Trying to decide if the OT is right for me

I’m still on the fence about an OT. There’s a big part of me that says go for it, but the other part is kind of still questioning it. I currently have a Monomachine and Machinedrum. With the little bit we know about the DigiTakt, I’m wondering what the conditional trigs thing is and if it might come to the OT in an update.

  1. I want polymetric and polyrhythmic sequencing - OT seems to do a pretty good job with this. While I’d like more than 4 bars at a time, I could work around that. Has anyone used a Squarp Pyramid? I know I can always eventually get a dedicated, but for now, I just want something more flexible and dynamic than the MD and MnM.

  2. I’m interested in maybe taking parts of my tracks from FLStudio, exporting them as WAV files, and then mangling them in the OT before dropping them back into FL.

  3. Maybe some on the go sampling/resampling.

  4. Wavetable synthesis. I already have a MnM and MD, but I’d love to be able to do some single-cycle waveform stuff. I’ve seen some videos, but no one shows the wavs being played chromatically. It seems they’re just Plocking the pitch knob. I’d rather be able to play the notes with my external midi keyboard or the step sequence buttons. Is that possible? Would I be able to play slices chromatically if I had one of Adventure Kids long 64 wav tracks that I’ve seen in some videos? Will I only be able to play an octave down and an octave up (24 notes)?

  5. Obviously, all Elektron machines have a learning curve. How is the OT if I’m already familiar with the MD and MnM? I do dig the MnM and MD workflow.

  6. It seems like I could use the cue and master outputs and A/B inputs to run sounds out to external FX, process them, and then resample them. Correct?

  7. Can I layer samples on one track with the OT? I’d love to layer a couple kicks or instruments on one track. Would I need to assign them to different tracks and then resample them to one?

  8. Does anyone find the 8 audio tracks limiting?

  9. Besides all notes in the MIDI SEQ being the same length and velocity, are there any other limitations that I should be aware of? Currently, I use my MnM to sequence gear when not using my DAW.

  10. Lastly, I know there is an arpeggiator on the MIDI tracks, but is there one on the audio tracks?

Thanks to everyone in advance for the feedback!

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I will try to answer your many questions soon, but is there any chance that you could try reading the OT manual or reading some other topics here on the forum, where all these questions have been repeatedly answered before?

I read the manual last night and have watched a ton of videos. I only posted this after doing both of those things for about a week or 2.

Zero. Conditional trigs can be read about in the AF and AR manuals, or watch the Elektron videos. This feature will never come to the OT.

Gotcha. I’ll check those manuals.

  1. OT and DT will do polymetric but not polyrhythmic sequencing. See OT manual pp 93-95. Pyramid does both.
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Two. Resampling and exporting will work within the RAM limit (85 MB) of the OT.

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Three. Yes.

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Four. The OT does not do Waldorf-style Wavetable synthesis, but it can play back single-cycle waveforms. You can use MIDI notes (see manual page C-1) or p-locks to transpose +/- 12 semitones.

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Five. The OT will be very familiar to you if you can use the MD and MM. It’s a mixture of the two, with extra features for sampling.

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For #4, is MIDI notes the same as chromatic mode? That’s where I got confused in the manual.

Six. Effects: yes - see the setup example in the manual (pp 122-123).

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That one I did gather from the manual. Just wanted to make sure I was reading it right.

Seven. No. Only one sample per step per track.

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Nine. The OT sequencer is rather like the MM MIDI sequencer, with added microtiming and separate track lengths, but without Program Change per step. CC messages are sent after the Note message on the same step.

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Ten. No, but you can always connect MIDI Out to MIDI In as a workaround.

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Eight. Some people do, some people don’t find 8 audio tracks to be limiting.

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That’s a great idea. I was thinking about that. Could I do the MIDI routing without something in-between (like MIDIOX/YOKE on the computer, for example)

It’s not the same thing, but the limitations are effectively the same.

Gotcha. I’ll have to try and look at it more.