Muff's Modules & More

READYdot

So I've been eyeing at that machine. The more I hear and the more I read, the more I want it. I'd always hoped that sampling to the computer was an easy task and could be flexible. But what I see being done with an Octatrack, makes me think that it is the ultimate machine to pair my modular with. I often use the patches I do directly in a track, but once recorded the process of making something out of the sample is workintense and not very intuitive. Now with the Octatrack I totally see all those possibilities of sampling the modular, tweaking the sample, making a new patch on the first sampled one, and wreaking havoc...

So anybody having some experience!?

Pascal · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:56 am Post subject:

I haven't use it yet to sample the modular, simply processing samples and add things to whatever I am doing, very flexible machine as all Elektron gear, don't like working with computers, main reason I bought this.

here is a track made with Octatrack and Phonogene

[s]http://soundcloud.com/mododd/midnight [/s]

Mercutio · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:40 am Post subject:

Extra !

PhineasFreak · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:53 am Post subject:

i been on the hunt for an OT for a few weeks now so i can do live work without relying on on-the-fly-sampling into a laptop running ableton. OT seems the perfect solution to build a loop, sample and leave it run, patch a new loop and layer on top to build a tune progressively...

jimmyambulance · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 1:03 pm Post subject:

i've been wondering about this, too - can i sequence my modular with an octatrack?

msprigings · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 1:11 pm Post subject:

I've seen people clock the modular with a pulse sample out of one of the Octatrack outs. Sequencing would require midi to cv?

tIB · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:06 pm Post subject:

^ sequencing requires midi to cv.

Ive been working with the OT since its release off and on, I bought it to use with the modular primarily. Here's a track live sampling the modular:

[s]http://soundcloud.com/tib/those-who-wait[/s]

You can definitely sample the modular and get something else going, you can make something out of almost nothing with the OT if you wish to. The bad points are that sample recording time is currently limited to 16 seconds, so if you want to work with longer samples you still nee a computer- it can stream very big files, but not record them as yet. The interface (and the machine in general) imo is a bit fussy- theres a lot to remember and it isnt as intuitive to me as the MDUW or MNM. YMMV there though plenty of others seem to share that opinion. Its a million times better now than it was a year ago, and it is improving too... its not perfect though if you like live sample manipulation and have the patience to learn it then you will be alright I think.

dan_p · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:46 pm Post subject:

Nice work tIbs,Pascal.

Right, thats it, I'm taking the OT away with me tomorrow. Its stupid that I have one and it just site in the box! Going to make a concerted effort to use it more. Funny, I've never really ever considered selling it despite it getting the least use of anything else I have in the studio.

sersch · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 5:41 pm Post subject:

I use the OT with a Cwejman S1 MkII. Thanks to its built-in MIDI-CV-Interface, and thanks to the OT itself I can…
…play the S1 in realtime (using the trig buttons as keyboard)
…record this
…step-sequence the S1
…treat the S1 with effects
…sample the S1 & manipulate the samples
…prelisten to the S1 (e.g. to setup a new sequence) via OT headphone while using the OT main out to playback an already recorded sequence

No need for a separate mixer, separate fx boxes, separate step-sequencer, separate sampler. It is awesome, but I really have to concentrate in order to not loose track of what I am doing and where I am in the OT (as I am red-green-blind, the OT's usage of red-green-yellow LEDs is a bit of a pain). I have to practise a lot with this setup, but it is absolutely worth it.

Stab Frenzy · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:20 pm Post subject:

kuxaan-sum · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:57 pm Post subject:

I bought my OT to sample patches and loops from my modular. Would be nice to have more than 16 seconds but I have gotten some nice snippets in real-time, used FX and then sliced and re-sequenced.

Still learning and getting things down and having an MD and MNM made things harder as the OT is a totally different beast. Hardest part for me was disassociating habits from other elektrons and understanding patterns/parts and saving.

Also having tons of fun just using the thru machines for processing.

jonah · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:55 pm Post subject:

READYdot · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:57 am Post subject:

Ok, that sounds just like it's up my aisle. I'm getting a MDUW first, have got a MnM on the line, and the OT will be on the list when I'm half way through with the other two beasts. 16 seconds sounds like enough to me. Why would that not be enough? The Amen Break is 5.2 seconds... hihi

JP · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:00 am Post subject:

tIB · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:25 pm Post subject:

^ some related thoughts of mine on that here from another forum:

READYdot · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:39 pm Post subject:

Well, anyways, these machines are easy to resell, I rarely see them last longer than a week on Sale.

JP · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:56 pm Post subject:

Prices have tanked recently. We're seeing sub 800 MDUW and 1100 for an OT. Both of those made me reconsider ever offloading mine. They've lost the "well I can always sell it for 75-80% what I brought it for mentally that many module have"

nanotone · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:03 am Post subject:

What's about your NI Maschine based setup I have seen on the Happy Knobbing Festival last year?
I remember I was realy impressed to see how you worked with it. hmmm.....

chrisdammann · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:23 am Post subject:

jonne74 · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:58 pm Post subject:

mecanikill · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 2:13 pm Post subject:

So happy I did not buy one of these. MD is kool, MM meh and Octatrack seems to have way to many limitations that would drive me nuts like the sample length limit...come on its 2012 and this is the best we can get? I'm hoping korg puts out a esx2 and gets it right. These are just my opinions and hope I have not offended anyone here.

bouzoukijoe1 · Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:13 pm Post subject:

Boelie035 · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:49 am Post subject:

You are missing the point of having longer samples Bouzou, it would be great to sample a minute of vinyl and chop it up in the octa to re arrange it!!

The octa is a sampler here and the machinedrum is more of a groovebox!

tIB · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:56 am Post subject:

One thing to consider with the 16 second limit is that the OS isn't finished yet...

bouzoukijoe1 · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:15 am Post subject:

mecanikill · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:28 am Post subject:

I enjoy having long vocal samples from movies in my music and that's a deal breaker for me. How long has it been out now? They still have not finished the operating system on it...and let's not forget the 4 bar limitation either. Elektrons build of the MnM and MD were crap too the pots were the worst I have ever used on a machine and came loose real quick and had to be repaired numerous times and I could not stand the clanky buttons that didn't grip and made a click everytime I hit them. Glitterati...

tIB · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:04 am Post subject:

The state of the OS on release was poor to say the least- its gotten a lot better and I believe it will continue to do so. But yeah, its been around over a year now without some of the initial advertised functions.

Id say the 4 bar length is much less of a problem on the OT since you can lower the clock speed on individual tracks- setting at 1/8th of clock speed is going to give you 8x more length on that track, which is fine if you are triggering a longer sample and not fine if you want tighter control over events.

If you dont like the elektron build quality then the OT wont convert you.

Ekofisk · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:11 am Post subject:

And just to make it clear, the 16 second limit is the current recording limit. Samples transferred by usb can be pretty much as long as you like, only limited by the size of your card.

Re the 16 sec recording limit, I think tIb is right in emphasizing that the OS isn't finished yet.

iVardensphere · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:10 am Post subject:

I enjoy using my modular as a constant sound source and feed the streaming audio into the Octatrack. I do gate & defect sequencing from there. Super simple and crazy tight with the rest of the mix.

If you'd rather clock your modular's sequencer to the 8T (without the aforementioned midi/cv interface) you can send a sharp ping out of the cue out and get your clock from there. It's a little sloppier however.

Modular + 8T = win! we're not worthy

jonah · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:20 pm Post subject:

I'm not saying I'd hate the ability to have longer samples, but on the other hand I think Elektron might have done this on purpose to make a sampler you have to play.

I mean, you can set up one shot record trigs on multiple tracks and arm them one after another to get longer semi-continuous sample time. Or set up sequences of different lengths to work in a more automated fashion. From my perspective this encourages happy accidents. And my feeling about happy accidents is: "I live for this shit".

fredguy · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:48 pm Post subject:

The manual blows.
There are things that I'd change with the sampler. Hopefully they'll improve with the next OS update.
Loooong learning curve.

That said it's been a crazy addition to the modular. I started out mangling samples and only recently started into the midi sequencer. Here's a quick demo featuring the OT sequencing three modular voices via a vermona qmi midi-cv interface. Drum dokta clocked with the OT midi clock through a timetable for the drum sounds.

[s]http://soundcloud.com/fredguy-1/octa-midi[/s]