So, doesn’t work… but now my mind is set on this again.
before I start wrapping my head around looping with flex machines again. Is it possible to do this without pre determined record lengths?
can you elaborate on this?
Yes, but with a defined tempo, QREC, as long as you don’t record values like 3 steps, 5 steps, 7 steps, 9 steps, etc.
You need to record 1, 2, 4, 8 etc. How to call these values btw?
Maybe you don’t want a defined tempo?
How do you record? OT buttons or external midi.
Yes, I also play with defined tempo. only undefined loop lengths, and overdub very necessary. and always multiples of bars (no odd or weird loop lengths)
I have been trying now, and I can get a flex recording by pressing AB (quick rec mode on). In the record menu I assign rec sources AB and T1 (recording on T1…)
so how do I get the flex machine to start looping after this?
If I press AB or CD nothing really happens, or sometimes the track stops. If I press TRACK+PLAY the flex start playing back, but also keeps on recording…
EDIT: I give up again… I see the flex also guesses the BPM. now I understand what you mean with defined tempo. but playing live, a song can get a bit faster or slower, depending on the vibe. So I think the flex method also won’t work out for me 
Cool, I won’t have to explain much
Tricky but you have to press AB/CD + Track+Play! 
External midi with right messages, or plays free midi tracks and midi loopback (or a 2nd OT!).
Nothing simple.
Disable timestretch
Do you use QREC/QPLAY?
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nice, forgot about the timestretch. And yes, QREC qnd QPLAY are being set.
now I got everything working with the AB/CD for record, and AB/CD + Track + Play for playback.
So how do I overdub now in stead of direct playback?
Rec : AB/CD + SRC3
Stop/Play : AB/CD + SRC3 + Track + Play!
External midi :
Rec : C4 (combo)
Stop/Play : C4 (combo) + C2 (Track 1 Sample)
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doesn’t work for me. I tried it with 2 controllers. a foot controller (MC6) and a midi keyboard.
on both controllers the C4 + C2 combo only plays back the recording without overdub.
the AB/CD + SRC3 + Track + Play Combo (I feel like playing mortal combat on a sega mega drive 
) sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. I think it depends on the order and speed of combining the buttons…
But when it works, it also continues to record into the buffer with the track audio added. so if I overdub a length of 3 times the length of the initial loop, I end up with a file that is 4 times the loop size, with 3 overdubs in there. so when it cycles to the beginning of the recorded file, there is no “overdub overlap”. Do you understand what I am trying to say?
I am hanging on strong and hope to work this out 
Did you set SRC3 to T1 ?
I could make it work with OT midi loopback and MFC10. C4 to rec/overdub, C4+C2 to play.
No, but I guess you mean that if overdub has a different length, it fucks up the loop, yes.
Did you ever tried Pickups ? 
O man…
Yes
Here C4 does rec/stop
And this indeed does play
but no overdub 
Here is the problem I am dealing with now.
In the file of the record button I marked 3 actions:
1= C4 record
2= C2 overdub
3= C4 play
So I played 1 note with very long decay, and the moment I press C2 (2nd action), it overdubs the first part. but when I press play (3rd action) it jumps back to the beginning of the recording without overdub… you see it clearly on the picture in the decay tails.
what do you get different than this?
by the way, if this is going way off topic, we can continue in private messages? If you have the patience to keep helping me out of course
but maybe this is good information about flex looping for others too…
These values are “powers of two” values (2N).
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I think it’s still on topic as Flex is our option for Pick ups. please carry on. It’s helpful to the greater good.
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Sure.
Why do (some) people do not like Pickups?
Because they prefer Flex.
Personally I could use both, but as told @AdamJay, I had to sell my OT for an M:S. 
I’ll be back (with MKII?) in 2021.
1^2 = 2 
1^2 = 12 = 1
“powers of two” (2 is the base):
20=1 … 21=2 … 22=4 … 23=8 …
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2^0=1 of course! 
I totally forgot that. Apparently didn’t need it.
Well. Now I have to help my son with studies, I hope he’ll remind me those things (in a few years).
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Hi all,
I tried several times to transfer the OT into a creative Looper box with the Pickup machine(s).
I read the manual and wathed some youtube tutorials but I have still difficulties to configure it in a way that makes sense for me.
My intention is to have 2 Pickup Machines one for sampling/looping a mono chanel (Input A = Pulsar 23 in) and a the other for a stereo chanel (input C+D).
The most problems I have is a) the leveling and b) the rehearsal of what is looped.
Can somebody help me?
nvm
The only way to really get it is really to figure it out yourself, especially the PU machines! There are already too many words written about it imho 
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It’s funny, pickup machines were a big part of the reason I originally got the Octatrack but I ended up really disliking them and not using them for a couple years and then since last summer literally all I use is thru machines and pickup machines. I also don’t get clicks at all anymore, even though I used to be able to make them click even with complete silence (nothing plugged in to the inputs at all) so I don’t know what that’s about. Maybe one of the recent firmware updates finally got it sorted.
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Great guide here, thanks!
I’ve been exploring live looping for techno jamming in the past few days. Had fun with both pick-up and flex machines. Leaning a bit towards flex as it does seem the more robust (less error prone) method. One thing I’m wondering is whether there are strategies that don’t require too many button presses to create odd time signature loops with flex. In REC1 setup I can set the RLEN to say 5 or 12 but the playback loop will restart on pattern step 1 every time. Sometimes this gives a nice groove but sometimes it doesn’t.
Do I have a (reasonably quick) option to keep it looping independently from the pattern length?
Plan B could be to have a few tracks set up for this already, if it’s too complicated to manage on the fly in a live set.