Working with pan and drum chains

virtual_flannel · 2014-03-30T03:27:52.000Z

Hey fam, so just starting to experiment making full tracks on the octa.
I started out using drum racks but have stopped mainly because of panning issues. It bugs me that you have to share say kicks and snare on one track, but then have to p-lock the pan for the snare if you want it to the left for example. It gets even more ricky if you have lots of hi-hats and percussion sharing a track and want the hats and perc to be in different spots. Any solutions? Is there a way to permanently pan a slice. Jealous of RYTM’s scenes, this is what I need for my drum chains so I can make a kit with each sound p locked the way I want to start and then just play the notes in. Any tips would be great!

avantronica · 2014-03-30T11:42:47.000Z

all samples are stereo internally, create a panned ‘original’ (or two)

MK7 · 2014-03-30T21:30:10.000Z

great idea, why didn’t I think about that earlier! set the panning up when creating the sample chain. of course, the OT can handle stereo samples, I’m still thinking in mono samples

thx virtual for asking the question and avantronica for giving the hint.

EDIT: my procedure so far was to use two tracks in the OT for kick&snare, panned to the center, and two tracks that share percussions&hihats. the latter two tracks being panned -/+ 15. by deciding in which of the two tracks you play a percussion or hihat, you decide about the pan. that’s been sufficient for me so far, but with Live PA’s in mind, not full tracks.

virtual_flannel · 2014-04-01T06:54:59.000Z

Hey thanks for the tip avantronica, it seems this might work for MK7.
My problem is I can’t make mixing decisions in the sample prep stage, I need to make that decision when I’m creating. Flipping through versions of the same sample panned to different spots, would probably take up the same amour of time as P-locking each step. That being said, might still make a few “Pre-panned” chains and try it out!.

KiNo · 2019-03-19T03:50:15.394Z

How do you pan the tracks?

Quotnique · 2019-03-19T05:43:08.065Z

It’s the “Bal” Parameter on the amp page.

pinup57 · 2019-03-19T23:33:57.161Z

KiNo:

How do you pan the tracks?

You don’t “pan” stereo tracks. You adjust the balance between L & R. If you want to pan a mono source in a stereo file, it should be done in pre-production. It’s basic acoustics. The OT is a all-round stereo sampler not specifically designed as a drum machine… I guess the Digitakt should do a better job in that domain.

ericd · 2019-03-19T23:59:35.685Z

I never even thought about the difference between panning and balance. Thanks for making me think about this really basic thing! First google result returned a one minute video with a clear demonstration.

KiNo · 2019-03-20T01:05:44.102Z

Thanks for your consideration. I am fully aware of all the tenets of sound engineering, I am a professional. However, what I am experiencing on my mono sample is the decrease of volume when I tweedle the BAL knob, no panning is perceived. I have started off with factory settings, is that a routing issue, what am I doing wrong?

KiNo · 2019-03-20T01:06:36.073Z

Do you mean everything gets converted to stereo once loaded to Octatrack? That’d be weird, wouldn’t it?

sezare56 · 2019-03-20T01:35:53.670Z

You can load mono samples in Flex or Static slots. It does save RAM compared to a stereo file.
Recordings are always stereo files.

KiNo · 2019-09-19T15:29:11.626Z

I find that the balance doesn’t produce the panning effect on mono files either. So, basically, all i get is a volume decrease. Something wrong with my machine?

roadmoviemusic · 2019-09-19T16:58:55.788Z

Tried headphones?

KiNo · 2020-07-06T07:20:33.655Z

yes, it turned out to be the fault of the audio interface, the silly input/daw mix. In the daw setting, i can only get a true stereo, but i must arm a track for recording in order to monitor.