Hi there! I’m very new to the OT, though I’ve had it for a while and have been able to make some pretty exciting developments on it so far. Right now I’m looking for ways I could practice fundamentals, something akin to finger exercises on a guitar. Just something more technical and learning-focused. From what I’ve heard the most, maybe the best way to get practice is to make finished tracks. I’m just wondering if there are other good practice tools others have used to learn the instrument without the pressure of a completed track at the end?
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I think muscle memory will kick in for how you like to use it. No use training your digits with a technique you don’t utilize.
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This is an old post but lots of exercises/studies you could work through and challenge yourself to do:
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IMHO the part that takes the most practice/is least intuitive is recording samples in. It’s fast once you know what you’re doing, but takes some time getting to that point and understanding the options.
So I’d plug in a mic or instrument, and practice the following:
-recording a sample coming in
-editing that sample in the sample editor
-saving it to a sample slot so it won’t be deleted when you restart (taking it from the temporary REC buffer and into memory)
-once you’ve got that, recording samples of a set length, eg one bar.
just IME, getting that part down has made the whole experience must faster. YMMV
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Here’s a list of good exercises for Octatrack:
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power on switch 
done
I’ve shared this before a few times. The way I used to practice when I first got my OT was to run everything I watched or listened to through a “thru machine”. If I were listening to NPR, run it through the OT. Youtube? Thru machine. Any audio you listen to in your daily life- Thru Machine. Then you can practice your sampling workflow. Good for muscle memory.
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Yes, the sampling stuff is a good idea. I just got on my OT after a week of not using it and I felt like I forgot everything about sampling. Sampling with the sequencer running and sampling without it running. Get those two down (and yes, where the samples are saved, etc.) and you’re ready. Then you can learn all about the different kinds of trigs. Don’t try to include any other pieces of gear yet. Just stay on the OT for these practice sessions. Personally, at this stage, I’m running op-1 into OT to grab samples but you can use any sample source you want. Once I get whatever samples I want recorded, I concentrate solely on the OT.
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Really digging the input. Thanks guys!
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I also recommend @darenager’s lab. Example of tracks made with an accoustic cowbel sound only :
OT Science Lab - 1 year study - 11 - More Cowbell :cb:
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