For whatever reason, claiming the OT is a complex beast that is difficult to learn seems to have become a thing. I’ve been guilty of saying this as well. But is it really true?
I had never owned an Elektron machine before, but I was still able to get through the manual and make my first (crappy) track on the machine the same evening I received it. Sure, there were lots of features I simply ignored, and a year later I still have stuff to learn. But my point is that that is because it can do so much and have tons of creative uses, not because it is difficult to learn/use.
I think we might be scaring potential OT owners away by insisting this is the musical equivivalent of the enigma machine. I’d say your typical DAW is MUCH more difficult to learn than the OT, it is just that no-one boots up Cubase for the first time and expect to use every feature to its fullest at once. Yet this seems to be the case with the OT. Someone sees Dataline doing his insane magic on youtube and then expect to be able to do the same.
My view is this:
The OT is an easy to use midi step sequencer. If you already know how midi works, this part of the OT is very simple to understand.
Loading samples and sequencing them tracker style is also straight forward.
How to use effects and the concept of parameter locking them is simple to understand. It takes a while to get used to the effect parameters, but the general idea is easy to grasp.
I’ll admit sampling was confusing at first. But the manual explains things well, and there are loads of videos on this. Probably not the best place to start learning, though.
The concept of scenes and how to use them is simple to understand. Doing crazy stuff realtime takes experience and practice, though.
So, to end this far too long rant: Perhaps we should stop saying the OT is complex, but rather that it is a very feature rich machine, so just don’t try to learn it all at once and you’ll be fine.
I agree with you. It’s comparable to learning a DAW, it’s simply not just a normal hardware sampler or drum machine.
Ableton for example is even more feature rich. To dig deeper, this also requires a lot of time and effort…
Agree and disagree. It’s not that difficult to get going with it though it is daunting. But, to counter the OP’s points, setting up midi isn’t exactly straightforward and sample management is tedius at best (as examples of OT “difficulties” for a beginne")
It probably is fair to compare coming to the OT as similar to approaching a DAW for the first time but on reflection, I do think the learning curve of learning Sonar (my first DAW many years ago) was a lot more straightforward than approaching the OT.
I genuinely view learning the OT on a par with learning something like guitar. You can learn the basics of guitar quickly enough - anyone can play a shitty Oasis song in no time at all - but more complicated stuff takes time and effort. Same wtih the OT.
Much of what the OT can do can be done in the software world and I think it’s right to let people know that and to be honest around the learning curve. Feature rich? Yes! Difficult to learn? Definitely!
I’ve said a few times in the past but I do think a better, higher resolution display (OLED please) on the OT that would allow for a more intuitive UI experience would solve much of new comers woes.
The OT is extremely flexible, and naturally will feel complex due to the sheer amount of configurations that are possible across the 8 tracks / 8 midi tracks
getting a simple midi (or extremely complex) midi controller opens up a lot of possibilities. being able to gradually increase amp levels on multiple tracks without looking at the screen is very satisfying- especially when you have multiple boxes to tweak
Perhaps I can chime in. This is my first post here.
I bought my Octatrack a couple of days ago and have only had about 6-8 hrs or so working on it. I’m using it with the NI Maschine, Ableton Live and an OP-1.
I was prepared for a very steep learning curve, I actually read large chunks of the manual before I had the instrument. I’ve been stuck many times, but was able to figure out my problems quickly.
I think the key to remember is that the workflow is very different than on a DAW.
It does take an investment of focussed work to learn the basics.
I’m just on the cusp of that eureka moment when it all becomes clear and the workflow makes sense. I’m just starting to see the big picture.
It is hard, but not for long and the rewards are there.
And, the support available out there is amazing. There is an excellent community.
The OT is an expensive device so I think it isn’t a disservice to let prospective buyers know that it isn’t a “simple looping device”.
Complexity tends to come with features and flexibility in design and while the OT’s interface is an ok design but I’d hardly call it intuitive.
I’m just happy I already had banged on an A4 for a few months before the OT so I got at least the sequencer down.
Obviously the manual isn’t good enough when everybody immediately points to the non-official manual for newbies.
The manual explains a lot of “what” but little “why”. Why did they split up the concept of parts and patterns, what is the philosophy of the machine’s design from the designer’s point of view?
Possibly having some sort of ‘wizard’ available to create projects targeted for a set of typical use cases would have made learning the device easier?
Maybe a tutorial project could be provided where each bank is set up for a different kind of use case. This makes sense to me as each bank its own parts.
Maybe:
Bank A: Intro - simple 2-3 track song with some cool scenes and track 8 set up as master
Bank B: DJ - fading between songs, etc
Bank C: Basic Flex track sampling
Bank D; Playing with effects
Bank E: Pickup Machine - set up as a loop pedal
…
This is a cool idea. It already comes with that loopmasters project but I think something like this, coupled with an explanation in the manual, would really help new users get their head around the machine in those confusing first weeks.
Right, I forgot to say that there would be some kind of published e-book or website that had explanations and even exercises for each bank.[/quote]
I too think this is an excellent idea. My other interest is playing war board games, some of which have 100+ pages of dense rules. This, in turn, has made me think a lot about how to teach/learn effectively. What you are suggesting sounds very much like an OT version of what seems to work the best with game rules.
Welcome to the forum! I haven’t been around for long myself, but I like it here. Nice people, great music and lots of useful information.
Your description of the learning process sounds similar to what I remember experiencing myself.
Around 10 hours of messing about doing very basic stuff to get the big picture.
Then I had a fun but also slightly frustrating period of a month or two where I was able to create “proper” music with the OT, but with the manual close by. I did things in inefficient ways, sometimes “strange stuff” happened and sometimes I did serious mistakes that meant work was lost, etc.
After that, all the most useful shortcuts were internalized so that my hands could navigate the machine quickly without me thinking about it and my understanding of the machine was good enough to be able to do the things I wanted quickly without a lot of trial and error. At this point I fell in love with the machine.
MY opinion only - not dishing on anyone who loves the product.
As a musician and Octatrack owner I find the OT to be the most frustrating piece of gear I own. I’ve owned hardware sequencers going back to the akai ASQ-10 and MPC 60 rev 1… My studio has keyboards from different era’s and types such as a voyager and Jupiter 8, Oberheim Xpander, Virus TI2, Eventide Eclipse x 2, etc… The OT is beyond complex and honestly downright frustrating.
Products like Ableton are deep with endless possibilities but they CAN be used for simple tasks, avoiding rabbit holes of manual reading if you don’t want to go there. The OT is like offering a person a warehouse full of raw parts and telling him he has everything needed to build a Tesla automobile - when all he really wanted was to run to the grocery store for a bottle of juice.
These are just my personal opinions but the OT severely hampers creativity by throwing the kitchen sink at you with a tiny low res display of truncated words and symbols - and far too many features. Even the simplest tasks require diving deep into 5 layer sub-menu’s.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that music coming from the OT has a sonic fingerprint to it. You can listen to any number of songs designed with the OT and say “That came from an OT”. For right or wrong, it’s just the case. It stifles creativity with it’s vast possibilities and stumbling procedures.
No offense to those who love it but it doesn’t work the way my brain and studio workflow does. Mine lives in a drawer.
Maybe an exaggeration but whenever I fire up the OT, within 30 minutes I feel like selling everything I own that requires AC Power and buying an acoustic guitar.
I really like my OT. I think the missing part is a good practices for selected usage.
For example you use it differently if you want to make a track then if you have a ton of material to play live.
What are a best practices to use sample slot lists, flex vs static etc.
Something like a complete project templates for different tasks and music genres + more videos.
The Elektron’s howto/workflow videos are a good start, but almost nobody shows how he/she actually use it.
It’s sounds like you’d be better off to sell your OT. It’s definitely not for everybody. I got mine to build a Tesla, been drinking juice for awhile… Of course I prefer space bananas…
I’ve had about 12 hours on the OT now and have a pretty good grip on most of it. There are things I haven’t really gotten in to yet (arranger, looper mode, etc) but everything makes sense now, I and I can get steer the OT where I want it to go enough for it be fun to use.
I think anyone that can route their interface inputs/outputs & arm and disarm recording on tracks within a Daw etc and has basic understanding of midi and step sequencing will have no problem learning OT.
I think the wall that people hit initially is possibly just a case of OT occupying a grey area between computer and sampler. It took me a while for it to become it’s own thing in my head. It’s pretty unique in that it feels/looks familiar like a sampler/sequencer, but it thinks very much like a Daw. With routing etc and a ton of options. Took me a while before upon switching it on I didn’t expect it to feel like using my sp555. And took me a while before I didn’t expect it to feel like ableton/daw etc. It’s (mostly) the best of both. But in a unique Form that also has some hindrances (small screen etc).
I understand why people bitch about the learning curve, it does take some adjustment in thinking before it clicks, but I fail to see why anyone would bitch about it being difficult overall. It’s just a case of adapting to it. It does way more than any sampler I’ve ever used or read about, so of course it takes a little extra learning compared to other hardware. But it isn’t as confusing as learning something like ableton inside out…
And yeah I agree, the people on this forum have been great, helped me out a lot with teething/mental blocks/advice.
Personally I see the OT as feature-rich. I had an electribe ESX before this and, while I enjoyed it at first, I quickly became frustrated with it’s limitations. So the OT turned out to be a similar but much more powerful tool for me. Really it’s the best piece of gear I have ever purchased; I make at least one song per week now.
Sure, at first I was a bit overwhelmed by everything I needed to learn before I could make a full song, but I just focused and learned one function at a time. Now the process of making a song is rather direct and intuitive for me, even compared to Reason (which I have been using for years). Reason isn’t difficult for me, but somehow constantly using the mouse to get everything done is annoying and slows me down.
Still, I can understand that not everyone experiences it this way. That is one thing I really love about electronic music compared to being in an orchestra: people are free to explore without a map and find a way of working that is unique to them instead of having everything dictated by authority/tradition. If working with 500 pieces of modular gear, 3000 cables, and a modified Teddy Ruxpin is best for you, nobody can really tell you it is wrong.
