync…
-it seems like when M.len is not introduced it gives priority to that non 16/16 trk
-the change always came late, next pattern, or maybe page length?.. But it was always after the master box was already playing the A2.
What will i try to understand today is
-if theres no M.len but there is CH.len… When is the CH.len countdown started in relation to “when i change patterns”…
*i will also go and read manual, as i never really used pattern change via midi, and so i have no idea if the manual explains this logic…
anyways ill come back and share my findings
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I’m wondering why Elektron isn’t giving their input on such things. Do we always have to send a Support ticket to get answers? I think such important things like this should be documented (on their site, in the manuals, …) by the company itself. Maybe it is documented and I’m missing the boat here, if so, I apologize.
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I’m not sure if this is the right place to post, but I feel a bit overwhelmed by the various bits of information on the topic and this seems to be an active thread that might shed some light on my specific issue. Sorry if this is hijacking the original post a bit.
I have come to understand that the Master Length and Ch.len setting exist on all Elektron devices and there has been some confusion as to how they work. In addition to that the Octatrack also has a “Chain After” setting.
I’m not interested anymore in understanding these settings or the design decisions they are based on, I just have this simple question:
Which settings do I have to use on my Rytm to get to change Patterns in time with my OT preserving any polyrhythms on the Rytm?
The OT is set to Master --> inf. and the Chain after is set to 16/64
When I set the Rytm to Master length 64, the machines change in time. However if I want to use polyrhythms they will expectedly get messed up since Master length is just 64 steps.
If I increase Master length on the Rytm, it changes to late or never if (set to inf.) If I use Master length --> inf. and Ch.length --> 64 it changes 64 steps too late.
I really can’t wrap my head around this and sorry again if this is the wrong place to ask, however is there any way to have Master --> inf on the OT and change a slaved machines pattern together with the OT?
Never use INF for Length/Master Length. Always use the lowest multiple of the polyrhythm and the desired step count. Make sure equivalent patterns on both devices match. Remember each pattern has its own settings.
Set the Ch.Len on the Rytm and the Change After length on the Octatrack to the same values.
it might also help to ensure the scale settings are the same on both devices, as close as you can make them. E.G. if one device has a track with 1/2 scale, set one up on the other device too.
Sometimes they will still get out of sync. Double-stop both sequencers and start again.
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Hey, thanks for your answer, I’ll try it tomorrow morning. So if I do it that way will I be able to set ch.len to 64 and change after to 16/64 and set master to the lowest common multiple and both OT and AR will change patterns after 4 bars? Or will they change after the master length set?
I’m a bit rusty and my OT’s packed away, so I can’t test it prior to offering suggestions. From recollection Ch.Len and Change After must match or you’ll lose sync: they’re equivalent options on the two devices.
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Ha ha ha.
Holy shit this is the great Elektron debate. I must admit I was in the camp of a previous poster thinking that these things could never stay in sync. It even caused me to not use my DT and DN together which is a shame because they work so well together. But recently I’ve busted them back out and have tried it again and let me throw my 2 cents in. I have found that you need to
A. Make sure you have Clock transport and Program change send clicked on your DOM
B. make sure you have Clock transport and program change receive clicked on your SUB
C. Make sure the program change out and program change in are brodcasting the same channel, I
like 16 just to get it out of the way.
And D. (and this is the key) make sure all your patterns accross the boxes have the same master length. This does not mean you can’t do polyrhythmic/poly-meter stuff. It just means that all the master lengths have to be the same accross boxes for each pattern you are going to. Ever since i’ve done this I have been able to keep them in sync. And I do some weird 3 and 4 step patterns, into 16 step patterns into 128 step master length patterns, and so far so good. But I will be sure to report back here if it fucks up.
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Hi there so I’ve tried all these suggestions.
I setup the OT to Master length 320, Chain after 16/64. <-- this is the master
I setup the AR to Master length 320, Ch. length 64. <-- this is the slave
When I intiate the Pattern change on the OT the AR changes 64 steps or 4 bars later than the OT. I really don’t understand this. Feel like giving up. There has to be a way, no?
Edit: So after some more testing here is a setup that works, but makes polyrhythms tricky:
OT Master --> inf. Chain after 64/16 --> Master device
AR Master --> 64 Chang --> off
Now they change together but I’m limited to polyrhythms that work with 64 steps.
It is so frustrating…
Yep. Hence my earlier posts saying that the path of least resistance/frustration for changing patterns in time on 2 or more Elektron devices is to do it manually.
That’s the only way I’ve found that works consistently, esp if you have polymeters and differing (master) pattern lengths…
I use 1 bar/16 beat Change Lengths, like I do in Ableton… it takes a bit of practice across multiple devices, but I’d say I’m more consistent than Elektrons OS.
In your first set up did you try just changing the AR Ch. Length to “off”?
Also, I know the AR has direct change but does it have a midi multimap like the A4?
yes, it will then change after 320 steps are finished on the AR.
So a conversation with @DaveMech in a separate thread has brought me to a somewhat conclusion to this problem. So, I still maintain that if you have the Change length set to “off” and Master length the same across the boxes then your boxes should change at the same time. This has been my experience and if it hasn’t for you that’s fine but it has been for me. However, if you want have master length set to INF so you can do polyrhythmic stuff with your tracks, then you will have to trigger the change separately on the boxes but neither will actually change patterns until you do “STOP+PLAY”. This way you can make sure that you are moving to the correct patterns without having to do it in a certain amount of time. You can cue the pattern change on each box, make sure they are both (or all 3) going to the correct pattern, then hit “STOP+PLAY” on the master box and everything will change patters. Now, this will take some practice because you’ll have to do it in time. But I really think this is the best solution for me without having to trigger a pattern change on multiple boxes before the pattern ends.
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Something else that does work strange on the DT is the use of PC on a midi track, which isn’t send on start, but on stop/reset.
With the Program Change channel under Settings set to Auto, the PC on the midi track isn’t send (even with a dedicated channel on the Midi track).
With the PC send channel under setting set to the dedicated channel the initial value from the track settings is send to my ST.
I can reproduce this by manually changing a pattern on the ST while playing both. Then on the DT press stop (once) and then start again. The pattern on the ST doesn’t change to the initial value set on the midi track. I have to press stop twice quickly. With the PC channel set to Auto(channel) this doesn’t work at all, which seems logical as my auto-channel is 16 and my ST receives on 2.
But why is this a problem? This implementation doesn’t support external synths that do not have a separate setting for the PC receive channel or for another reason cannot be on the same PC channel as the ST. And, as the DT doesn’t respect the separate midi channels on the individual midi tracks for sending PC messages, this complicates the integration.
As far as I can see there should also be a TRACK setting to the central PC transmit channel, that forces the DT to use the separate midi channels. Besides that I think stop should be stop including reset (or restart should always send the PC values), so external devices are reset to their initial values for the current pattern.
Maybe there’s some logic behind all this, but at this point it seems like a design flaw to me.
[EDIT] I think the biggest problem is that the PC messages / values defined on the MIDI Tracks aren’t send after a stop/reset. They do send correctly over the individual channels when manually changing the value with the knob. But I don’t think that’s the idea of preconfigured values.
This may be relevant. I’ve seen this behaviour between my two Elektrons, M:S and M:C. I think what is happening is that with just ‘stop’ the receiving box doesn’t know the pattern has ended and is waiting for PC from the sending box. Even manual pattern changes on the receiving box have no effect, it seems to be locked into what the sending box wants. Only double stop (sending box) clears this behaviour and allows local pattern change on the receiving box to take place.
Like I said, may be relevant.