Elektron Octatrack - details
In the past, after I shared my first impressions of working with the Elektron Octatrack sampler, but, first, I did not take into account some interesting details, and second, I ran into a couple of minor problems. In general, the impressions of the device are still the most positive - its capabilities are very great, and the reasonableness and convenience of the interface is at a height, despite its small size and general austerity. Next, I will share some observations and talk about a number of points that I managed to face.
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1. A rather large project at some point stopped loading with the error wrong checksum. This happened after using the Purge function, which removes samples not used in the project from the pool. On the forums they write that this happens, and the damaged project can be sent to the support where they will try to fix it. So I did, the answer came in about three days - they sent the corrected project file. It is more often to do backups, and in order not to rearrange the flash drive once again, you can connect the sampler via USB and select USB Disk Mode in the settings menu, which turns it into a card reader.
2. In the last post I wrote that it is impossible to use triggers as a keyboard, but it turned out that it is possible. To do this, select the appropriate mode by pressing function + down. White keys will be highlighted with lights, you can move the octaves, record a melody in real time. The result is activated triggers with a modified pitch according to the notes. Similarly, you can also select the Slots mode, in which you can play all the samples loaded into the pool or Slices, which, respectively, allows you to play slices from a long sample. On the triggers, in this case, the corresponding parameters are also written. Igrat chords, of course, can not, because all machines are monophonic, so you need to connect an external synthesizer and sample chords from it.
3. In one project, if desired, you can fit 64 compositions, or blanks for live - 4 parts of 16 banks. Each bank can have 16 patterns, one main configuration of machines and 16 scenes for quickly changing settings. True, a single project pool will be limited to 256 samples, but, nevertheless, it helps to avoid downloading files during live performances - this requires stopping playback and about 10 seconds for an average project. The eighth channel, depending on the settings, can be a regular machine, or perform the functions of a master channel, where you can hang two effects that have an effect on all other channels.
4. Scenes (parameter sets for each machine and master channel) can be assigned not only to the fader, but also to the triggers. To switch, use the Scene + Trigger combination.
5. The arrangement mode has finally strengthened me in the thought that the developers are related to the demo scene and tracker music. By combining Function + Pattern, you can call up a painfully familiar window, very much like the one that is responsible for the order of playing patterns in FastTracker. Well, it works on the same principle.
6. The lack of a send-back system is distressing - individual effects have to be assigned to each machine, even if they require the same settings. In addition, the sets for the first and second slot effects are different, for example, the first one cannot hang up the delay and reverb, so to use them simultaneously, you have to use another channel in Neighbor mode (some kind of send, but only works with the previous channel).
7. It is quite possible to stick a guitar and process it in real time using a Thru machine. Using, together with it, the Neighbor machine can achieve a very convincing sound, having built sequences like "compressor + distortion + flanger + delay".
Several tracks that demonstrate the capabilities of the device:
soundcloud.com/ilyaorange/prototape-live
soundcloud.com/ilyaorange/aghata-live-edit
soundcloud.com/legobyte/mistmare
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1. A rather large project at some point stopped loading with the error wrong checksum. This happened after using the Purge function, which removes samples not used in the project from the pool. On the forums they write that this happens, and the damaged project can be sent to the support where they will try to fix it. So I did, the answer came in about three days - they sent the corrected project file. It is more often to do backups, and in order not to rearrange the flash drive once again, you can connect the sampler via USB and select USB Disk Mode in the settings menu, which turns it into a card reader.
2. In the last post I wrote that it is impossible to use triggers as a keyboard, but it turned out that it is possible. To do this, select the appropriate mode by pressing function + down. White keys will be highlighted with lights, you can move the octaves, record a melody in real time. The result is activated triggers with a modified pitch according to the notes. Similarly, you can also select the Slots mode, in which you can play all the samples loaded into the pool or Slices, which, respectively, allows you to play slices from a long sample. On the triggers, in this case, the corresponding parameters are also written. Igrat chords, of course, can not, because all machines are monophonic, so you need to connect an external synthesizer and sample chords from it.
3. In one project, if desired, you can fit 64 compositions, or blanks for live - 4 parts of 16 banks. Each bank can have 16 patterns, one main configuration of machines and 16 scenes for quickly changing settings. True, a single project pool will be limited to 256 samples, but, nevertheless, it helps to avoid downloading files during live performances - this requires stopping playback and about 10 seconds for an average project. The eighth channel, depending on the settings, can be a regular machine, or perform the functions of a master channel, where you can hang two effects that have an effect on all other channels.
4. Scenes (parameter sets for each machine and master channel) can be assigned not only to the fader, but also to the triggers. To switch, use the Scene + Trigger combination.
5. The arrangement mode has finally strengthened me in the thought that the developers are related to the demo scene and tracker music. By combining Function + Pattern, you can call up a painfully familiar window, very much like the one that is responsible for the order of playing patterns in FastTracker. Well, it works on the same principle.
6. The lack of a send-back system is distressing - individual effects have to be assigned to each machine, even if they require the same settings. In addition, the sets for the first and second slot effects are different, for example, the first one cannot hang up the delay and reverb, so to use them simultaneously, you have to use another channel in Neighbor mode (some kind of send, but only works with the previous channel).
7. It is quite possible to stick a guitar and process it in real time using a Thru machine. Using, together with it, the Neighbor machine can achieve a very convincing sound, having built sequences like "compressor + distortion + flanger + delay".
Several tracks that demonstrate the capabilities of the device:
soundcloud.com/ilyaorange/prototape-live
soundcloud.com/ilyaorange/aghata-live-edit
soundcloud.com/legobyte/mistmare
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/202772/
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