The Octatrack is not known for its effects. A few of them are decent, some are forgettable, and some are really bad. Which effect do you use the least? Personally, I never use the plate reverb, phaser, flanger, and comb filter.
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I never use the plate reverb, I love the dark reverb too much.
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Plate reverb Iāve never used as I bought my first OT after the dark reverb came out. That said, Iāve recently realised how much better my Strymon Blue Sky is than the OTās dark reverb. Itās still usable though. I love the modulating the tune parameter on the comb filter with an LFO, and as long as the feedback isnāt too high, it doesnāt get all metallic sounding. I really donāt care for the SRR or BRR on the lofi effect, but Iām sure many people love that sound.
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Same. I usually donāt use any of the reverbs on the Octatrack since I the Eventide Space. I also donāt use the SBR or BRR parameter of the LoFi but I love the AMD knob. You can get really nice modulations on snare and basses by having the frequency set around 400-600k. It really adds a sense of movement to static sounds.
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I pretty much use the OT exclusively for itās effects, and a little for sample playback.
I like all the effects.
Iāve never been too crazy about phasers.
I like the flange for getting a comb filter effect, or tight delay textures, even as a high pass filter with some character.
I like comb filter for similar reasons to the flange, but generally more pitch conscious.
The lo-fi isnāt the greatest bit crusher in the world, but itās still interesting to me. Sometimes I just use the drive, and it makes everything turn to magic.
I dont use the EQ effect as much but I like it.
The filter on the OT is nice to have, but the RYTM filter really spoils me sound wise. Definitely makes the filter on the OT seem kind digital grimy in not always a good way.
I pretty much always settle for the dark reverb.
I agree it doesnāt compare to strymon, but I can plock the strymon to my xfader along with a bunch of other params.
I think most of the effects in the OT are just decent basic effects, that can seem a little dull at times.
However as soon as you use and LFO or scenes to modulate them, they become really impressive to me.
Iād take the corus/flange in the OT over the corus in the A4 any day.
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I love the comb filter. My favorite is to plock the pitch on a bass line to mirror the bass notes or go up/down a 3rd or 4th/5th. Instant techno groove.
Iāve never liked flanger/phaser effects. The plate reverb is OK I guess, but Iāll always pick the dark reverb over it. The lofi effect might be some peoples cup of tea, but Iāve never found a use for it.
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I donāt understand how the Spatializer works and have never sat down to figure out how to properly use it. So I just pretend it isnāt there.
All the reverbs, filter, delay and compressor sees regular use. I donāt aim for a clean-sounding production. Instead I try to use the OT effects to emphasize the mood of the track. To add a bit of quirkyness and personality, I guess.
Agree with others that the FX arenāt spectacular, but gets more interesting with p-locks and LFOs. I often modulate the delay rate slightly on some sounds and use a random LFO on filter cutoff for a lo-fi, crackling sound I like.
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The spatializer is nice for sort of slap back sounds with a twist.
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Hatred? Really? I have no hard feelings towards any of the OT effects in general but there are some I donāt use, like plate reverb and phaser/flanger, but I donāt use them in general.
Dark reverb is great and I use the spatializer more and more since I discovered the M/S thing. I canāt explain it properly, but it is something I read about on the forumā¦
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[quote=āJuanSOLO, post:5, topic:28885, full:trueā] but I can plock the strymon to my xfader along with a bunch of other params.
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What!? I suspect thats a typo, but Iām asking just in case(cuz it would be awesome) You can do this?
Your right, typo, canāt
Are you serious? I use them all. They are all useful to manipulate sound. 
emphasized text
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try the spatializer on claps for example - or percussive elementsā¦ it does widen the signal quite a bit, you can get interesting resultsā¦ also, play with the parameter on page 2 (double click)
alternatively, you can get a somwhat similar effect by applying a really fast LFO on the panning, with the āā shape, mode set to TRIG.
as most people, I use delay, dark reverb and filter the most. I also use the lo-fi effect sometimes - I recently (re)discovered the AMD/AMF parameters - gives really interesting results on percussion samples, techno-ish vibesā¦
Iāve used the flanger/phaser/chorus on some occasions, it can have a really interesting/fattening effect on bass, or rythmic melodic instrumentsā¦ I always move around between those 3 and see wich one works the bestā¦
also Iāve recently started playing with compressors on kicks, sometimes also on claps/snaresā¦ itās quite nice to make them stand out in a mix.
the EQ and dj filter effects I havenāt used that muchā¦ someone suggested it on the master track instead of a filter, specially for live performing, to do some live eq based on the venue soundā¦ but now that I think about it, and considering I work with the crossfader trick for transitions, I donāt think that would work very well for meā¦
comb filter is another one Iām trying to play around a bit more.
like we all say in this forumā¦ is great that you can always rediscover some aspects of the OTā¦ you keep learning/strengthening new things.
oh! and it might be obvious butā¦ I spent quite a long time without noticing the MIX/SEND parameter on the second page of the dark reverbā¦ super important!
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Yeah the plate reverb and lofi I use very little, however sometimes Iāll just randomly select parameters on anything and neighbor them just to see what happens. I actually like when digital reverb sounds fake, I like to make it sound unrealistic and weird. Plate reverb seems fine, I just donāt get much of an impact with it I guess? Iām going to pay more attention to it
The EQs. even completely flat they seem to suck out a lot of the highs and lows and give everything a king of grainy, thin sound. I actually like most of the OT effects, but the EQs are nearly useless for me. Iād rather EQ my source before I sample it, or use the filter to adjust the tonal balance between tracks.
Lofi is tricky for me. it definitely sucks the tone of the track Itās on even at its lowest settings so it is very much something that I only want on a track where it will be used all the time. I donāt find the bitcrushing or distortion that useful, but the amplitude modulation is pretty decent and the sample rate reduction is one of the best effects in the OT. Itās not fancy, but the possibilities with modulation and plocks and the crossfader are great, you can really play the aliasing like an instrument in a way I havenāt found with other hardware or software that has sample rate reduction.
the EQās on the OT work better when the boosting or attenuating is at a low level, changing the gain by no more than a value of 7 or 8. seems to have a less drastic effect and thus more useful.
currently working on mixing all tracks monaural so therefore i donāt use the spatialiser as 1/ still donāt quite understand it, and 2/ i think it is a stereo effect. not sure. Also when using Chorus i need to remember to set the Width of the Chorus to be zero as by default it is max.
Just out of curiosity, why do you mix monaural? Routing individual tracks to individual outputs for further processing?
itās great for knowing how a mix is going to sound in a live performance from the two speakers on the left and the right of the stage or the dj booth.
with no panning of instruments, the shape and rhythm interactions of the sound is going to be slightly more easily measurable in the studio, before taking it to the playing in a venue scenario.
each venue sounds different, and to some degree, that is the placement of the speakers in each individually shaped room with its own reverberation areas, etc. [insert knowledge sound engineer rave here].
the benefits of stereo are desirable, but for now iām cool with monaural mixing.
played the maiden voyage gig tonight at a local talent night.
didnāt know how quite to explain for the cool mixing fellow how loud the Octatrackās output is compared to a guitar or microphone signal. I should have said itās ten times the sound pressure level so essentially everything should be less than five on the input and main volume.
evened things out after a minute or two, and removed some bass with the in-house mixing deskās 3 band.
first time hearing the tunes in progress through a venue sound system.
it was cool.
some of the audio preps required immediate filtering and dj eq effect to ensure the mix was warm and not harsh. anyway the essential value of a monaural mix came into play then, as i could trust the mix of sound from any angle in relation to the speakers, more so than if the mix were stereo track sections.
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The term is āline levelā - cool mixing fellows often have a ādirect inā box that skips the guitar/mic preamp. Sweet that you played a show!
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two boxes, the OT and the se02, perfect for fun.
already planning next weekās gig ā¦ and this time go next level, play 20 minutes.
would i like to bring the MD, OB6, and QY700?
yes if someone else did the leads and connections and all it required was to walk onto stage and perform then go have a Pina Colada.
i was chilling out in the park with some friends unexpectedly getting high on the local herb, (quite an irregular activity for me these days so it was special) and the sound guy rocked up.
it was a fabulous scene, everyone seemed to be very abundant.
sound guy says āyouāve got ten minutes left, as thereās been ten minutes of silence while we searched for you.ā
very cool.
āwell you better have one more toke then fuck off and play!ā suggests one of the sensational compadres. and that is what i did.
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