How many? 
I thought about having 2 OTs, but I’d use both.
If I had more, I’d try to use them all. They are very jealous. At least I’d have one in the toilets for instance. Right now I’d need another one because she’s plugged downstairs…
Well I’m still sure that OT is my favorite machine, it could be my only one, but I’m not sure how I’d use 2 OTs together. I’d probably loose the little time I have to experiment all crazy possibilities untill I die.
The thing about the OT is that people buy them, realize starting from a blank slate is too much, so they sell them. So, there are prolly thousands of them in limbo at all times waiting for that one person to come along and take the time to get to know them. And Elektron is still making them, keeping this process going.
Oh, it will probably take me years or a brain transplant to get to the level where I can handle playing more than one. I was purely thinking backup. But you are right. The machines will probably not allow me to keep them boxed up.
I suspect that they would start haunting me after a while.
One person I know just recognized me he’s currently trying the OT a third time and this time clicked at last. I’m on my second one (it arrives today) after killing myself of blank page syndrom with it and selling it in anger a year ago.
Funny enough, all this time without one I have not stopped thinking “oh, OT could have been a gem in this situation or to get this arrengement or sound design right…”.
I think you cannot go to an OT with a weak attitude or trying to master it all at once. Maybe it’s a good idea to devote one year or many months exclusively to it (trying to finish track after track without any other gear) to maintain the focus it requires, although this applies to any gear and, for instance, Autechre have always been proponent of this approach (focus on finding out what this specific and conventional piece of equipment can really do taking it to the extremes using it for extended periods of time)
I would love to get a second mk. 1 octatrack, just as a spare.
I just set it up so that I have a single mono signal coming in (feedback chain), that gets routed thru four different effects chains and then goes out to my interface. Cue outs are so awesome.
A: Clean signal
B: Clean signal thru Sherman FB2
C & D: Clean signal routed thru cue outs to Analog Heat & Quadraverb.
For me, the most important thing I learned about the OT is that I have to go in with kind of clear goal of how I want to use it. For example, I am now focusing on using it as a live mixing/remix machine. Both for OT only stuff or for mangling the hell out of the DT and DN utilizing the template by @mpiecora (EZBOT).
I also learned that I should not go in with a clear goal regarding the outcome of that process. I love playing with the crossfader and creating utter randomness and then using that to build on further.
This is the bit I need to work on. I never know what to do with the random bits I’ve created. I need a workflow for that stuff…
That’s a good question. As I am usually not really concerned with building full tracks, but I rather enjoy simple jamming I tend to do different things depending on where the machine wants to take me. Most of it concerns saving the random loop as a sample, slicing it up again, random locks, resampling etc.
Couldn’t you use a standard mixer for this?
Yeah, but with the OT I have the crossfader to fade channels in and out (or move the stereo image around) as well as the onboard FX per channel, and the LFO’s as well as the ability to play pre-recorded samples on the four free tracks if I want to. I would love to get a performance mixer with more inputs and outputs tho, basically OT but without the sampling but alas such a thing does not exist.
So I bought an OT a week ago. Haven’t yet dived in as I’ve been tearing my hair out working out how to advance my new DFAM with digitone / Digitakt trigs through a cv.ocd.
(If anyone’s interested I was caught out by not having trigs set to int + ext in the DT midi settings)
Now that’s sorted (and giving me hours of joy already) I’m about to dive into the OT manual. But I thought I’d also see if the hive mind could point me in the direction of some fun things to try.
So I’ve got the dfam going into the DT input and the DT into OT a+b. Then the mother 32 going into the DN input and DN going into OT c+d
I assume first thing would be setting up thru machines and record trigs on 2 tracks and recording the loops / using scenes to change the track effects, but what other techniques do people recommend? Also on the midi side I’m thinking the mother should be sequenced by the OT so I can use the OT arp. Does this sound sensible?
Thanks in advance.
Thru tracks do not need/have record trigs, they just need a regular playback trig to kick the amp into gear. Their point is to listen to the inputs and allow you to apply FX, scenes, etc. But, yes, they’re dead simple and a good way to get going with the OT. For recording and instant playback, you’ll probably want to use Flex or Pickup machines (other options available) – I would suggest using the former when you’re done with Thru tracks and want to dive in deeper. And, yes, OT midi out to M32 midi in sounds like another good place to start.
A tip for learning the OT is to learn one part of it at a time, so as to not get too overwhelmed. For example, today, I’m going to use a Flex track to record a perfect 16-step loop and have it play back in real time. Then learn how to edit that loop, save it, and so on. Once mastered, learn another trick.
Appreciate the response mate. So is there a way to record in and immediately start chopping up and mangling a loop? I guess you’d need to have a slices template set up and scenes already programmed in?
There is, but I would suggest taking things slower than all of that. Have the manual in front of you and learn all about Flex tracks first – they’re the main mangling tool. Once you’ve got the recording side of things down – and you will have moments of why can’t I hear anything or where has my loop gone, I promise you 
– then you can start combining the things you’ve learned and going down the rabbit hole. I must admit that I often think in my free time about ‘what if I did this and this and this’. Amazing box of tricks.
Edit: see clarifications below
God bless you
I love these threads (when someone first gets an OT) because it’s like a review session. Reminds me how powerful the OT is and makes me focus on it again. I have so much craziness going on in my life right now, it’s good to just stop and focus on something else for a few hours. Kind of like meditation.
Feel like It’s come at a good time for me. The DFAM is so immediate and haptic it’s giving me real impetus to sample the sounds and play with them
Exactly! After reading this threat, I dug up my OT from the closet, and put it on my desk and reconnected it to my studio, so I can watch YouTube stuff while figuring out how to integrate it. I got pretty far with Merlin’s manual and the regular manual when I first bought it earlier this year before putting it aside for the past few months, so I am hoping the second time around it isn’t so weird and overwhelming.
I’ve had my OT for probably 3 years. I’m definitely one of those people who provided lots of comedy for experienced users. Basically posting stuff like “I think my unit is faulty!” And so forth. I was just so excited by all the possibilities that I tried every trick I could think of on the first session and it was a total mess. It wasn’t so much that it’s super hard to learn, it was that I was making it harder then it needed to be by diving in too deep before learning the basics. Slow and steady learning in small chunks is the fastest way to get to the heart of the OT, I think. The first two weeks I had the OT I just wanted to throw it in the trash and get on with my life. Not long after that it became my favorite piece of hardware by a mile. If I could only keep one piece of hardware, i would choose the OT without blinking
Nope 
. You can use track recorders from any track, whatever the machine is. You need Flex or Pickups* for RAM playback, or Static once samples are saved to the compact flash card.
*Pickups are particular because their recorders are linked to playback, no trigs.