Transitioning from the SP-555

So I’m transitioning to the Octotrack form the Roland Sp-555 series. There’s a few simple things I’d like to do with the Octo that I used to do with the sp555 that I can’t figure out how.

Is there a way to play a one-shot and/or looped sound so it has a “gate”? What I mean by this is to press the trig button to play the sample and then press it again to stop the sample… it’s stopping the sample that I’m having trouble with. The only way I can figure out how to do it is by pressing the stop button but that stops all samples and it stops them abruptly.

Also is there any panning or at least panning fx on the Octotrack? I can’t seem to find anything.

Thanks.

Track + Stop will stop a particular track
There is panning per track > BAL on AMP page
There is panning FX > e.g. X on Delay Pg2 enables Ping Pong

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Press the track button (next to the screen) and the play button at the same time. It will play the track assigned sample and stop as soon as you release play.

Awesome thanks guys.

Since you guys are awesome at giving quick and easy answers I have a few more questions:

  1. How do I change a sample from a loop to a one-shot?

  2. Is there a way to snap a sample out of time-sync mode (I want the sample to play as it is originally vs. synced into the tempo)?

Thanks!

Both are under the setup page for the first screen. Double-tap the first button. (Playback) and change the upper left value from auto to no.

The time stretch is the bottom left one IIRC.

I can stop the sample by hitting the track button + the stop button. But my sample stops suddenly… is there any way to apply the amp envelope to get some release on the sample so it will gradually fade out when stopped?

Anyone?

I think if you want to do that you have to either convert the trigs on the track so that they are one-shots (which you can do on the fly) or use the volume knob.

I’ll look into it thanks clever.

Ha, over a year between post and reply, you get even less free time for OT than I do :wink:

I know right?! It’s crazy how time flies. And I haven’t even recorded the tracks I made last year yet!

I’ve still been working on a lot of music but mostly a folk project of mine which I’m not using the OT for.

I know right?! It’s crazy how time flies. And I haven’t even recorded the tracks I made last year yet!

I’ve still been working on a lot of music but mostly a folk project of mine which I’m not using the OT for.[/quote]
I know what you mean… I bought OT while being 90% finished on an album so there’s kind of a tug of war here between finishing that up and working on new things involving OT. Total mess to be honest :frowning: can’t wait to be able to focus on just ONE thing!

Go into the Amp page and turn the Release (top right) to minimum. Now when you trigger the sample by pressing a button (with the trig mode in slice, track, slot, chromatic, whatever), it’ll be gated by your button press. Assuming the sample is looping (which you would turn on in the audio editor or the second page of the Play page), it’ll play until you let go.
Pan is also in the Amp page. You can point an LFO at it if you want it to automatically pan around.

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Awakening this old crusty thread! I am on the MK2 now and loving it! I still haven’t used the Octatrack for this type of functionality but would love to find a way.

speak_onion, turning down the release in amp mode got this just a little more closer to how I would like it to function. Now I can hold down a button and have it play a loop which is really useful!

To get to the next level though, I would love to be able to press the trig button and let the loop play while I do other things and then have the loop turn off when I press it again. This would be the same functionality as playing back a loop with the SP-555. If anyone has advice on how I could do that it would be rad.

Thanks for all your help so far!!!

You can use Track+Stop / Track+Play (same as 9-16 trigs), loop on. Samples can be quantized (pattern length or number of steps).

Or Plays Free Tracks with ONE2 mode Loop off, with sample length corresponding to Plays Free track length, or use several slices (most efficient for extreme mangling).

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