Ableton Forum

I believe this is what you NEED.

By the way, when you search google images for "elektron octatrack", the first image that pops up is from tarekith's review.

There's a guy called 'dataline' (I pretend it's Tarekith) who has a bunch of YT vids of live sets using Elektron stuff that are good enough to listen to, and you can get a good sense of what you'd be doing with them by watching; maybe not so much with what exactly he's doing if you don't have a clue as to how any of them work but you can find those videos too. But I like how you can hear the overall difference in the mixing/programming/tweaking compared to Live during the course of the set. It's refreshing.

I'm not Dataline, he's a real nice guy though and an Elektron ninja for sure.

The Roland MV8000 was the best computer fee solution I have ever tried:

So I've been looking at the octatrack following all the recommendations. It looks a great piece of kit although I'm worried it might be a bit complex. Any comments on how the work flow is with this thing? (or any good tutorial videos). I've only ever worked itb so this will be my first step away from that.

GreatExpectations wrote:So I've been looking at the octatrack following all the recommendations. It looks a great piece of kit although I'm worried it might be a bit complex. Any comments on how the work flow is with this thing? (or any good tutorial videos). I've only ever worked itb so this will be my first step away from that.

complex? I would worry if it's doing to less compared to Live ?!

ansolas wrote:

GreatExpectations wrote:So I've been looking at the octatrack following all the recommendations. It looks a great piece of kit although I'm worried it might be a bit complex. Any comments on how the work flow is with this thing? (or any good tutorial videos). I've only ever worked itb so this will be my first step away from that.

complex? I would worry if it's doing to less compared to Live ?!

Live is easy to work though as it's all laid out on the screen. The octatrack looks like it might have many layers buried in that tiny screen.

I think what makes people feel the OT is so complex is the fact that there can be many different ways to do the same thing. There's a lot of scope for different workflows, as a result there's not a simple "you use it like this" type of explanation for what it can do. That said, there's a ton of great videos on youtube (cough, like mine, cough) explaining things in more detail and walking you through different processes.

It's VASTLY different than using Live, you're setting yourself up for disaster if you try and make it work as such. After all, you're doing this to get away from the computer, so go into it with an open mind and see how you can use it to fit your music.

Tarekith wrote:I think what makes people feel the OT is so complex is the fact that there can be many different ways to do the same thing. There's a lot of scope for different workflows, as a result there's not a simple "you use it like this" type of explanation for what it can do. That said, there's a ton of great videos on youtube (cough, like mine, cough) explaining things in more detail and walking you through different processes.

It's VASTLY different than using Live, you're setting yourself up for disaster if you try and make it work as such. After all, you're doing this to get away from the computer, so go into it with an open mind and see how you can use it to fit your music.

You're absolutely right. I think I'm going to go with the analog four. The videos on YouTube by dataline have sold me.

Make sure you check out Elektronauts.com too!

I agree with Tarekith for the most part. The OT is very different than using Live. However when looking for a hardware solution as a base on the Ableton forums, the OT gets suggested because it offers 3 basics things similar to Live, Sampling, Midi Sequencing/recording, and effects. In a way the OT reminds be of using and APC40 with the Hanz Pertov script, which I believe became the base idea behind PUSH. The Knobs on the OT respond a lot like the knobs on the APC, you push a button, or a shift plus button, or a double click, and the knobs respond to a specific thing. That part is fairly simple to grasp, wether your working with sample loops, live input, or midi sequencing. The more you get use to it, the less you really need to look at the screen anyways.
The OT becomes complex in how you arrange your sequences, and how patterns and parts relate to that.
Also there are a few ways to skin a cat when sampling. (See Tarekiths vid for a proper explanation on sampling, as well as the electron vids)
The OT offers 8 midi tracks and Sampling, this is the bottom line on wether you should choose the OT vs the A4. The A4 offers cv out and 4 analogue voices and effects.
To me the OT seems much more the sampling/sequencing/live input effects box solution. Sequencing up to 8 of anything that responds to midi.
The A4 is limited to 4 voices, and can sequence external gear via cv. Cool, but only expansive when considering gear that responds to cv.

Then there's the Tempest.
Which I prefer over the A4 even though it doesn't have built in effects.
It does offer 6 voices, and the workflow is more playable that the A4 in some ways, it has it's quirks to.

I like to think of the Tempest OT mixer combo as the hardware solution to Live.
Both offer a workflow similar to controllers and scripts. To me they seem to be taking from ideas Ableton have established, but in a hardware format, such is very different on some angles.

Funny thing, when the OT came out, I think I commented on a thread Terakith was in.
At the time I was baffled that anyone familiar with Live would even consider the OT as a solution to Live.
Oh how things have changed.