OT: how to play chords via the arpeggiator?

[rnzr]

really sorry, cant find the appropriate topic:

i remember there is a way to play chords via the chromatic mode when the arpeggiator is set up in a specific way. could anyone give me a hand here? thanks!

[avantronica]

Octatrack Tips & Tricks (OT Tips)

Cool feature I didn’t know : When Arp is activated, if note LENgth = 0, it plays a chord. :thup: Exemple here, just 1 bar midi track with random arp, TRC, lfo on LEN and arp NLEN, VEL Playing Micromonsta (monotimbral 8 voices synth), just tweaking its filter. The idea is to play bass, chords, lead on 1 midi track. Didn’t see it the manual. Is it well known ? LEN sets the duration of the notes. When a note has finished playing a NOTE OFF command will be sent. A max setting equals infini…

[chapterhaus]

I’m not having any luck getting this to work… Note LEN to 0, any Arp MODE, Arp NLEN to 0, any Arp SPD, any Arp RNGE? I get nothing.

[sezare56]

Do you get something with other settings ?

@chapterhaus

NLEN to 0

NLEN has to be different from 0 imho.

[alex3368]

no luck here
which Op system are you using?

[sezare56]

@alex3368

which Op system are you using?

Last one, but I probably didn’t try this trick since 2 or 3 years…

[sezare56]

Tested. It works with default settings and these :

Set midi channel
Set 4 notes
Arp on
LEN = 0

With NLEN=0 you have short notes, above very long notes, Notes Off are problably not sent, which can be problematic on certain synths.

You can also simply plock ARP to Off to have a chord. Behavior with random lfos on ARP or LEN is different.

[alex3368]

Thank you @sezare56 I will take a try

[chapterhaus]

Still no luck with the settings described there. Changing LEN has no difference when I try it.

Maybe we have a different idea of what’s supposed to happen? I’m expecting all three notes to play simultaneously, at the rate set by SPD. So instead of a triplet of individual notes, it would be the chord being played at a triplet rhythm, if that makes sense.

This is usually an option for Arps on synths and sequencers, was surprised it wasn’t a choice here. I only think of it because I created a pad track once this way, changing the timing of the Arp between 1/8 and 1/16 notes. This was on an older sequencer, an Emu Command Station.

This is the track, and the effect I am trying to create (the chords):

[sezare56]

@chapterhaus

I’m expecting all three notes to play simultaneously, at the rate set by SPD

Not what happens. It just plays a single chord. Only workaround I see is to use trigs with microtiming for triplets or dotted notes, eventually Trig Counts for faster speed.

[chapterhaus]

I think I’ll just send the Arp commands from my Virus and record them in real-time mode, seems a little easier. Oh well, thanks for the help though.

[alex3368]

still no luck here also
I’m wondering if we’re seeking the same thing
(I’m looking for something like the last mode in the Analog 4 arp, the “poly” mode)

[chapterhaus]

I think we’re out of luck if we want to do this from the OT.

[sezare56]

@alex3368

Analog 4 arp, the “poly” mode

Having used it recently, I see exactly what you mean. The LEN=0 trick I proposed only changes arp behavior and plays the notes of the concerned trigs. I found it interesting with a random lfo on LEN, instead of a random lfo on ARP mode, but there is no miracle with it.

For poly mode :
feature-request@elektron.se

[sezare56]

@alex3368

the “poly” mode

Nothing ideal, but I have another trick :

Set a 2 step track.
A toothpick or weight on trig 1
Play external keyboard with Auto Channel

Here you go with a quantized / synced poly mode arp. Can be fun to play, worth a try imho.

I wonder if there is something to do with a midi track triggering a Plays Free Midi track…

[alex3368]

Nice!
I also use this trick (sure a ninja like you knows it already):
16 (trig conditioned?) steps
a major 7th chord in the note page
in the 2nd page of the arp (bottom right chord) key quantized to any chord
arp mode off (quantizer works anyway)
LFO the shit out of the TRANspose

voila, Barker in a box

[sezare56]

@alex3368

this trick

Nice too! I was just messing with 3 random lfos modulating 3 notes with a key scale.

[alex3368]

same scenario without assigning lfo’s, You can also move slightly, in a musical way, the TRANspose by hand as the sequencer runs (this make me wish also midi param were assignable to crossfader)
the result is much more interesting than it seems as it’s said

[sezare56]

@alex3368 and @chapterhaus, I found a way to play chords with arp !

Not sure if you’ll like that trickier workaround though .

Requires midi loopback.
T1 = plays free track with a chord on channel one, from note C5, channel 1
T2 = send a C3 note channel 2 to trigger Plays Free track, arp on.

Can be fun with lfo en arp speed for instance…you may need the ability to transpose your synth, or oscs…

But I think I’d rather plock chords instead !

[chapterhaus]

I appreciate your commitment to the machine and pushing its limits, nice work. That being said, I just bought a MIDI merger so I can have my X4 and my Virus going into the OT simultaneously, which was the main issue preventing me from using the Virus arps.

I love the OT for a lot of reasons, but part of me wishes I would’ve kept the EMU Command Station for sequencing, and just used the OT for audio chopping and sampling bits. Now the CS is like double what I sold mine for.