Day 2 of owning the Octatrack. Read the manual, read half of Merlin’s write up on it, and have gone through Youtube tutorial after Youtube tutorial to try and get a single sound out of my Octatrack with no luck.
I have tried to utilize it as a live looper, I have tried to use it to trigger short samples through the static, longer ones through the flex, I have tried to record samples (I can see the sound wave but cannot hear it), I have tried to hear samples from the sample packs but can not even trigger it as a sample when browsing through the files. The only sound I have gotten the Octatrack to make outside of Demo Mode is the metronome and the mixer input for my external synth (the one I’d like to record with). Every Youtube tutorial I try and follow along step by step and the Octatrack does not respond the same way as it does in the video.
I bought it used, so I am wondering if its maybe got a setting already set that is preventing me from hearing anything. I know I have a ton more learning to do with this beast, but I was hoping after 6 hours of troubleshooting and getting acquainted with it, that I could make the simplest of beats from pre-made samples to better understand some of the more complex concepts the Octatrack has to offer.
When in doubt, clear all track settings. So if you hold AMP for instance, and press the play button (aka clear) it will reset the page back to its defaults. Do this with LFO, SRC, etc.
You probably have a filter closed or a weird slice setting or some other esoteric Octatrack tomfoolery
Well… the track was muted. Thank you so much for the assistance. Embarrassed that this is my first post on these boards, but excited to be a part of the community!
Don’t be embarrassed my friend, I wasted a ton of time this Saturday after realizing you need to hit yes to apply a flex machine to a track. This beast takes a minute, glad it’s sorted and enjoy the ride!
It doesn’t matter how many times you read the manual and Merlin’s guide (essential though they both are), there are some things on the Octatrack you only learn by getting wrong.
Those things are always embarrassingly obvious once discovered.
I’d consider myself a pretty experienced OT user and I still forget I’ve muted a channel or if I’ve armed a recorder trig before trying to sample, that’s actually a fairly common one as when I’m closing windows (I have a mk1 which requires a bit more muscle memory) j always press NO which…unarm’s my recorder trigs…I’m rubbish at
Naming my projects so I’m totally lost with which is what, then when I start checking parts and patterns you can imagine where this is going…even Cenk must make mistakes sometimes he can just style it out and turn a mistake jnto a musical feature…in my case, thank fuck for Ritalin. I actually feel right at home with it’s various eccentricities, once you know where everything is it becomes a lot easier to quickly clear scenes or switch parts and remember to check your master track if you use one…good luck and happy octatracking
P.S do get yourself a Digitone. One of the best instruments around, and a true future classic.
No need to be embarassed, it’s a great machine but has it’s quirks. I’m relatively new to mine and had an issue where sound just stopped coming out of the Octatrack no matter what I did. It’s a bug that seems to show up when you send the Octatrack MIDI sync from another device (in my case the Digitakt), and is solved by holding down FUNC while turning on the power and selecting option 2 to reload from a blank project. If you have issues with yours chances are someone here has experienced the same thing, and all Google searches will likely lead back here.
This community is the best for all things Elektron and other synth gear as well! Welcome!
I was debating between the Octatrack and the Analog 4 initially. I think Im still leaning towards the A4 before the Digitone. Although the Digitone looks like it has more range overall.