The best way to connect Octatrack, Digitone and MPC Live

Hi i’m a happy owner of Octatrack, Digitone and MPC Live.

The way i do my stuffz, i would like the MPC Live is the brain of my setup.

I’ve tried somme connection’s

Audio Connection
MPC Live into Octatrack input A/B
Digitone into Octatrack input C/D
Octatrack main output to Pioneer RMX1000

The MPC Live for drums and percussive sounds
The Digitone for the melodic sounds
The Octatrack as a mixer, extra loop, long samples
The Pioneer RMX1000 as FX processor for the MPC Live Main output or the Octatrack main output.

Extra hardware (not fundamental): Roland SP 404SX as FX processor, extra loop or long samples player

Midi connection
I would do this connection (as i would the MPC Live as a boss) but have some problems with it
MPC Live (midi out 1) send midi clock to Octatrack (midi in)
MPC Live (midi out 2) send midi clock to Digitone (midi in)

for now the connection that work is
Octatrack (midi out) > Digitone (midi in)
Digitone (midi out) > MPC Live (midi In)

Thanks in advance for your help

Digitone out to OT in, OT out to MPC in, MPC out to OT in.

Process the DN with the OT, sample it if you want to mangle it with the OT or sample for arrangement with the MPC.

Make stuff on the MPC that you can sample with the OT for mangling.

Take mangling from the OT and sample in the MPC for arrangement.

Easy-Peasy!

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Thanks for tour idea Ryan. And for the midi how wold you connect them?

OT > DN > MPC

Maybe get a merger so you can run the MPC back into the Elektrons

Just make sure that only the MPC sends clock/prog and the Elektrons only send them

OT plockable Arp would be a powerful addition, DNs harmony sequencing could be cool- ultimately you’ll want to send that into the MPC and I suppose you’ll want to send it back to the Elektrons

Either that or:

DN in MPC MPC to OT

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You already opened another post with the same MIDI questions?
Please don’t open multiple threads discussing the same question.

I already answered about the clcoks in your other thread, so will only discuss general usage in this one.

First off, when I read through your list, I cannot help but wonder if you really need that Pio RMX effect for anything? If your gear is already connected to the OT, you can do some pretty crazy effecting with the OT directly.

How were you thinking of populating the OT tracks?

When you say ”I want the MPC live to be the brain of my setup” do you mean that you want to do all your sequencing of OT & DN from the MPC as well? Because this would have both advantages (128 MIDI tracks, up to 999 bar pattern lenghts, linear MIDI CC automation, true polyphonic sequencing) and disadvantages (no conditrigs, no soundlocks, no plocks)…

There are many ways to connect these theee boxes together… We need to know how you want to use them in order to advise on the best procedures.

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if the OT is slaved to external clock, sometimes a captured loop reads 129.95bpm or 130.04bpm if the incoming tempo is 130bpm.

this means a slight glitch in the tempo was detectable enough for the OT to declare the slight difference of about 0.05 of one bpm.

if this happens i believe it is better to recapture the audio loop.

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The other post is only because the mpc live send’s te midi clock at double bpm. This one is to try to find the best way to connect all the machines.

I’ve the Pioneer RMX way before the Mpc, OT and DN and i like some of is Efx’s. When i had only the Mpc, i used to connected it to Pio RMX and have some fun. Maybe i’ll keep putting it this way even all this gear.

A

I sayd about the Mpc as the brain off my setup because i understand it better than the OT, my stuffs is not based on sampling and i have a lot of perc on my stuffs too. I like the 999 bar pattern lenghts limit on mpc and the possibility to use i the same track a lot of elements… i know i can do it too on the OT in a different way.
I use to do my songs on Ableton and i had a lot of projects on Logic and FL Studio. Now i try to use and focus mainly on the Mpc Software and learn it very well that in a future i will no net another software to do my underground songs. I now is a immature software but i can do some on in ad transfer the projects to mpc and jam. If one day i have a chance to change my dj sets only with the songs created, remixed or revisited by me, it will be cool!

The gear i have, is more than the minimum requirement to what i want to do

this is what works for me: OT MiDi Out > DN MiDi In - DN MiDi Out > MPC Midi In

hmm which MPC live OS you running? 2.2?

Here’s my MPC live settings which send working sync to my elektrons

That certainly makes sense! I’m just thinking about if there’s other stuff you wanted to send midi from the MPC to(VSTs or whatnot) that p-lockable arp for midi would be useful.

But that set up would definitely work.

The issue is- if you wanted to turn your Digitakt patterns into something a little bit less “loopy” then you’ll want to use the Digitakt to send midi into the MPC and then edit the midi in the MPC and then send the midi back to the DN from the MPC

and the Akai realeased new software and firmware updates v2.2.1

dont’t have the Digitakt mate… maybe i don’t need one :cowboy_hat_face:

Sorry Digitone*

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There’s something almost as good you can do when you ”overlay” MIDI data to the DN pattns with the MPC MIDI seq :diddly: Didn’t realize how simply this can be done too!

Now I can loop a 64long pattn on the DN and overlay 999 bars of extra MIDI on top with the MPC :loopy:

I’ve never heard of “midi overlaying”. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Im talking about sequencing the DN internally as well as externally, both at the same time.

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OH! That would be cool!

Certainly an improvement from how the A4 sequencer handles incoming midi

This is making me realize its now easy to ”compose”as intricate tracks as I want, while still keeping the ”essence” of the parts within the various (elektron) instruments. Suddenly it all just clicked for me :fire:

Now, all I need is a qu-pac… muahahaha

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Are you referring to using the MPC to sequence pattern changes on the DN?

well, that it can do as well if needed, but just mainly making all the machines come together under one clock and ”song mode” so to speak.

Each seq on the MPC can have pgm chnges for all the MIDI tracks, so that eill take care of any pattn change recalls. Not sure how gracefully the pattns will change during a NEXT SEQ operation though, remains to be seen.But even a static nonlinear pattn recall across all my elektrons will help alot, so I can break free from the ”use same pattn numbers across all boxes” dilemma.

Oh man, I bet you could do the same with just about any proper MIDI sequencer too!

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