Thank you, this helped make sense.
Can you record all tracks at once (each to one buffer)?
I’d be doing this in order to use them as stems in Ableton.
Thanks again, you are helping me decide to try the OT again.
You’d be limited by the RAM. As mentioned above.
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I just did some tests recording the crossfader MIDI and printing the audio. Seems to be very simple.
I will probably setup an arrangement and play through it once while recording the OT MIDI output, which will be fed to the OT on subsequent passes.
Then I will set the arrangement to loop with one blank pattern at the end.
In my DAW, I will calculate where my mutes need to go, and I will drop automation on a MIDI track to mute and unmute OT tracks during the blank pattern.
Then I will press record and go get some tea.
Then I will come back 30 minutes later, and all my audio will be printed on separate tracks.
I can create a template project for this and just adjust the mute placement for each song.
Just in case there is any issue with capturing the audio right at the start, I can do an extra pass for the first track.
If I don’t mind waiting, then I don’t need to setup the mutes, and I can just do that manually by playing and recording the OT arrangement for each OT track.
Again, it seems very simple.
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I believe you can set up a separate cue mix.
If you want to make sure your performance is the same, then the mutes and solos will probably be recorded on that same MIDI track like I mentioned in my case.
Then, when you play it back, those exact mutes and solos should be sent to the OT.
Edit: Just tested recording mutes, and they seem to record fine. But, you need to make sure you send them back to the OT on the right channel. Seems totally feasible with the right tracks and routing in most DAWs.
Edit 2: More testing. Good news is unmutes (and solos) sent to OT from DAW do not seem to override the arranger’s mutes. So, the arrangement thing I said a couple posts above should work.
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Update: Adding my template file. I was reluctant to do that, because I still have not tried it for a real song; I have only used it for tests. OctatrackPrinterFollowActions.als (293.6 KB). I added one thing using a MIDI loopback, which causes the set to stop after the last pass. If you look at the MIDI mapping, you should see a note mapped to the stop button, and that note is being fired in the last clip on the MIDI loopback track. Also added a picture below.
This is insane. I have a test Ableton project setup, which seems to be working. It is as close to an automatic OT printer as I can imagine.
It’s almost like Overbridge for Octatrack. No Max4Live required.
It sounds like a lot of work, but you only need to set all this up one time.
I don’t have time to share it and polish yet, but the basic idea is this:
In OT:
- Setup an arrangement. Have it loop 8 times.
In Ableton:
- Setup 8 scenes.
- Setup 8 MIDI tracks, one for each OT channel.
- Group those tracks (you will see why below).
- On the first seven scenes of the group track, set follow actions to launch the next scene. The length of the follow actions should be set to the length of the master MIDI clip you will create below.
- On the eighth scene of the group track, set the follow action to stop.
- In each track, you have 8 MIDI clips with a length of 1/32 note.
- Each clip in each track solos and unsolos the respective OT track.
- On a 9th track, print your master MIDI clip, by performing your OT song with all the cross fades, etc. Copy that clip so that it exists 8 times, once for each scene.
- Adjust the length of the follow actions to match the master clip length.
- Arm an audio track.
- Launch the first scene. Walk away.
- Come back after 8 times the length of your song, and you will have an audio stem containing separate recordings of each OT track.
The cool thing is next time you want to print a different song, with a different length, all you need to do is print the master MIDI clip for that song, duplicate it as described above, and then adjust the length of the follow actions to match the master clip length.
In my testing, I am actually using nine scenes. I have the first one go twice, in case there are any MIDI jitters when launching the song.
I still do not really have a “shareable” version of this set yet, because I am still testing some things. But, it should be easy enough to setup.
If anyone tries this and figures out any other tips, then please share.
Also, IIRC, there is an official free/lite version of Ableton. I assume that means any OT owner can use this without having to buy a full license.
Limitations
- Manual mutes do NOT really work, because the solo overrides them; however, IIRC, arrangement mutes DO work. I explored some some ways around this, but it seemed to make things much more complicated, so I gave up. For me, it is not a big deal; I can just edit my stems in my DAW to have mutes wherever I need them.
- Ableton does not record received program changes, so you cannot record your OT pattern changes. Use the arranger for changing patterns.
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I have my MPC touch send clock and trans to the OT so I can record everything in sync track by track. Not the worst way. kinda fun too. Then once its in the touch I can arrange alot easier and add more effects/automation.
Have you had a look at Clyph X ?
http://beatwise.proboards.com/thread/2958/select-arm-next-track-command
Yes; thank you. ClyphX is incredible, and I have used it a lot. I highly recommend it.
However, I am trying to stay away from as much third party stuff as possible, because I want to keep my life simple. 
When I was younger, I would do all kinds of wild scripting, etc. Now, I’m getting old lol.
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Hey ya’ll, quick question here… I’m about to pull the trigger and buy a OT MKii and I’m still not sure how I would go about exporting tracks from the OT into my DAW (Ableton 9.5). I’ve searched and whatnot but have yet to find a simple answer.
Can I export tracks from the OT via CF/USB straight into my laptop (OSX) or do I need to invest in a audio interface and record in ableton one track at a time? I currently have an OP-1 and for that you’re able to export everything via USB. Does the OT function similarly?
How do you fellow Octatrackers go about it in your own workflow chains? Let me know! Thanks again.
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@NeverTeen This question has already received answers in the past, please take the time to do a little search on this forum…
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After an OT hiatus, I revisited this.
I made some edits to the above post:
Using follow actions, we no longer need MIDI loopback and fiddling with clips to launch the next scene.
If anyone tries this and figures out any other tips, then please share.
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I built a little mini DAW that exports audio and automation etc. from the Octatrack.
Didn’t seem to be much interest from cat’s though; so parked it for a bit. 
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Nice! Will check it out soon!
Release . When
?
The Ableton thing I have seems to be working well, except for the couple limitations I highlighted above.
If your thing could address those, then I, for one, FWIW, would be interested. 
It’s pretty much a DAW, so, yes / should do.
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Have you got a link to details that you shared about this? Sounds interesting.
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Something wicked this way comes
very, very old version; completely changed completely; can’t show anything newer for commercial reasons.
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