Well I finally decided to give another try at the Pickup machines.
I went to the manual to remember how they work. I had forgotten how cryptic the manual is so went to try on the OT. Could not figure out: it loops sometimes but doesn’t play, can’t figure out how the buttons really work (on MK2) with the One/One2/Hold options.
I tried Youtube but could not find what i’m after. I want basically to start from a loop on a PU machine and start the sequencer after that, following the tempo of the PU machine. When I press Track+Tempo it says “empty recording”. Thing is i want the OT to know BEFORE recording/pressing play that it has to follow that track’s tempo.
TLDR, so far i have 3 questions:
How do the buttons behave in relation with the One/One2/Hold options?
What are the numbers counting on the left of the screen about? They don’t seem to mind a defined length.
Can I start by recording a PU machine and only after launch the sequencer based on the PU tempo?
In One mode you press Rec1 and the recorder will record until it reaches RLEN then start looping.
In One2 mode you press Rec1 and the recorder will record until you press Rec1 again or it reaches RLEN.
In Hold (I’m guessing since I’ve never tried it) you press and hold Rec1 and it records as long as you hold down the button then starts looping when you release.
The numbers are the step count of the loop. Like 32/64 the second number is the loop length, the first number is the playback position and is blank on the initial loop.
I’m pretty sure the first pickup machine (master) will set the tempo automatically when you complete recording the first loop. You have to manually start the sequencer after this.
One 2 mode all the way, as you expect a regular looper behavior.
My main problem with PU is tempo calculation. Range is around 80-160 bpm (have to find the exact values I found myself).
If you record at 60 bpm, it is considered as 120 bpm for instance. Possible to deal with that.
PU calculate tempo from power of 2 step values : 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. If you record 3 bars, 5 bars, 6, 7, 9 etc the tempo will be wrong.
From what I understood before and said above : it is calculated from the loop length, matching a number of power of 2 steps (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, etc) in 85-170 bpm range.
MKII MANUAL
The tempo discerning algorithm analyzes the sample filename for tempo figures, checking if the initial estimation is off by a factor 0.5 or 2.0. The ”normal” BPM range the Octatrack MKII uses to make its initial BPM guess is 85 BPM-170 BPM.
From my old tests, the range is 80.7 - 161.4 bpm actually.
That only fact disqualifiies the OT as a looper unfortunately…
That’s the bit i don’t really get. If i start without tye sequencer playing and play something for like 6 sec, how will he count/divide steps. I could be playing 1, 2 or 4 bars, in 3/4, 4/4, 6/8…
Maybe that’s why they needed to decide for a bpm range limit?
I don’t think so.
8 tracks, possible to automate resampling.
You can record let say 4 tracks on 1 pattern, replace any of them and once you’re done you can change pattern, with the 4 tracks mixed on 1 track, 3 available tracks, and so on.
You can go back to previous patterns if necessary.
That’s another logic, but it works. I do it with FLEX, but you can use at least a Pickup…
Yep. I’m a bit tired for maths, you can make some tests, but OT thinks 4/4, and power of 2 lengths.
Maybe you can find workarounds with scale per track. I made some tests with 3/4 shuffle style, but not with Pickups tempo guess…
It’s a stupid mechanical problem to have but I rarely use pickup machines because if I do it’s to use mic and the brilliantly big reliable buttons on OT are also incredibly LOUD in a mic. So programmed recording only with mic! (Can never be bothered with midi).
fully agree, which is the reason why I never bother a lot to use pickup.
In my workflow I usually use around 6 flex tracks as a oldfashion looper, but its way more powerful as I can effect each layer…and then resample all into 1 track if I want.
Is there any way to stop pickup machines from changing the tempo? I haven’t yet grasped when/why pickup machines become a master (‘p) or slave (,p) (I never want it to be a master!).
I wana record 8 or 16 bar loops with the sequencer running. If I happen to press rec a bar early (e.g. 7) then it messes up my whole tempo.
Edit: I now believe that the first PUM is always master and other ones recording later are slaves.
Maybe that’s why they needed to decide for a bpm range limit?