Where to start? Ive read every document and seen every video.
Still confused, i am a newbie yes, maybe this is not for me.
I am trying to create ambient, textures, soundscapes and so on.
I have a good understanding of the parts,patterns, banks and scenes, so i know what they do, but unsure how to make use of it in a logical manner or some kind of “systematic” approach to it.
Lets start with the idea behind the 16 banks. Am i right in assuming that the slot list should be filled with samples to be used across these 16 banks?
Bank A - 8 samples
Bank B - 8 samples
Banks C - 8 samples
and so on… ?
That will be 128 samples alltogether for the 16 banks (16x8)
I know this is pretty basic stuff, but ive had the ot for a while now, but still feel like i am wasting my time and not getting anywhere with it. So before im passing it on i want to be certain i did what i could to understand it. Maybe with some help from you guys?
You have total of 256 sample slots available per project. Consisting of 128 flex slots. 128 static slots. Samples are shared across banks, any bank/track can use any sample. You can use different samples for different banks/tracks or you can select samples you have already used in previous banks/tracks. I’d recommend re-reading the manual, retreading Merlin’s guide, watching even more tutorials… It should click for you and you’ll be fine. Make a project that you don’t really care about and fill the sample slots. Start trying stuff out. See what works/what doesn’t… As long as you stay away from the deeper system settings (not needed til you have a better grasp on things) etc you can just mess around without worrying about things until it makes sense. Learn one thing at a time… Good luck
Well, probably you know it, but lets refresh memory… OT has two sample pools – one for Flex (loads samples to memory) and one for Static machines (works with CF). Each sample pool has sample slots. As you can’t use samples directly from CF card using Static machine, you need to create reference to physical file on CF by loading samples to sample slots. In other words, sample slot contains address of audio file on CF and when you load sample to sample slot you load address of this sample so now playback machine know which phisical file it should play.
Next thing – Parts. You have 4 Parts per Bank. Each Pattern is ALWAYS assigned to one of these four Parts. Part is an entity which contains sound settings of pattern to which it is assigned: which machine is used to each track, which 8 samples is assigned to each 8 tracks of OT, wich effects, etc. Thus, as you have 4 Parts per Bank - you have 4 sets of 8 samples per Bank: 4 * 8 = 32 samples. It was already discussed that limitation of 4 Parts per project is bad and confusing thing, but if you need to use more samples in Pattern/Bank, you have several workarounds: i.e. sample-locks and sample-chaines.
Pattern is sequencer-related entity and it defines lenght, scale, trigs locations, parameter- and sound-locks, and so one.
Lets create simple classic song! Remember that changes in Parts affect all Patterns with the same part assigned. So be careful and use parameter- and sound- locks while creating variations of pattern.
Intro: one simple intro melody different to others parts. Don’t create special Part for this because it is needed only once for intro. Use pattern 1 + part 1 but do sample-lock of this intro-sample on first step of any track.
Verse 1: use pattern 2 + part 1 but now assign all needed samples to tracks and set needed trigs.
Verse 2 with mods: copy pattern 2 to pattern 3 and make some variatios by changing rytmic, “unmuting” tracks, parameter- and sample-locking.
Chorus 1: use pattern 4 and assign part 2 to it. Assign machines and samples of chorus part. Set trigs, effects and so on.
Verse 3: copy pattern 2 with Verse 1 to pattern 5 (part 1 will be used automatically as it is already assigned to pattern 2). Make some changes.
Bridge 1: use pattern 5 and assigned part 3 to it. Load bridge-samples to track and place trigs on tracks.
Bridge 2: use pattern 6 and assign part 4 to it. Load samples, etc.
Chorus 2: copy pattern 4 to pattern 7 and make mods if needed.
Chorus 2 with mods: copy pattern 7 to pattern 8 and make some changes.
Outro: with one melody. As for intro use pattern 9 and just sample-lock for outro sample.
Done!
But you have to remember that there is no right way of using OT. Just use it as you like.
Tip: use Flex machine for one-shot samples and Static for long samples and loops.
Also I highly recommend to to use Arranger for creating songs but this is another story…
This is the key.
The more you use it, the more you will understand these functions, and the more ways you will find to use it… if you know what i mean.
some great tips here as well though.
OP have you read Merlin’s guide to the octatrack? It is a musician friendly ot structure guide with case study examples. You can find it in the download section of Elektron’s website.
I’ve had the OT for two years and THIS THREAD BLEW MY MIND. Such simple concepts can remain hidden from me for way too long! Until this morning, I was eternally confused by parts. I also think its name is weird.
I’ve always thought of parts as similar to banks—a whole other set of complications that I have to switch to mid-song and keep track of. But this thread helped me realize that parts are (at its simplest) just instrument/sound groupings that can be assigned to a pattern. No shift+part+arrow mid-song!
I find the manual very clear, but I often interpret it wrong. Also, I get overwhelmed by its references to OT’s grand capabilities: “256 patterns! 1,000 banks! 50,000 sample slots! Parts will multiply it all!”
Thanks to this thread, and to @uturunku, as a starting point I think of it this way:
Bank = song
Part = instrument groupings
Pattern = playing the instruments
