Short update: after almost three weeks I can say that it easier than I expected.
Like I said I started using the OT as a Digitakt++ loading samples and composing some throwaway tracks just to experiment with the various functions.
I also read the Merlin’s Guide and the Manual (all the Manual…I printed it for simplicity).
Now I’m starting with sampling and looping following the manual instructions and the EZBot’s videos…and it works!
Heads up - Midi tracks note length set to INF will be cut short (not INF) when switching to a pattern with a different part that has different or even the same midi settings. Took me a while to figure out what was happening.
So what is the issue with the ping pong delay? It seems it does not do much or zero when you turn it on! Any hints? The DT and others have a clear stereo ping pong but on the OT even when enabled I do not hear a difference…
I’m pretty sure the stereo image actually reverses with every tap in ping-pong mode (and the manual doesn’t descrbe it verry accurately), which means the more centered a sound is in the stereo field the less movement there will be, instead of mono delay with the taps alternating left and right. Both kinds have their advantages and disadvantages, and it would have been nice to have both types available, but if they had to choose one I see why they went with true stereo.
For mono-in ping pong they would actually need two new modes and a depth control for it to be really useful, since you would also need to choose whether the first tap was panned left or right, and how wide the taps were panned.
I bought the OT last summer. Spent a month trying to get into it. Hit walls. Gave up. But, based on the advice (to others) here, didn’t sell it. Just spent a weekend with it up at my cabin where the weather was terrible and hiking no good (a few feet of crusty uneven snow and ice everywhere), so I spent several hours a day for the past three days, pludging through Thavius Beck’s video tutorials I purchased at AskVideo (MacProVideo) with my Octatrack sitting on my lap connected to my iPhone for simplicity. I had multiple breakthroughs (for me) and my OT anxiety has abated. Mainly, I finally understand (until I forget again) the relationship between audio tracks, recording buffers and sample slots, as well as when it makes sense to use Flex machines and when it makes sense to use Static machines. Pretty basic stuff, I know, but I am beginning to see how I might actually use the OT with my other studio equipment without worrying so much about hitting walls. I still have a lot to learn, but am feeling glad I still have the OT.
Ok panning makes it more obvious but it is still weird but hey… I am wondering if I use a mono sample if that makes a difference. Will play with it some more…
It is a (forum in) joke related to another thread, which asked the question if buying an Octatrack “makes sense” in…insert year (it was 2021, or 2020, or 2022, I don’t recall and can’t find it with a quick search.)
ello ello, many greetings to you all two years ago…
my mk2 is coming Today and i want to load five years worth of my best jams into it to fuck with - any pointers for this exact task? essentially long music stems up to three minutes or more maybe to blend and fuck with…best machine to use? strategies to organise? rookie errors to avoid?
Connect to computer.
Drag and drop folders over USB.
Organise your folders in the computer, name everything etc then its just drag and drop.
Static machine for long samples. Remember you can slice samples.
Rookie error to avoid : not reading the manual.
Literally everything you could ever want to to know and how to do it, is contained in those pages.
Rookie error to avoid : not reading Merlins Guide. Free pdf download.
Rookie error to avoid : posting ’ my OT had a bug’ no it doesnt. There are no bugs, only user error.
Rookie error to avoid: not actually being a rookie because you’ve bought and sold octatrack X times before. You already know why you didnt like it, yet here you are again.
It probably helps to read up on the different kind of trigs you can set. E. g. one shot trigs for triggering a long sample once or “normal” ones that repeat whenever the trig is hit again. Also learn how to set different track lengths, how to use track divisions for playing back long samples without using one shot trigs, and learn how to set loop points within the sample so that you can make stuff repeat even when using one shot trigs.
Also learn how to set up recorders and try to internalize quickly how to not accidentally confuse recorder trigs with playback trigs. Also learn how to increase max record length. And then learn how to slice, use slice grids and assign (random) trig locks.
Maybe also good to establish some structure for yourself that you can learn and memorize. Like what stuff goes on one what track (which track will always play back long stems? Which one will be used for one shot trigs of a kick, snare etc.? Which one is always a thru track for processing incoming audio? Which one will always play your record buffer?) etc. etc. - depending on what you want to usually do with OT. And then maybe save a few templates for different use cases so that you don’t have to always setup everything from scratch.
Oh and learn how to make track 8 the master track and make that default to your template projects if you prefer that.
