Your tutorials are the best. I was looking for a polyphonic ARP mode on the OT, and found that there wasn't one. Then I saw your video and realised I could use more than one track to introduce polyphony. Thank you!
Wow you are the man!! I hooked the OT with my Jupiter 6.. Since Jupiter 6 can do 2 channels at the same time they make a great couple! Thanks aws video!!!
Hi ! The MD is a much older sequencer, and it's therefore difficult to compare it to the OT. The OT is just a lot more advanced, with different lengths / time signature per tracks, more LFO's per track etc. I do sometimes use the MD's MIDI tracks, but very rarely, now that I have the OT. If I ended up on a desert island with one Elektron instrument (and a power socket), I would pick the OT, simply because you can feed it any sound you wish, so it will never become stale :) Cheers !
Great video! I was just about to put something together regarding teh midi department, but now I guess I couldn't have done a better job then you did. I even learned a new trick from watching this :-)
Hi ! The OT has an arranger mode indeed, so if you were to chain / arrange patterns, the MIDI patterns would follow as well, since they are associated with the audio patterns :) Cheers !
The reloading parts is exactly what I think I might need for getting Bank Change LSB to work when loading up a project. Currently, if I assign Bank Select LSB to one of the control knobs, change it to the correct bank number (seemingly chosen at random by the manufacture), then set Bank Select MSB to 0 (from a previously non-0 setting), and finally send the Program Change, it will actually go to the correct program. Or, if I double hit stop, sometimes that does it as well.
I have problem with my setup for two devices controlled by the Octack. Dear Elektron Support: I setup two external synthesizers, a Korg Volca and an Elektron Analog 4 MK2 to my Elektron Octatrack MK2 with the purpose to have the Octatrack act as master control device. The configuration: Elektron Analog 4 MK2 uses MIDI channels 1-4 Korg Volca uses MIDI Channel 16 Setup Process: 1. I setup THRU machines on T1-T4 for the Elektron Analog 4 MK2. 2. I setup THRU machine on T5 for the Korg Volca to use for playback and sequencing. 3. In the Octatrack, I configured MIDI channels to use these mappings for the two external devices. 4. I set audio for T1-T4 to use incoming C+D which is what the Analog 4 is connected to. 5. I set audio for T5 to incoming A for the Korg Volca The issue I have is that I cannot playback the Elektron only on T1-T4. The Korg also plays at same time. I also have vice versa issue in that on T5, when I play the sequencer, the Analog 4 plays at same time as the Korg! How can I fix this issue so that on T1-T4, I can create MIDI and audio trigs and sequence only the Analog 4 playback without manually stopping the Korg? Also, how can I setup T5 for just the Korg so that I can create sequence on the Octatrack to playback the pattern I want for the Korg without the Analog 4 playback? Below is a video of my setup thus far: th-cam.com/video/UXa_exUMUVE/w-d-xo.html
Hi ! it sounds like you have the instruments set up to receive note information on all channels. It's easy to set this up differently on the A4, however, I do not own Volcas, so I'm not sure how you would specify MIDI channels on it, or even if you can do that at all.
Hi ! The OT is indeed an instrument that will take a while to master, as it is incredibly deep. It's also very rewarding, so keep at it :) I will keep your suggestion in mind. I have been focusing on the A4 at the moment, but more OT videos are coming too ! Cheers :)
HI ! I do understand :) You can indeed record into the OT, but you are limited by its internal RAM, regardless of how big your card is, since you can't record straight to the card. However, you can allocate all RAM to just one recorder, and could then potentially record a reasonably long "take". This is no multitrack recorder though, so to record any extended jams I would use my DAW as a multitrack. Hope this helps ! Cheers :)
great vids! just got my Octatrack yesterday. huge learning curve on this thing but these videos are a great help. any chance you could do a "MIDI in" video where you trigger samples on the Octatrack from an external device? one of my long term plans is to trigger the Octatrack with my electronic drum kit. thanks for sharing the tips!
Heya ! thank you for the comments :) Maybe we should coordinate so we don't both do the same subjects ! Hehe. Although I'm pretty sure I would learn a few neat tricks from yours as well :) Talk soon!
man.. this is really helpful. Is there a way to hold a note? The arpeggiator is cool and I haven't played with midi yet on my OT but can you assign it to play a 1/4 note then a whole note? or even just hold a note?
Yes, it is one way to simulate a program change message to go back to your original sound. With the Tetr4, you can reload a program by simply pressing the encoder on the OT, but sadly, that doesn't work with the Blofeld. I was going to do the original video with the Tetr4, and so, thought I would mention the program change trick, but sadly, it doesn't apply here, so I edited it out. Which is why it ends a bit abruptly !
Hi, Thank s for your great video. I d like to know how to connect and record midi signal from a n external keyboard, while also sending midi clock using the internal Octatrack arpeggiator and sequencer, for the Clavia nord modular, while live recording. Is it possible?
very usefull, let me ask you something , can i record all these sounds (i mean external syntesizer midi sequencing in the octatrack) into a WAV file inside the octatrack memory card ? . And can i tweeaking the midi pattern , apply with effects and record all in real time in one of the 8 tracks of the octatrack and record as WAV? don´t know if you understand me .
Hi, just a question. This might have been answered before so apologies and happy if you point me to a comment. Can I connect master MIDI keyboard and play sample loaded in track? At the moment, if I build nice effect combo with a bass sample and want to build a bass, I would normally place trigs and alter their pitch so notes go up an down octave. Can I do similar with MIDI connected, e.g. play C, E, G notes on keyboard and OT picks up notes played and link them to sequencer step (I assume this would have to be done in live rec). Dont want to fork out money for keyboard just to find out it is not possible. Thanks.
Great tutorial! Do you know how to record MIDI into the OT? I'm interested in building a MIDI track that sends MIDI notes and Program Changes from the Octatrack into an external synth. This would allow me to have a backing track with different parts and sounds from other instruments, allowing me to jam on the octatrack and not worry about the other instruments. PLEASE HELP!
+Juan Necochea Hi ! recording MIDI into the OT is exactly the same as in any other sequencer. Pick a MIDI track, go into live recording mode (red blinking light) and start playing ! The only tricky part is to insure that you are transmitting on the correct MIDI channel, in order to record on the correct track. Hope this helps, and thank you for watching !
hey what were your project midi setting. i still cant get my machines to change programs when i change them under the track midi menum did you set a channel or just use auto channel
hi ! I'll have to double check, but some machines just don't respond well to the OT's program changes. It's been a while since I've tried this, as I know have a setup that allows for external sequencing of my synths, and I've also slimmed the whole studio down a lot. Make sure you click the encoder for the program to confirm your choice. And also try switching to a different pattern and back to the one you're setting up, to check that your external kit is receiving them correctly on pattern changes. Let me know how that works for you ! Cheers.
HI there ! Parts are used to assign different sample slots to each track, as well as FX settings. They are saved with a combination of Function + MIDI, and recalled with Function + Cue. I'm not sure if that's what you mean by "MIDI part" ?
Lol fuckin David Schwimmer over here, I can't get my octatrack to start my tr8's sequencer so I can record it in time. All I want is for the midi of my octatrack to start my tr8 sequencer in time with it so it can record perfectly in time. With my tr8 and my moog it works fine, I press start on the tr8, the moog starts playing it's sequencer. Plz help
Hi ! I would say that you have to make sure that you have a MIDI out connected from the OT into the MIDI in of the TR8. Secondly, make sure that in the OT, in the Global menu, you check the clock and transport "send" option. That should be all it needs. Hope this helps :) Cheers
Hi ! I don't own one, but in theory, you should be able to, yes. You just need to find out the CC number assignments, usually at the end of the user manual, and set them up in the OT :) Cheers !
I was getting mad over this MIDI thing on the OT and now you saved my day! BIG THANKS!
Your tutorials are the best.
I was looking for a polyphonic ARP mode on the OT, and found that there wasn't one.
Then I saw your video and realised I could use more than one track to introduce polyphony. Thank you!
Thank you for watching and commenting ! I'm glad this was helpful :) Wishing you a beautiful 2017 !
Most informative video on OT MIDI, thanks dear !
Lying Dalai You're welcome, thank you for watching :)
+Lying Dalai +1
+Scsi Mofo Thank you !
I need one for use as sequencer, she looks awesome.! Nice tutorial. Thanks!
Fantastic tutorials. Thank you very much! Please keep on doing them.
My pleasure, thank you for watching !
Some more coming up after Christmas. Have some good holidays :)
Oh yes! What a nice christmas present :) Have some good holidays, too.
gonna have to watch this one a few times. great stuff!
+Mark GP Atherton good man, let me know how it goes !
Wow you are the man!! I hooked the OT with my Jupiter 6.. Since Jupiter 6 can do 2 channels at the same time they make a great couple! Thanks aws video!!!
Hi ! The MD is a much older sequencer, and it's therefore difficult to compare it to the OT. The OT is just a lot more advanced, with different lengths / time signature per tracks, more LFO's per track etc. I do sometimes use the MD's MIDI tracks, but very rarely, now that I have the OT. If I ended up on a desert island with one Elektron instrument (and a power socket), I would pick the OT, simply because you can feed it any sound you wish, so it will never become stale :) Cheers !
Great video! I was just about to put something together regarding teh midi department, but now I guess I couldn't have done a better job then you did. I even learned a new trick from watching this :-)
Thanks for the info, I have recently bought a Tetra (which is being fixed from a firmwarecrash) so I already have plenty of synthesis options.
Hi ! The OT has an arranger mode indeed, so if you were to chain / arrange patterns, the MIDI patterns would follow as well, since they are associated with the audio patterns :) Cheers !
The reloading parts is exactly what I think I might need for getting Bank Change LSB to work when loading up a project.
Currently, if I assign Bank Select LSB to one of the control knobs, change it to the correct bank number (seemingly chosen at random by the manufacture), then set Bank Select MSB to 0 (from a previously non-0 setting), and finally send the Program Change, it will actually go to the correct program. Or, if I double hit stop, sometimes that does it as well.
Cool ! Glad I could be of help :) Let's hear this combo together, sounds like it would be quite fun !
Thanks for the great Videos! Octa
I have problem with my setup for two devices controlled by the Octack. Dear Elektron Support:
I setup two external synthesizers, a Korg Volca and an Elektron Analog 4 MK2 to my Elektron Octatrack MK2 with the purpose to have the Octatrack act as master control device.
The configuration:
Elektron Analog 4 MK2 uses MIDI channels 1-4
Korg Volca uses MIDI Channel 16
Setup Process:
1. I setup THRU machines on T1-T4 for the Elektron Analog 4 MK2.
2. I setup THRU machine on T5 for the Korg Volca to use for playback and sequencing.
3. In the Octatrack, I configured MIDI channels to use these mappings for the two external devices.
4. I set audio for T1-T4 to use incoming C+D which is what the Analog 4 is connected to.
5. I set audio for T5 to incoming A for the Korg Volca
The issue I have is that I cannot playback the Elektron only on T1-T4. The Korg also plays at same time.
I also have vice versa issue in that on T5, when I play the sequencer, the Analog 4 plays at same time as the Korg!
How can I fix this issue so that on T1-T4, I can create MIDI and audio trigs and sequence only the Analog 4 playback without manually stopping the Korg? Also, how can I setup T5 for just the Korg so that I can create sequence on the Octatrack to playback the pattern I want for the Korg without the Analog 4 playback?
Below is a video of my setup thus far:
th-cam.com/video/UXa_exUMUVE/w-d-xo.html
Hi ! it sounds like you have the instruments set up to receive note information on all channels. It's easy to set this up differently on the A4, however, I do not own Volcas, so I'm not sure how you would specify MIDI channels on it, or even if you can do that at all.
Hi ! The OT is indeed an instrument that will take a while to master, as it is incredibly deep. It's also very rewarding, so keep at it :) I will keep your suggestion in mind. I have been focusing on the A4 at the moment, but more OT videos are coming too !
Cheers :)
AMAZING 😍
another fantastic tutorial
HI ! I do understand :) You can indeed record into the OT, but you are limited by its internal RAM, regardless of how big your card is, since you can't record straight to the card. However, you can allocate all RAM to just one recorder, and could then potentially record a reasonably long "take". This is no multitrack recorder though, so to record any extended jams I would use my DAW as a multitrack. Hope this helps ! Cheers :)
You're welcome ! Glad this could be of help :)
great vids! just got my Octatrack yesterday. huge learning curve on this thing but these videos are a great help. any chance you could do a "MIDI in" video where you trigger samples on the Octatrack from an external device? one of my long term plans is to trigger the Octatrack with my electronic drum kit. thanks for sharing the tips!
Heya ! thank you for the comments :) Maybe we should coordinate so we don't both do the same subjects ! Hehe. Although I'm pretty sure I would learn a few neat tricks from yours as well :) Talk soon!
this is brilliant thank you , however I'm stuck , how do i record from the midi channel? thanks
Could you please elaborate a bit, i'm not 100% sure what you're asking :)
man.. this is really helpful. Is there a way to hold a note? The arpeggiator is cool and I haven't played with midi yet on my OT but can you assign it to play a 1/4 note then a whole note? or even just hold a note?
Glad this could help :) You can parameter lock the length of a note per step, which is really helpful indeed when using the arp.
Yes, it is one way to simulate a program change message to go back to your original sound. With the Tetr4, you can reload a program by simply pressing the encoder on the OT, but sadly, that doesn't work with the Blofeld. I was going to do the original video with the Tetr4, and so, thought I would mention the program change trick, but sadly, it doesn't apply here, so I edited it out. Which is why it ends a bit abruptly !
Great video, thanks :)
Hi,
Thank s for your great video. I d like to know how to connect and record midi signal from a n external keyboard, while also sending midi clock using the internal Octatrack arpeggiator and sequencer, for the Clavia nord modular, while live recording. Is it possible?
very usefull, let me ask you something , can i record all these sounds (i mean external syntesizer midi sequencing in the octatrack) into a WAV file inside the octatrack memory card ? . And can i tweeaking the midi pattern , apply with effects and record all in real time in one of the 8 tracks of the octatrack and record as WAV? don´t know if you understand me .
Thanks.
holy shit - I just got a Blofeld.
THANK YOU
Cool ! Enjoy it, it's a classy little beast !
Hi, just a question. This might have been answered before so apologies and happy if you point me to a comment. Can I connect master MIDI keyboard and play sample loaded in track? At the moment, if I build nice effect combo with a bass sample and want to build a bass, I would normally place trigs and alter their pitch so notes go up an down octave. Can I do similar with MIDI connected, e.g. play C, E, G notes on keyboard and OT picks up notes played and link them to sequencer step (I assume this would have to be done in live rec). Dont want to fork out money for keyboard just to find out it is not possible. Thanks.
Am I correct in saying that we can't use record mode for the midi section? We can only sample?
thanks for the video
So if my external synth is the A4, can I control just 1 track on the A4 with midi from the OT and have the others free for other stuff? Thanks
Hi ! Yes, that is possible, any combination will work :) you may need to figure out the best MIDI signal flow between the machines however !
You're most welcome !
thanks for this , just one question , i cant seem to get around how to bank change the blofeld from the ot , program change works fine..
Great tutorial!
Do you know how to record MIDI into the OT?
I'm interested in building a MIDI track that sends MIDI notes and Program Changes from the Octatrack into an external synth. This would allow me to have a backing track with different parts and sounds from other instruments, allowing me to jam on the octatrack and not worry about the other instruments.
PLEASE HELP!
+Juan Necochea Hi ! recording MIDI into the OT is exactly the same as in any other sequencer. Pick a MIDI track, go into live recording mode (red blinking light) and start playing ! The only tricky part is to insure that you are transmitting on the correct MIDI channel, in order to record on the correct track. Hope this helps, and thank you for watching !
Function + Reload :)
Cheers !
Is the Machinedrum just as awesome regarding MIDI sequencing? Also, if you had to pick one Elektron product what would it be?
What is the exact shorcut for reloading the part quickly as you've done in this end of this video ?
thanks.
hey what were your project midi setting. i still cant get my machines to change programs when i change them under the track midi menum did you set a channel or just use auto channel
hi ! I'll have to double check, but some machines just don't respond well to the OT's program changes. It's been a while since I've tried this, as I know have a setup that allows for external sequencing of my synths, and I've also slimmed the whole studio down a lot. Make sure you click the encoder for the program to confirm your choice. And also try switching to a different pattern and back to the one you're setting up, to check that your external kit is receiving them correctly on pattern changes. Let me know how that works for you ! Cheers.
How do you do save and reload a midi part? Thanks Great Tut!
HI there ! Parts are used to assign different sample slots to each track, as well as FX settings. They are saved with a combination of Function + MIDI, and recalled with Function + Cue. I'm not sure if that's what you mean by "MIDI part" ?
SecretMusicUK yeah! that's what im talking about, thank you very very much.
SecretMusicUK thanksss!!!!
Great ! You're welcome :) Enjoy.
Cool ! Enjoy :)
hello, can midi patterns be chained or arranged in something like song mode of analog four?
You're welcome !
How do you `Randomize` in the `LFO Design` page??
Hi ! In the LFO designer page, press Function + Bank, then randomize ! Have fun !
Thanks!
thank you
My pleasure !
still getting a bit lost with this tip... i need to see what your hands are doing too i think.
Yes, I'm working on a better way to film these, especially as I'm doing some AR jams, and it's vital to see the pads as well !
Lol fuckin David Schwimmer over here, I can't get my octatrack to start my tr8's sequencer so I can record it in time. All I want is for the midi of my octatrack to start my tr8 sequencer in time with it so it can record perfectly in time. With my tr8 and my moog it works fine, I press start on the tr8, the moog starts playing it's sequencer. Plz help
Hi ! I would say that you have to make sure that you have a MIDI out connected from the OT into the MIDI in of the TR8. Secondly, make sure that in the OT, in the Global menu, you check the clock and transport "send" option. That should be all it needs. Hope this helps :) Cheers
hey! can i do the same thing (about CC) with a microbrute arturia ? The microbrute has only got midi in port and no midi out.
Hi ! I don't own one, but in theory, you should be able to, yes. You just need to find out the CC number assignments, usually at the end of the user manual, and set them up in the OT :) Cheers !
oki :) thx