Put them out! Short and sweet is fine. Better than having them sit on a hard drive.
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Very true
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I made an annotated beat tape. It’s I guess on topic actually. This is older stuff that I recreated on my Digitakt. If you check the video description you can see all the samples I used.
The lesson being put it out now or sit on it for ten years and recreate it since the computer you made it on has since died.
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Confession time: I joined no gear new year, but failed after I found a good deal on a second hand octatrack mk2 and decided to jump on it. I’ve just spent my first couple of hours with it. I know some others here contemplated upgrading from the DT to the OT, so, here’s my experience so far:
I’ve used the DT religiously for 2 years, and then switched to the AR in 2020. On the AR I’ve made the best music I ever did (imo) and it’s still my baby. The OT always felt like a machine I didn’t dare to try because of all the stories about the sound quality and insane learning curve. I decided to take the plunge and take a month to find out once and for all if its the ultimate elektron hiphop machine or not. I’ll keep you guys posted, but here’s some initial impressions after using it for a day:
- Coming from the DT and AR, it’s really not that hard to use/confusing at all. Mind you: I havent messed with any complicated stuff like the pickup machines yet, but so far using it like an overpowered DT everything seems pretty logical. I had a cool beat going in no time. I might retract this statement coming days after using it more though
. - The sound to me seems pretty similar to the DT. There’s no boxy punch like the old mpc’s, but more like a crunchy sound that really reminds me of the DT. I can’t compare directly as I don’t have the DT anymore, but the OT doesn’t disappoint me like I feared it would based on all the threads on this forum. The AR does really sound amazingly warm in comparison though, and I’ve spent time loving that, but I’m also sometimes fighting it when looking for a clean mix.
- It’s really surprisingly refreshing to be able to chop (stereo) samples inside an elektron interface. Even though I got really fast at ‘chopping’ using samplestart locking on the DT and AR, it’s great to be able to play chopped samples in a mutegroup along with drums on the OT. Can’t wait to go through some vinyl the coming days.
- Working on the DT and AR everything is centered around the sample page and finetuning/messing with the start point of samples. On the OT you can’t see the waveform unless you go into the audio editor. Because of this, I feel less ‘connected’ to the audio so far. There’s less incentive to micromanage your sounds, which can be good or bad.
I’ll keep you guys posted on my progress and hope to share some music soon!
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Dope! Excited to check this out! Will listen tomorrow on my commute to work!
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Man, that’s on my list of things I want to try if I ever get the money. I’m looking forward to hearing what you do with it.
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A couple of joints from a beat tape I’m working on… MPC Live and SP404 mk2. Haven’t gotten around to using the DT for Hip Hop stuff.
All feedback welcome 
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Really cool stuff. I like that second one…a lot.
Like the sound of both! The second one has something special going on with the timing that makes it stand out 
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Love what you did on the DT and Rytm, so I am sure you will do great on the OT.
I owned it twice, and it’s a wonderfully deep machine. For me, it worked best as a remixer. In that sense the template project by , @mpiecora (EZBOT) was really helpful. As I didn’t have the time needed to master the device, I sold it twice as well.
I myself am waiting for my Rytm to arrive. I’ve sold everything else and i want to focus fully on one box in combination with Bitwig.
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Both are great. First one gives me Pete Rock vibes, the second one sounds more unique and is very groovy. Like the drums and bass a lot.
Which could also be a good thing. It sometimes is to me. Relying more on the ears than on visual representation.
I prefer the OT over DT for hip hop just because of the slice mode. DT sounds a bit punchier instantly though I guess
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@Doug damn this was unexpected! Really different from both your synthy stuff and your boombap style beats. All of these are really funky oldschool sounding. All of them sound like finished songs to me, and I really admire the variation and buildup you put into these beats, surely not the DT’s strength.
@JoddKnight great tracks! The second one is my favorite, it sounds like a modern day version of a tribe called quest style beat.
@Jedilicious Thanks, and I’m sure you’ll love the AR. I’ve never used a better sounding machine, and I’ll never sell mine. I’d advice you to give yourself some time to see through its weird quirks, because its amazingly powerful machine once you accept it for what it is instead of trying to use it like any other groovebox. Oh and check out my samplestart finetuning trick (it’s in this forum), it makes life easier 
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@Unifono I think you’re right about that. I love how the sp404 makes me not worry about details, but just focus on what sounds good. Hope the OT will do the same.
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Thanks mate, will definitely check it out. One thing is for certain: many beats will be created in Amsterdam this year 
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This got me runner up in the Koala Beatcast Battle this past weekend.
Made on Koala (obviously)
Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous. Next time it’ll be so much worse as I’ve just put all the Zero-G CDs on my iPad…
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Real nice mate. Uk vibes!
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Thanks mate. Shame the battle was largely non-UK so they didn’t get the Supersharpshooter reference at all
I’ve been practicing on the Octatrack, still not sure whether I like it better than the AR… The slicing is awesome, as is the fader. The AR sounds so massive though!
Anyway, here’s a short live beattape I made out of the beats I did on it this first week of having it.
What do you guys think? Can it compete with my AR stuff or nah?
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Sounds freakin’ dope to me dude! Love the little fx bits. Definitely can compete imo.
On a different note, anyone tried that Cookin Soul LO-BAP LIFE Vol. 3? I have a coupon from Drumbroker.com, and I’m highly interested.
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I ended up using mainly kicks and hats cause i’m not really looking for the melodic or misc stuffs.
I didn’t like the snares because they sound way too processed for my taste. I like to tweak a bit my drums and its harder with this type of samples.
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