So I just got my octatrack

And I love this thing! I read how hard and complicated it is by some of the new a on the elecktron forums and I don't think so at all. I'm gonna save for a month or so and get the analog 4 to go with it. I can't wait to get it home and midi it up to my motif.

I have alot of learning but this thing is a beast!!!

Dabblerobb wrote:And I love this thing! I read how hard and complicated it is by some of the new a on the elecktron forums and I don't think so at all. I'm gonna save for a month or so and get the analog 4 to go with it. I can't wait to get it home and midi it up to my motif.

I have alot of learning but this thing is a beast!!!

props man.
from what i can tell it is totally different than an mpc, so going in with an open mind to a new workflow is essential.
would love to hear details about how you have had to adjust working methods or things that are very different.
whenever i sit down with my machinedrum, as soon as i try to think of it like an mpc i get frustrated, but once i just start playing, following the logical flow of things, i really appreciate the superb design put into these boxes.

tapedeck wrote:

Dabblerobb wrote:And I love this thing! I read how hard and complicated it is by some of the new a on the elecktron forums and I don't think so at all. I'm gonna save for a month or so and get the analog 4 to go with it. I can't wait to get it home and midi it up to my motif.

I have alot of learning but this thing is a beast!!!

props man.
from what i can tell it is totally different than an mpc, so going in with an open mind to a new workflow is essential.
would love to hear details about how you have had to adjust working methods or things that are very different.
whenever i sit down with my machinedrum, as soon as i try to think of it like an mpc i get frustrated, but once i just start playing, following the logical flow of things, i really appreciate the superb design put into these boxes.

Yeah it's a completely different approach but I like the way it chops samples and all that. Haven't hooked it up to the motif or did any live looping or directly sampled into it yet either. Just been chopping old samples and loops and alot of that.

I'm also pretty excited to run my turntable audio into this bad boy

ive got to say the one thing that has kept me away from the OT is that it seems so loop based...and since getting an mpc and dealing with limited ram i have totally shifted my style to using smaller pieces and building loops through the sequencer.
so being more for large slices of audio vs smaller building block samples i have stayed away from the OT.

would be killer though to be able to do both.

tapedeck wrote:ive got to say the one thing that has kept me away from the OT is that it seems so loop based...and since getting an mpc and dealing with limited ram i have totally shifted my style to using smaller pieces and building loops through the sequencer.
so being more for large slices of audio vs smaller building block samples i have stayed away from the OT.

would be killer though to be able to do both.

I have maschine but I'm trying to get away from the computer 100% so I'm thinking about sellin it and getting a 1k. It'd be a pretty crazy setup.

^^^ that would be filthy. do it.

ive entertained the idea of adding an octatrack to the setup as well, not seriously, but if i had a bunch of extra cash it would be awesome.

that's good to hear..you'd use 1k as sequencer ?

Had an ot but I sold it.

Not sure if its changed but I hated I couldn't link a mpd32 or padkontrol etc to play slices.

Glitching is cool, but it gets boring fast.

Too fussy and intuitive in the number of button pushes you need for normal functions.

No swing, doesn't have teh ommmph.

Step sequencer is nice though.

Regretted selling the 2500 JJOS XL for the OT.

tried youtubing some videos, didnt find much hip hop related stuff..but from what I've seen this thing requires good amount of clicking around

acronym wrote:Too fussy and intuitive in the number of button pushes you need for normal functions.

A lot of OT vids show literally hundreds of button presses and it's not always that obvious what it's doing to the sound...

konc3pt wrote:tried youtubing some videos, didnt find much hip hop related stuff..but from what I've seen this thing requires good amount of clicking around

you prefer to sit back and smoke while the machine plays itself?

seriously - the machine is top notch and a joy to 'click around' with.

tapedeck wrote:

konc3pt wrote:tried youtubing some videos, didnt find much hip hop related stuff..but from what I've seen this thing requires good amount of clicking around

you prefer to sit back and smoke while the machine plays itself?

seriously - the machine is top notch and a joy to 'click around' with.

yea thats more up my alley way... vidoes I seen I heard more buttons clicks than music coming outta the thing, I couldnt see the screen but maybe dude was playing tetris or snake on that thing while composing the beat

seemed like time consuming effort to hear basic drum beat playing n dude wasnt even choppn up a drum breaks but already had sounds in it...impression I got is that mpc require quarter of the button clicking/navigating than ocatrack. maybe im just spoiled by jjxl...

each to its own tho, as long as dab is happy with it.

it is totally different than an mpc

there are things you can do on an mpc that are pretty backwards on an octa and then things you can do on an octa that is like holy sh*t i been wanting to do that on the mpc for ages.
but basically no comparison - i think they complement each other beautifully they are so different.

no doubt the power under the hood though - and yes you have to hit buttons to access it ;]

I hear ya, what are ocatracks strengths or things that complement the mpc?

Another thing I didn't click with was step sequencing, I felt like I was programming and not really in tune with making a beat. I didn't feel like I was playing if that makes sense, that coupled with no velocity is a killer.

I never used the fader, it was pretty useless to me and while you have more options in slicing, it wasn't entirely a huge step up like I was expecting. The most interesting thing I guess is you can randomize a pattern you sliced so you can get something totally different.

The effects are lush, there I said it. The sound manipulation you can do is pretty amazing but like I said it was only fun for a few months before I got bored. Also the time stretching is good, its not amazing from my experience.

In the end I sold it, its nice to mangle sounds but it was counter intuitive to my workflow and ideas.