I did a few searches and so far have had no luck finding any info on the matter of changing patterns of external hardware from the octatrack. Our old brain is an electribe emx. We’re hoping to use it as a drum machine and let the octatrack sequence everything as well as do extra percussion. I can’t find any info on how to do something like this. Can anyone help me out? Loving the ot so far. A bit intimidating at first but is pretty intuitive after the first hurdle.
I don’t have my gear in front of me, but in general you will need to send the correct MIDI Program Change message from the OT to the EMX. Check the EMX manual for the message you need, then look in the OT manual’s section on the MIDI sequencer for how to send PC messages.
You also will need to set the EMX to receive MIDI messages on a specific channel, and then make sure the OT MIDI track you’re using is sending on the same channel.
Sorry I can’t be more specific at the moment, but I’ve made the EMX change patterns with a foot controller so it can be done. Try the manuals for now and if you can’t figure it out post again.
Thanks, I’ve been looking it up and it seems like it’s an MSB LSB type thing which means some kinda finagling would be needed. I was able to get the OT to send program changes to a Bass Station 2 but couldn’t get the right combo for the Electribe. :S
I’m looking for a way to assign the program change message to each of the 16 patterns of the Octatrack. My intention is to change the patterns on my EMX and ESX every time I change the pattern on the Octatrack. In other words: When I switch from pattern A01 to A02 in the Octatrack I want it to automatically change the EMX and ESX from A.01 to A.02
hey, im trying to have for example pattern A01 on the emx when im playing bank 1 pattern 1 on OT then a 03 on the emx when im on pattern 3 of the OT.
ive tried figguring out what message needs to be sent but i really cant understand the information on the midi implimentation sheet of the emx.
OK. The OT and the EMX use MIDI Program Change messages for this purpose. The general principle is described in section 8.7.2 of the OT manual and on page 82 of the EMX manual.
You will need to do the following:
Connections:
Connect the MIDI Out port of the OT to the MIDI In port of the EMX using a working MIDI cable.
OT Project settings:
In the PROJECT > MIDI > SYNC menu, check PROG CH SEND and set the PROG CH SEND CHANNEL number to, for example, 1.
EMX settings:
In the MIDI mode, set the MIDI channel number for synth part 1 to be the same as the channel number you set on the OT, for example 1. This is described on page 79 of the manual.
In the MIDI Utility mode, on the “Filter” page, make sure that the “P” character on the top line has an “O” character underneath. This is described on page 80 of the manual.
Now when you change patterns on the OT, the EMX should change pattern accordingly. Try this out and let us know whether it works.
I’ll add bank messages are required to change Emx-1 banks.
OT sends bank messages when you switch between banks A-H and I-P, not sure it suits EMX needs.
wow okay so this is a nice leap forward… but im trying to be able to select pattern 1,2,3 (emx) for patterns 1,2,3,4 (OT) and not like every pattern chains to the next one… trying to chose which EMX pattern plays on a specific OT pattern.
thanks
OK. In that case, things become a little more complex, but still possible.
On the OT, you now need to de-activate the PROG CH SEND setting that I previously told you to activate.
Instead, you are going to use the Parts on the OT to determine which Program Change message to send. The simplest way is to use a different Part for each change you want to make on the EMX.
Choose a MIDI track on the OT in your current pattern. In the MIDI Note Setup menu for that track, select the appropriate MIDI channel number for sending to the EMX (for example, 1). Now set PROG to be the value for the linked pattern on the EMX (for example, set PROG to 0 for pattern A01 on the EMX). Save the Part.
When you want another pattern on the OT to link to a different pattern on the EMX:
select the new pattern on the OT,
link that pattern to a different Part,
select a MIDI track and set the appropriate MIDI channel number and Program Change value as described above,
save the Part.
The OT only has four Parts for each pattern bank of 16 patterns, so select your Parts associated with each pattern carefully.
I suggest that you get the above working correctly before you consider the Bank Select messages mentioned by @sezare56 in the post above.
hey so yeah i just saw this in front of me when i switch to bank 9 pattern 1 on OT it brings me back to Pattern A 01 on the EMX
tried to read through the forum but doesent really help… what do?
You have reached the limit of the MIDI Program Change message which only has 128 possible values, despite the OT and EMX each having 256 patterns. But there are workarounds …
You still have two methods for sending Program Change messages from the OT:
Using Program Change Send in the Project menu
This is the first method I described above. You can continue to use this, but just using half of the EMX’s pattern memory at once: if you’re in the A or B pattern groups on the EMX you will stay there, and if you’re in the C or D pattern groups on the EMX, you will stay there. Similarly, the OT’s pattern banks are in two halves: pattern banks A to H, and pattern banks I to P.
You could split both instruments in two halves: for example, use OT banks A to H with EMX groups A and B, and use OT banks I to P with EMX groups C and D.
Using Parts
You can use the Parts method I described above. In addition to using the PROG parameter to send Program Change messages, you would use the SBNK parameter to select the pattern group on the EMX. I believe that setting SBNK to 0 will select a pattern from groups A or B on the EMX, while setting SBNK to 1 will select a pattern from groups C or D on the EMX.
okay so ive just tryed to play around with this info and managed the ot to send the message to go to C1(emx) on B9P1(OT) but it seems to have a battern length of latency triggering the midi sequence one pattern length before switching the program but also shows the program blinking constantly for some reason…
Yeah so that’s because the message is sent on the down beat using that method. it’s more intended to be used for switching synth patches to match the pattern. It’s probably best to just treat a project like 128 patterns. If you’re set on using a setup that’s synchronized.
it’s more intended to be used for switching synth patches to match the pattern. It’s probably best to just treat a project like 128 patterns. If you’re set on using a setup that’s synchronized.