So im new to the octatrack and new to midi in general. If i get a midi controller like the LPD8 or something like that, will i be able to use the pads on that instead of the octatracks buttons for triggering samples? And if not then how would it be used with the octatrack.
That one looks like it only operates on one channel as a whole, it will work for you but you could find it limiting if not at first then probably in the future. MIDI works with 16 channels and you can assign channels to tracks on the OT. All of the samples can be trigged from a certain range of midi notes on one channel and you can play chromatically, but you wouldn’t be able to contol different tracks parameters at the same time unless the device can assign different channels per pad/knob.
In order to connect it you would need a usb midi host device as the OTs USB port is only for file transfer.
It’s probably not that common to find a device like that with midi din connection so you’ll probably need one either way…
Kenton and Iconnect devices seem to be the most popular.
If I were you I’d look for a similar device that allows channel select per pad/knob…
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So would something like the MPK Mini Solve those problems? (aside from needing a din usb adapter)
That one looks like all the pads work on one channel and the keyboard/knobs/joystick work on another…
This guy is affordable and has channel per pad, but no knobs…
-http://www.korg.com/us/products/computergear/nanopad2/
You could pair it with a nanoknontrol2 for faders and knobs…
I don’t really have recommendations for you, I have the nanos and they work for me, the other ones you’ve mentioned I just consulted the manuals for you…
You could use either of the ones you mentioned if you don’t mind having to select the channel on the OT to then control it, I would rather not have to do that though…
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I’ve had my eye on one of these, bit spendy but looks like a nice device…
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I just noticed that mpd has 1/8in midi in/out and comes with adapters, so it costs more, but you wouldn’t need to buy a midi host, and it seems higher quality, more customizable, and has more features than other alternatives…
Keep in mind the OT isn’t as responsive to MIDI input variation on the Audio side; iirc there’s no recording of note length, so the subtleties of finger drumming could be lost on playback - there’s also none of the ‘mapping velocity to other parameters’ control you get on the analogs
There are cheaper MIDI hosting alternatives should you need to go down that route, but it’d be better to pick up something with DIN ports if you can
There’s a few threads on controllers people use with their OTs for inspiration, finding just the right amount of flexibility can be tricky, but the OT is well specified for MIDIcontrol, so finding something that can match that could be useful
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You might like the Novation Launchcontrol XL
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That looks the business. One for the January sales, I think! Just being able to control each track’s volume is a win for me.