My Octatrack Beat Making Process & First Impressions
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2024
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In this video, I'll show you how I made my first beat/full song with the Elektron Octatrack mkii. It's a complex machine that can do basically everything but the dishes, and I'm easing into it by utilizing the familiar Elektorn workflow that I'm so comfortable with, courtesy of the Digitakt. I really truly cannot wait to delve into this further and experiment with different setups. I'm a bit all over the place in this video, so there are chapter markers below to check out different points of interest. Or, just hang and listen to me ramble :)
0:00 Intro
0:30 DistroKid Ad
1:40 Quick jam example
2:30 Beat breakdown & my approach to the Octatrack
3:15 Guitar sample slicing
4:30 Melodic pad and LFO
5:35 Sound locking drum samples
8:00 The Master track
8:59 CROSSFADER
11:20 Pattern 2 variations
12:00 Trig modes and slice playback
13:18 Global mutes & mute behavior
14:13 Scenes and patterns
16:30 Parts
19:22 My first impressions/thoughts
21:12 A question for y'all
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I’ve had my Octatrack for about a year now, and I found your track really inspiring. I’m can’t wait to try some new stuff later today in my studio!
I think that’s my favorite thing about the OT… I’ll never run out of new workflow ideas!
I can barely spend enough time to figure out this MCP One that I bought recently, but you have me wanting to mess around in the Elektron solar system now. Keep it coming!
😎 thanks a ton!! Definitely have plenty of future vids planned, thanks for watching!
a friend of mine just got into octa, is loving your vids, and told me about the raised ranch shoutout in here :) made my morning.
also your effects scenes are smokin' hot 😍
lofi for liiiiiiife!!! hahah thanks so much, and seriously, your performance vids really made me consider getting the OT in the first place
appreciate that :) love your vids
Elektron, put this man on your payroll. This was a great explanation of the OT. I first heard about it years before I fell down this rabbit hole. It was mentioned as the core sampler used by guitarist Ian Williams of Battles, which was mind-blowing coming from a guitar/pedal background
Wouldn’t that be swell!!! I weirdly find it easier to talk about stuff as I’m working through learning it myself. I haven’t listened to too much Battles, but enjoyed what I’ve heard. I’ll have to scope out some videos of them using the OT.
Nice u have a sponsor….. well little channels are growing…..
keep up the good work…and again loving greetings from Germany….
🥰 thank you! Always glad to see you visiting the channel
Thanks man.
Glad to see you enjoying that Octatrack magic! Once you get into parts and neighbour machines it gets really fun, and it’s much easier than people make it out to be.
As for the compressor, these days I have an Alesis 3630 on the stereo out of my mixer, those things are dirt cheap and sound beautifully dirty. Frees up a slot on track 8 master!
I’m planning on pairing up the OT and OP-1, using the OT to sample the OP-1. Just a lil two synth setup for my next album once I’m done with my current one. Really, the possibilities are endless.
The OT feels like it has the power of a full DAW but so much more hands on. I love it.
I thank you for talking it up so much, it definitely nudged me toward looking into it more seriously! I can see it being a great companion for the OP-1, which I feel like has the ability to cover lots of sonic territory very quickly with all of the accessible effects and sequencers. I imagine happy accidents will be abundant!
@@SlowHaste yup, that’s the plan! Lots of happy little accidents. Sampling and slicing already sampled and sliced drum loops sounds like a fun idea.
Glad I could help you along the way! If only the OT had overbridge…
Love the videos, would like to see different options of how to record tracks from Octatrack to a computer or DAW, thanks
I really like this song a lot! I’m trying not to want an OT until I’ve had my DN and DT for at least a year, lol, but I do love the song
Thanks a ton!! Yeahhh I feel like I let gas get the best of me once I switched over to the Elektron ecosystem, BUT it has been on my list for like 5 years haha
That totally sounds like a fair amount of time to wait, like something a reasonable person might do. I personally have no experience with reasonable decision making, but I’m trying!
@@shannonpalmer I'll get one if you get one :p
Great video Dan! I really no little about the other ELektron devices so I'm enjoying these a lot. I'm still having so much fun with the DN + DT and still much to learn for me. Then there is GAS (as you have explained before :) ). I've heard the Octatrack is heard to work with then others say it's easy and also sell their DT once they got it and also then rebuy the DT. Looks really nice though so far.
Thanks Andy! Yeah, it’s a totally different beast for sure. And there are a lot of different ways to approach using the dt/dn combo with the Octatrack. I’m still gonna be covering the other two devices as well as I get to learn this one, too!
@@SlowHaste can’t wait to see, I’m certainly interested is seeing what this beast can do. I read it can do some sort of arp with p-locking which is crazy if true.
Great videos on the OT, how do you find recording to DAW including scenes and FX?
Thanks! I just record a single output as a performance into the DAW and edit the track from there. You could also record each track individually as audio to have finer control over things, but I like to spend as much time getting a good mix with hardware as possible! Most of my recent album was recorded this way
Top 3 OT features for me are: 1) The crossfader/scenes 2) Arranger Mode 3) Performance Looper/Mixer
You won't find any of that on the Digitakt.
I’m really interested in messing around with pickup machines since I’ve put my pedalboard back together. I always used to start songs by working on guitar loops, and it’ll be fun to play around with that in a new context
Those 3
And
Sampling on the fly, slicing them to idk maybe 16 or 32 slices and lay them on random trigs and then transition using the slider… It’s my favourite trick
No overbridge is a huge fail though
After checking back with the manual... pg.17 "A part contains machine assignments and their associated samples, track parameter settings, FX assignments, as well as 16 scenes." Looking forward to more OT content.
Yep, that’s a perfect summary! I just kinda wish it was all independent per pattern like the DT. But I’m sure that would be a lot to handle if the machines were being switched up for every pattern. I suppose it lends itself well to making a/b parts for an individual verse or chorus, for example.
The question is, when will you take the protective film off of the display? I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet, OCD kicks in - must - keep - it - mint!
Lol oh boy, I actually think today’s the big day!! I’ll be sure to capture on camera
Does' OT record ployphonic MIDI? PB? Velocity? AT? Mod Wheel?
Because trigs are common for all parts, I like to use parts for easy sample flips. I do this more so than using parts for different machines.
Yeah that makes sense!! I’m sure I’ll learn more about their utility as I dive deeper
I’m curious how Octatrack has fit into your workflow with other gear/recording/mastering. I like what the Octatrack can do but would miss Overbridge for multitracking. Seems like you have to perform on the Octatrack and then maybe sweeten your L/R recoding and call it a day.
I plan to cover that in an upcoming video about how I recorded the album I just released!
Thanks for this! what about all the saying that the OT sounds bad compared to DT (in terms of AD conversion). do you notice this?
Honestly, no - but I also have never had the best ear for that kind of thing. I know a lot of people are sensitive to those specs, but I genuinely believe that in a blind listen on your typical consumer listening devices, most people would not be able to tell a difference!
The default recording buffer is 16-bits, but you can change it to 24 which makes recordings sound much better, but at the cost of storage. Since my samples are generally small, I use 24-bit recording myself
God I love your Music..so you read the manual and made this track in 2 weeks..😮 are you using a trhu machine for your guitar?
I read the manual as I was deciding if I wanted to purchase the OT or not. So I got a bit of a jump start! and yep, I used a thru machine to track the guitar part
@@SlowHaste you can slice in the audio editor when using a thru machine? I’m sorry I ask a lot of questions..
@@paulandreas7955 Yes, if you save the audio recorded to the buffer via a thru machine, you can slice it up!
Do record the guitar direct into the box ?
Yeah, I’ll go through my pedalboard and sometimes an amp-sim pedal!
OT: for me it's all about programming vs performing trade-off. I mean i wanto to use OT for live perfromance: me, my guitar, OT and one singer. I decided, because i'm not a great keyboard player, to play harmony and melodies mainly with my guitar either live or by pre-sampling and sequening with slices. I alse have an Akai Force that's great for velocity pads and afertouch, but doesn't have Elektron sequencing and P-lock that i like a lot. So my question is: do you performe everything live with guitar and OT or you need a controller/groove box with velocity and/or PB/AT/mod wheel (a midi Keyboard + drum pads)? I'd prefer to use tehe smallest possible amount of devices live. I also have a novotion circuit, just in case of polyphonyc pads, but i prefere to play/sample/sequence with tweaks,
Maybe a solution could be to add a M:S or Digitakt to Akai Force just to have Elektron drum machine and Elektron sequencing added to DAW-like feat and Pads feat of Akai Force.
I’ve only had it for a couple of months and haven’t used it (or any of the elektron boxes) live at this point. But I could see myself using it as a primary instrument to play live, perhaps along with guitar for live sampling stuff if I was feeling brave.
Nice, how do you find the digitakt/guitar combo?
Do you mean Octatrack? I’m totally loving it. Haven’t played with pickup machines/looping, but it’s really easy to set up a recording buffer to play in a phrase over what you’ve already sequenced and immediately start playing around with slices, arranging them randomly, parameter locking stuff, etc. I used to do a lot of guitar looping and I can see myself getting back into it with the Octatrack.
@@SlowHaste Nope, mean Digitakt! I'm tempted by the octatrack for guitar but it's complex/pricey. I have a digitakt
@@niloben659 oh gotcha!! With the Digitakt I would tend to do more focused sound design/sample oriented session, playing and recording and saving a bunch of samples at the same time, to use for further manipulation/mangling on the DT. Not as much of a contender for live use, but still a great combo - hope that helps!
@@SlowHaste Cheers, yeah I'm experimenting with guitar/digi but I'd imagine guitar/octa is potentially insane
@@SlowHaste How has your opinion changed after the latest DT firmware update?
Even a drummer can set it up :))))) I had a 6 second delay on that one...
I started as a drummer many years ago, so it felt like a fair stab to take hahah
@@SlowHaste :)) Hoping to join the octa-world soon..
Oh wow! Maybe this is a better live tool??
For real-time performance gestures? I’d say 100% yes! Definitely feels more like an “instrument” in that regard
Please don't make any more Octatrack videos, you're gonna make me want one.
Actually, I think I already do.
next video title: “why sadlantis NEEDS an Octatrack”
@@SlowHaste pahaha! It does look so much fun. I meant to say, yours is the best explanation of machines on the OT that I've seen.
@@sadlantis glad to hear it! Tbh the names are… arbitrary and convoluted lol
I guess if people think this is the same as the Digitakt, then it is also like the model Samples, lol. Consensus is the Model Samples is the easiest to use, more immediate and more hands on controls. Digitakt is similar, but with more functions and features. Octatrak I guess can do anything, but is DEEP. If you intend to buy it and have it for years, I think the learning curve is worth it!
Haha yep, well said! And I totally agree about the learning curve/value
I now have the Model: Samples, Digitakt, Digitone and Syntakt- quite a collection. IMO for me the Model: Samples sounds fantastic, but I find the Digitakt easier to use (I know everyone's different). I think I will end up selling my Syntakt, Digitone and Samples, I like the Digitakt the best out of all of em
Internal Resampling
11:03 slipping your true bdsm colors ⛓😩
Bahahahah omg
I still can’t process you got an Octotrack🙂
🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
@@SlowHaste OctoUncle cause OctoDad is already ™️
@@newflanged_ hahaaaaah I legit almost made a similar joke in this video but wasn’t sure if people would get it
Loving how the subtitles render “big Digitakt” to “Big Dick Attack!”. Carry on…
Oh whoops, thought I was posting this to onlyfans
Is that pennywise on your arm ?
Nope! No clowns for me. Which one are you asking abt?
@@SlowHaste your right arm I can barely see it but it looked like pennywise my mistake good video by the way.
@@labratzwired3213 thank ya! I’ve got a whale and Scottish thistle on the right arm
@@SlowHaste oh that’s sic and man I was way off haha . Stay safe and keep on making. Check this out I recently got in contact with snoop dogg , I simply messaged him and he got back to me he even called me FaceTime dude it’s wild. I’m trying to work with him but I don’t know man I feel something sketchy about it I’ve been talking to him every day nonstop for three days no joke. Can people pull off a fake video call?