Draw whatever you like?
Like I said, that is a very, very old version / working PoC; since then, I basically developed a DAW instead; so it’s probably not all so relevant anymore?
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I’m intrigued!! Look forward to hearing more about it!
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I would buy this today if able. Recording is the main drawback with the Octa imho. If this was released it would change my whole setup and save lots and lots of time. Super interested Rusty!!!
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Like I said; that is a very, very old version; the whole thing has basically transmogrified into a DAW essentially; maybe I’ll pick it up again one day; but it is not near the top of my pipeline.
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Why Elektron don’t have you on payroll Rusty I’ll never know
When you’re ready to share more info I’m super interested . Keep on keeping on !!
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I went ahead and uploaded my template file to the OP quoted above. I was reluctant to do that, because I still have not tried it for a real song; I have only used it for tests.
But, someone in another thread says they are going to try this, so I wanted to give them and others a head start.
How do you have your midi configured for this project? Is the OT receiving clock/transport from Ableton, or vice versa? Also, when it comes to ‘print your master MIDI clip’, is Ableton receiving midi from the OT MIDI out? Thanks
Ableton is master clock, so OT receives clock and transport. In my experience, having Ableton as MIDI clock slave is a nightmare.
Yes, when printing the master clip, I have Ableton receiving from OT MIDI out on channel 1, which is the channel of the scenes and crossfader.
.
I’ve got a lot more interesting / exciting stuff to share 
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You can remotely work as a dev alongside the Swedish teams and are working on the OT3 but better replacement? GREAT.
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OK, so I’ve got the OT hooked up so that it’s receiving clock and transport from Ableton, and I can record the crossfader and scene MIDI data into the ‘OT MIDI IN’ track via MIDI channel 9 (Track 1 on my OT is set to 9, up to 16 on Track 8). What I can’t tell is how to get the OT to receive the MIDI data from the other MIDI tracks, as I can’t see where their MIDI output is set. I can see the MIDI output on the ‘SCENE LAUNCH’ track, but that doesn’t seem to do anything. Also, what is the purpose of the ‘MASTER MIDI’ track? Do I copy the clip from ‘OT MIDI IN’ into that track?
Sorry for my unfamiliarity with Ableton, and thanks for your help!
I do not work for, nor ever have, nor have any relationship or affiliation with Elektron.
Any software developed (OctaEdit, OctaZip, OctaBounce, MDEdit, etc.) has been developed completely independently; without any input, support or assistance from Elektron in any way, shape or form. Nothing I’ve developed is supported or endorsed by Elektron; nor is any intent made to seem otherwise.
The only relationship I have with Elektron is purely as a customer. Basically, I’m just another end user.
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In that sample project I attached, if you look at the device pane on those MIDI out tracks, you should see an External Instrument device. I use that, because Ableton latency compensates that device and the MIDI it sends. Alternatively, you could remove that device and send the MIDI directly out from the tracks. (If you do that, Ableton will change its drop down to allow you to make that change.) But, I recommend doing it the way I set it up, so that the MIDI being sent to OT is latency compensated.
Yes, copy your OT MIDI IN clip to the 8 slots of MASTER MIDI track. That way, all your crossfader and scene stuff will get repeated on each pass.
On the SCENE LAUNCH track, I am sending a MIDI note out to a loopback MIDI port. That note is mapped to Ableton’s stop button. You could skip that if you want, but you would have to manually hit stop. If you have a 5 minute song, then you would come back in 8x5 minutes and hit stop.
Hope this helps.
I’m cheering you on.
Apologies for the diplomatic boilerplate requirement, the jest was in the best of spirits and just world after the
“Why Elektron don’t have you on payroll Rusty I’ll never know”
comment 
just that your contributions are appreciated.
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I know. You know. Just making sure that I nip any potential rumours in the bud before they even get any traction.
Else everyone will think I’m all about the fika and chokladflarn (Spoiler: I am)
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IT WORKS!!
This is amazing. Thank you so much. I’ve run a short test, and managed to get a long audio clip with individual recordings for each track. I now understand all the logic within your template and I have to say it is extremely clever, and shows your knowledge of both Ableton and the OT.
I need to extend the template somewhat, as I’m using the OT’s MIDI tracks to control various external synths, which I direct monitor from A/B through the main output. This is tricky to do for the following reasons:
- Ableton does not allow control of MIDI CCs 120-127, which are the exact ones needed to control solo/unsolo of MIDI tracks. There is a workaround for this with a simple M4L effect, which I have tested and is working.
- The OT doesn’t allow any MIDI control of the direct monitor level, and soloing MIDI tracks happens in parallel with soloing audio tracks. This means there will always be at least one MIDI and one audio track playing at once, no matter what. The workaround for this is to sacrifice one audio track to use as a THRU track for all the external midi-controlled gear. That way, when I hit the this audio track, I can do 8 loops with it soloed, each time soloing a new MIDI track.
I’m going to set this all up today, as I’m off work, and I’m going to try and record a full track in this way, using all 8 audio tracks and at least 4 MIDI tracks. If I can get that working, I’ll also see if I can document the whole thing and share it in a state that it may be helpful to other people. I expect it will need some fine tuning and tweaks to reduce the amount of config needed for each use before I do that, though.
Again, thanks so much! I think this is actually going to work!!
Edit: I am also considering the possibility that this entire template could be somehow built in M4L. I’ve never used it before, but it looks like it can do a lot. I’m a web developer by trade, so I know my way around Javascript. That might be the way to package it up somewhat neatly.
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That is great to hear! A great start to my day.
One thought on the difficulties you are facing with the MIDI:
What if you just record all your MIDI parts from the OT, in the same pass you record the master MIDI part? Then, when you print, instead of the OT sending the MIDI, have those Ableton MIDI parts sequence the synths?
If you need to monitor those synths through the OT (e.g., if you are effecting them), then maybe you could add additional passes to print those separately?
Something like that: Now that you have your arms around the main concept, you could adapt it to your needs.
Keep us posted!
I would love to see any documentation you do. I think that would be helpful.
And, yeah, maybe M4L could make this better. I don’t have the will to dive in to M4L. I have plenty of other rabbit-hole distractions to deal with already lol.
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I think I’ve cracked it. Because I’m basically using the OT and the Virus together as a single device, and the Virus doesn’t have individual outputs for each of its parts either (it kind of does, via USB, but I won’t get into why that’s not viable), I’ve added an additional MIDI track and 8 extra passes to grab all the audio from the MIDI sequences via track 8 as a THRU.
Everything seems to be working perfectly at this point. I need to write a full arrangement for this tune, and then I’ll run the whole thing through the template and see if I have neat little stems at the end.
At the moment, each OT track is being recorded end-to-end in one long audio track in Ableton. I wonder if there’s a way to have Ableton record each scene individually.
Here’s a screenshot of the group, the way it looks now. All the MIDI track solo controls happen on the same MIDI channel, so I just have one MIDI track to handle all of them. Oddly, it seems to never successfully solo MIDI track 4. No idea why that happens - must be some kind of bug, or a parameter I’ve missed somewhere.
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Fantastic!
I wonder if there’s a way to have Ableton record each scene individually.
There is, but I gave up on that, because it makes things way more complicated.
When I was building this, I had two versions: one which is what we are using now, and the other which records each scene individually.
Ableton has a preference to automatically record clips on the launch of the scene.
But, IIRC, to make that work, we would need to switch from the follow actions to firing the scenes another way. I had that working; in fact, the name of that track “SCENE LAUNCH” is a holdover from that. The way it was working was the clips in the SCENE LAUNCH track would fire MIDI notes at the end of the clip, which caused the next scene to fire. In that set I sent you, the MIDI note mapping for that is probably still in there. The scenes were mapped to MIDI notes, which were sent from the SCENE LAUNCH track to the MIDI loopback port and then back to Ableton. As you have seen, I still use one clip from that to stop the set at the end.
The downside to that is that you would need to adjust the clip length of the scene launch clips to match the length of your master clip. And, for me, that was tedious. I would rather spend my time just setting the follow actions and then splitting the big long clip. I had simplified it a bit by using a pitch device with some automation to change the note value (instead of trying to make sure I don’t screw up the note value when adjusting the clip lengths).
I think I still have a version of that set. Let me know if you want it, and I can upload it tonight after work.
Good job getting this working, especially given that you are new to Ableton.
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I see what you’re saying, that definitely sounds unnecessarily laborious. I’ll stick with this method for now too, I reckon!
And thanks, it’s been a bit of a mind-bender, but you saved me the steepest part of the climb with that template, so I really appreciate it! Currently waiting for the arrangement I wrote today to finish bouncing through it, so will see what comes out the other end!
Cheers
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