Hi all. This thread is here to create a space where all of you can post questions about, errors in, suggestions for the content in Elektron’s manuals (User Manuals, Quick Guides, and others).
I often see posts here in the forum that relate to the manuals and sometimes I’m pinged when these topics come up, so the purpose of this thread is an attempt to try and gather all the manual related issues in one place. I will keep an eye on this thread and try to address the things that come up here, but please be patient with me, since I have other things here at work that also need my attention
I also want to take the opportunity to thank you all for the valuable input you had for the documentation during the years. You really make a difference
The moderators will do our best to move comments we occasionally find about the manuals to this thread so they can be found and periodically resolved. This should prevent the need to ping directly.
Ideally if posting here, please remember to note product, os and document version (in case the discrepancy relates to version differences)
It’s also worth reminding folk that the manuals get quietly updated periodically, so do check you’re reading the latest one too.
Well, I got a Digitone a couple of days ago and the first thing I wanted to do was save some original patches as templates for development (specifically I wanted to add default definitions for the modulation routings). The manual really didn’t offer a lot of help. I’m not sure that ‘export to here’, which was the eventual solution, is exactly intuitive.
As a general point, a lot of the manuals leap around quite a lot so instead of going to one place to get an explanation, you get a partial explanation followed by ‘for more information see xxx’. Additionally, a lot of your sentences and paragraphs require several reads, typically because you use the same terms multiple times framed by very similar phrasing and words. So while being factually correct, they’re frustrating when you’re looking for an answer quickly.
I agree with this, some of the phrasing can be a bit challenging when fatigued etc.
Examples:
“• ANLG will, if the multi mode filter is assigned to FX1, not necessarily make the filter envelope start
from zero once a sample trig is being trigged. Instead, the filter envelope attack will start from the
current envelope level. If the amplitude modulator is assigned to FX1 the phase will be restarted
each time a sample trig is trigged.
• RTRG will, if the multi mode filter is assigned to FX1, make the filter envelope start from zero every
time a sample trig is being trigged. If the amplitude modulator is assigned to FX1 the phase will be
restarted each time a sample trig is trigged.
• R+T will, if the multi mode filter is assigned to FX1, make the filter envelope start from zero every
time a sample trig or a trigless trig is activated by the sequencer. If the amplitude modulator is as-
signed to FX1 the phase will be restarted each time a sample trig or a trigless trig is being activated.
• TTRG will, if the multi mode filter is assigned to FX1, not necessarily make the filter envelope start
from zero once a sample trig or a trigless trig is activated by the sequencer. Instead, the filter enve-
lope attack will start from the current envelope level. If the amplitude modulator is assigned to FX1
the phase will be restarted each time a sample trig or a trigless trig is being activated.”
The “will, if” would read more clearly simply as “when”.
“• ONE makes the recorder, once the sampling process is initiated either manually or by recorder
trigs, sample according to the length set by RLEN. The sampling process is restarted when press-
ing [TRACK] + [REC1/2]/[MIDI].
• ONE2 makes the recorder, once the sampling process is initiated either manually or by recorder
trigs, sample according to the length set by RLEN. The sampling process can be stopped prema-
turely by pressing [TRACK] + [REC1/2]/[MIDI].
• HOLD makes the recorder, once the sampling process is initiated, sample for as long as the
[TRACK] + [REC1/2]/[MIDI] keys are pressed and held, given they are not pressed longer than the
time frame of the RLEN setting allows. The outcome of the sample depends on if manual sampling
or recorder trigs are used. ”
“makes the recorder, once the sampling process is initiated” would read more clearly as “will start the recorder buffer to sample”
I think most of phrasing is generally clearer than these examples in the manuals, there are a few others that I can’t think of right now though. As @smokyfrog said the info is correct but can be a bit hard to wrap your head around when looking for answers quickly, particularly if it is a function not often used or if it has been a while since using.
It is a very good idea. It has been on my todo list for a while, but I just cant seem to get there. I will try to get my act together and just do it. Thanks for the reminder.
I know that this ”for more information, please see” thingie can be a bit frustrating. But there are reasons why it is made like this. I really try to avoid duplicating information in a document. I try to find the best place for the text and just put it there. Duplicating text bloats the manuals and also makes it a pain to keep track of and make changes in mutiple places. The tradeoff for this is that there will a bit of cross referencing going on.
Still, I will keep in mind to try and not fragment the text unnecessarily.
Thanks
Hmm thought i fixed that one. I remember you mentioned it before. I’ll look in to it.
As shame that it is not correct though, 36 octaves would be quite a decent range
I’m not going to argue with you on this one. That text is not the brightest moment in Elektron documentation history. The Octatrack manual has been written, rewritten, and edited by multiple people over the years. The most merciful thing would be to put it out of its misery and the rewrite the whole thing… But that would be so much work that I’m afraid it will never happen. Still, I will add your comments about this passage to my backlog.
Thanks.
When I wrote my dissertation, my brother had one specific, mind-bending piece of advice (probably someone else’s): “there’s always one person who has to do the work: either the writer, or the reader”.
For my own writing, the smoothness of the text is a consequence of the time I spend massaging it. I don’t know anything about professional writing for technical equipment - so maybe this advice doesn’t apply. But for all the beauty of the Elektron manuals, it often feels as if a simple “how to” manual, as a separate publication, could be beneficial.
I feel the love and attention going into your manuals - which is obvious already by the near total lack of feedback to this thread: they’re written with extreme care for detail. But I wonder whether we wouldn’t benefit from having a different, additional layer of explanation. One that doesn’t approach the machines from a technical, but a user’s point of view.
Anyway, thanks for your work and time, and for opening this thread! This attitude rocks!
Could this be solved by having a HTML version of the manual? There might be corporate reasons why that’s impossible; but cross-references pretty much immediately wouldn’t be such a burden anymore.
I think you are spot on with this. The Elektron manuals are good at explaining what everything in the machines is and how they work, but not so strong in describing how to use all the great features. We have had talks here how to adress this. Either it could be in som separate documentation or maybe to make more videos like the Elektron workflow videos of old… Anyway, I hear you, but cant really say anything more than agree with your reasoning and then we just have to see what happens with this moving forward.
Thanks for your input.
