I am new to this forum, and just purchased an Octatrack. I don’t get it for a few more days so I figured I would check this out.
All I see on this forum though is people complaining about the OT. Why? I have been led to believe this is the best hardware sampler there is. Did I make a mistake in purchasing this?
No, dude, you made an awesome choice.
I think people just find the Octatrack daunting because there’s a level of knowledge of Elektron units and sampling in general that you have to know before things come together easily.
Otherwise, it’s kind of like reading a dictionary to learn definitions, but having to look up other definitions to understand the words in the original definition, if that makes any sense.
In other words, the OT can do so much people have trouble knowing where to start whereas with something like the AR . . . . it’s a drum machine; easy peasy.
As far as gear goes, you’ve just purchased one of the deepest, most flexible, and best-sounding pieces of gear available.
hey, well that’s for you to decide! as always pros and cons…
best hardware sampler? in some ways yes, in some ways no… best hardware sampler/sequencer/looper/sample mangler/midi sequencer in a small box… yes for sure.
i mean its not polyphonic, it doesn’t sound tough, eg like an mpc 60, no analogue filters etc
but, it has a busload of features that will make it useful to just about anyone. i’m not going to list the good stuff - it’s too much.
you will be stumped for a while, until you get the button combos and have it set up for how you want to use it. that’s the learning curve… but once you get how to use it it’s really simple… and powerful
I’ve had mine for about two months and I think it is great. At first it was a bit confusing but I just learned one function at a time, using the manual and youtube videos. That knowledge quickly adds up if you are simply patient and tackle one thing at a time. For me, it has been worth both the money and the effort because I find the process of making songs with it so direct and enjoyable.
The only technical problem I’ve had is that occasionally freezes up. I’m pretty sure this only happens when I am previewing new samples for a flex slot which has an LFO changing the start point. Now I just stop the sequencer, select the sample, and start it again.
I consider the OT the best piece of gear I have ever owned. If I had to sell everything and keep just a single instrument, the OT would be it.
That doesn’t stop me from complaining now and then. When one use a machine a lot there is bound to be stuff one wish would be added or done differently. I guess it is the same for a lot of users, so since
Anyways, congratulations on your new purchase. You have much fun (and some frustrations) ahead of you!
Seriously, man, you have bought an incredible piece of gear. You have not made a mistake. I repeat - you have not made a mistake.
The OT is not a difficult instrument to learn, in the traditional sense. It’s also not difficult to use, again in the traditional sense. What it is, is an open-ended instrument with so many options, and so many ways to combine those options, that approaching it with no preconceptions could be overwhelming.
Let’s say you’re about to learn Kung Fu. You go to Shaolin and watch the monks do these awesome things with swords, sticks, hands and fists. There’s different techniques, different ways, different methods. And you’re like “I want to do that and that and that but how am I ever gonna be this awesome and oh dear lord, I can’t even stand on one leg without breaking a sweat.”
Well, you start from square one. And you focus on that. And only that. And once you’ve got that, you look for square two. And then three. And four. Eventually, you’ll start to find ways to move seamlessly between these squares, sometimes being at several at the same time, jumping effortlessly back and forth. And that’s when the Octatrack starts to become your thing, and not the manual or someone else’s style.
I approached it like this, and you will approach it differently, but still, for what it’s worth:
First, I did the Elektron tutorial in the Octatrack tutorial mode. Very helpful.
Then, I uploaded a few samples and learned how to trigger them.
Then, I learned to work the samples with the fx.
Then, I built one pattern that sounded pretty bad. But it was a pattern, goddamit.
Then, I built a few more patterns, out of which one sounded okay.
Then, I tried to sample. This was by far the most difficult threshold for me, especially since
I went straight for recorder triggers.
Then, I sampled some more, until it wasn’t difficult anymore.
Then, I hooked up one instrument - only one (a Monotribe) - and made a pattern with samples only from that instrument. It sounded horrible. But it was a pattern goddamit and it was made by my own samples. And I could focus on just getting stuff into the Octatrack, and not playing for hours with the sound source.
And then, I don’t remember. Somewhere around here, things just started to gel.
I watched a lot of video tutorials. I used the manual as a reference guide, not as a cover-by-cover instruction. No one I knew had or has an Octatrack. I really missed some kind of master or trainer to talk to, who could show me.
It took me a couple of months before I was comfortable with the Octatrack, but I had great fun while creating bad shit and then even more fun when shit turned good, so approach it like an apprentice approaches a task whose nature is that it will take time to learn it, because what you get out of it is the kind of stuff you can only create from something that requires time to mature. Not everything can be made in a hurry or quickly, even if you could or wanted to. The Octatrack is such an instrument.
And now, all my friends go “Whoa”, sitting there with their VSTs and Abletons, doing good shit but seriously, everyone in the room knows that the guy with the Octatrack is the coolest guy in the room. Possibly on the planet.
So there’s that, too.
…ot is only for people willing to dive deep and have a real vision of their stuff they wanna do…and are in the game for experimenting and love to be surprised…
those who do so, get happy for sure…
those who don’t…expected another gadget that is doing the job for them, instead of a serious tool to get there on their own…
simple as that…and beeing a smart ass, helps a lot…as always…
no matter how long it takes u to find about it…the good news is…your purchase is always worth a grant in euros…so you can get back most of your money at any time…
so take your time…
we all needed a moment to get familiar with all the options the ot is offering…
forget about the rants…
you"ll find some from me also, when i was new here and had no clue about this machine…
and now…
i gonna buy a second one soon…i played 102 shows with it in the last half year…and i can repeat myself often enough, how thankful i am, to not be forced to do the job with a macbook, ableton, a controler and an interface any longer…
this box made me feel like a guitar hero in elctronic music,…and freed my ass as nothing else…
as someone said here wise before somewhere…focus on the things it can do…instead of the things it can’t…
and if you start to know this machine for real, you’ll find out…there’s not much it can’t do apart from making coffee…
and if u need full streaming playback options running in sync along with all other sampling madness you can imagine, ready to tweak in any direction at any time, there is no alternative anyway…
^^ This.
and if you start to know this machine for real, you’ll find out…there’s not much it can’t do apart from making coffee…
I felt so ripped off when I realized it could not make and resample coffee.
It’s pretty powerful and totally fun to use.
After owning it for 2+ years, I’ve come to realize it’s a pretty powerful midi controller with CNTL-ALL features if you save your PARTS.
Plus a sick sampler and cool 4 channel mixer with through machines for some crazy whack FX chains.
It’s everything and anything you want it to be.
But it’ll take a minute to figure out
Thank you all for your input. I guess just seeing the amount on complaining made me a little paranoid.
I know I have a long road to learning this instrument, but it sounds like an exciting journey. I have a background with sampling and step sequencers so hopefully that will help a bit.
Thanks again.
you heard it here first. Next OS upgrade features Coffee Machine.
You can also compare it to people on a rollercoaster or some other crazy carnival ride:
[ul]
[li]You can hear their screams a mile away[/li]
[li]More than a few are thinking “what have I done?”[/li]
[li]Some people are even trying to hold back the vomit or praying for death[/li]
[li]But the majority of them are having a blast - otherwise it would’ve gone extinct as an entertainment attraction.[/li]
[/ul]
I like the kung fu analogy, wish I’d thought of it first.
You had me a Shaolin… No seriously though, the Kung Fu analogy was pretty awesome!
Congrats and welcome. I’m in agreement with all the above. I’d say it took me about 6 months to become comfortable and to not hit stumbling blocks every few minutes. And there will be stumbling blocks, but keep going. Break on through!
The overall architecture of the machine and how Projects, Samples, Patterns & Parts all relate is probably the toughest thing to wrap your head around. I recommend sniffing out Merlin’s guide which puts everything into perspective. That really helped me a lot.
Then there’s this forum, YouTube and straight up experimentation. Start slow, stay focussed on solely it (and not the rest of your studio) and persevere.
And take the complaints with a pinch of salt. A lot of posts talk about how complex the sampling is… it isn’t. It can be as simple as a button press.
It can also be more complex because you can synchronise, sample and mangle in realtime. But to be fair, how it handles that is actually pretty good and I don’t know any other machine that can do that.
Enjoy!
It a nice bit of kit
It main foible is its saving and file structure, which is about on par with
a tx16w 
They tried to make it a swiss knife, which it is, but that doesnt always reward a new user. The more recent complaints are about the dearth of s/w updates.
You’re likely lose stuff in the first few months. 
(almost all have)
Now, when you have new gear and are all full of enthusiasm you often come up with good tracks. 
If you do lose that stuff, it WILL piss you off tremendously, 
SO record what you do to some other medium. 
Look out for rustys octa edit s/w, which although tethering it to a comp
should iron out alot of the annoying issues it has. 
.
Keep the manual close by, and have a PDF copy on hand for searching the full text. Grab Rusty’s PDF and digest that, and favourite the tutorial videos on YouTube - often much clearer than trying to work things out from the manual.
But I think it’s vital not to try to figure everything out at once - go to a YouTube video when you actually want to do something. Make your own notes, and let it all seep in over time. Pop the manual under your pillow while you sleep and master the machine in your dreams.
It is an awesome piece of kit, have no fear. I could come up with a list of complaints if I applied myself, but I expect on my deathbed I’d be wishing I’d put the energy involved into sampling stuff instead.
So sample stuff!
i can only join the posts here and must say: You definitely did everything right in purchasing this machine!
For a hardware Sampler the OT is a beast, it has so much power and so much features under the hood. Once you get used to it (it has a learning curve) you defintely wont miss a lot - if anything - on this machine. Working with the scenes is great, resampling stuff is great, sampling in general is way easier than it was in its first OS releases and sample transfer from the computer - is also as easy as it could be On top of that it has some great effects inside and can also be used as an FX Processor when you hook it up with other machines. You can even use it as a DJ Mixer and lay down a whole set on it, spicing it up with FX and some slice stutters … if thats what youre looking for but in general: It is mainly an extremely powerful sampler and if you use it to its strengths you wont be disappointed - NEVER!
Personally i dont know anything comparable - as a hardware - that allows for so much flexibility and possibilities when working with samples. And the fact that you can always sample, anytime, instantly - this is just nice
Get used to it mate, take the learning curve, you wont regret it!
[edi] And before i forget: Ask your questions in the OT forum if you get stuck. People will help you here - keep them busy with your questions and they have no time to complain about it anymore Maybe - while answering your questions - they will again start to remember what an amazing machine the OT really is !!!
spotted
Definitely missing feature if you ask me. I did a manual workaround and poured coffee into mine. Now when I tip it at an angle, cold coffee comes out. Haven’t quite figured out how to heat it up yet though.