I just recently got a Rytm Mk2, and the Elektron sequencer workflow has been a breath of fresh air. I thought I was just bad at using sequencers, but turns out Elektron is just on to something...
Recently got mine and I understand both the insanity of the workflow and the power. Looping audio real time and mangling it in real time really cements it in my own setup.
I gotta say this is my favorite overview video of this machine I've seen, and I've seen a lot. Between the deluge, OP-1, and OTmk2, I went with this as my first groove box and in the end I'm so glad I did because it grew with me with every piece of equipment I learned (shoutout to Maths and Digitakt). Your points really resonated with me, a lot of hard earned knowledge went into this. Thanks for sharing!
I've been through dozens of videos and various writeups on this general topic recently and you provide a refreshing amount of clarity. Thank you! Having only ever used a Circuit Tracks as far as electronic sequencing goes and finding it frustratingly limited in pretty much every respect, the Octatrack sure sounds appealing and the way you talk about it reminds me of learning to program the Zoia, where it can be anything from a simple tremolo to generative modular synth setup depending upon how you program it and anything not needed can just not be included. Not that I'm closer to pulling the trigger on it- ok, maybe a little bit.
I actually had a great time learning the Octatrack. I got it in the beginning of the pandemic and was hiding for days to learn it. Now I feel quite comfortable with it and it became the heart of my Liveset. I use it as a performance mixer, fx box( yeah most fx are crap, but it still does a few things right), as a sampler and for sequencing aswell. I never touched the arranger and probably won’t ever😅. As and addition I have to say that the Polyend Tracker’s Sequencer is even a bit crazier and the device still has its own synthesis and sampling capabilities…I hope there will be an OT Mk3 with better FX and better timestrech algorithm.
I got an Octatrack a couple days ago. I have ~10 years of experience making music with a DAW and have been slowly incorporating more hardware synthesizers into my setup, to replace some of the software and to get the tactility and immediacy of hardware. I want to play my tunes to a crowd, but never loked DJing. Live performance, however seemed interesting to me. Unfortunately, with MIDI controllers there was always something that was lacking there for me. After all DAWs are meant to be interfaced with using a mouse and keyboard, even Ableton Live (idk, maybe Push finally got some things right). Then I remembered the Octatrack. Having re-examined the capabilities of it, it felt like I just struck gold. It seems like a perfect glue for my hardware setup and a live performance machine that can live up to the arrangement complexity that I'm used to from the DAW world, even though it clearly isn't a "DAW in a box". I have never bought a piece of gear that quickly after starting considering it. So far I'm loving it. I can sequence all my gear, sample it, arrange into patterns, then resample the stuff I made, playback longer stems and then there's the crossfader which really adds to the performance. I'm hoping one day I could play a full-blown set with an Octatrack and Super 6 connected together. Maybe Minibrute 2S as well, but managing it without preset memory might be a bit too overhelming for me given all the other stuff I would have to do with OT and S6 at the same time.
I have had a lot of gear as a guitarist, and I watched Knob's Octatrack video, and then pondered the investment, over the Digitakt which was cheaper and why was the Octatrack better. For me what I love is the composition power of the Octatrack. I know nothing else like it, 8 minutes RAM of flex recording, yes you have to change a few settings to accommodate that, i think all tracks have 1 minute, but if I have a chord sequence of so many bars, lets say sixteen, the Octatrack has a way of accommodating my chord sequence, likewise if I have it already recorded it, I can take it from the Static machine, plant it in the Flex, and manipulate it structure, or even just use LFO's or, effects both internally and externally. It allows me to recraft my recorded guitar music. Its so inspiring, and now I have the digitakt as well, which feels like i can free up some tracks, but what am I saying, of course you can free up tracks because you can mix down so easily, save it to static and recall it, and continue with eight tracks or rather six, due to one for Static playback, and one for master track. This piece of gear is tremendously of the now, even after a decade, it works so well.
Awesome! I love hearing how everyone uses it. As I mentioned in the video, my favorite feature is the flexibility to be so many things. Thank so much for watching!!
My perfect setup that I find most flexible with my Octa: (Digitakt) t1: through t2: neighbour. (Syntakt/Bassline) t3: through t4: neighbour. T5/6/7: static or flex (for samples). T8 is my master and re-sampler. Soooooo awesome! Also, trig-less trigs have spoiled me. Great way to add control over your LFOs!
You can also use the cue out as a clock sync. I use it to sync my dfam. But well said, i think that people are overwhelmed with the OT features and get demotivated because they are not using it all. Settle with the features you like for workflow!
My Octatrack was my second piece of gear - I had no idea what I was getting into and had a lot of struggles - but I do love it …. Would welcome any in depth content on best way to tweak the different effect parameters - I still get a bit lost! Thanks for the video.
So glad that the mighty Algo brought you to me.. Still thinking on the OT, and thank you for that explanation. Your channel btw, all about Awesomeness!
one year hard training with the octa and im thinking I barely scatched the surface.. its an amazing machine, will be the king of samplers for a long time.. its a beautiful instruments that needs to be learned.. a guitar or piano is not learned in a few months..
What an extensive message of love to the Octatrack. There are a lot of caveats and complicated workarounds (it took the community years to develop the live performance template, with the genius Cenk/Dataline at the beginning) but the fact that you use it in your live setup speaks a lot against the „bad audio converter“ discussion
The Octatrak is on sale and I am fighting internally on whether to buy it. I owned it for an extremely short time before, but I buy and sell stuff a lot and that’s one that I didn’t take time to learn it. I have a lot of music, about 18 years worth, that I might want to bounce some stems to and run through the machine and play out live (if I ever start to get gigs again lol) I know it does so many things and can be a mixer, sampler, and love looper. The struggle is real on whether or not to try it again.
I’m strongly considering buying one - I’ve been looking for years for something that can live loop and also run drum sequences - particularly a step sequencer, all in one. This seems to be the closest thing to it. One question I have though… can one of the outputs be dedicated to the internal metronome? I’m looking to use it with a band, and having a click that’s not in the main mix is a non negotiable.
Sounds like it would be a good fit for what you need. Yes, you can set the metronome to go out of the 'cue' output in the settings. This keeps the regular outputs for other things. Thanks for watching!
I connected a midi fighter 3D to it with a usb to midi converter. Unfortunately the midi fighter doesn’t play notes lower the C0. So I got an arduino and a midi hat and wrote some code to convert each note to two octaves lower.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspectives. I had assumed that the Octatrack would be like a Digitakt but better. Not so! I think a different piece of equipment will suit my needs. You just saved me a lot of heart ache. I have a Rytm and I love it. I want to fill out the my instrumentation with more melodic and textural components. Maybe an Analog Four, maybe a Digitone, maybe a Digitakt. Still figuring it out… Cheers
Glad it was helpful! Depending what you are looking to do texturally, it might not even be an Elektron box you are looking for. Octatrack is really the only one that handles time stretching of longer samples. If you are looking for just testers you might check out a granular synth like the 1010 Lemondrop, and if samples are your preference but you want less expensive and solid, check the 1010 Blackbox. THanks for watching!
I had one MK1 for 5 years, i had a ton of fun and loved it for what it could be, but the sortcomings were tremendously frustrating. The midi sequencer is nice but only being able to record 4 notes at the same time, the live sample looper had BPM issues.... It seemed almost everything i wanted it to do ended up in some situation that i would just think "they have done this fantastic machine why didn't they do this or that this way", it was almost like the genious human brain that designed that machine operated different from mine, and simple things that i thought should be there were not. Eventually had to sell it..
This is exactly the point I have reached with it; it's an amazing machine, I've seen people make great things with it, but the ways in which I wanted to use it always present some issue. Spend hours trying to figure out a work around, or if I'm doing something wrong which definitely happened plenty of times too, just to learn that it is unable to do a simple thing among all the madness. Been looking for a (reasonable) buyer for a couple of weeks now...😅
Well explained - we share the same thoughts on the OT! The secret is - as you say - you don´t have to use ALL the functions at once. And performing with EZBOT´s template is soo much fun, it can keep me up all night haha.
Are you not bound by the number of tracks of a piece/song, or is there a workaround? Limited tracks has always been a nightmare for me. Getting a degree in composition (traditional and electroacoustic) is probably the reason for limited track phobia.
It depends if you are using the Octatrack alone or with other gear. There are 8 audio tracks and 8 midi tracks for sequencing other gear. If you are just clocking other gear there are no real limits to how many pieces you add. But yes, the OT has 8 tracks
@@SURCOlive perhaps recording Octa audio tracks, then send the tracks to Maschine, as 'clips'. You could then 'quickly' arrange all the Octa based clips within the Maschine project/arrangement. If this much is possible, there may be a way to trigger those clips via the Octa sequencers. I'm gonna try this with other gear to see if I can quickly get clips into Maschine, then triggered via my Beatstep. Hmmmm
I bought the dm12d and Akai Force both at a deal i couldn't pass on.. but I no idea I needed to be on the lookout for Elektronic's gear especially the octatrak. You've given me my first fomo or wishing i had known about the octa lol... it's all good I'm learning and it been on another level kind of fun. The DM12d was my first synth and I had to buy a midikb to use it but boy did it blow my mind when i first started seeing the flow and capabilities. The Force has been a little more challenging but im getting it ..just when you think you know enough you find more stuff it can do. I definitely want daw freedon if i can stay that course ..thanks for the content and the tip. I like hearing those words when there's no affiliate link ..."can't live without it" lol
i mean: how many pieces of gear that have entered the market 10 years ago have gone without a hardware/software revision and are still state of the art today. There has never been a machine with such a deep and forward thinking design principle. there is just one design edit i would do for future revisions and that would be a display that actually uses the full space available on the front plate and a midi clip record&export function.
When I think of electron I just think 🤔 man I love there sequencers, in my dreams I think if the mpc one had the effects of the sp with a electron sequencer that be cool 😂
Hey Ty! Basically everything is set up as a 'palette' of sounds I can mix and match as I feel like to create improvised tracks live. Nothing is designed to go with anything on another machine, and there are no program changes sequenced. Every machine is an individual instrument that is only tempo synched to the others. I have my DT set up with each 'pattern' just being a different set of sounds. I keep similar sounds in the same place all the time (Kicks on track 1, Closed Hats on 6, etc). I have some set with basic patterns like 4 on the floor kick, but others are blank (or sometimes have the last sequence I forgot to erase). This gives me 16 drum kits to chose from on the 16 tracks. The DN has similar sets of 4 sounds with bass sounds on T1, lead sounds on T2, etc. I have the tracks set to the same key so whatever I sequence in live with go together. None of the 'Patterns' (sets of sounds) on the DT or DN are set to go with anything specific on the other. They can all be mixed and matched live depending on what I'm feeling and how the crowd reacts. The 1010 Blackbox has long samples set up as launch able clips that are time stretched. These are in 3 categories- Atmospheric drones (for background ambiance), Interesting hits (a big horn or stab every few bars), or Vocals. These are in 'Presets' or banks of 16 samples that I can switch between live. They are all going through the Bigsky reverb to push them to the back of the mix and add ambiance. The Quadrantid Swarm is tempo synched, but nothing else. No presets, and not sequenced by anything. It is totally rogue and improvisational to really play with during the sets. It goes off the rails sometimes, but that's part of the fun! The Octatrack is what allows me to organize things using effects and live loops as I mentioned in the video. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching!
For me personally, I thiiiinkk I would like to use the Octatrack as my one Elektron box and pair it with the modular. It is more of a focus and workflow need for me to keep it simple. Octatrack would act as a sub mixer (from a main mixer's sub out, which also has aux sends to effects pedals that return to mixer channels). So a modular and poly synth can go to a mixer, then be available for live loop and more on the Octatrack. I think the modular would be the primary focus, but Octatrack is there to play a supporting role. Thoughts? Thanks a bunch!
That is basically how I’m using it but with an added Digitakt for drums since my modular isn’t set up for drums. Love that workflow. It allows for so much improvisation live. Thanks for watching!!
Great summary of this extraordinary piece of gear. Personally I'm a bit frustrated about using this device, because it lacks so little to become the perfect machine. Still trying to focus on its strengths rather than shortcomings (4 stereo inputs please). That's the beauty of hardware I guess ;)
Thanks for making this video. When you perform live, is it possible to engage the octatrack without looking at the screen? I want the ability to perform mixing and fx through muscle memory not a screen. Wondering if a hardware mixer is a better route. But I would try to use that looping / transitioning feature in the octatrack as well, but again, I want to be able to do the performing without looking at that screen while doing whatever live.
Glad you liked it. Yes, I’ve used a few different midi controllers to map to deeper functions in the Octatrack. The Faderfox PC12 gets you the most knobs. There is a slider version too. The less expensive route is the Novation Launch Control XL. Super easy to set up using their software, then disconnect from the computer and connect to the OT. Let me know how it goes. Thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive Appreciate the quick reply and info. I just ordered a used OT and a used Syntakt. One other question about the OT. With all the things it can do, have you experienced any glitch or the OT stops because its over worked? I have not and just wondered if I can can rely on the OT to handle some big live duties at the same time.
Haha! I found you Brian! I just got an Octatrack as well and I’ve been trying to watch every video to just try and figure out what I’m gonna do with it. And here I thought I was just buying a crazy and scary sampler.
@@patfinn2697 I'm not sure what this says about my mental health... I also recently got a DSI Tempest. Well, I know why. I appreciate that the complexity offers functionality not available anywhere else in a device. Plus I love the sound of the Tempest.
Thanks for your thoughts. One question: What do you think about the sound quality coming out of this, when using as a mixer. Imagine some heavy hitting analog synths and an analog rytm for example. Is there in issue when everything is summed internally? Some kind of losing something?
I run the final master out through the Analog Heat and it sounds really good. I’m sure with the 10 year old technology in the Octatrack there is some loss, but it has never been an issue for my use case. Thanks for watching!
After more than 12 years, how probable is it a modernized version of this device to come out (maybe by other company), by providing enhanced haptic control for live performance (e.g. jog-wheel) and updated technology (e.g. storage & CPU, MIDI-jack, USB audio, Overbridge, ...)?
Not likely that a modernized version will come out as Elektron is using an entirely different software platform now. I would expect to see Elektron make something new that incorporates much of what the OT does, but not for a while. As far as another company, they e tried but not with much success with the OT crowd. Thanks for watching.
They are totally different machines that do totally different things (other than sequencing). I use the Octatrack as my performance mixer in every live setup no matter what other gear I’m using. Syntakt is my go to synth for live because it has 12 individual voices in one box. My current live setup is Perkons for drums, Syntakt for drums and melodics, Modular for drums and melodics, and Octatrack as the performance mixer. Thanks so much for watching.
Lol I must say I fall into the third category - I am TOTALLY intimidated by this device! I am curious - would there be MK3 at some point? How many people use it to play live? I am ordering the Digitakt now so am very curious how will this work! If it works well, then give me another 20 years and I will be ready to get the Octatrack!
It’s very intimidating for sure but only because it does so much. :) I played a recent live show with 5 artists and there was and Octatrack (and 1010 Blackbox) in all of our setups. Digitakt is a great way to start with Elektron gear. I hope you love it!
The more comments I read and (more or less successful music making) friends I had telling me its too complicated the more I wanted it. I like learning new things/gear. I started with buying a DT first two years ago and spent a good amount of time with it that I now feel very comfortable. After having the OT on my watchlist for over a year and watching lots of tutorials I finally committed and it arrived two days ago. I spent all of my free time reading the manual and watching videos on specific things it can do. Took a nap in between and ended up dreaming about different ways of setting it up haha The fact that you can use it in so many ways bothers me the most. Constantly thinking about what would be the best setup for my workflow..I am super excited :)
I am kinda interested in the Octa, but I'd be lying if I said it's not a bit of a shaky sell. To be honest, if its sequencer was polyphonic in the same way as the Digitakt, I'd go for it without hesitation. I could get a Digitakt, but i'm afraid that the Rytm would make a lot of what the DT does redundant.
Love the Octatrack. I mastered it about 10 years ago learning it in and out and used in various combination but now I use mainly it's MIDI sequencer to play mainly my drum machines and using it to sync other hardware with a sequncer, X0X style sequencers are nice for drums but I find very immediate to hit record and record drums hits in real time, then adjust them. I also use drum samples (mostly using slices of drum hits I sampled) and parameter lock is fantastic, but hardly use for melodic or synth sound nowadays, 2 octaves only is too much limiting IMO. And I also use the inputs for fxs of external stuff. Never used the song mode, I always changed the patterns on the fly, but I don't plat very complex music. In many occasion I felt that although it's brilliant an updated version would be cool, a lot of things can be done better, but anyone has it's own prefered workflow...
Yeah I wish this would be fixed but they’ve said it’s not possible in the software. I guess we have to have for a newly redesigned from the ground up MK3. :)
It depends on the kind of sampling you mean. Octatrack is probably the best sample ‘mangler’ out there, but without pressure sensitive pads it is bad for finger drumming samples. The MPCs, SP404 MK2 and Maschine are much better for that. For time stretching and playing long samples like Ableton clips the 1010 Blackbox is great. For sample editing and ‘chopping’ MPC rules the roost, but Maschine and SP404 MK2 are also there. Digitakt is great for one shots but not longer samples. I love layering samples with drum synths in the Analog Rytm, then resampling them internally as new samples. There is no one size fits all. It all comes down to what kind of sample workflow you are looking for. Thanks so much for watching!!
@@SURCOlive Thanks for the detailed answer. Much appreciated! I have a Digitone and really enjoy combining sequencing and live recording, but I also enjoy finger drumming my ideas out before fleshing it out into a full arrangement in Live or Studio One. I've been using a midi keyboard for finger drumming so far. Maybe SP404 MK2 or a future Push3 could work well? Or maybe even the Analog Rytm? Consider me confused.
Hey Manu! There is actually a link in the description to EZbot's UA-cam channel. If you subscribe to his Patreon you can download it for free from there. He's updating and doing different versions all the time. Thanks so much for watching!
Maschine is a great option if you are working with a computer and not looking for a stand alone unit. Maschine+ has a lot of sound and playing options but it is heavy, not battery powered, and there have been a lot of complaints about not having enough processing power to run the robust software. If you are already in the Maschine eco system and workflow, it can be a good option. Thanks for watching!
@@SURCOlive Thanks for answering. You have the same opinion as me. I find Octatrack not worth today as it needs a refresh for those of us that value PC transfer, but it looks like the creator of the device is no longer in the company. I’m working with Maschine MK3 and probably upgrading to Maschine + if the hardware inside gets an upgrade. Cheers from Madrid.
I would be surprised if we ever see a MK3 as the software platform is not being used anymore by Elektron. I could see an all new machine at some point that does some of these things but they have moved away from the ‘one box to rule them all’ model in favor of more specialized machines all using the same sequencer and workflow. Thanks for watching!
IMO the UI and the terminology make the OT way more confusing than it needs to be. As a result, It is the most unintuitive machine I have ever used. It really shouldn't take half a day to figure out what REC1, REC2, REC3 do (those names are just god awful) and how you can actually record something (and know that you recorded it).
@@SURCOlive That’s an excellent point. Also I might just not be in the right mindset so it might be better for me to put it aside and pick it up again later. I’d probably regret selling it.
It really comes down to what you want to do with it. There are machines that do each thing the OT does better than the OT, but there is nothing that does all of them in one machine like the OT. It’s truly unique in the gear world. One common mistake is trying to get it to do everything at once. I always say it’s like a Swiss Army knife. It has a spoon, a knife, scissors, and a toothpick but you shouldn’t try to use all of those things at the same time. If you need a spoon it’s a spoon. If you need a knife it’s a knife, if you need scissors it’s scissors. The OT is like that. It can be a sampler, resampler, looper, sequencer, drum machine, effect processor, performance mixer, song arranger, controller etc. but not at the same time. ;)
Sequencer totally dated, needs to be updated to match digitakt… quantize (totally whacked), per track probability, easily record unquantize without menu diving, midi notes diff length, live record missing first note if slightly early, prog change message on any step… if they fixed that, it would be up to date and way better… its such a great box…
Unfortunately these things will likely never get fixed. The OS for the new boxes is difference from the ground up compared to Octatrack. Also the engineer who designed the software is no longer there. OT is what it is and will always be. I love mine. Thanks so much for watching!
this machine is too big a pair of shoes for 90% of musicians, but it is the one piece of equipment you will probably never outgrow once you have found it's place within your setup
this is an epic video... and then you realise you didn't push play once. Outstanding. will trade again.
re-watching this because you've put it in my head to get one.
The one machine I would never sell.
I just recently got a Rytm Mk2, and the Elektron sequencer workflow has been a breath of fresh air. I thought I was just bad at using sequencers, but turns out Elektron is just on to something...
Brilliant! This is by far the best video on the Octatrack I've seen. Thank you
Recently got mine and I understand both the insanity of the workflow and the power.
Looping audio real time and mangling it in real time really cements it in my own setup.
I gotta say this is my favorite overview video of this machine I've seen, and I've seen a lot. Between the deluge, OP-1, and OTmk2, I went with this as my first groove box and in the end I'm so glad I did because it grew with me with every piece of equipment I learned (shoutout to Maths and Digitakt). Your points really resonated with me, a lot of hard earned knowledge went into this. Thanks for sharing!
I've been through dozens of videos and various writeups on this general topic recently and you provide a refreshing amount of clarity. Thank you! Having only ever used a Circuit Tracks as far as electronic sequencing goes and finding it frustratingly limited in pretty much every respect, the Octatrack sure sounds appealing and the way you talk about it reminds me of learning to program the Zoia, where it can be anything from a simple tremolo to generative modular synth setup depending upon how you program it and anything not needed can just not be included.
Not that I'm closer to pulling the trigger on it- ok, maybe a little bit.
The greatest attribute of the OT imo has to be the transition trick.
I actually had a great time learning the Octatrack. I got it in the beginning of the pandemic and was hiding for days to learn it. Now I feel quite comfortable with it and it became the heart of my Liveset. I use it as a performance mixer, fx box( yeah most fx are crap, but it still does a few things right), as a sampler and for sequencing aswell. I never touched the arranger and probably won’t ever😅. As and addition I have to say that the Polyend Tracker’s Sequencer is even a bit crazier and the device still has its own synthesis and sampling capabilities…I hope there will be an OT Mk3 with better FX and better timestrech algorithm.
I got an Octatrack a couple days ago. I have ~10 years of experience making music with a DAW and have been slowly incorporating more hardware synthesizers into my setup, to replace some of the software and to get the tactility and immediacy of hardware. I want to play my tunes to a crowd, but never loked DJing. Live performance, however seemed interesting to me. Unfortunately, with MIDI controllers there was always something that was lacking there for me. After all DAWs are meant to be interfaced with using a mouse and keyboard, even Ableton Live (idk, maybe Push finally got some things right).
Then I remembered the Octatrack. Having re-examined the capabilities of it, it felt like I just struck gold. It seems like a perfect glue for my hardware setup and a live performance machine that can live up to the arrangement complexity that I'm used to from the DAW world, even though it clearly isn't a "DAW in a box". I have never bought a piece of gear that quickly after starting considering it.
So far I'm loving it. I can sequence all my gear, sample it, arrange into patterns, then resample the stuff I made, playback longer stems and then there's the crossfader which really adds to the performance. I'm hoping one day I could play a full-blown set with an Octatrack and Super 6 connected together. Maybe Minibrute 2S as well, but managing it without preset memory might be a bit too overhelming for me given all the other stuff I would have to do with OT and S6 at the same time.
Awesome! I’m so glad you are having fun!
I have had a lot of gear as a guitarist, and I watched Knob's Octatrack video, and then pondered the investment, over the Digitakt which was cheaper and why was the Octatrack better. For me what I love is the composition power of the Octatrack. I know nothing else like it, 8 minutes RAM of flex recording, yes you have to change a few settings to accommodate that, i think all tracks have 1 minute, but if I have a chord sequence of so many bars, lets say sixteen, the Octatrack has a way of accommodating my chord sequence, likewise if I have it already recorded it, I can take it from the Static machine, plant it in the Flex, and manipulate it structure, or even just use LFO's or, effects both internally and externally. It allows me to recraft my recorded guitar music. Its so inspiring, and now I have the digitakt as well, which feels like i can free up some tracks, but what am I saying, of course you can free up tracks because you can mix down so easily, save it to static and recall it, and continue with eight tracks or rather six, due to one for Static playback, and one for master track. This piece of gear is tremendously of the now, even after a decade, it works so well.
Awesome! I love hearing how everyone uses it. As I mentioned in the video, my favorite feature is the flexibility to be so many things. Thank so much for watching!!
@macabre2007 - are you using a foot controller to do live looping? I’m considering buying one, and wondering how this could work?
Really appreciate your thoughts! thank you.
My perfect setup that I find most flexible with my Octa: (Digitakt) t1: through t2: neighbour. (Syntakt/Bassline) t3: through t4: neighbour. T5/6/7: static or flex (for samples). T8 is my master and re-sampler. Soooooo awesome!
Also, trig-less trigs have spoiled me. Great way to add control over your LFOs!
Sounds great! I have a similar routing, but T7 is set up as a live looper for transitions.
You can also use the cue out as a clock sync. I use it to sync my dfam. But well said, i think that people are overwhelmed with the OT features and get demotivated because they are not using it all. Settle with the features you like for workflow!
Thanks for the tip, and thanks so much for watching!
I like this tip a lot
My Octatrack was my second piece of gear - I had no idea what I was getting into and had a lot of struggles - but I do love it …. Would welcome any in depth content on best way to tweak the different effect parameters - I still get a bit lost! Thanks for the video.
So glad that the mighty Algo brought you to me.. Still thinking on the OT, and thank you for that explanation. Your channel btw, all about Awesomeness!
Thanks so much for watching!!
one year hard training with the octa and im thinking I barely scatched the surface.. its an amazing machine, will be the king of samplers for a long time..
its a beautiful instruments that needs to be learned.. a guitar or piano is not learned in a few months..
I understand. A4 mk1, that screen is like reading codes. Thank goodness there is a video manual from Mac Pro Video. I never read the manual.
What an extensive message of love to the Octatrack. There are a lot of caveats and complicated workarounds (it took the community years to develop the live performance template, with the genius Cenk/Dataline at the beginning) but the fact that you use it in your live setup speaks a lot against the „bad audio converter“ discussion
Great vid as Always, thanks for the time put to have such a detailed opinion :)
Thank you for taking your time to watch!!
You told me everything I wanted to know, thank you!
I'm so glad! Thanks for watching!
I use it exactly the same way as you! I use the EZbot template too! But now I can build it myself!
It is so good. Not sure I could do it as well as him. He's really a master with the OT! Thanks for watching!
The Octatrak is on sale and I am fighting internally on whether to buy it. I owned it for an extremely short time before, but I buy and sell stuff a lot and that’s one that I didn’t take time to learn it. I have a lot of music, about 18 years worth, that I might want to bounce some stems to and run through the machine and play out live (if I ever start to get gigs again lol) I know it does so many things and can be a mixer, sampler, and love looper. The struggle is real on whether or not to try it again.
I’m strongly considering buying one - I’ve been looking for years for something that can live loop and also run drum sequences - particularly a step sequencer, all in one. This seems to be the closest thing to it. One question I have though… can one of the outputs be dedicated to the internal metronome? I’m looking to use it with a band, and having a click that’s not in the main mix is a non negotiable.
Sounds like it would be a good fit for what you need. Yes, you can set the metronome to go out of the 'cue' output in the settings. This keeps the regular outputs for other things. Thanks for watching!
Nailed it. :)
I connected a midi fighter 3D to it with a usb to midi converter. Unfortunately the midi fighter doesn’t play notes lower the C0. So I got an arduino and a midi hat and wrote some code to convert each note to two octaves lower.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspectives. I had assumed that the Octatrack would be like a Digitakt but better. Not so! I think a different piece of equipment will suit my needs. You just saved me a lot of heart ache. I have a Rytm and I love it. I want to fill out the my instrumentation with more melodic and textural components. Maybe an Analog Four, maybe a Digitone, maybe a Digitakt. Still figuring it out… Cheers
Glad it was helpful! Depending what you are looking to do texturally, it might not even be an Elektron box you are looking for. Octatrack is really the only one that handles time stretching of longer samples. If you are looking for just testers you might check out a granular synth like the 1010 Lemondrop, and if samples are your preference but you want less expensive and solid, check the 1010 Blackbox. THanks for watching!
I had one MK1 for 5 years, i had a ton of fun and loved it for what it could be, but the sortcomings were tremendously frustrating. The midi sequencer is nice but only being able to record 4 notes at the same time, the live sample looper had BPM issues.... It seemed almost everything i wanted it to do ended up in some situation that i would just think "they have done this fantastic machine why didn't they do this or that this way", it was almost like the genious human brain that designed that machine operated different from mine, and simple things that i thought should be there were not. Eventually had to sell it..
Luckily for all of us there are so many options for gear today. We all get what works best for us! Thanks so much for watching!
This is exactly the point I have reached with it; it's an amazing machine, I've seen people make great things with it, but the ways in which I wanted to use it always present some issue. Spend hours trying to figure out a work around, or if I'm doing something wrong which definitely happened plenty of times too, just to learn that it is unable to do a simple thing among all the madness. Been looking for a (reasonable) buyer for a couple of weeks now...😅
Well explained - we share the same thoughts on the OT! The secret is - as you say - you don´t have to use ALL the functions at once. And performing with EZBOT´s template is soo much fun, it can keep me up all night haha.
Exactly! Thank you so much for watching!!
Are you not bound by the number of tracks of a piece/song, or is there a workaround?
Limited tracks has always been a nightmare for me. Getting a degree in composition (traditional and electroacoustic) is probably the reason for limited track phobia.
It depends if you are using the Octatrack alone or with other gear. There are 8 audio tracks and 8 midi tracks for sequencing other gear. If you are just clocking other gear there are no real limits to how many pieces you add. But yes, the OT has 8 tracks
@@SURCOlive perhaps recording Octa audio tracks, then send the tracks to Maschine, as 'clips'. You could then 'quickly' arrange all the Octa based clips within the Maschine project/arrangement. If this much is possible, there may be a way to trigger those clips via the Octa sequencers. I'm gonna try this with other gear to see if I can quickly get clips into Maschine, then triggered via my Beatstep. Hmmmm
I bought the dm12d and Akai Force both at a deal i couldn't pass on.. but I no idea I needed to be on the lookout for Elektronic's gear especially the octatrak. You've given me my first fomo or wishing i had known about the octa lol... it's all good I'm learning and it been on another level kind of fun. The DM12d was my first synth and I had to buy a midikb to use it but boy did it blow my mind when i first started seeing the flow and capabilities. The Force has been a little more challenging but im getting it ..just when you think you know enough you find more stuff it can do. I definitely want daw freedon if i can stay that course ..thanks for the content and the tip. I like hearing those words when there's no affiliate link ..."can't live without it" lol
Glad you are having fun in this crazy hardware world. Thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive oh yeah .. lots of gear fomo and the exploration is endless
Great, inspiring and intimidating machine it is.
Unmatched
Great video
Thanks!
i mean: how many pieces of gear that have entered the market 10 years ago have gone without a hardware/software revision and are still state of the art today. There has never been a machine with such a deep and forward thinking design principle. there is just one design edit i would do for future revisions and that would be a display that actually uses the full space available on the front plate and a midi clip record&export function.
Surco is the Jocko Willink of electronic music.
Miss u man
When I think of electron I just think 🤔 man I love there sequencers, in my dreams I think if the mpc one had the effects of the sp with a electron sequencer that be cool 😂
In our dreams we all have our perfect gear. Haha
I'm going through and watching all of your videos. Very well informed and interesting to someone like me who is getting started in electronic music.
Awesome! I glad you are getting something from them. Thank you so much for watching!!
Just got one yesterday it’s overwhelming but I don’t think it’s as hard as UA-camrs have claimed. But I have been using gear for a minute.
it’s not hard, it’s just deep. you’ll get it. and the time spent is well worth it! thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive yes sir. Very true I feel you.
Loved hearing that all your sets are improvised. Could you share more on that? How much are you starting with and how much right from scratch?
Hey Ty! Basically everything is set up as a 'palette' of sounds I can mix and match as I feel like to create improvised tracks live. Nothing is designed to go with anything on another machine, and there are no program changes sequenced. Every machine is an individual instrument that is only tempo synched to the others. I have my DT set up with each 'pattern' just being a different set of sounds. I keep similar sounds in the same place all the time (Kicks on track 1, Closed Hats on 6, etc). I have some set with basic patterns like 4 on the floor kick, but others are blank (or sometimes have the last sequence I forgot to erase). This gives me 16 drum kits to chose from on the 16 tracks. The DN has similar sets of 4 sounds with bass sounds on T1, lead sounds on T2, etc. I have the tracks set to the same key so whatever I sequence in live with go together. None of the 'Patterns' (sets of sounds) on the DT or DN are set to go with anything specific on the other. They can all be mixed and matched live depending on what I'm feeling and how the crowd reacts. The 1010 Blackbox has long samples set up as launch able clips that are time stretched. These are in 3 categories- Atmospheric drones (for background ambiance), Interesting hits (a big horn or stab every few bars), or Vocals. These are in 'Presets' or banks of 16 samples that I can switch between live. They are all going through the Bigsky reverb to push them to the back of the mix and add ambiance. The Quadrantid Swarm is tempo synched, but nothing else. No presets, and not sequenced by anything. It is totally rogue and improvisational to really play with during the sets. It goes off the rails sometimes, but that's part of the fun! The Octatrack is what allows me to organize things using effects and live loops as I mentioned in the video. I hope this helps. Thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive what an awesome info/response !
For me personally, I thiiiinkk I would like to use the Octatrack as my one Elektron box and pair it with the modular. It is more of a focus and workflow need for me to keep it simple. Octatrack would act as a sub mixer (from a main mixer's sub out, which also has aux sends to effects pedals that return to mixer channels). So a modular and poly synth can go to a mixer, then be available for live loop and more on the Octatrack. I think the modular would be the primary focus, but Octatrack is there to play a supporting role. Thoughts? Thanks a bunch!
That is basically how I’m using it but with an added Digitakt for drums since my modular isn’t set up for drums. Love that workflow. It allows for so much improvisation live. Thanks for watching!!
@@SURCOlive Awesome. Thanks so much! I appreciate it
Great summary of this extraordinary piece of gear. Personally I'm a bit frustrated about using this device, because it lacks so little to become the perfect machine. Still trying to focus on its strengths rather than shortcomings (4 stereo inputs please). That's the beauty of hardware I guess ;)
Thanks for making this video. When you perform live, is it possible to engage the octatrack without looking at the screen? I want the ability to perform mixing and fx through muscle memory not a screen. Wondering if a hardware mixer is a better route. But I would try to use that looping / transitioning feature in the octatrack as well, but again, I want to be able to do the performing without looking at that screen while doing whatever live.
Glad you liked it. Yes, I’ve used a few different midi controllers to map to deeper functions in the Octatrack. The Faderfox PC12 gets you the most knobs. There is a slider version too. The less expensive route is the Novation Launch Control XL. Super easy to set up using their software, then disconnect from the computer and connect to the OT. Let me know how it goes. Thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive Appreciate the quick reply and info. I just ordered a used OT and a used Syntakt. One other question about the OT. With all the things it can do, have you experienced any glitch or the OT stops because its over worked? I have not and just wondered if I can can rely on the OT to handle some big live duties at the same time.
@@blindianajones never had a glitch other than me messing things up. :)
Haha! I found you Brian! I just got an Octatrack as well and I’ve been trying to watch every video to just try and figure out what I’m gonna do with it. And here I thought I was just buying a crazy and scary sampler.
@@patfinn2697 I'm not sure what this says about my mental health... I also recently got a DSI Tempest. Well, I know why. I appreciate that the complexity offers functionality not available anywhere else in a device. Plus I love the sound of the Tempest.
Thanks for your thoughts.
One question: What do you think about the sound quality coming out of this, when using as a mixer. Imagine some heavy hitting analog synths and an analog rytm for example. Is there in issue when everything is summed internally? Some kind of losing something?
I run the final master out through the Analog Heat and it sounds really good. I’m sure with the 10 year old technology in the Octatrack there is some loss, but it has never been an issue for my use case. Thanks for watching!
After more than 12 years, how probable is it a modernized version of this device to come out (maybe by other company), by providing enhanced haptic control for live performance (e.g. jog-wheel) and updated technology (e.g. storage & CPU, MIDI-jack, USB audio, Overbridge, ...)?
Not likely that a modernized version will come out as Elektron is using an entirely different software platform now. I would expect to see Elektron make something new that incorporates much of what the OT does, but not for a while. As far as another company, they e tried but not with much success with the OT crowd. Thanks for watching.
Would you say that Syntakt is better? if you had to choose which one would you use in live performance environment?
They are totally different machines that do totally different things (other than sequencing). I use the Octatrack as my performance mixer in every live setup no matter what other gear I’m using. Syntakt is my go to synth for live because it has 12 individual voices in one box. My current live setup is Perkons for drums, Syntakt for drums and melodics, Modular for drums and melodics, and Octatrack as the performance mixer. Thanks so much for watching.
Lol I must say I fall into the third category - I am TOTALLY intimidated by this device!
I am curious - would there be MK3 at some point? How many people use it to play live?
I am ordering the Digitakt now so am very curious how will this work! If it works well, then give me another 20 years and I will be ready to get the Octatrack!
It’s very intimidating for sure but only because it does so much. :) I played a recent live show with 5 artists and there was and Octatrack (and 1010 Blackbox) in all of our setups. Digitakt is a great way to start with Elektron gear. I hope you love it!
The more comments I read and (more or less successful music making) friends I had telling me its too complicated the more I wanted it. I like learning new things/gear. I started with buying a DT first two years ago and spent a good amount of time with it that I now feel very comfortable. After having the OT on my watchlist for over a year and watching lots of tutorials I finally committed and it arrived two days ago. I spent all of my free time reading the manual and watching videos on specific things it can do. Took a nap in between and ended up dreaming about different ways of setting it up haha The fact that you can use it in so many ways bothers me the most. Constantly thinking about what would be the best setup for my workflow..I am super excited :)
l would like to be able to import midi files. I adore the Octatrack, it's never ending in a good way. Midi files are tiny... please Elektron!
That would be a great addition! Thanks for watching!
Can Syntakt's sequencer also to lock every step with individual amount of volume, fx, etc.?
Yes it is the same sequencer as the other ‘Digi’ boxes. Thanks for watching!
on rytm there is a limit to P locks, not sure what it is on octa. itll be a number
Do you think the mighty Octatrak could pair up/ play well with the Deluge?
I think both of those pair well with a ton of stuff. it all depends what you want to use them for. Both are Suuuuuuper powerful.
I am kinda interested in the Octa, but I'd be lying if I said it's not a bit of a shaky sell. To be honest, if its sequencer was polyphonic in the same way as the Digitakt, I'd go for it without hesitation. I could get a Digitakt, but i'm afraid that the Rytm would make a lot of what the DT does redundant.
Love the Octatrack. I mastered it about 10 years ago learning it in and out and used in various combination but now I use mainly it's MIDI sequencer to play mainly my drum machines and using it to sync other hardware with a sequncer, X0X style sequencers are nice for drums but I find very immediate to hit record and record drums hits in real time, then adjust them. I also use drum samples (mostly using slices of drum hits I sampled) and parameter lock is fantastic, but hardly use for melodic or synth sound nowadays, 2 octaves only is too much limiting IMO. And I also use the inputs for fxs of external stuff. Never used the song mode, I always changed the patterns on the fly, but I don't plat very complex music. In many occasion I felt that although it's brilliant an updated version would be cool, a lot of things can be done better, but anyone has it's own prefered workflow...
no overbridge/usb audio is the biggest gripe
Yeah I wish this would be fixed but they’ve said it’s not possible in the software. I guess we have to have for a newly redesigned from the ground up MK3. :)
Thanks for the vid! I use it like you except for the part of live looping, that I didn’t spend the right amount of time learning it O_o’
I love that we can all use it as we want. Thanks so much for watching!
Awesome~
Thanks for watching!
What gear is better at sampling than the Octatrack? SP404 MKII?
It depends on the kind of sampling you mean. Octatrack is probably the best sample ‘mangler’ out there, but without pressure sensitive pads it is bad for finger drumming samples. The MPCs, SP404 MK2 and Maschine are much better for that. For time stretching and playing long samples like Ableton clips the 1010 Blackbox is great. For sample editing and ‘chopping’ MPC rules the roost, but Maschine and SP404 MK2 are also there. Digitakt is great for one shots but not longer samples. I love layering samples with drum synths in the Analog Rytm, then resampling them internally as new samples. There is no one size fits all. It all comes down to what kind of sample workflow you are looking for. Thanks so much for watching!!
@@SURCOlive Thanks for the detailed answer. Much appreciated! I have a Digitone and really enjoy combining sequencing and live recording, but I also enjoy finger drumming my ideas out before fleshing it out into a full arrangement in Live or Studio One. I've been using a midi keyboard for finger drumming so far. Maybe SP404 MK2 or a future Push3 could work well? Or maybe even the Analog Rytm? Consider me confused.
where can I download the ezbot performance template ? thanks for this informative vid btw !
Hey Manu! There is actually a link in the description to EZbot's UA-cam channel. If you subscribe to his Patreon you can download it for free from there. He's updating and doing different versions all the time. Thanks so much for watching!
@@SURCOlive thanks for the info :-)
@@Manu-em6ed any time! Thanks for watching!
It’s a shame the max midi polyphony is 4 notes on one track. For this reason, I just use the octatrack midi to trigger smart pads on a squarp pyramid.
What do you think of Maschine and Maschine + ?
Maschine is a great option if you are working with a computer and not looking for a stand alone unit. Maschine+ has a lot of sound and playing options but it is heavy, not battery powered, and there have been a lot of complaints about not having enough processing power to run the robust software. If you are already in the Maschine eco system and workflow, it can be a good option. Thanks for watching!
@@SURCOlive Thanks for answering. You have the same opinion as me. I find Octatrack not worth today as it needs a refresh for those of us that value PC transfer, but it looks like the creator of the device is no longer in the company. I’m working with Maschine MK3 and probably upgrading to Maschine + if the hardware inside gets an upgrade. Cheers from Madrid.
@@AlPlatino I’m in Barcelona today! :)
im scared to buy one at this point for fear of a mk 3 release soon
I would be surprised if we ever see a MK3 as the software platform is not being used anymore by Elektron. I could see an all new machine at some point that does some of these things but they have moved away from the ‘one box to rule them all’ model in favor of more specialized machines all using the same sequencer and workflow. Thanks for watching!
Whoa I didn’t know Andrew Zimmern played synths
Hahahah. I hadn’t heard that one yet. I usually get Breaking Bad references. Maybe I should start eating crazy stuff while I play synths. Hahahaha
@@SURCOlive great video! Thank you subscribed
Awesome, thanks! And thanks so much for watching!!
I know a guy who literally sold his because he hated the reverb. Talk about missing the point
That’s like selling a Strymon Big Sky reverb because it doesn’t have a sequencer. 😂
or number 4 I use an akai force instead...
There is a workflow out there for everyone! Thanks for watching!
IMO the UI and the terminology make the OT way more confusing than it needs to be. As a result, It is the most unintuitive machine I have ever used. It really shouldn't take half a day to figure out what REC1, REC2, REC3 do (those names are just god awful) and how you can actually record something (and know that you recorded it).
Definitely not a machine for everyone! Thanks for watching.
No problem. The learning curve is very steep but it might be worth it in the end.
I 100% think it is but everyone clicks differently with different pieces of kit.
@@SURCOlive That’s an excellent point. Also I might just not be in the right mindset so it might be better for me to put it aside and pick it up again later. I’d probably regret selling it.
It really comes down to what you want to do with it. There are machines that do each thing the OT does better than the OT, but there is nothing that does all of them in one machine like the OT. It’s truly unique in the gear world. One common mistake is trying to get it to do everything at once. I always say it’s like a Swiss Army knife. It has a spoon, a knife, scissors, and a toothpick but you shouldn’t try to use all of those things at the same time. If you need a spoon it’s a spoon. If you need a knife it’s a knife, if you need scissors it’s scissors. The OT is like that. It can be a sampler, resampler, looper, sequencer, drum machine, effect processor, performance mixer, song arranger, controller etc. but not at the same time. ;)
Sequencer totally dated, needs to be updated to match digitakt… quantize (totally whacked), per track probability, easily record unquantize without menu diving, midi notes diff length, live record missing first note if slightly early, prog change message on any step… if they fixed that, it would be up to date and way better… its such a great box…
Unfortunately these things will likely never get fixed. The OS for the new boxes is difference from the ground up compared to Octatrack. Also the engineer who designed the software is no longer there. OT is what it is and will always be. I love mine. Thanks so much for watching!
this machine is too big a pair of shoes for 90% of musicians, but it is the one piece of equipment you will probably never outgrow once you have found it's place within your setup
I replaced my OT with Drambo recently and I'm never looking back. While the OT is awesome, it has too many limitations.