The Octatrack is amazing

This is some next level (non)sample mangling. Fantastic work!

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oh this sound so cool. The more I’m looking about OT, the more I like what I found.

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That’s really cool! I had the DT originally and then got the OT. So I had both for a little while as I learned the basics of the OT. Wish I hadn’t sold the DT, but I’m not really much with song composition at this point, but that’s great to see you can get so much use out of having two OT’s!

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This is like the Third Man on Steroids; Love it!

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Just got an Octatrack yesterday. Been working from home so didn’t get much done today obviously. Weird thing is I really really love my job, but now I want to quit because there’s not enough time!

Anyway much frustration last night as I didn’t realise that record trigs were a thing and kept recording over my samples and tearing my hair out.

Anyway I had a good night sleep and figured that out, then I uploaded my collection of old school breaks, sliced em, destroyed em, was reborn. The rest is history. All few hours of it.

My GOD though… officially entering a new chapter in my life and to think I was having last minute jitters and thought about getting an MPC live. All the doubts I had about this was generated by the internet circle of fear. SHAME!

Really though it’s ridiculous. Couldn’t imagine how much my mind would have popped if I stumbled on one of these things back when they were first released. I’ve even left it in 16-bit and it sounds great to my ears.

But yeah! Nice one elektron… even if I was late to the party.

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I distinctly remember watching the launch video 10 years ago when I was new to production and just having no clue what it was even for.

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Nice, I seriously considering joining the party 10 years late too. :slight_smile:

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if you like Elektron gear its probably worth getting and the most fully featured one of them all.

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I only have the Digitakt since 2 years and I love this machine so much. I can’t even think to buy a machine without PLocking sequencer now.
I love sampling, I love elektron sequencer, the OT looks so nice. I’m waiting for the black release to jump in.

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I have a question for OT owner:

Is mixing inside OT is easy ? From what I understood there is no mixing page like on DT.
Do you have to come across each track to adjust volume ?
There is a way to midi CC tracks volumes to an external midi fader box ?

My mixing skill just stop to adjusting volume and freeing some low end between kick and bass. Is that quickly doable in OT ?

There is an option to make the eighth track a master track. It can do basic things and add global effects.but changing levels on each track is easy

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no

yes

yes

not particularly, and you typically end up sacrificing FX slots to achieve this.

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Today I picked up my Octatrack mk2. It had been calling me for quite a while and I could no longer resist its magical appeal.

I watched countless videos beforehand. Demos, tutorials, jams etc.

Nevertheless, I expected it to be a rough start, and it was for the first two hours. Brain cramps is a term often used to describe the learning process and I do get where that comes from. Especially since the DT is so intuitive.

There are so many extra layers, and choices to make that you can lose track of what you are doing pretty quickly. I did get lost a couple of times already. That said, I already have the the impression that it is actually designed in a very clever way, and that all these brain cramps and frustrations are completely due to my own impatience and eagerness.

For gamers, I think the “Dark Souls” of musical instruments is an accurate analogy.
I already saw the metaphorical “you died” screen many times tonight. But i constantly felt the urge to push on.

At a certain point I managed to use a recorder trig to record a perfect loop of an old soul record, sliced it up and layer out random trigs on te sequencer that was already playing a boom-bap hip hop beat.

I literally felt goosebumps and was cheering and jumping up and down with joy. My wife was quite amused.

In the 90’s I had turntables for some years. Since the first FL studio (fruity loops) was released, I have tried to make music with DAWs. Last year, I ftook my first piano lessons since 30 years or so. I have always loved the idea of creating the music I love, but never found a process that inspired me so that I would stick with it (although i also keep coming back to the piano)

When I bought the DT, I had the sense that I was finally coming close to my ideal of the creative process. Now, I am sure I have found it.

I am looking forward to struggle on for the coming months (years)) I know I will scream at it in frustration sometime, but I feel that the reward will be there in the end.

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Recorder trigs was the thing that frustrated the first day. I couldn’t figure it out and wanted to throw the OT at the wall! After my ‘aha’ moment, and working out what was happening, I never looked back. I hope you enjoy your OT!

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OT certainly has the tools needed and it can be quick. Theres the eq (2 band eq, each band switchable between parametric, low shelf and high shelf), dj style kill eq, base-width filter and a very flexible compressor.

Gain staging on OT is a complex topic, but it’s just a matter of getting to know the Octatrack imho. :slight_smile:

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Easily accessible? Not really. But if you use external midi controller then yes. As mentioned you can only control levels of the active track.

Yes. Providing you have one of the FX slots set to EQ or filter. Again, if you use external midi control, then it would be even quicker/more accessible.

Personally, I dont find any problems mixing in the OT. But I do appreciate the mixer page on the DT, just like I appreciate the faders on the TR8-S. If immediate hands on control of all 8 track levels and EQ is important, then a midi controller would be very useful for OT.

Or just get into the groove of ‘one track at a time’

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Thanks! Pretty sure I will

Not easy but highly precise control with scenes / crossfader.

There is a dedicater fader box, Oktakontrol, but it is limited, the Faderfox ones seems much more appropriate…
Many controllers can do the job…

téléchargement (5)

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There is no need to wait until the end. Rewards are already there left and right along the way.

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I love mixing inside the OT.
Not too many boxes will let you mix 8 stereo samples with 3 band EQ and compression, all p-locked. (though I go the master track route, so 7 samples + a p-lockable stereo compressor)

But it’s not easy in the beginning. It’s a skill that has to be developed, over time. As @Schnork mentioned gain staging is no easy matter. Nothing that can’t be learned, however. And then, with time, it becomes easier.

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