I use that too. But when I’m using pickup machines, I like a quick access menu to save the loops.
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I tried the SAVE ALL RECORDINGS and it doesn’t tell you which ones you’re saving…I assume it goes in order (1, 2, 3) but like…Why? Why wouldn’t it just tell me which recordings I’m naming? ffs
? You should be able to see R1, R2, R3, etc… unless you already used Save to Self?
I used save to self specifically for R1…I’ll pay more attention next time
You can keep the RX beginning. I was keeping R8 for my MAIN recordings.
Now I’m using R4for MAIN recording, for preview and easier buttons combination reasons (If I use T8 as Master track, no preview / different routing in that mode).
I dont understand what the problem is? Ive had the octatrack for probably 2 years, have always used save and assign to self and never had a problem. Ive also never used a static machine not even once as flex machines have always been fine for me.
If you record 1 or several recordings longer than 3 minutes, it can be a problem…
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So I’m taking another look at it and I think now I can further elucidate my problem
I save and assign sample to self, which is R1. Then, when I go to bank B where I want fresh new sounds, I start recording onto R1. Now I go back to bank A and my original sound in rec buffer 1 that I tweaked and played with is taken up by this new recording.
Obviously the file is saved somewhere, so I can load it up in a new flex slot, and assign it that way, but I want to point out that that’s what I was trying to avoid in the first place. What’s the point of save and assign to self if you’re going to have to inevitably assign it to a new flex slot and then play it that way? Probably for quick live purposes I imagine?
The only thing I 100% want is to make sure all of my “patches” as it were (I’m treating banks like patches) load up and sound exactly as I left them, aside from tempo changes of course. Right now, going through some of my old patches, that isn’t the case. I still haven’t lost any recordings, but there are some I load up where I know for a fact they used to sound different and have no clue why.
As an example I just did, I saved and assigned a guitar part to R1. I then made a slice grid and random parameter locks for it,but forgot to save these sample settings. So when I loaded this sample to a new flex slot, it was missing the slice grid. Present me knew what the problem was, future me would’ve been stumped…
It seems there is a new little issue every time I play the Octatrack. Something I have to remember to prepare for or else I’m screwed next time I boot it up. Growing pains.
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I guess what you don’t understand is that recorder buffers are fixed sample slots. When you change the content of a normal (flex) sample slot it also doesn’t reload to the previous content when you are switching back to an other pattern (but the now changed content will be used there, too).
In this way record buffers are in no way different. They are globally shared by all patterns and parts and won’t perform any reloading just because you switch patterns.
The assign-to-self feature is only useful to load content into the record buffers when powering on the device or when you reload a project. This way you can use them like any other (flex) sample slot right from the beginning without recording something into them first.
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@GirTheRobot says he changes Banks, so it’s a new part he’s populating, that shouldn’t interfere with the part of the previous bank, should it? Not having my OT right here to check, but interested…
Again: recorder buffers are like flex sample slots global and doesn’t change/reload their content when switching patterns. Parts or banks or whatever doesn’t change anything on that fact.
Otherwise you could use 4 x 16 x 128 flex sample slots within a project which is simply not the case. Projects are bound to 128 flex sample slots (+ 8 record buffer slots).
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Ok got it. What confused me was that a flex machine can read a sample while recording something else into it’s own buffer. My bad. Accessory question: when doing a “save and assign” and choose “next available slot” the flex’s read pointer will not automatically change to this new slot, am I correct?
It’s not the buffer of the flex machine you are recording into. It’s the buffer of the recorder which is a completely independent unit.
Each track has a record unit and a playback unit and - unless the playback unit is a pickup machine - these units are in no way linked to each other.
About “save and assign”: I’m not completely sure, but I guess “no”. Just think about a sample from a slot which is used by multiple flex machines or you’ve opened the AED for a sample which isn’t in the slot list yet or from a slot which isn’t used by any flex machines …
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I don’t quite understand this advantage over a regular flex slot, which also persists on power up but isn’t in danger of being unloaded when you next record to the buffer. Would you mind elaborating? Still having trouble understanding the purpose of assign to self!
There are two purposes:
- the sample gets stored on the +drive
- the record buffer gets pre-filled on start-up without the need to record something into it
The important thing is probably point 2. Suppose you are working on a setup where you will mangle live audio with recorders. When you turn on the OT you can either record some new tunes into the recorders to get you started, load manually some samples into them OR you can use the “assign to self” feature to automate it (and spare some time this way). It’s not meant to be a static setup, because then you could really use FLEX slots instead, of course. It’s just meant as starting point (or better: a continuing point when you come back after a shutdown).
Just one use case: suppose you want to perform some live overdubbing, but the first layer (for example: a field recording) should already be there.
In most cases there are many ways to do something with the OT. The “assign-to-self” feature of the OT just adds to your possibilities.
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Ah, I get it! Thanks, always something new to learn with this machine
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Probably answered hundreds of times already, apologies for that, but is it really a “feature” in flex machine tracks that you need to re-assign the (saved) recorded samples every time after starting Octatrack – or am I doing something wrong? Someone mentioned that they change the track behaviour to static to avoid re-assigning, but is this really the way to go?
I think the issue you’re experiencing is mixing up the sample player machines (flex/static) with the record buffers. All the tracks are like this:
Track X = [recorder with buffer] -> [Machine (sometimes with buffer)] -> [AMP] -> [FX1] -> [FX2] -> OUTPUT (which might be a master track)
So, each track has up to two buffers: the record buffer and maybe the sample playback machine buffer (if you assigned a sample slot to the machine). The recorder is always available, so its buffer is always available… but it gets cleared often. Many operations clear the record buffer (most of them make sense, like turning off the device, or making a new recording).
You can assign record buffer to a flex machine, but it’s still the record buffer. I can’t speak about pick-up machines because I’ve not used them yet. Earlier in the thread people were talking about “assign to self” which always does stuff I don’t understand, so I leave that alone.
Roughly speaking: if you make a sample and you want to keep it, save it. Just like with a computer or most other samplers (I assume… I also haven’t used a hardware sampler since about 2003, until I got my OT this year).
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Not when restarting, but you need to load the new saved sample before you shut down. Then save your project and It should load every time. The sample buffers clear when you cycle power, so the recorder buffers that you were using will be blank when restarted… hence, load the new saved sample,
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Not doing something wrong, but sounds like your understanding of the octatrack isnt quite where it needs to be.
Flex tracks can play samples loaded into the flex slots (stored in RAM) Or, recorder buffers (samples you have recorded, but not yet saved)
Recorder buffers are totally independant from flex machines or any other machines. They are always available to use, all of the time.
Any sample in a recorder buffer will be lost on power off, or changing projects. So to keep a sample in a recorder buffer you need to save it. To the compact flash drive. You can then assign it to a flex slot, or a static slot, or save it for later, totally up to you.
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