Some of them can be replicated / approximated, but it’s more a case of solving a puzzle for its own sake rather than doing anything truly useful. For example a round robin crash cymbal with one sample and three silent slots will play every fourth hit, which is kind of equivalent to a 1:4 condition on an Elektron, except it applies to the instrument and not a specific trigger. Set the playback to random and you have a 25% probability trigger, which you can extend to 50% or 75%. But stuff like nei, pre, fil and 1st, not so easy. Elektron have put a lot of thought into ways you can stay within a limited set of tracks and short sequences and still have complexity and variation, which the MPC isn’t really fussed about - instead it invites you to simply extend your sequence or slap another track on the pile. As always, both viable approaches with their own strengths and weaknesses.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see % chance added to the MPC - maybe as an instrument parameter that you can then automate (which would be interesting if you could apply it on a per-layer basis within a instrument) - but I don’t really expect the other conditional trigs to make it because they just don’t seem “MPC”. Low expectations, that’s the key to happiness.
I agree …I have an MPC One and hate watching most videos on it because everyone’s doing boom-bap and I’m over here doing fucking weird shit with it…anyways, for a vibe how I’ve been using my MPC One with Digitone and Typhon, Crucify Him by bloody.water | Bloody Water | Free Listening on SoundCloud
You can get the best of both world sequencing your live/mpc one/force from any Elektron device then recording the midi out in the drum track. Remove quantize during recording if you’re using retriggers.
I finally repaired the broken buttons on my MPC2000xl last night, tested it a little to make sure I hadn’t messed anything up while I had it open, and then suddenly it was 10pm and I’d spent a couple hours messing with a couple samples from a random Italian pop vocal record without even realizing the sun had gone down. No other piece of gear does that for me, not even the OT.
No interest in newer MPCs, even the 1000. I do slightly regret not selling the 2kxl to raise the $500 to get a clean 3000 with custom hard case that a local guitar shop was selling back in 2012 but honestly only a little , I think over all I’m happier with the one I have than I’d have been with the 3000.
Hadn’t played with my octatrack mk1 for a while. I usually sample vinyl, play my beats and adjust the timing using touchscreen on mpc live. I know the mpc has a huge reputation when it comes to swing. Having come back to the octatrack l am finding it more satisfying adjusting the micro timing to get the exact feel and groove that’s playing in my head. I can get close on the mpc live but it’s never quite on the sweet spot. Any of you guys use both mpc live and octatrack, and have any opinions? External sequencing also appears to be spot on with octatrack. I’m thinking of making the octatrack the brain of my set up mainly because of the groove l can get.
FWIW - I’m giving an MPC Live 2 a spin after trying out the OT. Just got it last night, and while its very different than the OT, it’s been easier to get up and running for recording guitar, and sketching tracks. It’s very fun to work with, and better than I expected so far. The tools they have can be used to make any kind of music, and it feels far more like hardware than a DAW to me.
I finally replaced the most worn out switches on my MPC2000xl and it’s still the most inspiring (and fast) piece of gear I’ve ever owned, but it also has almost no overlap with the Octatrack and there’s no way either one could replace the other for me.
For me the OT was a colorful 6 weeks, where I both loved and hated the OT.
I ended up selling it (which was a hard decision) and got an MPC Live 2 and found that it fits me better overall.
I’ll probably never use the phono jacks but the portability and approach to making tracks is easier on the MPC for how I work (vs the OT).
My DT is still the center of my full setup, and that will not change as it’s so good for sequencing and doing immediate exploration. I’m thrilled with my MPC, but my heart is still Elektron
Sorry to see you sold the OT after putting so much hard work into figuring out whether it would work for you, but also glad that you made a decision so you could have what you want with the MPC. I went the other direction. I decided I wanted to do hardware sampling to get away from Logic on my Mac so I bought and MPC One based on many reviews and comparisons–deciding (I still think rightly so) that it is the “best bang for the buck” with hardware samplers (I got mine for $725 new, which seems like a steal for what it can do). I spent a bit of time getting to know how to use it, and then found myself staring it at it (the touchscreen) in much the same way I did with Logic–it is a DAW in a box, but with quite a bit more tactile control on its faceplate. Don’t get me wrong, there is a really good use case for something in between a DAW and a hardware controlled sample “player.” Then I bought the OT (maybe got mine on the same day as you), and have been slowly, very slowly, using it on most days, for 30 to 60 minutes at a stretch, just trying lots of new stuff out. I will not sell the OT no matter how well I decide it fits in with what I want to do because it is too fun to use all by itself. My goal is to eventually see how I can incorporate both the OT and the MPC into something both useful and fun–with the OT for shorter sequences and the MPC for longer tracks, all routed to my Mac for final mixes. No hurry for me though. Just a hobbyist.
Thanks man, and keep loving that OT as it’s a wonderful box too
Looking back it was good experience overall, and it was fun to learn directly what an OT can do (and I know I was just scratching the surface as I only had it 6 weeks).
One of the main things I need to do is record and layer guitar tracks, and this was more straight forward on the MPC.
I compared the OT and MPC doing a recording - the first thing I did was see how long it took me to power them on, plug in a guitar, make a recording, and play it back. In both cases I had done some research, watched videos, and read up on them. For both the OT and MPC I was able to do this in a few minutes, however with the OT I didn’t feel in control (I don’t think I ever did ), and with the MPC it was comfortable.
Using the sampler on the MPC, I assigned the recording to a pad, and triggered playback with a note in the grid. With 16 pads, this immediately felt like having a 16 track recorder, and when I found within “program edit” that each pad has it’s own amp, filter and 4 effects, I remember saying “Wow, this thing is crazy” out loud. In a few minutes I had 5 guitar tracks rolling and was tweaking volumes and effects for each. Adding drums, etc. Maybe this isn’t the “right way” to use an MPC as I know about audio tracks, but for me this was the portable sketch pad that inspired me, and was what I was looking for (yes I know how to use a DAW, and yes I could do all of this on an iPad, but that is boring ).
Both machines are amazing in their own ways, and it’s good to be spoiled for choice
As an owner of both (recent OT user though), I will definitely say that my MPC-1000 with JJOS2XL runs circles around the OT, as a sampler. But the MPC doesn’t feel as immediate sometimes as the OT. If I want to do stuff live and perform, or something a little more improvised, the MPC feels really stiff and I have ran into many roadblocks trying to use it those ways (and that is ultimately what led me onto buying the Octatrack!)
Granted, seems like modern MPCs can be a little bit better in that aspect, but swapping my old one for a new one was not a possibility (I would have lost too much functionality that I love) so I needed something to add to the mix, and the OT fit the bill almost exclusively.
I think they both have their space:
MPC is a sampling behemoth.
OT is a live performance monster.
6 weeks seems like a really short time to spend with this thing though, most of the “problems” that people seem to have that I have read about online while researching my own purchase possibility, have to do more with patience and/or misconstrued expectations. If anyone in the future reads this, and are thinking about getting an Octatrack, think about spending a considerable amount of time with it, and if you cannot afford that or want to do that, probably save yourself the trouble and do not get it.
I’d advocate that people get it (whether “it” is OT or MPC), even if they just want to try it out. If I have learned anything with complex hardware, you need to get your hands on it, and integrate it into your setup / workflow. No amount of reading, watching videos, and imagining will answer the burning question. You get the thing, try it out, and be honest with yourself if it’s working.
I think MPC is more immediate for sampling “offline” things like one shots, multisampling etc. But the OT is way more immediate for capturing synced loops and playing them immediately without needing to stop the sequencer.
Does the MPC have a way of sampling synced, in that it would start sampling in time? At least earlier the looper had some weird limitation – I think if the MPC was the slave, it wouldn’t work… any progress since?
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but the portability and approach to making tracks is easier on the MPC for how I work (vs the OT).
