Yeah mk2 is much nicer to use, last few updates have been awesome too.
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seriously getting carpal tunnel in my left hand from my ring finger constantly on the function button while my pointer finger does gold medal gymnastics floor routines between the midi/part button and the bank/edit button.
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Ditto on MK2!
Following on from my earlier comments about the OT, I’ve replaced it with an MPC Live 2… 
I had my first test-run set up with it last night to see how intuitive it is, and, for what I’ve been looking to do, it seems like it’ll be ideal.
I’m not discounting using the OT in the future, or as part of another dedicated rig, but for this set up right now (which is geared towards composition), it wasn’t doing it for me.
Having the A4 tracks, the Rytm and the Peak laid out as MPC tracks was cool to work to.
Early days, but so far so good.
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I’d be really interested in seeing how you set up the OT for this
As in depth as you’d care to share 
don’t give up keep jamming
my all time fav how to tips & tricks
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This is great, thanks. 
I wanted to sell it once. Then I wanted to test it before I sell it. While doing so I got lost. I hated it sometimes but I discovered lots of things while running against the walls again and again. I didn’t sell it. I still definitely don’t love it - because it keeps frustrating me, denies me doing basic things easily. But I love the output. Maybe it’s a part of it.
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I have two main setups.
Setup 1 is where I’m prepping tracks for a live show.
What I’ll do is either create several “scenes” from scratch custom for the set or take tracks I’ve already written. Then using DAW on a computer, I condense everything down into it’s essential parts, and try to convert the song into short loops suitable for the format of the Octatrack.
For example, if there is long vocals, I’d prefer some short sections. In this stage I try to think about the project limits on the Octatrack. Like converting files like bassline to mono instead of making everything stereo to save space. I plan out and put into folders what’s going to be one shots or loops or what I’m going to need to slice. Since there is a flex pool limit on a set you can’t just dump stems into your project. You need to plan what needs to be sliced for performance purposes. If you aren’t going to use the slices to perform somehow, then just pre-slice and prepare the audio in DAW.
Once I’ve got a folder for each song with some nice, brief loops and sounds, it all just dumps in premixed without me having to faff about wasting FX slots on things like EQ or reverb. Set up the trigs from left to right how I want to progress through my song, so I don’t get confused with muting and unmuting tracks.
Each bank is a track. Once all of the patterns and trigs are in, I go back through and assign scenes to every bank, so I can have several easy things to do with the crossfader. The last thing I want to do during perform is getting lost and mired in the confusing user interface, so it’s important to have the crossfader set up for every track, that way all I have to do is advance patterns manually and select scenes.
From this point, everything is in and I could perform like that. With this system, it also leaves the opportunity to include one add-on device. If I wanted a live synth for example, I could just go through and mute the bass track on each bank and instead make MIDI for an analog synth. Or, even easier I can just use the cue out to input loop and use Strymon/Guitar pedals to have instant ways to mess with the beat, not having to program anything at all.
Setup 2 is where I’m using Octatrack as a mixer and a live kind of “Stutter” effect.
For this setup I have two devices plugged in. Say a Digitakt and TB3 for example. Both routed to inputs on the OT. What I do then is make sure MIDI pattern change is off for the OT, this way I can change patterns on DT without the pattern moving on the OT.
The first OT pattern has a recording trig recording the mixer inputs on loop, and the second pattern is a blank pattern that removes the recording trig, and instead mutes the input audio and instead plays back the recording. This way you can seamlessly switch between the live input and the recorded input. You can also set it up where the crossfader crossfades between live input and recorded input. For the rest of the patterns, I can just lay down and mess with a bunch of trigs to do different Octatrack to the recorded loop.
This way, you can take a snapshot of any point you’re at with your set, and do stuff with it while switching it up at the source. For example, you could make a big buildup pattern with the trigs, and while that’s playing switch Digitakt pattern to the drop without hearing it. When you move crossfader back or hit back to that 1st pattern the live inputs unmute and it goes back to recording trig on loop.
You can also do lots of other things. Like how the TR-8 has scatter mode. Using this method you can make your own sort of custom retriggers. Utilize all of the OT FX and stuff to do weird things while the recorded snippet is running.
With this setup, after you make all of the patterns, you can basically just slap OT over anything you want and not have to set anything up. Just plug to inputs and use the patterns and crossfader to make FX happen over any sounds.
Again I find it very important for myself to set every peice of gear up to be able to simply do it’s thing and make it scalable. Because big ass dawless setups like at home are a nightmare to tear down and re-set up. With all sorts of convoluted custom MIDI routings and things going on with too many devices. It gets confusing to re-set everything up and try to remember what knob to use when etc. Audience doesn’t give a shit how technical you’re being, they just see you up there and hear the output. Which is why prepare everything that doesn’t need to be modified directly for performance in DAW.
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all his videos are ace cycle those and the old Elektron tutorials are thee best for basic grip take your time & finish each one
you will def love the OT after
That’s incredible, thank you!
You should do a video. I think setup 2 sounds really great, do that one first. 
I just sold my 3rd OT…this time after only a few weeks. Wanted to really learn it and spend months with it and finally get to understand it but Modular bug took over and needed some modules…maybe once I’m done with modular…who knows.
I have the OT for a few week now, well probably a few months but slowly learning it. I think it goes in different stage, but for me it’s not a ‘creative’ tool like my other synth. It’s the glue in between all my setup, it kind of becomes invisible when it’s used properly, and it’s nothing like the Digitak (which I had a lot of creative fun with). It’s a strange beast and very powerful, creating lfo on a midi channel for a synth for example, automating midi to my looper pedal, playing a long background track fading in and out, routing my synth to the cue for a my effect pedal to pick it up and feed in back in the C D in… all these stuff, yet I don’t ‘hear’ the OT working, it’s just there doing it’s work.
So I understand what you mean, but I feel you might not be looking at the OT in the right angle. You might actually not need the OT depending the setup you have.
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I’ll be accepting delivery of my first OT (MK2) in a few days, hoping to avoid letting it become an inspiration roadblock like OP is dealing with. The only other Elektron box I own or have ever used is MD Mk2, going on a year into it — so moving up to OT will be like jumping in the deep end for me.
I think I might be an ideal target for it though, as I love going in without any plan or direction and just experimenting, letting the inspiration naturally build from happy accidents. MD has been excellent for that, though I usually need to supplement it with other instruments for melodic parts (Drambo + various softsynths, or Deluge w/ DM12, Neutron and MS-1 …
It’s probably going to take considerable time and focused dedication to get out of OT what I’m looking for, but hearing how artists like Alessandro Cortini have approached OT and A4 has had me dreaming of owning those two for quite a few years now.
I bought my Octatrack about ten years ago and used it in many different ways, for example as a sample player or mixer. But I was never really happy with it because Ableton gives me more possibilities and a better workflow. But recently I started using it without any other equipment, just the Octatrack and a few samples. I have now learned a few important things for me:
- Don’t try to make normal music with it.
- Use the main outs because the headphone outputs do not sound really good.
- Use only one or two sounds and mangle them beyond recognition.
Assign the fader to sample start and scan through the sample. Turn up retrigs and add lfo’s and fx. Then you’re in drone and glitch heaven. I love my Octatrack.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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HA! I’ve had one for years and I STILL have no idea what I actually want to do with it!
The way you set up your 1st set sounds exactly how I should go about doing my set. It seemed “cheating” to me to prepare everything so much on the computer first, but it really makes sense. Damn. Guess I have more work to do!
Congrats!
Honestly, for me, I just had the OT blocking me because of the task I was giving it.
I’ve used it in other ways and really enjoyed it, and got inspiration from it… but for me, it’s not a central sequencer controlling external synths (yet).
I approach things like this too… and I don’t feel the OT is that ‘sit down and see what happens’ machine without a lot of work beforehand.
Give me my Analog Rytm or Analog Four, and 30 mins, and I’ll play you a track/jam pretty much every time… I’d love to get to that point with the Octatrack too, and hopefully will at some point.
Obviously this is all very much personal perspective/approach… but for me to be productive I have to think in terms of a ‘musical project’ that has a specific equipment rig/set up that suits.
I’m sure I will eventually get to the music project that will utilise the OT and it’ll then become my friend.
It isn’t cheating. It’s just like… saving all of the bland studio work like adding ( actually good ) reverbs and eqs and mixing to prepare your loops, so that you can load it into the Octatrack and let the Octatrack do what it does best! Which is mess with the sounds. Recording in and editing the waves on OT itself is just busywork. Though I will do that if I’m jamming and it’s something very simple like recording in a vocal sample of myself or a riff or pad or something.
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I feel that. I also see how it’ll make things sound much better and be much more fluid. My current rig seems to be the OT/DT and an iPad, so having less to focus on in terms of mix and FX would be great!