slowly slowly my octatrack became my drum machine
am i the only one with this phenomena or its wide spread ???
Same here! It’s so good of filling that gap in the studio that it sometimes gets in the way of getting to the “turn patterns into loops” and go into megaOTmangleeffectsampleseqperform mode. Makes me feel guilty sometimes.
Trying to force myself to swap from using the midi seq for my synths and ot tracks for drums to the otherway around.
Its either that or buy another one! 
al my first 4 tracks are drum section although latly i bought a vermona kick cause i was looking for the perfect kick drum
all the rest of tracks are the insane ones
Yes i use my octa as an upgraded MD alot 
Finally stereo samples, scenes, more fx to choose from etc etc. i now often make a beat on a seperate part/pattern and render some loops out of that to mangle them further and save tracks.
I like my OT as an actual sampler so much that I’m buying a Cirklon so I can just focus on building kits and finely tuning my loops to perfection (and not, like I do every time, accidentally destroy my sequences outputting to external sources in the process!). Getting rid of the MD even led me to (finally) hook up a MIC through a preamp and try out some vocal sampling and recording hits/FX/loops live through the mic. Once you figure out the workflow and best way to get everything in time and where you want it, it really makes you realize just how powerful the OT is…
In fact, since trading my MD away a few months ago, I’ve come to love using the OT (after briefly flirting with DAW percussion again shudder) as a drum machine so much, I’m probably not getting an MFB Tanzbar like I originally planned- most of the demos just sound great, but also so x0x-ish and very familiar. I’d rather get the MFB Dominion X SED- just an ULTRA playable mono with more modulation possibilities than I thought possible in such a small box-and grab a couple analog percussion modules (the the Jomox ones, of course) for the OT to trigger. The Tanzbar is GREAT for including in the Elektron chain for live performance and jamming, but in the studio I tend to think “outside the box” when it comes to percussion and I feel like the Tanzbar will eventually settle into a niche item I’ll use when I’m in the mood for it and not an essential part of the process.
Yeah, I’ve been using it in as a drum machine a bit, especially since I’ve been exploring the A4 more. Recently started using an LFO to randomly shift the start/slice parameter of sample chains, which is great. There are also similar ways of subtly modulating hi-hats etc. to make the OT sound great on drums.
I tried using MD for drums for a bit but after using microtiming on Octatrack I don’t wanna go back to a drum machine stuck to 16th notes
Agreed: you need that human element true samplers can give along with a great synth engine. The MD has the engine, but the sampler was limited (and a huge pain in the ass), and no matter how much you gliched out your sequence, it always ended up sounding the same to me in the long run- the MD is the MD. You can spot it on somone else’s track almost instantaneously.
The next best thing Elektron could make is a half an OT and half an MD mashed together- with analog filters and the ability to downconvert samples to 8 and 12 bit (or digital re samples that fake the classic sampler sound). You’d have all the synthesis of the MD with 12 MD single drumsynth/sample tracks, 2 loop tracks that can be overdubbed and resampled+ an EQ/FX section specifically geared towards drums.
And there your have it- the first and only hardware percussion loop creator that I’d buy in a heartbeat. Perfect 2 track companion that frees up the 8 tracks of the OT for whatever you want and that compresses all your errant sample trigging and p-locking into a single loop file that takes up far less space and RAM than your average 2-4 track drum section on the OT. OR, 12 MD tracks+2 loops tracks for jamming together.
Of course this product is far too cool to ever exist, and it far too specific to be an Elektron product. Elektron just got tons of exposure with the A4, which makes me fear the best way to remain visible for them is to announce an Analog 6 Poly. Most people hear “Mono” and say “I already have a Moog/Roland/Vintage mono” and are mono purists OR say “I’ll wait for the Poly…”
I wish it was a firmware update but doesn’t it really feel like Elektron should do that from a business standpoint where it could easily sell an analog polysunth/chord/pad sequencer synth to a market that goes bonkers over the words analog and poly…together. Hell, I’d be on board with a fully integrated elektron sequencer that’s just a module FOR controlling polysynths spcifically (Can anyone say Elektron 4X16 button matrix with 4 pages of channels, LCD for setting midi parameters/channels/direct CC control, and encoders)! Sometimes I wish you could call in and have your favorite comapnies build you the specific product you want, that you want THEM AND THEM ALONE to make for you! I’ll just “settle” for a Cirklon in November =).
after getting good quality drum samples and making some industrial recordings of all kind of noises , who needs the md
the ot is fricken amazing drum machine
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