OT PAPERWORK: How to note ideas, sketches and tracks

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

I’m working with my OT now for 6 month and I tried different things to keep track of my ideas and approaches how to handle sounds and scenes. Unfortunately none of my notes is working in a longer shot, meaning that I’m not really able to recreate an episode of sound or a specific part which I did for example two weeks ago.

Even if I found a sheet of paper here and there in the thread I want to make a call to all OT owners to post your way of making notes, whether it’s by hand or done on a computer. This is a good time to start a collection as the OT is back in stock again and some new owners will be in same situation sooner or later.

I’ll start with a sketch I did. You can see a template to print out (several ones, to bind a little OT book with it). Write some info about the track in the header. Then you have to blocks: Patterns and Scenes, each seperated from 1 to 16. From T1 to T8 you can make a sign for mute and active. Each column gives you symbols that refer to the knob position, just mark with a little line the position from -64 to +64. There are 3 x 6 so you can choose to what page the knob position refers. For example: Playback, Effect 1 and Effect 2. It would be also possible to make the line with different color so that you get a transition from column to imagine immediately what to do. Then again some lines for notes, that’s it.

Happy sharing.

ot_notes.jpg5612×3968 2.26 MB

ot_notes.pdf (31.4 KB)

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#2

Nice :slight_smile:

[quote=“nui, post:1, topic:37260”]
I’m working with my OT now for 6 month and I tried different things to keep track of my ideas and approaches how to handle sounds and scenes. Unfortunately none of my notes is working in a longer shot, meaning that I’m not really able to recreate an episode of sound or a specific part which I did for example two weeks ago.

Even if I found a sheet of paper here and there in the thread I want to make a call to all OT owners to post your way of making notes, whether it’s by hand or done on a computer. [/quote]

I think it’s pretty obvious how I deal with such scenarios; recreating stuff, keeping track of stuff etc.

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#3

Hey Nui,

seems a lot of work involved here, I just don’t see why you would need such notes? Is your OT’s save function broken? (kidding)

The only things I have to write down, is a reference sheet to know where are my songs (say, song-name1 = Bank 1 / Patterns 1-10 / Parts 1-2, song-name2 = Bank 1 / Patterns 11-16 / Parts 3-4, song-name3 = Bank 2 / Patterns 1-6 / Part 1… and so on)… but all the parameters are stored in the parts who are linked to the patterns, so I don’t need any notes for this…

Not criticizing, just curious to know why you do need all these notes?

Cheers

#4

For a live set or even just working on several tracks, I find myself using 10% of the power of the OT because it’s hard to remember it all.
Scenes would probably be the best way but I have that dedicated to pattern transition.

#5

Maybe just me but when I think of paperwork I think of my accountant, not making music unfortunately or fortunately

#6

Back when I wanted to memorise specific progressions on the original Elektron Trinity, I set up a doc along these lines…

Screen Shot 2017-03-11 at 7.32.39 PM.png714×1011 84.5 KB

Welcome to the indesign file if you want to tweak.

I ended up using it on a few occasions until i had practised into human memory, but found it a real chore to stop and enter the details in the middle of inspiration. YMMV.

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#7

I’m OK on ‘current’ OT project. Going back to a complex project 6 months later is a nightmare tho… Not sure I’ll have the self-discipline/organisation to use them, but thanks people for posting these.

#8

@psyclone001 @Ozone
Maybe you got me wrong. It is not about to draw the lines and making notes while jaming, but instead to save steps, ways and progress on paper to rebuild it again and again. So it is more about a copy to paper as soon as you want to leave the desk.

For me, I find it very difficult to recreate some moves I did before (that’s why I record most stuff I do immediately to DAW or with internal sampling).

#9

@nui
Answered your request and offered a personal experience. No judgement calls on your own preferences :grinning:

Always wanted a fully featured elektron song mode that live recorded multiple (nameable) non destructive takes of performances (inc pattern progressions, mutes,bpms & parameter changes) that could be played back verbatim & edited. (harmonising with an advanced sequencer ‘overbridge’ that allowed DAW style fine tweaking.

#10

Yes Hi i found these method very useful for production on a Machinedrum non plusDrive so im asking if you can share the indesign file to tweak a little bit.

Thanks

#11

I make a few notes in the arranger using REM statements. Simple stuff like the external connections I used, channels.

I think the OT could do with a notes page per project for this.

#12

No worries Elektrobot7. Hope you get some use out of it…

Dropbox link to packaged Elektron Trinity Worksheet

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#13

Cool! i have the file. so many thanks Yeah!

#14

You might wanna check this out: