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Octatrack User`s manual

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1. 9 EQ ES TAS 9 ECHO FREEZE DELAY e enti ia rea eiat es A 10 DELAY MAIN erede A e sada diare A 10 DELAY SETUP eet etie i imp er qu e tatu aibi edet es A 10 GATEBOX PLATE REVERB ete petet ttt dece issuer a Pepe ame Hades canile A 11 REVERB MAIN sirien a a a LUPO UU de A 11 REVERB SETUP net ea edit dette petenti edes A 11 INDEX 5 of 6 6 of 6 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Thank you for choosing the Octatrack DPS 1 The Octatrack is a dynamic performance sampler ideal for real time sampling remixing and audio content manipulaton It features the improved Elektron step sequencer which makes it easy to bend and process samples in new and unique ways To make the most of the machine we would recommend you to carefully read this manual CONVENTIONS IN THIS MANUAL In this manual we have used certain conventions They are listed below Buttons are written in upper case with bold style enclosed in brackets For instance the button function on the main panel is written FUNCTION Menu names are written in upper case The PLAYBACK SETUP menu is an example of that Parameter names and certain menus where settings can be made are written in bold upper case style HEADPHONES MIX for example Upper case style is used for parameter setting alternatives for example ONE and for cer tain menu settings like EXTERNAL
2. earn 1 4 REAR CONNEGTORS a RC ELE uekte 1 6 RACK MOUNT KIT ACCESSORY 1 6 RACK MOUNT KIT ASSEMBLY 3 nir tet ed paia 1 6 THE COMPACT FLASH CARD READER sese een 1 7 COMPACT FLASH CARD SPECIFICATIONS 1 7 CONNECTING FHE UNIT nite et era en te erp en E aee AE 1 7 CARE INSTRUGTIONGS rim ete e Li a Ra 1 7 OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK STRUCTURE eese 1 9 is CERE 1 9 AUDIO POOL NE ME 1 9 PROJECTS c nee che A Buene 1 10 FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLE SLOT LISTS sse 1 10 BANI amp S OE eei Oro ki rests io des ie Fas statu nada 1 10 PATTERNS uie im peti d ett esse a So dts ead qe det ace ea 1 10 PARTS theta i nar 1 10 SCENES utearealet 1 10 ARRANGEMENTS re ttti kennelen 1 10 TRACKS UT 1 11 MACHINE Sira ned riter ete he e it et to a net nana e e dodi eda 1 11 THE USER INTERFAGE seinere necu Ea IE rie 1 12 LAYER EDIT AND 5 1 12 PARAMETER EDITING roe eee o e eas 1 13 QUICK PARAMETER EDITING 1 13 PARAMETER VALUE SKIP aara a a e a A fo Or 1 13 QUICK SCROLLING i n ertet pete band 1 13 HIESCORE NAMING rtt tome e meet ieu rti d a datei on
3. a de tae Ee gn Paus 1 54 SCALE SETUP uL UU 1 55 Meri 1 55 com nia 1 56 TEMPO i UT MT 1 57 ELO MT 1 57 TEMPO NUDGE wie i ain ae ia el ninety adie a ie 1 57 THE AUDIO EDITOR idest rari 1 58 ACCESSING THE AUDIO 8 1 58 ACCESS FROM THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU sse enne 1 58 ACCESS USING SHORTCUTS is ic itte Br fet nter Lec rU ai 1 58 AUDIO EDITOR 0 innen ener ens 1 58 TRIM mE 1 58 SlBM cc UU POEM 1 60 ATTRIBUTES creiria a aa rei pu tenero istuc etna use aiite e toes 1 61 OPERATIONS etn e em tet ee de av aa aad alates e inng 1 62 THE ARRANGER 1 64 THE ARRANGER MENU n de pad ee EU ee eo deg od 1 64 CHANGE un 1 64 she iii EMT 1 65 erum 1 65 RELOAD bee eie ae 1 65 NE 1 65 GEN EEE tete reb decere ER it NE EE hoe 1 65 3 of 6 EARLY STARTUP MENU celiaca 1 68 TEST MODE ARR 1 68 EMPTY RESET det teet eo esp ei 1 68 MIDI UPGRADE inier te tere ded dee i Peed debe tit ag dee lara 1 68 SEND UPGRADE x t te ep m retards n tpe e n Rae anneks a 1 69 TECHNICAL INFORMATION sussebass Ec Cp t
4. BASE sets the base cutoff frequency of the fil ter Sweeping this parameter with WIDTH set to the max value makes the multi mode filter act as a high pass filter WIDTH controls the distance between the low pass and high pass cutoff frequencies When BASE is set to its minimum value sweeping this parameter makes the multi mode filter act as a low pass filter Q controls the amount of resonance applied to the cutoff frequency or frequencies set in the multi mode filter SETUP menu DEPTH controls how much the filter envelope affects the cutoff frequency or frequencies Negative values invert the envelope ATK sets the attack time of the filter envelope DEC sets the decay time of the filter envelope MULTI MODE FILTER SETUP EFFECT i SETUF HF LF i ED i GET Hi EL ET ELI HP sets the high pass filter slope Select between 12 dB or 24 dB LP sets the low pass filter slope Select between 12 dB or 24 dB ENV selects which parameter the filter enve lope will affect HOLD controls whether the filter envelope should be affected by the HOLD parameter of the AMP MAIN page or not Q selects how the resonance will affect the cut off frequencies It can affect the BASE WIDTH both of them or none DIST sets the headroom of the filter The higher the value the lower the headroom Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE 2 BAND PARAMETRIC EQ The parametric EQ is useful for shapi
5. FLES ELI Hi Hi ELI Select empty sample slot position sample should be loaded to and press YES The file browser covered in the section FILE BROWSER on page 22 will be opened It reflects the content of the audio pool of the active set Locate the sample you wish to load and press ENTER YES Given the sample slot is empty it doesn t matter which type of machine that is already assigned to the track Both the Flex and Static sam ple slot lists can be entered and samples loaded without the machine of the track being changed When replacing previously loaded samples move the cursor to the sample that should be replaced and press ENTER YES twice to open the file browser Note that the sample already loaded to the sample slot together with the machine type it belongs to at the same time will be assigned to the track If for example a Thru machine is assigned to a track and a Flex sample is selected in the QUICK ASSIGN menu of this track then a Flex machine with the selected Flex sample will automatically be assigned to the track e Select a sample the Flex Static sample slot list and press FUNCTION BANK to edit it in the audio editor e The output of the track recorders are found in the Flex machine sample slots They are located above Flex sample slot position 1 It is possible to load samples to the recorders just as if they were Flex sample slots Only
6. BL BL ELI PROJECTS SCALE PER TRACK reflects the NORMAL and PER TRACK settings found in the SCALE SETUP menu Read more about these settings and what they do in SCALE SETUP on page 55 Two settings exist NO is the default setting All tracks are set to NORMAL YES sets all tracks to PER TRACK This allows all tracks to have their own unique track length and time signature TRK1 PLAYS FREELY controls the behavior of track 1 NO is the default option When this setting is chosen the track is connected to the sequencer When PLAY is pressed the track will start playing YES disconnects track 1 from the sequencer When PLAY is pressed the track will not start playing To start the playback of the track it needs to be trigged by pressing the first TRIG key Read more about track trigging in the section TRACK on page 51 TRK2 TRK8 PLAYS FREELY controls the behavior of the rest of the tracks in the same way as described for TRK1 PLAYS FREELY To be able to disconnect tracks from the sequencer SCALE PER TRACK needs to be set to YES SYSTEM In this menu the USB connection is activated OS updates performed and date and time set HL EL ET BL ELI ENABLE USB DISK enables the USB connection Connect the Octatrack to a computer using a USB cable select ENABLE USB DISK and press ENTER YES to make the Com pact Flash card appear as an external
7. ELI A 1 FLEX MACHINE Flex machines offer the most extensive sound manipulation possibilities A sample used by a Flex machine is loaded to the RAM memory of the Octatrack From there it can be twisted stretched and reassembled in multiple ways Flex machines are unbeatable sound processors FLEX MAIN 120 0 Ep DODO a dS D FART 4 RATE RTRG RTIH FADI Hs PTCH adjusts the pitch of the sample The max setting pitches the sample up an octave a min setting pitches the sample down an octave E EL ELI STRT controls the start point of the sample If the sample contains slices and the SLIC parameter in the FLEX SETUP menu is set to ON this parameter selects between the slices STRT values exceeding the number of actual sample slices will select the last sample slice RATE adjusts the playback speed It shifts behavior depending on the RATE setting found in the FLEX SETUP page When set to 0 the sample won t be played back at all Negative values make the sample play backwards RTRG sets the number of retrigs that should occur when a note is trigged RTIM sets the time between each retrig The time is relative to the tempo FLEX SETUP FLAYEACK SETUF ELI EL LOOP sets the master loop mode setting of the track When set to AUTO the individual loop settings made in the audio editor will apply Each
8. LAYER EDIT AND WINDOWS When a function which puts a window on top of the main interface screen is opened the function of certain buttons and or knobs will change The buttons that are not used or blocked can still be used to control the layer underneath For example when you have called the TEMPO menu it will make use of the LEVEL knob but you can still use the DATA ENTRY knobs to control the parameters of the track in focus When a window has functions mapped to such interface controls help is provided at the bottom of the window in the form of icons representing these controls The icons are THE USER INTERFACE The ARROW buttons The FUNCTION key aaa The TRIG keys The LEVEL knob All windows can be closed using the EXIT NO key PARAMETER EDITING The DATA ENTRY knobs are used to change the track parameters The location of the knobs correspond to the layout of the parameters on the screeen Turn DATA ENTRY knob A to adjust the upper left parameter turn DATA ENTRY knob B to adjust the the middle parameter of the upper row and so on If one of the slots in the parameter grid is blank the corresponding DATA ENTRY knob fills no function in that particular menu QUICK PARAMETER EDITING If the DATA ENTRY knob is pressed down while being turned parameters will be adjusted in increments of 7 This makes it much quicker to sweep through a whole parameter range PARAMETER VALUE SKIP Keeping FUNCTION pressed while
9. 1 49 SELECTING A PATTERN arrange d brie 1 49 PATTERN GHAINING aper nin nei oan 1 49 GRIB RECORDING MOBDBE rediit o b i ated uc dea edes a AL 1 49 PARAMETER LOCKS nail idi etat e tede tede i tb epe ed i eei coco 1 50 NOTE TRIG PARAMETER 8 1 50 TRIGEESS TRIG S 1 50 sizes icc a Lair 1 50 MACHINE AND TRACK 1 51 MACHINE TRIGGING unndra mS 1 51 TRACK TRIGGING onde ote ee Le nt een ait ee brie pet 1 51 SEQUENCER COPY PASTE AND CLEAR OPERATIONS 1 51 PATTERN COPY iosa lalla Leda oct te bei adi cute quede soe d da 1 51 PATTERN C EAR 265 Sa etes e i ite dus a a IER RTL eMe drags fea cha o 1 51 TRACK COPY Rieti nde ell i ae 1 52 TRACK CLEAR DE 1 52 TRACK PAGE COPY xiii ens ed ted eerte eati atea del 1 52 TRACK PAGE CLEAR 1 52 ikea te 1 53 NOTE CLEAR purre 1 53 SCENE COPY ha ttn itis ala 1 53 SCENE CLEAR aia begets AAE 1 53 SLIDE site teed de e land Gath 1 53 OWING ridare 1 54 MICRO TIMING ea adt ta sed
10. MIXER opens the PROJECT menu PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS 11 Pressing the MIDI button activates the MIDI sequencer mode of the Octatrack FUNC TION MIDI opens up the PARTS menu A lit lt MIDI gt LED indicates the MIDI sequencer is active When in the RECORD SETUP menu this LED indicates the signal of the internal sample source and the internal source selection for recorder trigs 12 FUNCTION key Press and hold it for accessing the secondary function of another key 13 Pressing CUE a TRACK key will cue the track The audio of the track will then be routed to the cue outputs FUNCTION CUE will reload the parameter settings of the selected part 14 Pressing PATTERN a TRIG key selects the active pattern within a bank The ARRANGER menu is called by pressing FUNCTION PATTERN 15 BANK a TRIG key selects the active bank within a project Pressing FUNCTION BANK opens up the EDIT PROJECT menu where various project related operations are carried out 16 ENTER YES key Used for entering sub menus and for confirming choices 17 EXIT NO key Used for exiting the active menu and for deselecting options 18 The ARROW keys Used for menu navigation They are called UP DOWN LEFT and RIGHT Pressing RIGHT LEFT will nudge the BPM up or down 19 The TRACK PARAMETER keys switches between the TRACK PARAMETER menus of the active track Pressing FUNCTION a TRACK PARAMETER key w
11. RELOAD makes a part revert to its saved settings If performing this command and the part previously hasn t been stored a prompt will appear asking to do so STORE saves the part CLEAR resets the part to the initial parameter settings of all tracks e Copy paste clear commands are available in the EDIT PARTS menu PART RELOAD If the parameters of a part have been adjusted and you want to revert them to their initial stored state press FUNCTION CUE This command can only be applied to parts that are stored Should an unsaved part be active when pressing the button combination a prompt stating STORE PART FIRST will appear SCENES A scene is a set of locked parameter values that can be assigned to the two scene slots of the crossfader When scenes are assigned to the A and B scene slots the crossfader can interpolate between the scene parameters Each part contains a set of 16 scenes The cur rently assigned scenes are displayed in the lower part of the LCD screen Another way to see the assignments is by pressing one of the SCENE buttons The scene already assigned to the scene slot of the pressed SCENE button is indicated by a red lt TRIG gt LED The scene assigned to the other scene slot is indicated by a green lt TRIG gt LED ASSIGNING AND ADJUSTING SCENES To assign a scene to scene slot A press SCENE A a TRIG key The chosen scene will now be assigned to scene slot A The procedure is the same for ass
12. Eelehiron IDCTATRACK DPS 1 11 DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE SAMPLER USER S MANUAL FCC compliance statement This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules Operation is subject to the following two conditions 1 This device may not cause harmful interference and 2 this device must accept any interference received including interference that may cause undesired operation NOTE This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for h
13. Messages visible on the screen will be written in upper case with quotation marks Like this CHOOSE BANK Knobs are written in upper case with bold italic style For instance the knob level is writ ten LEVEL LED indicators like the record light are written lt RECORD gt The following symbols are used throughout the manual A This symbol indicates information that you need to pay attention to This symbol indicates tip that might make it easier interacting with the Octatrack This symbol is not used but it shows a nice ear THE BACKGROUND OF THE OCTATRACK THE BACKGROUND OF THE OCTATRACK The first relatively affordable samplers were released in the 1980 s and made a huge impact on the music scene of that time Suddenly producers could incorporate sonic ele ments taken from completely new sources in their compositions This resulted in the birth and evolution of several genres for example hip hop The concept of the sampler has since then branched off in several directions Software based samplers are today capable of handling enormously large multi sampled sample librares Hardware samplers aren t really suited for those tasks Instead they come to their best when conceived as dedicated devices focusing on new and radical approaches to sampling When we developed the Machinedrum UW one of the goals was to allow for a creative use of samples Once the machine was released it became apparent that espe
14. The center of Octatrack editing is the LCD display The main interface screen is shown below Si mi ELT mU BEI mi FLES ERGNAROE 6 5 7 8 1 Icons showing the current machine assignments and status of the tracks First the machine assignments are shown F Flex machine S Static machine T Thru machine N Neighbor machine Beneath the machine assignment symbol the status of the track is shown A play symbol means the sample of the track is playing a stop symbol means the track is not playing a play symbol preceded by a plus sign means the track is recording 2 The current tempo displayed with one decimal 3 Four boxes showing the playback position Each bar represents a pattern page The playback recording status shown by the standard record play pause and stop symbols E n and m The active part Position of the active pattern Machine type and associated sample name Assigned scenes and the current position of the crossfader Level bar showing the overall volume level of the machine on the active track 10 Up to six parameters They show what the DATA ENTRY knobs control and also indi cate the current parameter values When two parameters depend on each other in some way they will have a small clip between them as shown below A 0 oco O
15. will be shown SCENE CLEAR It is possible to clear a scene from all scene parameter lock data Press and hold a SCENE button to access the available scenes While keeping the SCENE button pressed press and hold the TRIG key of the scene you want to clear and press the PLAY key A window saying CLEAR SCENE will appear The clear scene operation can be undone by performing the operation one more time The message UNDO SCENE will be shown in the display SLIDE The SLIDE menu offers the possibility to make the value of a parameter locked on one step slide gradually to the locked parameter value on the next step The menu is located in the 53 54 PATTERNS EDIT PROJECT menu Press FUNCTION BANK to open the EDIT PROJECT menu Select TRACK and then SLIDE PATTERN Press ENTER YES to open the SLIDE menu EL ELT EL HM C n m DE um 2 T HEI gi FAB FLEX LETT 01 02 ELI First choose the track you wish to apply the slide trigs to by pressing the appropriate TRACK button For a parameter value to slide it needs to be parameter locked at two separate note trigs Place out slide trigs by pressing the TRIG keys If a slide trig is set on the same sequencer step as a note trig with a parameter lock the locked parameter value of the note trig will slide to the locked parameter value of the next note trig given the same parameter has been locked on both steps
16. Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE A 3 NEIGHBOR MACHINE Neighbor machines listen to the output of the preceding track Multiple tracks with Neighbour machines can form extremely powerful effects chains They turn the Octatrack into a deluxe effects device NEIGHBOR MAIN NEIGHBOR SETUP F F FLAYEACK SETUF 1202 ig 2 HACHINEH n n m n z n T 5 T 5 n n n n HHT i i 5 EE s 7 No main parameters are available No setup parameters are available A 4 Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE A 5 A 6 Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE In this appendix the Octatrack effects are explained The individual effect parameters are presented for reference NONE The none effect is a blank effect Use it if you don t want to affect the audio of the track what so ever NONE MAIN NONE SETUP EL ELI LEU ET fraser LI Hi ET ELI EFFECT 1i NONE No main parameters are available No setup parameters are available A 1 12 24DB MULTI MODE FILTER The resonant 12 24dB lo hi band pass filter gives control of both the low and high filter cutoffs Its flexi bility can make it function as a variable gap bandpass filter as well MULTI MODE FILTER MAIN 1200 DEL PARE MOTH 5 STE FART 4 DFTH ATH DEC 2 EFFECT itFILTER 01 00 EL ET
17. BANKS PARTS AND SCENES assigned to one of the scene slots contain locked parameters the crossfader will interpolate between those values and the general parameter values of the active part The color of the lt CROSSFADER gt LEDs corresponds to the position of the crossfader and reflects how much the two scenes are in effect in relation to each other SCENE MUTE Mute a scene assigned to a scene slot scene by pressing FUNCTION SCENE A SCENE B When muting a scene the locked parameters of assigned scene will be disre garded and instead the general parameter values of the active part will come into effect This makes it possible given the scene parameter values are locked accordingly and the position of the crossfader makes it fully activate the scene to for example apply washes of effects by unmuting a muted scene e When moving the crossfader locked scene parameters have priority over parame ter locks This ensures smooth transitions between scene parameters without sudden changes TRACKS TRACKS The Octatrack can control 8 internal stereo tracks at the same time For a track to be able to process or affect sound a machine needs to be assigned to it Thru and Neighbor machines offer various audio routing options Flex and Static machines are used to process samples Read more about the various machine types and the controls available to them in Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE Each track has 5 TRACK PARAMETER pages each co
18. TRACK COPY When copying the contents of a track the note trigs parameter locks machine assignment and FX assignments will be copied to the destination track Before performing a track copy operation make sure you are in GRID RECORDING mode If not press REC Select the track you want to copy Press FUNCTION REC to perform the copy opera tion The message COPY TRACK will be shown in the display Select the destination track to which you want to paste the copied content Paste the data by pressing FUNC TION STOP A message saying PASTE TRACK will be shown in the display Pasting a track overwrites any previous note trigs parameter locks machine and FX assignments The paste track operation can be undone by pressing FUNCTION STOP immediately after performing it A message saying UNDO TRACK will be shown in the display TRACK CLEAR Clearing a track will remove all note trigs from the active track Before performing a track clear operation make sure you are in GRID RECORDING mode If not press REC When you have selected the track you wish to clear press FUNCTION PLAY to clear the track The message CLEAR TRACK will appear The clear track operation can be undone by pressing FUNCTION PLAY directly after performing it The message UNDO TRACK will be shown in the display TRACK PAGE COPY A track page is one of the up to four pages of sequencer steps a pattern can contain Cop
19. indicating the note trig now contains a parameter lock Remove a parameter lock by pressing down the DATA ENTRY knob of the locked parameter TRIGLESS TRIGS Parameter locks do not necessarily have to be applied to note trigs Trigless trigs contain only parameter locks but do not trig machines They are effective when for example want ing to change the pitch halfway through a playing sample without retrigging it Trigless trigs are placed out by pressing FUNCTION a TRIG key They are indicated by green lt TRIG gt LEDs After parameters have been locked to the trigless trig the lt TRIG gt LED will start to flash rapidly Remove a parameter lock by pressing down the DATA ENTRY knob of the locked parameter SAMPLE LOCKS Each note trig of a track can play a different sample To do this open the SAMPLE LOCK menu by holding down a note trig and pressing the UP or DOWN arrow key BL RATE i EL G SUNSHINE G Ore FLES RAGNAROK ELI PATTERNS The sample slot list of the machine assigned to the track will appear The sample already assigned to the machine is called TRK DEFAULT While holding the TRIG key of the note trig pressed use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to navigate in the list Select the sam ple that should be locked to the note trig and press ENTER YES to a lock it MACHINE AND TRACK TRIGGING Both individual machines and complete tracks can be trigged
20. ying a track page includes all note trigs and parameter lock settings of the track page Before performing a track page copy operation make sure you are in GRID RECORDING mode If not press REC Select the track page you want to copy by pressing the PATTERN PAGE key Hold the PATTERN PAGE key and press REC to copy the track page A message saying COPY PAGE page will appear Select the track page you want to paste the copied page to by pressing the PATTERN PAGE key Paste the data by holding PATTERN PAGE while pressing the STOP key A message saying PASTE PAGE will be shown in the display Pasting a track page overwrites any previous notes data and parameter locks The paste track page operation can be undone by pressing PATTERN PAGE STOP directly after performing it The message UNDO PAGE will be shown in the display TRACK PAGE CLEAR It is possible to clear a track page from all note trigs Before performing a track page clear operation make sure you are in GRID RECORDING mode If not press REC Select the track page you want to clear by pressing the PATTERN PAGE key Clear the track by pressing PATTERN PAGE PLAY to clear the track The message CLEAR PAGE will appear PATTERNS The clear track page operation can be undone by pressing PATTERN PAGE PLAY directly after performing it The message UNDO PAGE will be shown in the display NOTE COPY It is possible to copy a no
21. 4 BASE HOTH SEND FAB EFFECT 2 DELAY 01 00 113010101 m rn I FH m Tr m a F EL ET ELI TIME controls the delay time of the delay loop The actual delay time is relative to the current tempo and it is measured in 256th notes For instance for a one beat delay four 16th notes delay time should be set to 64 FB controls how much of the delay output sound will be fed back into the input of the delay Using the delay feedback you can make delays with several or infinite echoes VOL sets the main volume of the delay output BASE controls the high pass filtering of the signal from the delay feedback loop WDTH controls the low pass filtering of the sig nal from the delay feedback loop relative the BASE parameter SEND controls how much of the signal that will be sent to the delay DELAY SETUP EFFECT 2 SETUF TAFE DIR eio DJ EQUALIZE EL COHFRESSOR S4NCLOCK PASS LO FI al ee X sets if the delay will act as ping pong delay or not EL ET EL TAPE sets the mode of the delay ON set ting will make the delay interpolate between delay times when the TIME parameter in the DELAY MAIN page is changed An OFF set ting will not interpolate between the delay times when the TIME parameter is changed DIR sets the how much of the dry signal that will be mixed with the delay signal A min
22. A lit red lt REC gt LED indicates GRID RECORDING mode is active Select the track to which you want to add note trigs by pressing the relevant TRACK button Place out note trigs by pressing the TRIG keys Note trigs are indicated by red lt TRIG gt LEDs If the pattern contains more than 16 steps switch to the pattern page you want to edit by pressing the PATTERN PAGE key The active pattern page is being indicated by a firmly lit lt PATTERN PAGE gt LED Press PLAY to listen to the sequence You can input note trigs when the sequencer is playing as well All note trigs of a track can be shifted forwards or backwards While in GRID RECORDING mode hold down FUNCTION while pressing the LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys to perform the note trig shift PARAMETER LOCKS Parameter locks is a powerful feature that allows every note trig to have its own unique parameter assignment All note trigs of a track could for example have different pitch or vol ume settings Parameter locks can applied to either a note trig or to a trigless trig NOTE TRIG PARAMETER LOCKS Apply parameter locks to a note trig by pressing and holding the TRIG key of the note trig and then using the DATA ENTRY knobs adjust the parameter you want to lock to the intended value The graphics in LCD will become inverted for the locked parameter and the locked parameter value will be displayed The lt TRIG gt LED of the locked note trig will begin to flash rapidly
23. EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 SETUP menu and enter the EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 page to make adjustments to the main effect parameters e The Echo Freeze Delay and the Gatebox Plate Reverb are exclusive to EFFECT 2 DIRECT TRACK MUTING To direct mute a track press FUNCTION the TRACK button of the track that should be muted The lt TRACK gt LEDs indicate the mute status A muted and currently active track is indicated by a yellow lt TRACK gt LED A muted and currently not selected track is indicated by an unlit lt TRACK gt LED A If track 8 has been turned into a master track it won t be affected by mutes If Neighbor machines are used the track or tracks preceding the last Neighbor machine can not be muted To mute the chain mute the last Neighbor machine Tracks be also be muted in the MIXER menu Read more how mute tracks the MIXER menu in section MIXER MENU on page 26 45 46 TRACKS TRACK ROUTING Tracks can be routed to either the main outputs or the cue outputs Tracks are routed to the main outputs by default MAIN OUTPUT ROUTING The default setting for all tracks They are routed to the main outputs CUE OUTPUT ROUTING Pressing CUE TRACK will route the selected track to the cue outputs A cued track will still be audible from the main outputs When a track is cued the lt TRACK gt LED of the track will flash If a cued track is muted it will only be audible from the cue outputs ROUTING
24. FUNCTION in this menu to access the hi score naming method To mount a new set select one from the list of sets found in the MOUNT OTHER SET menu Mount it by pressing ENTER YES When mounting a set two dialog windows may appear If a previously saved project was active a prompt asking CURRENT PROJECT WILL BE SYNCED TO CARD AND UNLOADED CONTINUE will appear Pressing ENTER YES will save the active project before the new set is mounted pressing EXIT NO will cancel the mounting operation If an unsaved project was active a prompt asking CURRENT PROJECT WILL BE UNLOADED CONTINUE Pressing ENTER YES will mount the new set and the unsaved project will be discarded pressing EXIT NO will cancel the mounting operation After a set has been mounted a project should preferably be loaded AUDIO POOL All the samples of a set are collected in the audio pool These samples are used to fill the Flex and Static sample slots of the projects of the set e The content of an audio pool is exclusive to a set If you want to use the same sample in two sets it needs to be copied to both audio pools ADDING CONTENT TO THE AUDIO POOL Connect the Octatrack to a computer using an USB cable and make the content of the Compact Flash card appear as a mass storage device in the computer Read more on how to do this in the section SYSTEM on page 25 Using the computer locate the set folder whose audio pool you want to add content
25. The TRIG buttons are used for both trigging options MACHINE TRIGGING The TRIG buttons 9 16 are used to trig machines Machines can only be manually trigged when GRID RECORDING mode is not active If this mode is active press REC to deacti vate it The last eight TRIG keys are used to trig the machines of the tracks TRIG key 9 trigs the machine assigned to track 1 TRIG key 10 trigs the machine assigned to track 2 and so on These TRIG keys are also used to trig MIDI tracks TRACK TRIGGING Whole tracks can be trigged which is very convenient in a live setting when improvising To trig tracks in this way they must first be disconnected from the sequencer The disconnect ing procedure is described in the section PATTERN on page 24 GRID RECORDING mode must also not be active If this mode is active press REC to deactivate it Playback of the tracks are initiated by pressing the first eight TRIG keys TRIG key 1 trigs track 1 TRIG key 2 trigs track 2 and so on Disconnected tracks will not play when PLAY is pressed SEQUENCER COPY PASTE AND CLEAR OPERATIONS To make it easier and quicker to compose using the Octatrack a number of different copy paste and clear operations are available To avoid accidentally overwriting or deleting data paste and clear operations can be undone PATTERN COPY A pattern can be copied either to a location in the bank it belongs to or to a location in another bank Before perfor
26. The parameter labelled PTCH changes the pitch of the sample Turn DATA ENTRY knob A to change the parameter value 4 Try out the rest of the TRACK PARAMETER menu parameters to experiment with the sound shaping possibilities 5 To revert the parameter settings to their original state press FUNCTION CUE LOADING SAMPLES When a set has been mounted the samples in its audio pool can be processed by the Flex and Static machines To do so a Flex or Static machine needs to be assigned to a track and samples from the audio pool need to be loaded the Flex or Static sample slot lists The samples in these lists are available to the Flex and Static machines of the project Note that if the audio pool of the mounted set doesn t contain any samples it needs to be filled with content Read more how to do that in section AUDIO POOL on page 18 Two main methods of assigning machines and samples exist This quick start guide covers the one where the PLAYBACK SETUP menu is used The other method using the QUICK ASSIGN menu is covered in sections ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU on page 37 and ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU on page 38 ASSIGNING A MACHINE TO A TRACK 1 Select the first track by pressing TRACK key 1 2 Enter the PLAYBACK SETUP menu by pressing FUNCTION and PLAYBACK From here the machine list needs to be accessed 3 If a sample slot list was opened which it will be if the track a
27. able to save projects and load samples to the Flex and Static sample slots The Compact Flash card that came shipped with your Octatrack contains a set called PRESETS which should be mounted automatically when booting the Octatrack If not it is easy to do so manually If you are using an empty Com pact Flash card a set needs to be created and mounted before you can start processing samples MOUNTING A SET 1 Turn on the Octatrack Make sure you have a Compact Flash card inserted 2 Press FUNCTION BANK to open the EDIT PROJECTS menu Select PROJECTS and press ENTER YES 3 Scroll down the list and select MOUNT OTHER SET Press ENTER YES A dialogue window asking CURRENT PROJECT WILL BE UNLOADED CONTINUE will appear Press ENTER YES to unload the current project and proceed with the mounting of the set 4 If you are using the Compact Flash card that came with the unit select PRESETS and press ENTER YES If you are using an empty Compact Flash card select lt CREATE NEW SET gt and press ENTER YES Name the set by using the ARROW keys and when done press ENTER YES Select the set in the list and press ENTER YES A set has now been mounted LOADING A PROJECT After a set has been mounted a project should preferably be loaded The Compact Flash card that came shipped with the unit contains one project named PRESETS This projects contain 16 demo patterns If an empty Compact Flash is used the
28. active track by pressing the TRACK buttons PARAMETER LOCKS A parameter lock allows individual parameter settings for all note trigs It is one of the most important Octatrack features More information about parameter locks is found on page 50 1 When in GRID RECORDING mode hold a TRIG key and then tweak a parameter The LCD screen graphics of the adjusted parameter will become inverted to indicate that the note trig now is locked to the value you have set The lt TRIG gt LED above the note trig will flash rapidly to indicate that a parameter is locked for that step To remove a lock press the TRIG key of the locked note twice This removes the lock and restores the note to a trigged only state You can also hold the TRIG key while clicking the DATA ENTRY knob corresponding to locked parameter You will see that the graphic inversion disappears from the screen The parameter lock is now removed SETS SETS A set is the top layer of the Octatrack hierarchy Sets are completely self contained If the same set is being used by two Octatracks both units will load the same sample content and will settings wise be exactly the same given both units have the same project loaded and the same OS version installed Sets contain An amount of projects only limited by the size of the Compact Flash card An audio pool where the samples accessible by the projects of the set are stored Sets are stored as folders in the root di
29. be stepped or interpolated All changes in the waveform are instantly visualized by the LFO waveform representation in the center of the LCD screen TRIG buttons in combination with the upper row of DATA ENTRY knobs are used to draw the LFO waveform To change a waveform step press the corresponding TRIG button and turn one of the top row DATA ENTRY knobs While the TRIG pressed the lt TRACK gt LED above it will be dimmed The first knob you turn will manipulate the selected step value and any knobs on its right and left side will affect the waveform step values to the right and left of the originally selected step Press a TRIG button to see the value assigned to the corresponding wave form step More waveform steps than one can be manipulated simultaneously To do that just press down several TRIG buttons while turning a knob All steps values will then be adjusted by the same amount To interpolate between two steps select a waveform step by keeping the corresponding TRIG key depressed and then press the TEMPO key Interpolation between the value of the selected waveform step and the value of the next waveform step will now occur To remove an interpolation just repeat the button press combination Interpolated steps are indicated by yellow lt TRACK gt LEDs on the step sequencer and sloped curves in the LFO waveform visualization The LFO designer waveforms are selectable in the WAVE setting found in the LFO 1 3 pages o
30. depth settings of the three track LFOs are found LFOs are always synced to the tempo of the Octatrack Press the LFO button to access this page 1200 DEL 01 SFD ewe D FABI FLES RAGNAROK 01 02 EU ELI SPD1 sets the speed of LFO1 The higher the value the faster the LFO runs For LFO speed synchronised to straight beats try settings of 16 32 64 or 127 Note that the MULT settings in the LFO SETUP menu affect the LFO speed settings This SPD1 setting is reflected in SPD setting found in the LFO1 page of the LFO SETUP menu SPD2 sets the speed of LFO2 This setting is reflected in SPD setting found in the LFO2 page of the LFO SETUP menu SPD3 sets the speed of LFO3 This setting is reflected in SPD setting found in the LFO3 page of the LFO SETUP menu DEP1 sets the modulation depth of LFO1 This setting is reflected in DEP setting found in the LFO1 page of the LFO SETUP menu See page 43 for a more detailed description of the modulation depth parameters DEP2 sets the modulation depth of LFO2 This setting is reflected in DEP setting found in the LFO2 page of the LFO SETUP menu DEP3 sets the modulation depth of LFO3 This setting is reflected in DEP setting found in the LFO3 page of the LFO SETUP menu LFO SETUP Here the settings for the three LFOs each track contain are made LFOs can only modulate parameters found in the TRACK
31. esd 1 36 TRACKS T 1 37 ASSIGNING MACHINES TO 6 1 37 ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU sse 1 37 ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE PLAYBACK SETUP MENU 1 38 ASSIGNING FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLES TO MACHINES seen 1 38 ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN 1 38 ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE PLAYBACK SETUP 1 39 TRACK PARAMETER 2 1 39 TRACK EEVEL 2 2 5 eee T rte ana date et dde 1 39 CUE LEVEL e ex pL E eer ed ppi 1 39 PEAY BACK MAIN EET 1 40 PLAYBACK SETUP iini i focal ce ie dett haere nhl 1 40 ET MM 1 40 AMP SETUP TT 1 41 EEO MAIN EE PITE 1 42 EFO SETUP EET 1 42 EFO DESIGNER Hun Rae ear 1 43 EFFECT 1 AND EFFEGT 2 edet i 1 44 DIRECT TRACK MUTIING ett dud ed ane reg nad ke 1 45 FRACK ROUTING csi t ee tec ia death i 1 46 2 of 6 MAIN OUTPUT ROUTING itp teret alia 1 46 OUTPUT ROUTING 5 cities iii Rd purius 1 46 ROUTING EXAMPLES EEE 1 46 PATTERNS saa aaa 1 49 BASIC PATTERN 58
32. evenly Any setting inbe tween these settings will change the balance either in favor of the main tracks or the cued tracks MAIN CUE OUT sets the general output level of the main and cue outputs respectively A zero setting will neither gain nor attenuate the signal A 63 setting will boost the signal 12dB ABICD DIR offers parameters that will make the Octatrack act like a very basic mixer It simply routes audio coming from the A B and C D inputs to the main outputs DIR affect the level of the incoming audio An AB CD DIR setting of 0 will cut out incoming audio alto gether When AB CD DIR is set to 127 the incoming audio amplitude for the input pair will be neither be increased or attenuated AB CD DIR is dependent on the AB CD GAIN set tings A These settings are completely independent from the THRU machine settings Incoming sound won t be affected by any of the dual FX blocks but will be affected by the Master FXs if such a track is used Use THRU machines for affect ing incoming audio with the FX blocks AB CD DIR settings are however affected by the AB CD GAIN settings This mode of input is handy when you perform live and don t have any Octatrack tracks to spare Depending on the size of your setup a dedicated mixer might not be necessary at all AB CD GAIN can attenuate or gain the audio signal coming from inputs AB CD A 64 set ting will mute audio altogether a setting of 0 will neither gain nor attenuate the sign
33. in your Octatrack to a friend s unit 1 Connect the MIDI OUT on the Octatrack with the latest OS to the MIDI IN on the Octat rack that is going to be upgraded Enter the EARLY STARTUP menus on both machines 2 Enter the MIDI UPGRADE mode in the Octatrack that is supposed to be upgraded by pressing the third TRIG KEY Make sure you see the message READY TO RECEIVE MIDI UPGRADE on the screen 3 Press the fourth TRIG key on the Octatrack that is used to send the OS upgrade This will start the transmission of the OS to the other Octatrack e For faster OS updates utilize the speed of the Elektron TurboCharge protocol You will need to have the MIDI IN port of the receiving machine connected to the MIDI OUT port of the transmitting machine and vice versa for this to function The OS can also be upgraded from the Compact Flash card This method of upgrading is performed in the OS UPDATE menu Read more about this menu in the section SYSTEM on page 25 69 70 TECHNICAL INFORMATION TECHNICAL INFORMATION SPECIFICATIONS THE SEQUENCER 8 internal tracks 16 banks per project 256 patterns per project 8 arrangements per project 4 parts per bank 16 scenes per part Supports swing and slide 64 possible parameter locks on each pattern step Full realtime control SOUND PROCESSING SYSTEM 4 machine types 2 track effect assignments per track TRACK EFFECTS 12 24dB Multi Mode Filter 2 band Parametric EQ DJ
34. key the four lt PATTERN PAGE gt LEDs are found They are used for indicating the trig page currently being played or edited If for example 64 steps or four pattern pages are used in a pattern all four LEDs will be lit For scale lengths up to 16 steps the lt 1 4 gt LED will stay lit and pressing PATTERN PAGE will have no effect FUNCTION PATTERN PAGE calls the SCALE SETUP menu where track lengths and pattern tempo multiplier settings are made PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS REAR CONNECTORS E elelsfran C A Cue Out n Out TO OTOLO m Power 6VDC 3A AS A 0 0 0 0JO The Octatrack rear connectors 1 2 Power on off switch 6V DC power in A Caution Use only the bundled PSU 2 with your Octatrack It can be used all over the globe without the need of voltage converters using an appropriate power cord Using the wrong type of adapter may damage your unit Damage caused by the use of incorrect power supply is not covered by warranty Please see TECHNICAL INFORMATION on page 70 for details about the Octatrack power supply Hi Speed USB 2 0 connection Compact Flash card reader MIDI Thru MIDI Out MIDI In Input C D Input A B Cue out L R Main out L R 12 Headphones output RACK MOUNT KIT ACCESSORY The Octatrack can be rack mounted in a standard 19 rack using the Elektron rack mount kit which can be ordered separately When
35. of the waveform marker The same functionality can be obtained by turning the A knob SET LOOP HERE will set the loop point at the position of the waveform marker The same functionality can be obtained by turning the B knob SET END HERE will set the end point at the position of the waveform marker The same functionality can be obtained by turning the C knob RESET TO DEFAULT resets the start end and loop points to their default posi tions The start and loop points will be located at the absolute beginning of the sam ple the end point at the absolute end of the sample CHANGE VIEW changes the waveform visualization if a stereo sample is used It is possible to visualize the left right or both the left and right waveforms simultane ously Hold FUNCTION while moving the waveform loop start or end points to snap the selected point to a zero amplitude crossing Zero crossings are indicated by a small rectangle in the middle of the marker When scrolling the start end or loop points the menu bar at the bottom of the page will display the sample exact position of the point Depending on the set tings made in the ATTRIBUTE menu the menu bar will also display how the cur rent trim settings affect either the BPM or amount of bars of the sample 59 60 THE AUDIO EDITOR SLICE Access by pressing AMP while in the audio editor Here slice points are handled FLEn 001 RAGHAROK Gi TRIN RTTR OFER ET
36. rack mounted the Octatrack occupies four standard height units plus additional space usually about 1 HE needed to accommodate for cables plugged into the unit RACK MOUNT KIT ASSEMBLY Make sure that you have a Philips screwdriver which is in good condition and of the right size Use the included M3x6mm size screws to secure the rack mount consoles on each PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS side of the Octatrack Make sure that all screws are fastened for secure operation of the unit THE COMPACT FLASH CARD READER The lt CARD STATUS gt LED lights up when a Compact Flash card is inserted A blinking green LED light means the card is being read a red LED light means the card is being writ ten to Eject the Compact Flash card by pressing the button located to the right of the reader After being pressed the button will protrude a few millimeters Press it again to eject the Com pact Flash card COMPACT FLASH CARD SPECIFICATIONS Cards supporting UDMA and at least 133x 20MB s for both reads and writes Cards must be FAT16 or FAT32 formatted preferably FAT32 Cards adhering to this specification should work just fine but we leave you no guarantee We strongly recommend you to use a Compact Flash card tested and recommended by Elektron such as the one bundled with the Octatrack A Never remove the card while data is being read or written to it Doing so might cor rupt files and data CONNECTING THE UNIT Before you start con
37. record trig is being trigged by the sequencer the track recorder will start to sample PLAYBACK OF CAPTURED RECORDER SAMPLES The captured audio files from the track recorders are stored in the recorder buffers located in the Flex sample slot list A sample located in a recorder buffer functions just like a Flex sample 1 To assign a recorder buffer to a track follow the instructions how to assign a sample to a machine covered in section ASSIGNING FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLES MACHINES on page 38 The eight recorder buffers are located in the Flex sample slot list above the first Flex sample Press the UP arrow key to access them Assign the recorder buffer correponding to the track used when recording For example if the track recorder on track 1 was used select RECORDER 1 A Samples in the recorder buffers are not retained in memory after the Octatrack has been switched off If you want to keep them they need to be saved to the audio folder of the set This is done in the audio editor and is described in the section OPERATIONS on page 62 Before starting to sample it is often a good idea to first assign the recorder buffer corresponding to the track whose recorder you are going to use For example RECORDER 1 to track 1 When sampling with track recorder 1 you will immedi ately be able to play back the recorded sample The samples captured by the track recorders can opened directly in the audio edi tor for furth
38. sample of the track can then have its own loop setting SLIC selects whether slices will be selected or not by the STRT parameter found in the FLEX MAIN page RATE selects if the RATE parameter found in the main menu will affect the timestretch or pitch of the sample TSTR sets the master timestretch setting of the track When set to AUTO the individual timestretch settings made in the audio editor will apply Each sample of the track can then have its own timestretch setting TSNS adjusts the transient detection when the timestretch algorithm is set to BEAT The higher the setting the more transient sensitive the algorithm will be Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE STATIC MACHINE Static machines are perfect for handling extremely large samples Samples assigned to Static machines are streamed from the Compact Flash card thus their size can be in the order of gigabytes They can of course still be time stretched and pitch scaled as needed STATIC MAIN 5 o B tg ALZO ie FART 4 RATE RTRG RTIH oe STATFSUNSHINE adjusts the pitch of the sample The max setting pitches the sample up an octave a min setting pitches the sample down an octave MOE m 111111 E BL BL BL ELI STRT controls which slice should be played If the sample contains slices and the SLIC parameter in the STATIC SETUP menu is set to ON this parameter selects
39. save the changes made to the active project Removing the card without card syncing the project might result in data losses in the active project When changing sets a dialogue window offering the possibility to card sync before the new set is mounted will appear CHANGE PROJECT changes the active project to a new one When selecting this com mand and pressing ENTER YES a listing of all projects of the set will appear Locate the project you want to load and once found load it by pressing ENTER YES Selecting the CREATE NEW PROJECT alternative and then pressing ENTER YES will create a new project Anaming menu will appear Press FUNCTION in this menu to access the hi score naming method SAVE TO NEW PROJECT saves the project with a new name After selecting this option a naming window will appear If the currently mounted set contains no project or projects it is advised to save the current settings and sample assignments to a new project SET RESTORE POINT sets a recovery point for the project As all changes to a project are auto saved this is the only way to return to a specific state of project settings These set tings include bank information information about the 8 arrangements settings made in the PROJECT menu and assignments to the Flex and Static sample slots 23 24 PROJECTS RESTORE PROJECT restores the project to the state defined by a restore point MOUNT OTHER SET will change sets Read more about sets in se
40. style Kill EQ 2 10 Stage Phaser Flanger 2 10 tap Chorus Lo Fi Collection Echo Freeze Delay Gatebox Plate Reverb ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS Impedance balanced audio outputs Headphones out level 15 dBu Main cue outputs level 10 dBu Output impedance 560 unbalanced SIN ratio 102 dBFS 20 20 000 Hz Unbalanced audio inputs Input level 8 dBu maximum Audio input impedance 9 SNR inputs 99 dBFS 20 20 000 Hz Unit power consumption 8 W typical 18 W maximum Recommended power supply 6 V DC 3A HARDWARE 128x64 pixel backlit LCD MIDI In Out Thru 4 x 1 4 impedance balanced audio out jacks 4 x 1 4 audio in jacks 1 x 1 4 stereo headphone jack Advanced dual DSP system 44 1kHz 24 bit D A and A D converters Flash EEPROM upgradable OS USB 2 0 port Compact Flash card reader Infinium optical crossfader PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS Steel casing with brushed aluminium panel Dimensions W340xD181xH63mm including knobs jacks and rubber feet Weight approximately 2 4 kg POWER SUPPLY PSU 2 ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS Input voltage range 100 240V 43 60Hz Input connector IEC320 C8 2 prong In rush current 50 maximum Output voltage 5 7 6 3V DC Output current 3 5A maximum Output connector 5 5x2 5mm DC plug power at center CREDITS CREDITS PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT Magnus Forsell Anders G rder Jimmy Myhrman Jon M rtensson David Revelj Daniel Troberg ADDITIONAL DESIG
41. turning a parameter make the parameter values jump to relevant positions For parameters ranging from 0 to 127 either 0 or 127 will be selected For parameters ranging from 64 to 64 the values will be set to 64 0 or 64 Other alter natives exist as well the value of the Echo Freeze Delay TIME parameter will for example be doubled for each increment This is useful when using the effect as a repeater QUICK SCROLLING In menus containing lists like the file browser or the sample slot lists quick scrolling is available Press FUNCTION the UP or DOWN arrow keys to move the cursor six steps instead of one HI SCORE NAMING In the various naming menus that exist the hi score way of entering letters symbols and digits can be used It is often a considerably faster naming method When a naming menu is open press the FUNCTION key to access the hi score symbol list renier rrpp AECOEF GH J KLMAOPGREST UPVWUS YR F 0123456788 Eti amp While keeping FUNCTION pressed use the ARROW keys to navigate to the letter you want to insert Once there release FUNCTION to insert the letter 13 14 QUICK START QUICK START This quick start will guide you through some of the basic operations to allow you to start using the Octatrack right away First connect it as described in section CONNECTING THE UNIT on page 7 MOUNTING A SET AND LOADING A PROJECT A set needs to be mounted for the Octatrack to be
42. value for this parameter gives infinite time in other words the gate is turned off HP controls the high pass filtering of the reverb signal LP controls the low pass filtering of the reverb signal MIX adjusts the output between the original dry signal and the reverberated wet signal Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE A 11 Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE INDEX A AMP Amp main 40 Amp setup 41 ARRANGER 64 AUDIO EDITOR 58 Attribute 61 Operation 62 Slice 60 Trim 58 AUDIO POOL 18 B BANKS 33 C CARE INSTRUCTIONS 7 CLEAR Note 53 Pattern 51 Scene 53 Track 52 Track page 52 COMPACT FLASH CARD 7 CONNECTING THE UNIT 7 COPY Note 53 Pattern 51 Scene 53 Track 52 Track page 52 CUE OUTPUTS 46 E EARLY START UP MENU 68 EFFECTS Track effects 44 ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS 70 EMPTY RESET 68 F FILE BROWSER 22 G GRID RECORDING MODE 49 H HI SCORE NAMING 13 INDEX L LFO designer 43 LFOs LFO designer 43 LFO main 42 LFO setup 42 M MACHINE TRIGGING 51 MAIN OUTPUTS 46 MICRO TIMING 54 MIXER 26 MUTE TRACKS Direct mute 45 Mixer mute 26 OS UPDATE Between Octatracks 69 Via Compact Flash 25 Via MIDI 68 P PARAMETER LOCKS 50 Trigless trigs 50 PARTS 33 Reload 34 PLAYBACK Playback main 40 Playback setup 40 POWER SUPPLY SPECIFICATIONS 6 PROJECTS 20 Change project 23 Mixer 26 Project card sync 23 Purge samples 24 RAM memory 20 Restore project 24 Set restore poi
43. with the A knob A start point is indicated by an S marker The sample will start to play from this position A loop is indicated by an L marker Move the loop point by turning the B knob If a loop point is set the sample will play from the start point to the end point then loop from the loop point to the end point When the RATE parameter is set to a negative value the loop point of a sample will be disregarded The sample will instead be played from the end point to the start point Set the end point with the C knob An end point is indicated by an E marker The sample will stop playing when reaching the end point given no loop point is set Zoom the y axis of the waveform with the D knob The slider to the right of the waveform indicates the zoom level The standard level displaying the waveform as neither zoomed in or out is indicated by a black square in the middle of the slider Scroll the waveform with the E knob The black bar over the waveform visualization shows the size of the current visible section in relation to the total waveform length Zoom the x axis of the waveform with the F knob The slider to the right of the waveform indicates the zoom level The standard level displaying the waveform as neither zoomed in or out is indicated by a black square in the middle of the slider Pressing ENTER YES will open the TRIM EDIT menu Different options exist here SET START HERE will set the start point at the position
44. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 23 The Octatrack front panel 1 2 oN 9 1 HEADPHONES VOLUME CONTROL sets the volume for the stereo headphones jack AUDIO RECORD buttons are used for real time sampling through the external inputs There is one AUDIO RECORD button per audio input pair The AUDIO RECORD LEDs indicate the strength of the signal sent to the external inputs When in the RECORD SETUP menu these LEDs also indicate the source selec tion for recorder trigs TRACK buttons Press a button to activate the corresponding track Pressing a TRACK button an AUDIO RECORD button will record audio to the recorder of the selected track FUNCTION TRACK will mute the selected track CUE TRACK will cue the selected track The lt TRACK gt LED s indicate which track is active as well as the mute and cue status of the tracks The LCD graphical interface lt CARD STATUS gt LED indicating the activity of the Compact Flash card The LEVEL encoder sets the overall volume level of the active track TEMPO key Brings up the tempo menu The current tempo is always indicated by the speed the lt TEMPO gt LED is flashing Tapping in the BPM manually is done by holding FUNCTION and then repeatedly tapping TEMPO DATA ENTRY knobs Used for tweaking parameters 0 MIXER opens up a menu where settings for the in and outputs can be made Tracks can also be muted and solo ed here Pressing FUNCTION
45. 6 TRIG keys to select a pat tern from the currently active bank Available patterns are indicated by red lt TRIG gt LEDs If the currently active pattern resides in the selected bank its lt TRIG gt LED flashes red Select a pattern from another bank by first selecting the bank by using the BANK TRIG keys After the CHOOSE PATTERN prompt appears press one of the TRIG keys to select a pattern located in the chosen bank PATTERN CHAINING You can use pattern chaining to loop a sequence of patterns It is only possible to chain patterns located in the same bank and each pattern may only be chained once Chain pat terns by pressing and holding the PATTERN button and then press the TRIG keys in the same order as you want the chained patterns to play Chaining is indicated by a double arrow between the current pattern and the pattern that will play next Several patterns can be chained STOP changes patterns in a pattern chain to the pattern that will play next That means that if pattern 01 is started and A02 is cued to play after pattern 01 pressing STOP and then PLAY will start playing pattern 02 GRID RECORDING MODE GRID RECORDING is a method of composing where note trigs are added by using the 16 TRIG keys In the default state the 16 TRIG keys represent 1 bar of 16th notes This is however dependent on the SCALE SETUP settings 49 50 PATTERNS Enter GRID RECORDING mode by pressing the REC key
46. ACK SETUP 1 21 EIEE BROWSER nest dtr tarte du ite en PUR enables 1 22 EDIT PROJEGCT MENU iiti kje ek e Fete o qe tee ae e Podere oce dot do aids 1 23 PROJECTS ET 1 23 TRACK 1 24 PATTERNS bn 1 24 SYSTEM used hd tensa ban e t e eL plebes a terser bandene 1 25 2525 rte trier et 1 26 PROJECT SETTINGS 2 1 2 hdd e ug nel 1 27 lt ida illa 1 28 MANUAL SAMPLING int iii addere 1 30 SAMPLING USING RECORDER 5 1 31 PLAYBACK OF CAPTURED RECORDER 5 6 1 32 BANKS PARTS AND SCENES lvi iii iva 1 33 BANKS A REA ue ce dria IRA RE s une E Ere RR Ada DA hss 1 33 PARTS medvind di aate 1 33 PARTIRELOAD lt 1 34 ei Ce elia eee 1 34 ASSIGNING AND ADJUSTING 5 5 1 34 SCENE VOLUME EOGCHKINQG iicet itte ipa iii bd gd jamn badge et 1 35 THE CROSSFADER IN CONJUNCTION WITH SCENES 1 35 SCENE MUTE viv i xn eee mee ret be ec i e radere des
47. ARDS If Compact Flash cards are changed a window stating WRONG COMPACT FLASH CARD INSERTED CONTINUE will appear This is simply a prompt indicating a new Compact Flash card has been inserted Press ENTER YES to accept that the previously mounted set will be discarded The NO SET IS MOUNTED prompt will appear in this scenario as well since no set will be automatically mounted If the inserted card contains sets mount one of them If the card doesn t contain any sets create and mount one SETS CONTAINING NO PROJECTS If the Octatrack boots with a set containing no projects a window stating YOU ARE WORKING ON AN UNSAVED PROJECT DON T FORGET TO SAVE will appear To avoid discarding changes to the currently unsaved project when changing sets the project needs to be saved Changes in the currently active bank will however still be retained in memory after power cycling the Octatrack 17 18 SETS CREATE AND MOUNT A SET Sets are created and mounted in the EDIT PROJECTS menu Press FUNCTION EDIT to open this menu Select PROJECTS and press ENTER YES Then select MOUNT OTHER SET and press ENTER YES The currently active set is indicated by inverted graphics CREATE SET R HELIKI LIVE HOnDo OCTAVERSE RN BL ELI ELI Create a new set by selecting lt CREATE NEW SET gt and pressing ENTER YES A nam ing menu will appear where the new set can be named Press
48. AUDIO POOL Each set contains one audio pool which is stored on the Compact Flash card The audio pool contains the samples that can be loaded to the Flex and Static sample slot lists of the projects of a set Read more about how to fill the audio pool with samples on page 18 10 OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK STRUCTURE PROJECTS Projects can be regarded as a collection of compositions A project contains 16 banks 8 arrangements 8 track recorders and their recorder buffers 128 sample slots dedicated to Flex machines 128 slots dedicated to Static machines and the BPM setting for all the pat terns of the project The samples used to fill the Flex and Static sample slots are fetched from the audio pool of the set Please see section PROJECTS on page 20 for more infor mation FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLE SLOT LISTS For samples to be available to Flex and Static machines they first need to be loaded from the audio pool to the Flex or Static sample slot lists When samples are present in these lists they can be assigned to and thus processed by Flex and Static machines assigned to the internal tracks Read how to load audio pool samples to the sample slot lists in the sec tion LOADING SAMPLES TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS on page 20 Read how to assign samples to a machine in the section ASSIGNING FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLES TO MACHINES on page 38 BANKS Each project hosts 16 banks and each bank can host 16 patterns and 4 parts This makes
49. E i HID NIR lg 5 5 n n zj Ag 5 5 5 39394091078 DEL controls the delay time of the taps TAPS sets the number of chorus taps that should be used DEP controls the depth of the modulation of the chorus taps FBLP controls the low pass filtering of the feedback signal SPD sets the low frequency modulation speed of the taps FB controls the feedback of the delay taps WID controls the stereo width output of the Chorus MIX adjusts the output between the original dry signal and the chorused wet signal Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE A 7 DYNAMIX COMPRESSOR The Dynamix processor can be used for increasing the overall sound level of a track or pattern It can also be used to enhance or reduce transients COMPRESSOR MAIN COMPRESSOR SETUP F 120 LEU ATH i REL THR5 5 F EFFECT 1 SETUF 5 PL e Mim m FILTER s 5 EQUALIZER s a Peer eee m a a D EQUALIZER n Nels 5 FHASER 5 n i i n FLANGER n egl EFFECT_ 1 COMFRESSOR EH J sets the attack time from 0 5 ms to 100 RMS adjusts the way the compressor works MS zero setting makes the compressor look for amplitude peaks and a max setting makes it REL sets the release time from 50 ms to 5 s react to the over all energy level of the signal THRS controls the compressor knee threshold RAT sets the compression ratio between 1 1 and 1 255 GAIN can be used to
50. EL EL HM BL ELI A slice is a section of a sample A total of 64 slices can be placed out anywhere in a sam ple Slices can be of different lengths and even overlap each other A Flex sample slice can contain a loop point loop points are however not available to Static sample slices Slices are not linked to samples per se but to sample slots It is therefore possible to load the same sample to two different slots and slice them in completely different ways Note though that slice point information will be lost when assigning a new sample to a sample slot containing a sliced sample Use the waveform marker or press the RIGHT or LEFT arrow keys to navigate between the slices A slice needs to be active which is indicated by inverted graphics for slice start loop and end points to be set When a slice is active knob A sets the start point knob B sets the loop point and knob C sets the end point The active slice can be previewed by pressing FUNCTION YES If no slice is selected the preview listening will start from the location of the waveform marker Pressing ENTER YES opens the SLICE EDIT menu Different options exist here ADD SLICE HERE adds a slice The marker must be on non sliced area of the waveform for this alternative to appear DISABLE LOOP will delete the loop point of the selected Flex slice This alternative only appears when the waveform marker is positioned on a slice DELETE SLICE will
51. EL ET BL ELI ELI TRIG COUNT sets the number of times the note trig should be repeated Adjust this setting with the up and down ARROW keys TRIG OFFSET decides where the note trig should be placed on the 1 384 step resolution micro timing grid Move the note trig on the grid by pressing the left and right ARROW buttons A note trig can be nudged both forwards and backwards in time in relation to the step it is placed on note trig placed on the first sequencer step is nudged backwards it will be activated at the end of the pattern Setting the tempo to 2x in the SCALE SETUP menu will double the resolution of the micro timing grid SCALE SETUP Here the general length and timing of a pattern is set Each pattern can have its own scale settings Two general modes exist NORMAL and PER TRACK Access the SCALE SETUP menu by pressing FUNCTION PATTERN PAGE NORMAL In this mode the all tracks of the pattern share the same length and time signature By default a pattern is 4 4 bars 16 steps of length The maximum length of a pattern is 64 steps EL E ELI PATTERN SCALE sets the number of steps pattern and thus the total amount of pat tern pages The leftmost number selects the number of steps in the pattern The maximum number of steps available is determined by the total length set by the rightmost parameter This can be either 16 32 48 or 64 s
52. EXAMPLES Here are some examples of how the Octatrack can be integrated in various setups TRACKS Fig 1 A Machinedrum and a Monomachine are MIDI slaved and connected to the two input pairs of the Octatrack The Octatrack acts like a super mixer It adjusts the levels of the incoming signals applies effects and samples the other machines in real time o pue Fig 2 The Octatrack cue output pair is connected to an external effects device The outputs of the external effects is connected to input pair A B The input pair is routed to the Octat rack main out Cue ing a track will send it to the external effects and the affected signal can then be treated further by the Octatrack Two Sidstations are ready to be sampled and processed They are controlled by the MIDI sequencer of the Octatrack and their outputs are connected to input C and D ecce 2100 9 47 48 TRACKS Fig 3 Four mixer aux sends are connected to the inputs of the Octatrack Each aux send sends a different signal The Octatrack applies effects and reconstructs the incoming audio E elehtron hd Md La Fig 4 Two DJ decks are connected to the Octatrack inputs The headphones output is set to monitor the cue outputs The crossfader
53. F E E e fer n none s PRA ln FILTER s n Zia n n EQUALIZER n 1 HIDG NT 4 DJ EGUALIZER n ir iris FHASER n 5 HA c c i D 5 5 FLANGER i n T n CHORUS n EFFECT EQUALIZER 01 00 LS F sets the frequency of the low shelf filter No setup parameters are available HS F sets the frequency of the high shelf filter LOWG controls the gain of the first band of the EQ A max setting will boost the signal 12 dB A min setting will kill the band completely MIDG controls the gain of the second band of the EQ A max setting will boost the signal 12 dB A min setting will kill the band completely HI G controls the gain of the third band of the EQ A max setting will boost the signal 12 dB A min setting will kill the band completely A 4 Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE 2 10 STAGE PHASER The phaser applies sweeping effects to sounds It can also be used to make sounds appear wider PHASER MAIN PHASER SETUP F 120 LEU CNTR DEF i SFO F EFFECT 1 SETUF z lisca gi mail none m 5 n JE 5 5 FILTER 5 n TT n n EQUALIZER n rum FE i MID i DJ EQUALIZER 5 y ke 1 FHRSER hpETEII CHORUS n CNTR selects the center phase of the phase NUM selects the number of stages that should modulation be used DEP sets the depth of the phase modulation SPD adjusts the
54. I LOOP MODE dictates the loop behavior of the sample Two settings exist ON will loop all samples or sample slices containing loop markers Sample slices without loops points will not be looped Read more about loop points in the section TRIM on page 58 OFF disregards all set loop points 61 62 THE AUDIO EDITOR If the LOOP parameter in the FLEX STATIC PLAYBACK SETUP menu is set to AUTO different loop settings can be applied to different samples used in a track TIMESTRETCH sets whether timestretch should be applied to the sample or not Different timestretch algorithms are at hand OFF will apply no timestrech to the sample NORMAL is an algorithm suitable for most material BEATS is a timestretch algorithm especially useful for rhythmic material Ifthe TSTR parameter in the FLEX STATIC PLAYBACK SETUP menu is set to AUTO different timestretch settings can be applied to different samples used in a track ORIGINAL TEMPO displays the calculated BPM of the sample If it is not correct it can be changed using the LEVEL knob Note that this setting will affect the sound of the sample if itis being timestretched For correct results it should therefore be set to match the original BPM of the sample Altering this setting will alter the TRIM LEN BARS and LOOP LEN BARS settings An arrow will appear next to the ORIGINAL TEMPO setting indicating this setting has priority TRIM LEN BARS displays the le
55. N Thomas Ekelund Jesper Kouthoofd FACTORY DEFAULT SOUND DESIGN Daniel Troberg USER S MANUAL Thomas Ekelund Jon M rtensson CONTACT INFORMATION ELEKTRON WEBSITE http www elektron se DELIVERY ADDRESS Elektron Music Machines MAV AB Sockerbruket 9 SE 414 51 Gothenburg Sweden TELEPHONE 46 0 31 743 744 0 71 72 CONTACT INFORMATION Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE In this appendix the Octatrack machines are explained The individual machine parameters are pre sented for reference THRU MACHINE Thru machines do not sample or play back sounds They are utility machines very handy in live setups when using the Octatrack to re route and affect external audio signals THRU MAIN LEU InRE VOL 5 F 1200 ru mi i i z n 1E Heise os e Imm INCO VOL I Ta 5 AOI pe 5 let INAB sets how input pair AB should be lis tened to VOL sets the volume of the signal coming from the input or inputs chosen by the INAB setting The max setting will boost it 12 dB The min setting will mute it INCD sets how input pair CD should be lis tened to VOL sets the volume of the signal coming from the input or inputs chosen by the INCD setting The max setting will boost it 12 dB The min setting will mute it THRU SETUP FLAYEACK SETUF NEIGHEDUR EL No setup parameters are available
56. N any of the AUDIO RECORD but tons TITRE i INGD RLEN REL 1 FARAHS EM BL ELI gL INAB selects which input or inputs of the input pair A B the recorder should sample from Five options exist will make the recorder disregard input A B when sampling A B will make the recorder capture a stereo file in which the signal from input A is panned hard left and the signal from input B is panned hard right This is the default option A will make the recorder sample from input A The captured sample will be in stereo even though only one input is used B will make the recorder sample from input B The captured sample will be in stereo even though only one input is used A B will make the recorder capture a stereo file in which the signals from input A and input B are summed INCD selects which input or inputs of the input pair C D the recorder should sample from Five options exist will make the recorder disregard input C D when sampling C D will make the recorder capture a stereo file in which the signal from input C is panned hard left and the signal from input D is panned hard right This is the default option C will make the recorder sample from input C The captured sample will be in stereo even though only one input is used D will make the recorder sample from input D The captured sample will be in stereo even though only one input is used C D will
57. PARAMETER MAIN pages Open the LFO SETUP menu by either pressing FUNCTION LFO or quickly double pressing LFO SETUF WAVE i HULT EL i SPD DEF I EL ET TRACKS In the column to the left four page alternatives exist Three identical pages for the three LFOs and at the end of the list the LFO designer page To edit the behavior of an LFO navigate to the corresponding page by using the UP DOWN arrow buttons Six parameter settings can be made here PMTR chooses the parameter the LFO will modulate LFOs can only modulate parameters found in the TRACK PARAMETER MAIN pages When selecting the parameter that will be modulated the TRACK PARAMETER page it belongs to are shown above the parameter name WAVE selects the waveform for the LFO Eleven basic waveforms plus eight LFO designer waveforms are available MULT multiplies the SPD parameter by the selected amount TRIG sets how the LFO should react when a note is trigged e FREE makes the LFO run continuously never restarting or stopping e TRIG makes the LFO restart when a note is trigged After that the it runs continu ously until a new note is trigged HOLD makes the LFO run free the background but when a note trig is encoun tered the output LFO level is latched and held still until the next note trig ONE will make the LFO restart when a note is trigged run for one cycle and then stop HALF will make
58. SING SHORTCUTS By pressing TRACK BANK the sample assigned to the machine of the track will be opened in the audio editor Note that the track must contain a Flex or Static machine for this shortcut to work Samples captured by the track recorders can opened directly in the audio editor First select the track whose recorder should be edited by pressing the relevant TRACK button Then press any of the AUDIO RECORD keys BANK to open the recorder sample in the audio editor AUDIO EDITOR FUNCTIONALITY The audio editor contains four subpages While in the audio editor the DATA PAGE keys function as soft keys for selecting the subpages At the top of the menu window the name of the sample being edited is shown TRIM This is the default page when opening the audio editor Otherwise access by pressing PLAYBACK while in the audio editor In this subpage samples are trimmed and loop points set FLEn 001 RAGHAROK ET ELI ET BL SLICE ATTR OFER Trim and loop point settings are not linked to samples per se but to sample slots It is pos sible to load the same sample to two different slots and trim them completely different Note though that trim and loop point information will be lost when assigning a new sample to a sample slot containing a trimmed sample Navigate in the waveform using the LEVEL knob Turning this knob will move the wave form marker THE AUDIO EDITOR Set the start point
59. The speed of the slide is relative to the current tempo and the slide is completed when the next note trig is reached SWING In the SWING menu rhythmic groove signatures of various intensity can be applied to tracks The menu is located in the EDIT PROJECT menu Press FUNCTION BANK to open the EDIT PROJECT menu Select TRACK and then SWING PATTERN Press ENTER YES to open the SWING menu 120 n LEW Euri TRACK 1 50 e ig FHi i I p FLEH FAGNAROK 01 02 BLU EL EM Hi ELI Choose the track you wish to apply swing to by pressing the appropriate TRACK button Place out swing trigs by pressing the TRIG keys Swing will only affect note trigs placed out on the same sequencer steps as swing trigs Select the amount of swing that should be applied to the swing trigs by turning the LEVEL knob The higher the value the more swing will be applied A setting of 50 equals no swing By pressing FUNCTION and turning the LEVEL knob the swing amount for all tracks will be changed MICRO TIMING The MICRO TIMING menu allows for precise and detailed note trig editing To be able to access this menu GRID RECORDING mode must not be active Open this menu by press PATTERNS ing and holding the TRIG key of the note trig you want to micro edit then press either the left or right ARROW button ms mind rom ernie HICRO TIHING TRIG COUNT 1 TRIG OFFSET
60. a bank suited for hosting a complete composition as the available patterns and parts allow a large number of song variations Switching between banks is seamless More information about banks is found on page 33 PATTERNS For every project 256 patterns are always at hand A pattern consists of sequencer data like note trigs parameter locks track lengths and time signatures for the eight internal tracks See section PATTERNS on page 49 for more information PARTS 4 parts are available to each bank A part contains machine assignments and their associ ated samples track parameter settings FX assignments as well as 16 scenes A part is always linked to a pattern or patterns of a bank Changing parts will let the new assign ments be controlled by the active pattern data Read more about parts on page 33 SCENES Scenes are assigned to the scene A and scene B slots They decide the parameters the crossfader will affect The section SCENES on page 34 gives more in depth information about this functionality ARRANGEMENTS The eight arrangements each project contains are used to structure the playback of pat terns It is a great tool when using several patterns to form a longer sequence More infor mation is found in the section THE ARRANGER on page 64 OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK STRUCTURE TRACKS An Octatrack pattern handles eight internal tracks Each internal track hosts a machine Any machine type can be assigned t
61. adjust the output level of the compressor MIX adjusts the output between the uncom pressed dry signal and the compressed wet signal A 8 Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE LO FI COLLECTION The lo fi collection consists of several effects dedicated to making sounds grittier and more abrasive These effects are not for the faint hearted LO FI MAIN LEU DIST AHF 1201 ig i 2 H JE fa 1 5 rust Lai z SRR ERR AHE 5 ADT fed i at 2 g EFFECT i LO FI DIST controls the signal overload distortion AMF controls the modulation frequency of the amplitude modulator The amplitude modulator is essentially a volume control which is control led by a low frequency oscillator A high setting makes for extreme changes in the timbre of a sound SRR controls the amount of sample rate reduction BRR controls the amount of bit rate reduction AMD controls the modulation depth of the amplitude modulator LO FI SETUP EFFECT 1 SETUF ELI ET EL AMPH sets the start phase of the amplitude modulation It is adjusted in degrees A setting of 90 makes the modulator start high A setting of 270 makes it start low Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE A 9 ECHO FREEZE DELAY The delay adds echoes to the affected signal The special echo freeze functionality makes it possible to repeat a portion of a sound DELAY MAIN OG DE I FART
62. aining a sliced sample is a bit restricted It is not possible to scene lock or assign the LFOs to the STRT parame ter found in the Static machine PLAYBACK MAIN menu It is possible to parameter lock the STRT parameter though These restrictions do not apply to Flex machines containing sliced samples STRT values exceeding the amount of slices will select the last slice If the sample contains for example 16 slices STRT values ranging from SL17 SL64 will select the last slice Hold FUNCTION while moving the waveform loop start or end markers to snap the selected marker a zero amplitude crossing Zero crossings are indicated by a small rectangle in the middle of the marker e When scrolling the start end or loop points the menu bar at the bottom of the page will display the sample exact position of the point Depending on the settings in the PLAYBACK SETUP menu the STRT parameter of the Flex and Static MAIN menus can be used to scroll between the slices during playback The selected slice will be played from its start point Read more about how these settings work in Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE ATTRIBUTES Access by pressing LFO while in the audio editor Here general information about the selected or active sample is found FLEn OO4 4FLOOR ATTRIEUTES LOOF HODE TIHESTRETCH ORIGINAL TEHFO 140 00 TRIH LEN EARS 4 00 LOOF LEN EARS 2 00 TRIH SLICE OFER BLU Hi EL HM BL EL
63. ake the filter envelope start from zero once a note trig is being trigged Instead the filter envelope attack will start from the current envelope level If the amplitude modulator is assigned to effect 1 the phase will be restarted each time a note trig is trigged RTRG will if the multi mode filter is assigned to effect 1 make the filter envelope start from zero every time a note is being trigged If the amplitude modulator is assigned to effect 1 the phase will be restarted each time a note trig is trigged R T will if the multi mode filter is assigned to effect 1 make the filter envelope start from zero every time a note or a trigless trig is being activated by the sequencer If the amplitude modulator is assigned to effect 1 the phase will be restarted each time a note trig or a trigless trig is being activated 41 42 TRACKS e TTRIG will if the multi mode filter is assigned to effect 1 not necessarily make the filter envelope start from zero once a note trig or a trigless trig is being activated by the sequencer Instead the filter envelope attack will start from the current envelope level If the amplitude modulator is assigned to effect 1 the phase will be restarted each time a note trig or a trigless trig is being activated FX2 works just like FX1 parameter It only affects the multi mode filter or amplitude modula tor when either of these effects are assigned to the second effects slot LFO MAIN Here the speed and
64. al and a setting of 63 will boost the signal by 12 dB These settings affect the volume of incoming audio when sampling when setting AB CD DIR levels and when using THRU machines MUTE offers a visualization of the mute and solo status of the tracks When the MIXER menu is open TRIG keys 1 8 affect the internal tracks and TRIG keys 9 16 affect the MIDI tracks PROJECTS To mute a track simply press the corresponding TRIG key An unlit lt TRIG gt LED and an dotted square in the track mute section of the MIXER menu indicates a muted track A lit red lt TRIG gt LED and an outlined square in the track mute section of the MIXER menu means a track is audible While holding FUNCTION and pressing the TRIG keys the mute changes will be held until FUNCTION is released A track that is currently muted but will be unmuted when FUNCTION is released is displayed as a sign A track that is currently not muted but will be muted when FUNCTION is released is displayed as an X sign It is possible to solo tracks by pressing CUE the TRIG key corresponding to the tracks you want to solo A solo ed track is indicated by a green lt TRIG gt LED and the letter 5 in track mute section of the MIXER menu Tracks that will be audible once the track is unsolo ed are indicated by half bright red lt TRIG gt LEDs The lt TRIG gt LEDs of tracks muted before the solo operation will be unlit When exiting the solo mode these t
65. ample slot list will be opened In such cases press 37 38 TRACKS the LEFT arrow key to access the machine list In all other cases the machine list will be accessed directly when opening the QUICK ASSIGN menu HACHINE FLEN rr SELECT HAGHINE Hi ELI HM Hi ELI Select the machine that should be assigned to the track and press ENTER YES to assign it After assigning a Flex or Static machine pressing the RIGHT arrow key will access the sample slot list of the selected machine ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE PLAYBACK SETUP MENU Select the track you want to assign the machine to by pressing the corresponding TRACK button Press FUNCTION PLAYBACK to open the PLAYBACK SETUP menu If the track contained a Flex machine and Flex samples have been loaded the Flex sample slot list will be opened If the track contained a Static machine and Static samples have been loaded the Static sample slot list will be opened In such cases press the LEFT arrow key to access the machine list In all other cases the machine list will be accessed directly when opening the PLAYBACK SETUP menu FLAYEALK SETUF FLEn THRU NEIGHEDUR ELI HM EL In the leftmost menu all machine types are available With the cursor highlight the machine you want to assign After the selection is highlighted by the cursor press ENTER YES to assign the machine to the selected track Afte
66. arrangment jump to a new position Select the row to which the command should be entered and move the focus to the PAT column Turn the LEVEL knob anti clockwise until the location before pattern 01 is reached When HALT appears move the focus to the value located after HALT Turn the LEVEL encoder clockwise and HALT will change to JUMP Set the row number the arrangement should jump to by using the LEVEL knob e REM adds text to the arrangement This is only a visual cue and won t affect the timing of the arrangement Turn the LEVEL knob anti clockwise until the location before pattern A01 is reached When HALT appears turn the knob one more step anti clockwise and REM will be displayed Press the RIGHT arrow key and then press YES The naming window will open Enter your text here The hi score text input method is available here REP is the column where the amount of times the arrangement row will be repeated is set Move the focus to this column by using the ARROW keys Use the LEVEL knob to alter the number of repeats LN can be used to override the pattern length of the row The default length is derived from the scale setup settings of the pattern Move the focus to this column by using the ARROW keys Use the LEVEL knob to alter the pattern length setting If PER TRACK mode is used LN controls the MASTER LENGTH setting see SCALE SETUP on page 55 SCENE consists of two columns where
67. art form We hope it will be a trusty companion during your musical endeavours SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS OF THE OCTATRACK The flexibility of the Octatrack makes it a very powerful device suited to a wide range of tasks Here a few of them are presented LOOPER DEVICE The Octatrack is ideal for DJ s and live performers You will be able to quickly sample a turntable or other sound sources present on the stage and instantly play back and affect the recorded loop Add pre recorded loops and sounds to take your performance to a com pletely new level The real time timestretch will make sure everything stays in sync RADICAL SOUND PROCESSOR The combined power of the sampling engine the sequencer and the FX blocks makes the Octatrack a very powerful audio mangler This functionality is great when working in the studio and wanting to obtain unique sounds and textures THE BACKGROUND OF THE OCTATRACK BACKING TRACK MACHINE Each of the eight stereo tracks can stream gigabyte large samples Despite the large size of the samples they can still be subject to timestretch Change the tempo of the Octatrack and the backing track samples can be timestretched accordingly On top of this you can treat the samples with the Octatrack effects and sequencer tricks LIVE SETUP HUB The two input pairs of the Octatrack can make it function as a mixer Connect for example a Machinedrum and a Monomachine to the inputs and enjoy a complete live setup with extrem
68. ate Cor DN pna eno 1 70 SPECIFIGATIONS i tira teet D tete oc bed ata 1 70 CREDIT Saa 1 71 PRODUCT DESIGN AND 1 71 ADDITIONALE DESIGIN tette t tete kran e dee en 1 71 FACTORY DEFAULT SOUND DESIGN 2 1 71 USER S MANUAL fastara oie pretii enam 1 71 CONTACT INFORMAT O N 5 3 cre tpi teta ka asiater 1 71 ELEKTRON WEBSITE nie oa tme geredet n dde decirle deae 1 71 DELIVERY ADDRESS isla eda P tad s entere dona et tata rene rad 1 71 TELEPHONE ET 1 71 APPENDIX A MACHINE REFERENCE THRU MAGCHINE 2 teret e perd e eet ee e o de t DD decedit nne A 1 TARU MAIN ganesh cvs nna Tope e oed adque ta pasi aat A 1 THRU SETUP M A 1 FEEXMAGEIINE 3 part aah toi hee pi peni detti gates A 2 FLEX ee ie e P Are ES A 2 i iu dde deo daten tet etate ex A 2 SAVE A 3 STATIG EE A 3 SIATIC SETUP cusses retener ter epe A 3 NEIGHBOR MACHINE ete tete tete ete etse a pit A 4 M A 4 NEIGHBOR SETUP stine d inris ien fars A 4 APPENDIX B EFFECTS REFERENCE pee A 1 NONE EET A 1 NONE SETUP tette be e
69. ated track recorder slots A project can thus contain more than 64 MB s of Flex samples LOADING SAMPLES TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS For the Flex and Static machines to be able to process audio samples need to be loaded from the audio pool to the Flex and Static sample slots Samples loaded to the 128 Flex sample slots are called Flex samples They are only available to Flex machines Samples loaded to the 128 Static sample slots are called Static samples They are only available to Static machines The samples in the sample slot lists are accessible by the whole project A To load samples to the sample slots the audio pool must contain samples Read more about how to fill the audio pool with content in the section AUDIO POOL on page 18 LOADING TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU The quickest method to load samples to the sample slots is to quickly double press a TRACK button The QUICK ASSIGN menu for the track whose TRACK button was PROJECTS pressed will appear The Flex sample slot list will be displayed if the active track contained a Flex machine The Static sample slot list will be displayed if the active track contained a Static machine If the track contained any other machine type the machine list will appear If so open the Flex sample slot list by moving the cursor to FLEX and pressing the RIGHT arrow key Open the Static sample slot list by moving the cursor to STATIC and pressing the RIGHT arrow key 44
70. between the slices STRT values exceeding the number of actual sample slices will select the last sample slice This parameter has no effect on Static samples not containing slices RATE adjusts the playback speed It shifts behavior depending on the RATE setting found in the FLEX SETUP page When set to 0 the sample won t be played back at all No nega tive values can be chosen meaning Static samples can not be played backwards RTRG sets the number of retrigs that should occur when a note is trigged RTIM sets the time between each retrig The time is relative to the tempo STATIC SETUP FLAYEACK SETUF BLU EL HEM ELI ELI LOOP sets the master loop mode setting of the track When set to AUTO the individual loop settings made in the audio editor will apply Each sample of the track can then have its own loop setting SLIC selects whether slices will be accessible or not to the STRT parameter found in the STATIC MAIN page RATE selects if the RATE parameter found in the main menu will affect the timestretch or pitch of the sample TSTR sets the master timestretch setting of the track When set to AUTO the individual timestretch settings made in the audio editor will apply Each sample of the track can then have its own timestretch setting TSNS adjusts the transient detection when the timestretch algorithm is set to BEAT The higher the setting the more transient sensitive the algorithm will be
71. cess the audio pool The audio pool is a representation of the AUDIO folder that can be seen when connect ing the Octatrack to a computer using the USB port Navigate in the audio pool by using the UP and DOWN arrow keys Subfolders in the audio pool are marked with a D Open subfolders by pressing the RIGHT arrow key or ENTER YES Press the LEFT arrow keys to move back one step in the folder hierarchy Localize the sample that should be loaded to the sample slot Press ENTER YES to load it When loading a sample to the sample slot list in this way the sample will at the same time automatically be assigned to the machine of the track RECORDING A PATTERN USING GRID RECORDING Use GRID RECORDING mode to input note trigs to the sequencer Note trigs trig the machines and samples of the tracks In depth information about this mode is found in sec tion GRID RECORDING MODE on page 49 1 Press the REC key to enter GRID RECORDING mode The RECORD LED will lit up indicating the mode is now active Select the active track to which you want to input note trigs by pressing the relevant TRACK button Press the TRIG keys to insert note trigs where you wish to have the machine of the track triggered Pressing the same TRIG key once more removes the note If the pat tern contains more than 16 steps use the PATTERN PAGE key to switch between the pattern pages To edit other tracks change the
72. cially the RAM machines which made it possible to record sounds in real time and instantly play them back were utilized in ways we originally couldn t even imagine Users around the world used them to incorporate live sampled shortwave radio sounds in their compositions make instant remixes of 12 records and in general produce totally new sounds It was obvious that the RAM machine concept harbored a tremendous potential This was the starting point of the Octatrack We wanted to create a machine that would regard recorded material not as inflexible sounds but rather as something highly malleable This is one of the rea sons why the Octatrack exists The other one is because of the stage The computer laptop has quickly established itself as common instrument in live setups It is a powerful and highly customizable tool how ever the multi functionality is at the same time a disadvantage When it comes to audio related tasks a laptop is still a jack of all trades but master of none The Octatrack on the other hand is designed to be a streamlined reliable and straight forward machine allowing live performers to really add something extra to their sets It can act as a backing track machine a second turntable a source of experimental soundscapes or simply as an instru ment encouraging improvisation and fun These two reasons converge and form the ultimate raison d tre of the Octatrack its capa bility to re establish sampling as an
73. ction SETS on page 17 PURGE SAMPLES will remove all unused samples from the project Note that files are only removed from the project the actual files will not be deleted from the audio pool TRACK In this menu settings affecting the tracks of the active pattern are made SLIDE FATTERN TT SHING FATTERN SCALE SETTINGS Hi ET Hi SLIDE PATTERN can make the parameter locked values of a note trig slide to the parame ter locked values of a subsequent note trig Select this menu alternative and press ENTER YES to open the SLIDE menu Read more about how the SLIDE menu functions in section SLIDE on page 53 SWING PATTERN opens a menu where swing can be applied to the tracks of the active pattern Select this menu alternative and press ENTER YES to open the SWING menu Read more about how the SWING menu functions under the heading SWING on page 54 SCALE SETTINGS opens up the SCALE SETTINGS menu It is the same menu as the one opened when pressing PATTERN PAGE Read more about the scale setup settings in SCALE SETUP on page 55 PATTERN Contains settings related to the patterns ELI E BL ELI Selecting PATTERN SETTINGS pressing ENTER YES will open the PATTERN 5 TINGS window Here it is possible to disconnect tracks from the sequencer SCALE FER TRACK FLAYS FREELY NO FLAYS FREELY NO FLAYS FREELY NO
74. de es 1 13 QUICK STAR ss 1 14 MOUNTING A SET AND LOADING A 1 14 MOUNTING ee Ie qoe ERR Lese dedi aia nada 1 14 EOADINGA PROJECT hierarki 1 14 PLAYING THE DEMO 8 1 14 ADJUSTING THE SAMPLES OF THE DEMO 8 1 15 LOADING SAMPLES sinnene faren aaa lilla 1 15 ASSIGNING A MACHINE TO A 1 15 ASSIGNING A SAMPLE TO A 1 15 RECORDING A PATTERN USING GRID RECORDING 1 16 PARAMETER D ee n TR lieta 1 16 SETS errata 1 17 SET MOUNTING SCENARIOS pu ei cerne sete eere cuss cxt rom tn et tlc Der deeds m bes 1 17 NO MOUNTED SET idet e eee e OE 1 17 SWITCHING COMPACT FLASH 1 17 SETS CONTAINING NO 1 17 CREATE AND MOUNT A SET x iit eio a en Hv text iaia 1 18 AUDIO POOL iii tein d stie t iia b de ek di 1 18 ADDING CONTENT TO THE 1 18 AUDIO FILE COMPATIBILI PY inte tt tet eth ette e hr te pee ca 1 19 PROJECTS A E 1 20 LOADING SAMPLES TO THE SAMPLE 8 5 1 20 LOADING TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS IN THE QUICK ASSIGN 1 20 LOADING TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS IN THE PLAYB
75. delete the selected slice This alternative only appears when the waveform marker is positioned on a slice e DELETE ALL SLICES will delete all slices CREATE SLICE GRID will create a number of equal length slices spread out between the start and end points set in the TRIM menu The slice grid can consist of 2 4 8 16 32 48 or 64 slices CREATE LINEAR LOCKS will automatically lock the STRT parameter of note trigs already placed out on the active track while at the same time set the SLIC parameter in the PLAYBACK SETUP menu to ON The STRT parameter of the first note trig will be locked to SL1 the STRT parameter of the second note trig locked to SL2 and so on If SLIC is turned off the value of the STRT locks will revert to approximations of the slice start points SLIC set to ON STRT set to SL1 STRT 0 when SLIC is set to OFF SLIC set to ON STRT set to SL2 STRT 2 when SLIC is set to OFF THE AUDIO EDITOR SLIC set to ON STRT set to SL3 STRT 4 when SLIC is set to OFF SLIC set to ON STRT set to SL4 STRT 6 when SLIC is set to OFF Note that turning off SLIC may change the structure of a sample completely CREATE RANDOM LOCKS works just like the CREATE LINEAR LOCKS com mand but randomizes the STRT parameters of the note trigs e CHANGE VIEW changes the waveform visualization if a stereo sample is used It works just like the same command found in the TRIM EDIT menu A e Slice modulation for a Static machine cont
76. dicated at the right side of the screen Folders containing more files or folders than the menu list can show are marked with two arrows pointing downwards Scroll down in the folder by pressing the DOWN arrow key A file is loaded by selecting it and pressing ENTER YES Audio files can be previewed in the file browser Select the file and press FUNC TION YES to do so PROJECTS A At the root of the audio pool file structure several folders might be found The AUDIO folder contains the audio pool Any saved projects of the set are repre sented by folders as well If audio files as recommended only have been put in the AUDIO folder the project folders will appear as empty EDIT PROJECT MENU In the EDIT PROJECT menu various project related settings are made Press FUNC TION EDIT to open the menu The sub menus are opened by selecting them and pressing either ENTER YES or the RIGHT arrow key In the header of the menu the name of the currently active project is visible FROJEGTS duk TRACK EL ET Hi ELI PROJECTS Here projects are changed saved and restored sets mounted and samples purged PROJECTS CHANGE FROJECT IH SAVE TO SET RESTORE FOINT E HA RESTORE 2 EL ET BL ELI PROJECT CARD SYNC is recommended operation before ejecting the Compact Flash card as it will
77. dio pool of the active set will be opened Locate the sample you wish to load and press ENTER YES to load it When replacing a previously loaded sample select it with the cursor and press ENTER YES Note that this at the same time will assign the selected sample to the machine of the track Press ENTER YES again to open the file browser Locate the sample you wish to load and press ENTER YES to load it FILE BROWSER The file browser is used when locating samples that should be loaded to the Flex and Static sample slots It is a representation of the audio pool of the set LOAD FILE TO FLEn 1 OCTAUERSE AUDIO FEATS AHEIENT_GREEER 4FLOOR HAL T CLOWN HALV CRACKLE HAL DOHINATOR WAU HRA 54 3HE6 FILE Oh BL BL BL BU BLU Folders are indicated by a D Open folders by selecting them and pressing the RIGHT arrow key or ENTER YES At the top of the menu a folder path is visible To go back one step in the folder hierarchy press the LEFT arrow button If the file browser was opened from a Flex sample slot list the bottom of the LCD screen will show much of the RAM memory that is still available to the project When the cursor is moved over a sample the text FILE OK will be displayed if the sample size is less than the amount of available project RAM If the file is too big to be loaded the text ERROR TOO LARGE will be displayed The size in MB s of the samples are in
78. dware problem perform this self test Everything should come up as shown below If not contact Elektron support or the retailer you bought the Octatrack from EMPTY RESET To perform this operation press the second TRIG key This will reinitialize the battery backed RAM and clear all data The content of the Compact Flash card will not be affected MIDI UPGRADE By choosing this option the Octatrack prepares itself to receive an OS upgrade via MIDI 1 Check that all MIDI cables are connected correctly 2 Load the new OS in an appropriate program capable of sending sysex files We recom mend the program C6 which can be found on the Elektron website 3 Choose MIDI UPGRADE by pressing the third TRIG key The Octatrack will wait for the OS to be transmitted to it and a message stating READY TO RECEIVE MIDI UPGRADE will appear on the screen 4 As the Octatrack receives the OS the lt TRIG gt LEDs will light up one after another Please note that this procedure takes a while 5 When the transfer is finished the message PREPARING FLASH appears 6 PREPARING FLASH is shortly followed by UPDATING FLASH When this process is finished the OS is updated After the upgrade the operating system may upgrade the bootstrap do not turn off the unit before it has completed its start up sequence or explicitely tells you to restart EARLY STARTUP MENU SEND UPGRADE With this option you can send the OS installed
79. e about repeats on page 66 Pressing STOP stops the playback and another press moves the position pointer to the beginning of the arrangement THE ARRANGER MENU While ARRANGER mode is active press FUNCTION BANK to open the ARRANGER menu Here the current arrangement can be edited and various arrangement operations carried out EL Hi Di 00 SI 003 E03 ni 03 04 CHANGE Selecting this command and pressing ENTER YES will bring up a menu where all the arrangements of the project are visible Select the arrangement you want to change to and THE ARRANGER press ENTER YES The active arrangement is always displayed in the header of the ARRANGEMENT menu CHAIN Will make the arrangement selected in this menu start play immediately after the currently playing arrangement has finished playing It has a similar function to pattern chaining with the exception that no more than one arrangement can be chained RENAME Selecting this command and pressing ENTER YES will bring up a naming window where itis possible to rename the arrangement RELOAD Selecting this command and pressing ENTER YES will reload the active arrangement to the state it was saved in SAVE The save command saves the active arrangement to the arrangement slot Selecting this command and pressing ENTER YES will bring up a prompt asking CONFIRM SAVE Y N Press ENTER YES to save Press EXIT NO to cancel the
80. e possibilities REMIX TOOL It is easy to change the pitch of different sections of a vocal sample without changing the overall tempo of the sample Chopping up and rearranging samples and loops is extremely easy thanks to features like the LFO designer and slice points The Octatrack lets you break down audio content and restructure it in new and interesting ways EFFECTS UNIT EXTRAORDINAIRE Chained FX blocks paired with automated real time sampling can warble and twist incom ing audio in ways previously unachievable by a single machine Up to four external and four internal sound sources can be affected at the same time OCTATRACK DPS 1 USER S MANUAL for operating system version 0 995 This manual is copyright O 2011 Ele ktron Music Machines MAV AB All reproduction without written authorization is strictly prohibited The information in this manual may change without notice Elektron s product names logotypes titles words or phrases may be registered and protected by Swedish and international law All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders 10 11 12 13 14 15 PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS F RONT PANEL 2 3 4 5 46 7 8 inOut CueOut InputAB input C D MIDI In MIDI Out MDI Thru O DYNAMIL PERFORMANCE SAMPLER Playback CE DOR LJ RO GEROLA ON 0 16 17
81. ed This operation is handy after having recorded a sample and quickly wanting to both save it and associating it with the recorder 63 THE ARRANGER THE ARRANGER An arrangement is basically a number of patterns played in sequence Each row in an arrangement can have settings for pattern length scene assignments tempo and mute You can also loop segments of an arrangement or jump between arrangement rows All this makes for a very powerful way of arranging your patterns An arrangement can be up to 256 rows of length and each project can host 8 arrangements Enter ARRANGEMENT mode by pressing FUNCTION PATTERN The lt ARRANGER gt LED will be lit and the screen will change to reflect the currently active arrangement EL HM BL ELI Start the arrangement by pressing PLAY The row currently playing is indicated by two black arrows on each side of the row The name of the arrangement is displayed in the arrangement header and to the right a counter showing the number of bars and beats played is found The UP and DOWN keys can be used to manoeuvre the two indicators When they are located on any other row apart from the one currently playing they will be colored white Navigating to a new row and pressing ENTER YES will make the selected row play once the currently playing row has finished playing When a row contains repeats the number of repetitions left is indicated to the right of the row Read mor
82. ee eis deb I tom Pes dna he A 1 12 24DB MULTI tmr pete edited A 2 MULTLMODE FILTER MAIN nnb ote reet pe et be fem A 2 MULTIMODE FILTER SETUP iiia it tette pen ei hadi e iii A 2 2 BAND PARAMETRIG EQ ir torpe Dei Pot tonsa e ub DER INR Dena po devia vase Doe xia uit dete A 3 PARAMETRIC EQ A 3 PARAMETRIGEQ SETUP ea e tete de e huerta teri te ene teres A 3 DUSTY LE BEIC EE A 4 DJECG MAIN TT A 4 DJ EQ SETUP unni dtd aee eie A 4 2 10 STAGE PHASER eoe Pi e ems A 5 PHASER MAIN e regent A 5 PHASER SETUP iei retten eim e id datt ai duet uS ie A 5 FLANGER venture e eed te td ee A 6 FLANGER MAIN secs un ide o tree bl ek kate A 6 FLANGER SETUP 6 2 10 TAP CHORUS u riter ia e tene ubi sr stem A i nia it Let at pent euh totes A 7 GHORUS MAIN tte eedem ttn atate its A 7 4 of 6 CHORUS SETUP fata eme all deals 7 DYNAMIX COMPRESSOR tech eite dein eie rectc ees A 8 COMPRESSOR MAIN ELE A 8 COMPRESSOR SETUP iit yaad ia 8 EO FI COELECTION 2 Hte eel 9
83. elp European Union regulation compliance statement This product has been tested to comply with the Low Voltage Directive 2006 95 EC and the Electromagnetic Com patibility Directive 2004 108 EC This symbol indicates that your product must be disposed of properly according to local laws and regu lations The included switched mode power supply is Level IV compliant The device contains a non rechargable lithium perchlorate battery cell that may need to be recycled separately de pending on local environmental laws If the battery needs replacing please contact Elektron or a local professional technician for servicing Important Safety Information for the Octatrack DPS 1 Carefully read these instructions and save them for future reference Warning To reduce the risk of fire electrical shock or product damage Do not expose the apparatus to rain moisture dripping or splashing and also avoid placing objects filled with liquid such as vases on the apparatus Only use accessories recommended by the manufacturer Do not unmount the enclosure There are no user repairable parts inside Leave service and repairs to trained service personnel only Do not expose the apparatus to direct sunlight nor use it in ambient temperatures exceed ing 50 C as this can lead to malfunction The apparatus can thru the head phones output or via an amplifier generate high sound lev
84. els High sound levels may damage your hearing protect your hearing by lowering the sound level Additional instructions for the power adapter Elektron PSU 2 Warning e The adapter is not safety grounded and may only be used indoors To ensure good ventilation for the adapter do not place it in tight spaces To pre vent risk of electric shock and fire because of overheating ensure that curtains and other objects do not prevent the adapter ventilation Connect the adapter to an easily accessible electrical outlet close to the apparatus The adapter is in standby mode when the power cord is connected the primary circuit is always active as long as the cord is connected to the power outlet Pull out the power cord to completely disconnect the adapter Only use CE approved power cords INTRODUCTION Akasa ae iaia 1 1 CONVENTIONS IN THIS 1 1 THE BACKGROUND OF THE OCTATRACK eese nnne nnne nnn 1 2 SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS OF THE 1 2 LOOPER DEVICE unne EET 1 2 RADICAL SOUND 1 2 BACKING TRACK 1 3 EIVE SETUP HUB LL kast reader rs tee aa 1 3 REMIX TOOL EE 1 3 EFFECTS UNIT 1 3 PANEL LAYOUT AND 1 4 atit tie
85. ending on the SRC3 setting sample either the main output mix the cue output mix an internal track or nothing at all It is possible to simultaneously sample from several sources by the pressing the appropriate button combinations SAMPLING USING RECORDER TRIGS The use of recorder trigs offers a considerably more powerful method of sampling To use recorder trigs when sampling please first follow these preparatory steps 1 If you are sampling from the external inputs make sure audio from an external device is being sent to the Octatrack inputs The AUDIO RECORD LEDs indicate the strength of the signal sent to the inputs If you hear sound but see no LED activity try increasing the volume of the external audio by either increasing the GAIN parameter in the MIXER menu or by increasing the volume on the external device itself If you don t hear any sound make sure the DIR parameter in the MIXER menu is not set to zero Select the track whose recorder you want to use by pressing the relevant TRACK but ton Open up the RECORD SETUP menu by pressing FUNCTION any of the AUDIO RECORD buttons Select from which source or sources the recorder should sample from by setting INAB INCD and SRC3 as needed If needed make RLEN and TRIG settings Place out recorder trigs by pressing the TRIG buttons Note that the sequencer while in the RECORD SETUP menu only reflects recorder trigs A recorder trig defaults to l
86. er editing First select the track whose recorder should be opened by pressing the relevant TRACK button Then press AUDIO RECORD BANK to open the recorder sample in the audio editor Read more about the audio editor in section THE AUDIO EDITOR on page 58 BANKS PARTS AND SCENES BANKS PARTS AND SCENES Each project contains up to 16 banks Banks contain Up to 16 patterns 4 parts Each part contains Information about which machines are assigned to the tracks Information about which Flex and Static samples are assigned to the machines Track effects assignments Track parameter settings 16 scenes Scenes contain Scene parameter locks BANKS An Octatrack project can consist of up to 16 banks Each bank can host up to 16 patterns Patterns in bank 1 are labeled A01 A16 patterns in bank 2 01 16 and so on Select a bank by pressing the BANK button plus one of the 16 TRIG keys BANK the first TRIG key will access the first bank pressing BANK TRIG key 2 will select the second bank and so on As soon as BANK is pressed a prompt saying CHOOSE BANK will appear Available banks are indicated by green TRIG LEDs A red lt TRIG gt LED indicates the currently active bank As soon as a bank is selected the prompt will change to CHOOSE PAT TERN Pressing a TRIG key now will select a pattern located in the selected bank Avail able patterns are indicated by green l
87. er to change the current tempo integer steps UP and DOWN arrow keys change the decimal part of the tempo TAP TEMPO To tap a tempo hold the FUNCTION key and tap the TEMPO key at a steady rhythm After four consecutive taps the average tempo of the taps will be set as the new tempo and it will be showed in the TAP TEMPO window You can continue tapping the TEMPO key the tapped tempo average will then continue updating TEMPO NUDGE You can temporarily shift the tempo up or down by 10 by pressing the LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys When the key is released the BPM will revert back to the original setting This functionality is very handy when manually syncing your Octatrack to a turntable or an exter nal sound source Note that you do not need to be in the TEMPO menu to perform this tempo shift 57 58 THE AUDIO EDITOR THE AUDIO EDITOR The audio editor is where editing of imported or recorded samples takes place A number of tasks are carried out here Trimming loop point settings normalization and maybe most important of all handling of slices ACCESSING THE AUDIO EDITOR The audio editor is either accessed from the QUICK ASSIGN menu by using shortcuts ACCESS FROM THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU Open the QUICK ASSIGN menu by double clicking a TRACK key Then navigate to the Flex or Static sample slot list select the sample you wish to edit and press FUNCTION BANK to open it in the audio editor ACCESS U
88. f the LFO SETUP menu They are represented as small visualizations of their waveform shapes and are labeled T1 T8 e Copy clear paste operations are available in the LFO DESIGNER menu This makes it possible to copy LFO designer waveforms between tracks When per forming a clear operation all waveform steps will be set to 0 and interpolation will be set to stepped EFFECT 1 AND EFFECT 2 Each track features two assignable effects The selectable effects differ between the two effect pages For a complete listing of all the effects and their main and setup parameters see Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE EFFECT 1 offers TRACKS 12 24dB Multi Mode Filter 2 band Parametric EQ DJ style Kill EQ 2 10 Stage Phaser Flanger 2 10 tap Chorus Dynamix Compressor Lo fi Collection EFFECT 2 offers 12 24dB Multi Mode Filter 2 band Parametric EQ DJ style Kill EQ 2 10 Stage Phaser Flanger 2 10 tap Chorus Dynamix Compressor Lo fi Collection Echo Freeze Delay Gatebox Plate Reverb Assign an effect by either pressing FUNCTION EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 or quickly double pressing EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 to open up the EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 SETUP menu The effects available are listed in the left side column Use the ARROW keys to select the effect you want to assign and then press ENTER YES to assign it After assign ing the effect all the setup parameters of the effect are visible These are adjusted using the DATA ENTRY knobs Exit the
89. g e Make sure you place the unit on a stable surface before use If you mount the unit in a rack be sure to tighten all four screws in the rack mount holes e The memory used for storing patterns and parts is powered by a battery inside the unit It will hold data at least 6 years before needing replacement If the battery needs replacement the BATTERY LOW message will appear in the display Con tact Elektron support or your nearest repair center e Turn off the machine when it is not in use Use the power switch OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK STRUCTURE OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK STRUCTURE The Octatrack is organized in a hierarchical way starting with the set as the top level struc ture It is important to understand the internal structure to make the most of the possibilities at hand The image below outlines the structure of the Octatrack AUDIO POOL Y Y ARRANGEMENTS FLEX SAMPLE SLOTS STATIC SAMPLE SLOTS Y v A Y v PATTERNS Y Y v v TRICKPARIMETERS SETS A set is the top level structure of the Octatrack It can contain a near unlimited amount of projects plus one audio pool The amount of samples in the audio pool is limited only by the size of the Compact Flash card Sets are saved on the Compact Flash card Since a set can contain many projects some users might find that one set is all they need Read more about sets on page 17
90. heir associated Flex samples 128 Static sample slots and their associated Static samples 8 track recorders and their recorder buffers A BPM setting controlling the tempo of the patterns belonging to the project All changes made to the active project are automatically saved The only time a project needs to be saved is when mounting a new set or ejecting the Compact Flash card It is also possible to create project recovery points which is useful when wanting to revert a project to chosen settings and assignments If the mounted set contains no projects it is still possible to assign machines samples and effects and to make parameter and pattern settings The Octatrack will remember the set tings of the active bank even after being switched off but will discard them if a new set is mounted If the Octatrack boots and senses the active project is unsaved a prompt will appear saying YOU ARE WORKING ON AN UNSAVED PROJECT DON T FORGET TO SAVE Projects a saved the EDIT PROJECT menu and this operation is described on page 23 PROJECTS AND RAM MEMORY The RAM memory available to a project is shared between the track recorders and the samples loaded to the Flex sample slots The Flex sample slots can be filled with 64 MB s worth of samples and each track recorder can always record 2 7 MB s of stereo audio The boundary between these two sample types are blurred as samples from the audio pool can be loaded to the dedic
91. igning a scene to scene slot B but instead press SCENE B TRIG It is possible to assign an empty scene to a scene slot but note that if two empty scenes are assigned crossfader move ments will have no effect BANKS PARTS AND SCENES Once a scene is assigned you can lock its parameters The functionality is similar to assigning parameter locks to a note trig Press the SCENE button containing the scene you want to alter and choose the value of the track parameters you want to lock to the scene by turning the DATA ENTRY knobs The graphics of the parameters assigned to a scene will just as with parameter locks become inverted and their locked values will be displayed Remove a lock by pressing the corresponding DATA ENTRY knob while press ing the SCENE button SCENE VOLUME LOCKING Certain parameters specially made for volume fades are available exclusively to scenes When holding a SCENE key pressed it is possible to lock XLEV XVOL and XDIR param eters to the scene These parameters can be regarded as a set of extra volume controllers on top of the LEVEL VOL and DIR parameters The difference lies in the way they handle volume fades Locking them accordingly will make the crossfader fade between the volume of the tracks or inputs in an equal energy fashion This way of locking volumes is suitable when wanting to avoid the volume dip that otherwise would occur when the crossfader is in the center position The parameters are onl
92. ill open the SETUP menu of the selected TRACK PARAMETER menu In MIDI SEQUENCER mode the TRACK PARAMETER menus reflect the MIDI functionality of the tracks 20 REC key Toggles GRID EDIT mode on off In GRID RECORDING mode the RECORD LED gives a steady light Pressing FUNCTION REC performs copy command 21 PLAY key Starts playback of a pattern or arrangement Pressing PLAY a second time pauses playback FUNCTION PLAY performs a clear command 22 STOP key Stops the playback of a pattern or arrangement FUNCTION STOP performs a paste command e Copy clear and paste functions are available in many menus The implementation is described in the relevant sections of this manual 23 SCENE A SCENE B TRIG assigns one of 16 scenes to the A and B scene slots SCENE A SCENE a DATA ENTRY knob will assign the chosen parameter value to the scene FUNCTION SCENE AJ SCENE B mutes the scene 24 The crossfader interpolates between the parameter values of scene A and scene B 25 TRIG keys 1 to 16 Used for trigging either the machine of a track or a complete track Also used for placing trigs in GRID RECORDING mode When pressed in combination with the PATTERN and BANK buttons they select patterns and banks Above each TRIG key is a lt TRIG gt LED indicating the position of placed trigs 26 PATTERN PAGE selects the active pattern page of up to four pattern pages Above the PATTERN PAGE
93. is assigned to control the main output bal ance between the two incoming signals Cue ing one of the input pairs will send the sig nal to the cue outputs and the headphones output regardless of the signal being audible from the main outputs or not Thanks to the flexible routing of the Octatrack the cue d signal can still be sampled and the sample immediately sent to the main outputs PATTERNS PATTERNS The sequencer of the Octatrack shares a lot of similarities with the Machinedrum and Mon omachine sequencers but have been considerably improved It is incredibly powerful and plays an extremely important role in processing sounds and samples The sequencer stores information in patterns A pattern contains Note trigs Trigless trigs Swing trigs Slide trigs Information about which part is linked to the pattern Parameter locks Sample locks Length and time signature of the tracks BASIC PATTERN OPERATIONS The Octatrack allows switching between patterns without any audible lag This plus the ability to chain patterns are handy features when for example making live improvisations SELECTING A PATTERN Each project hosts 16 banks each containing 16 patterns Banks and patterns are selected using the BANK and PATTERN keys in combination with the 16 TRIG keys Patterns can be selected from the currently active bank or from one of the other banks Press the PATTERN button in combination with one of the 1
94. is is the default setting 27 28 PROJECTS SEND TRANSPORT ON makes the Octatrack send out system realtime messages like play stop and continue OFF hinders the Octatrack from sending out transport messages This is the default setting RECEIVE TRANSPORT ON makes the Octatrack respond to system realtime messages like play stop and continue OFF makes the Octatrack disregard incoming transport messages This is the default setting MASTER TRACK ON 8 ON turns track 8 to a master track where the assigned master effects will affect all the other tracks as well as audio coming from the external inputs OFF makes track 8 a regular track This is the default setting TRACK RECORDERS Each project features eight track recorders which are used to record audio from the exter nal inputs from the main and cue outputs from the individual tracks and from various com binations of these sources Track recorders do not have to be assigned to the tracks as they always are available and ready to sample They can always sample at least 32 steps of length no matter the BPM of the Octatrack If the Octatrack BPM exceeds 60 the track recorders can sample 64 steps of length Samples captured by the track recorders are stored in recorder buffers which are used to play back the recorded samples The eight recorder buffers are located in the Flex sample slot list To play back a sample captured by a track recorder the correspo
95. is played from row 0 to the end row 65 66 THE ARRANGER PAT displays which patterns are assigned to the rows Move the focus to this column using the ARROW keys Set the pattern you want to be played on the arrangement row using the LEVEL knob or by pressing the appropriate BANK PATTERN TRIG key combi nations Several special commands are available in the PAT column HALT forces the arrangement to stop at a given row Select the row to which the command should be entered and move the focus to the PAT column Turn the LEVEL knob anti clockwise until the location before pattern 01 is reached HALT will be displayed e LOOP makes a selection of the arrangement loop either infinitely or a fixed amount of times Select the row to which the command should be entered and move the focus to the PAT column Turn the LEVEL knob anti clockwise until the location before pattern A01 is reached When HALT appears move the focus to the value located after HALT Turn the LEVEL knob one step anti clockwise and LOOP will appear The arrangement section will now loop infinitely between row 000 and the row containing the loop command To set a fixed amount of loop cycles move the focus to the infinity symbol and use the LEVEL knob to set the value The arrangment will now loop the section the specified number of times and then play the arrangment row located below the loop point Loops can be nested JUMP makes the
96. istening to the INAB setting but can listen to other sampling sources as well Different recorder trigs can even listen to different sources To add a sampling source to the recorder trig keep the TRIG button pressed while pressing either AUDIO RECORD A B AUDIO RECORD C D or MIDI Which source a 31 32 PROJECTS recorder trig listens to is indicated by inverted source graphics in the LCD and by lit lt AUDIO RECORD gt and lt MIDI gt LEDs Deselect a source by repeating the procedure If the source selection is changed subsequent recorder trigs being placed out will default to the latest source selection To sample from input A B no settings need to be altered The recorder trig will depend ing of the INAB setting sample either from input A B A B or nothing To deselect this sampling source for the recorder trig keep the TRIG key pressed while pressing AUDIO RECORD A B The INAB text will become de inverted To sample from input C D press the TRIG AUDIO RECORD C D buttons The INCD text will become inverted and the recorder will now depending of the INCD setting sample either from input C D C D or nothing To sample internal sounds press the TRIG MIDI buttons The SRC3 text will become inverted and the recorder will now depending of the SRC3 setting either sam ple the main output mix the cue output mix an internal track or nothing 7 Press PLAY to start the playback of the sequencer Once a
97. lready contained a Flex or Static machine with an assigned sample move to the machine list by pressing the LEFT arrow key If the track didn t contain any of these machines the machine list will opened 4 Select the machine you want to assign from the list of machines Press ENTER YES to assign it to the track Note that samples only can be processed by Flex and Static machines Press the RIGHT arrow button to enter the sample slot list for the assigned machine ASSIGNING A SAMPLE TO A MACHINE 1 Make sure a set with an audio pool containing samples is mounted The audio pool of the PRESETS set found on the bundled Compact Flash card is full of samples If you have followed the instructions above how to assign a machine to a track and chose to assign a Flex or Static machine jump to step 4 2 Select a track containing a Flex or Static machine by pressing the relevant TRACK key 15 16 QUICK START Enter the PLAYBACK SETUP menu by pressing FUNCTION and PLAYBACK The sample slot list will be opened If samples already are present in the sample slot list select a sample and press ENTER YES to assign it to the machine To load a new sample from the audio pool to a sample slot select a sample slot and press ENTER YES If the sample slot was empty the file browser reflecting the content of the audio pool will be opened If the sample slot already contained a sample press ENTER YES once more to ac
98. make the recorder capture a stereo file in which the signals from input C and input D are summed RLEN sets how long the recording will be once the recorder starts to sample This setting is dependent of the BPM of the sequencer but disregards any scale settings of the track A 29 30 PROJECTS setting of 16 will for example always record the equivalent of 16 1 16th notes with a scale setting of 1x If RLEN is set to MAX the length of the recorder sample will always be 16 seconds of length TRIG offers three different sampling behaviors once the sampling process is initiated ONE will make the recorder once the sampling process is initiated either manually or through recorder trigs sample according to the length set by RLEN The sampling process is restarted when pressing TRACK AUDIO RECORD MIDI ONE 2 will make the recorder once the sampling process is initiated either manu ally or through recorder trigs sample according to the length set by RLEN The sam pling process can be stopped by pressing TRACK AUDIO RECORDJ MIDI This is the default option HOLD will make the recorder once the sampling process is initiated sample for as long as the TRACK AUDIO RECORDJ MIDI buttons are pressed and held The outcome of the sample depend on if manual sampling or recorder trigs are used When HOLD is active manually pressing TRACK AUDIO RECORD MIDI the recorder will sample for as long as the buttons are
99. mass storage device in the computer When the Octatrack is connected to a computer via USB audio pools can be filled with content Read more about this in the section ADDING CONTENT TO THE AUDIO POOL on page 18 e Use the USB connection to back up sets to a computer hard disk OS UPDATE is an alternative to the EARLY STARTUP menu method of OS upgrading When upgrading the OS in this way an Octatrack OS file with the file extention bin needs to be placed at the root of the Compact Flash card Then select OS UPDATE and press ENTER YES A prompt will appear asking if you want to continue with the OS upgrade Press ENTER YES to upgrade the OS Press EXIT NO to cancel the operation 25 26 PROJECTS DATE TIME SETTINGS is where the day and time settings are set MIXER MENU In the MIXER menu settings for the headphones output inputs A B and C D are made While in this menu the function of the TRIG buttons will be to mute or cue tracks The MIXER menu settings are common for all banks and patterns in a project HINER EM Hi ELI ELI SO008000 MIX determines what will be heard from the headphones output If the indicator is set is to the leftmost position the headphones output will be a mirror of the main outputs If set to the rightmost level only audio from cued tracks will be routed to the headphones output A zero setting will balance cued tracks and main output track levels
100. ming a pattern copy operation make sure you are not in GRID RECORDING mode If this mode is activated press REC to deactivate it Select the pattern you want to copy then press and hold FUNCTION while pressing REC A message COPY PATTERN will be shown in the display The pattern data being copied consists of the active part note trigs and parameter locks Select the destination where you wish to paste your pattern data by using the BANK PATTERN and TRIG keys as needed Paste the data by pressing the FUNCTION STOP keys The mes sage PASTE PATTERN will be shown in the display Pasting a pattern overwrites any pre vious part assignment note trigs and parameter locks The pattern paste operation can be undone by pressing FUNCTION STOP immedi ately after performing it A message saying UNDO PATTERN will be shown in the display PATTERN CLEAR Clearing a pattern will remove all note trigs from all tracks Before performing a pattern clear operation make sure you are not in GRID RECORDING mode If this mode is acti vated press REC to deactivate it 51 52 PATTERNS Select the pattern you want to clear Press and hold FUNCTION Then press PLAY to clear the pattern A message CLEAR PATTERN will be shown in the display The clear pattern operation can be undone by pressing FUNCTION PLAY directly after performing it A message saying UNDO PATTERN will be shown in the display
101. n n F rim oer s FLEA RAGNARDOK 01 02 PLAYBACK SETUP Open the PLAYBACK SETUP menu by either pressing FUNCTION PLAYBACK or quickly double pressing PLAYBACK Machines and samples are assigned in this menu Setup parameters of the chosen machine are controlled here as well On page 20 the pro cedure of loading samples to sample slots is described For more information how to assign machines and assign samples to machines see page 37 FLAYEACK SETUF ELI NEIGHEDUR ELI ET ELI AMP MAIN Access the AMP MAIN page by pressing AMP Here settings affecting the amplitude and the stereo positioning of the track are found Fl io H ATK HOLD REL 5 n EE mm I Mo n DODO et Ss n n Bre dos IG ATK sets the time it will take for the amplitude envelope to reach its full level HOLD sets the hold time of the amplitude envelope The signal will be held in full level dur ing the duration of the hold phase REL sets the time it will take for the signal to fade out after the hold phase is over VOL sets the volume of the track pre effects This setting affects signals being sent to the cue outputs BAL positions the sample in the stereo field XVOL is a setting that only will appear when locking parameters to scenes See SCENES on page 34 for more information about this parameter TRACKS AMP SETUP Open the AMP SETUP menu by either pressi
102. nding recorder buffer therefore needs to be assigned to a track As sampling is independent from playback the same track can be used for both sampling and playback of the sample Content in a recorder buffer is not automatically saved If a recorder buffer contains a sam ple and the corresponding track recorder starts to sample the original buffer sample will be overwritten by the new sample Also samples in the recorder buffers are not retained in memory after switching off the Octatrack or changing projects If you want to keep recorder buffer samples they need to be saved to the Compact Flash card This operation is per formed in the audio editor and is covered in the section OPERATIONS on page 62 Sampling can be performed either through using recording trigs or through manual button presses Manual sampling is done through the following button combinations TRACK AUDIO RECORD A B will sample from the external input A B to the recorder of the track whose track button is pressed TRACK AUDIO RECORD C D will sample from the external input C D to the recorder of the track whose track button is pressed PROJECTS TRACK MIDI will sample internal sounds to the recorder of the track whose track but ton is pressed The sample source or sources of the recorder are set in the RECORD SETUP menu Placing out recorder trigs on the step sequencer is also carried out in this menu Enter the RECORD SETUP menu by pressing FUNCTIO
103. necting the Octatrack to other units make sure that everything is switched off 1 Plug the supplied DC adapter to a wall socket and connect the small plug to the 6 V DC connector of the Octatrack unit 2 Connect the main out L R from the Octatrack to your mixer or amplifier 3 If MIDI control is desired connect MIDI OUT from the Octatrack to the device that you wish to send data to Connect the MIDI IN to the device that you wish to receive data from The MIDI THRU port echoes the data arriving at the MIDI IN port so it can be used for chaining MIDI units together 4 Switch on all units A e The USB connection may inject computer noise in the outputs of the Octatrack Should this occur use balanced cables or use a battery operated computer Do not remove the safety grounding of your computer It is there to protect from elec tric shocks CARE INSTRUCTIONS To ensure many years of trouble free operation please follow the advice below Never use any aggressive cleaners on the casing or the LCD overlay Remove dust dirt and fingerprints with a soft dry cloth More persistent dirt can be removed with a slightly damp cloth using only water PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS Never use sharp objects near the display to avoid scratches or damage Also avoid applying any pressure to the display itself When transporting the Octatrack preferably use the box and padding the unit originally shipped with or comparable packagin
104. newly created set will not contain any projects A project should therefore be created 1 Press FUNCTION BANK to open the EDIT PROJECTS menu Select PROJECTS and press ENTER YES 2 Scroll down the list and select CHANGE PROJECT If the bundled Compact Flash card is inserted and the set called PRESETS has been mounted select the project PRE SETS and press ENTER YES The project will be loaded If a new Compact Flash is used select lt CREATE NEW PROJECT gt and press ENTER YES Name the project and press ENTER YES The newly created project will be loaded PLAYING THE DEMO PATTERNS This tutorial assumes the demo set PRESETS is mounted and the project PRESETS is loaded The project contains are 16 demo patterns ranging from 01 to A16 After loading the PRESETS project pattern A01 will be loaded by default 1 Press PLAY to listen to pattern 01 QUICK START 2 Select pattern A02 which is the second demo pattern by pressing PATTERN TRIG key 2 Pattern A03 is selected by pressing PATTERN TRIG key 3 and so on ADJUSTING THE SAMPLES OF THE DEMO PATTERNS All tracks contain five TRACK PARAMETER menus There parameters affecting the sam ple of the track are found 1 Make sure the pattern still is playing 2 Press the TRACK key of the track whose sample you wish to affect 3 To change the pitch of the sample first press the PLAYBACK key The PLAYBACK menu will open
105. ng FUNCTION AMP or quickly double pressing AMP AHF SETUF RHF 54NC ATC R T OFF LIN ELI i FE i EE LE TTRG ANLG EL ELI controls the behavior of the amplitude envelope e ANLG will not necessarily make the envelope start from zero once a note is being trigged Instead when a note is trigged the envelope attack will start from the current envelope level e RTRG will make the amplitude envelope start from zero every time a note is being trigged e R T will make the amplitude envelope start from zero every time a note or trig less trig is being activated by the sequencer e TTRIG will not necessarily make the envelope start from zero once a note or a trig less trig is being activated by the sequencer Instead when a note or a trigless trig is activated the envelope attack will start from the current envelope level SYNC sets if the amplitude envelope should be synced to the Octatrack BPM or not ATCK sets how the attack of the envelope should behave LIN will make the envelope attack work in a linear fashion LOG will make the envelope attack work in an exponential fashion This setting allows for more fine tuning of the attack FX1 controls how the envelope will affect the multi mode filter or the amplitude modulator when either of these effects are assigned to effect block 1 e ANLG will if the multi mode filter is assigned to effect 1 not necessarily m
106. ng the timbre of a sound Two frequency bands can be attenuated or amplified PARAMETRIC EQ MAIN F 120 LEU FROL oni i s n zc ACE EL n ooon ig e e i sy n Fri z FR g ug n 5 FAG EFFECT 1FEQUALIZER 01 002 ELI FRQ1 sets the center frequency the first band of the EQ will affect GN1 attenuates or boosts the set frequency Q1 controls the width of the frequency range the GN1 setting affects The higher the value the narrower the frequency curve FRQ2 sets the center frequency the second band of the EQ will affect GN2 attenuates or boosts the set frequency Q2 controls the width of the frequency range the GN2 setting affects The higher the value the narrower the frequency curve PARAMETRIC EQ SETUP EFFECT 1 SETUF EL EL sets how the first band of the filter will operate It can act as a low shelf shelving filter a full parametric EQ or as a high shelf shelving filter TYP2 sets how the second band of the filter will operate It can act as a low shelf shelving filter a full parametric EQ or as a high shelf shelving filter Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE A 3 DJ STYLE KILL EQ This EQ variant is somewhat of a cross breed between a filter and an EQ It is a three band EQ capa ble of completely filtering out the bands DJ EQ MAIN DJ EQ SETUP Fl LEV L5 F Fle EFFECT 1 SETU
107. ngth of the sample in bars Altering this setting will alter the ORIGINAL TEMPO and LOOP LEN BARS settings An arrow will appear next to the TRIM LEN BARS setting indicating this setting has priority LOOP LEN BARS displays the amount of bars of the looped section of the sample con sist of Altering this setting will alter the ORIGINAL TEMPO and TRIM LEN BARS set tings An arrow will appear next to the LOOP LEN BARS setting indicating this setting has priority OPERATIONS Access by pressing EFFFECT 1 while in the audio editor Here various sample editing commands can be carried out FLEn 001 RAGHAROK OFERATIONS SHAFLE SAVE TRIH AS SAHFLE SAVE TRIH AND AUTO ASSIGN ELI ET BL TRIH SLICE RTTR GAI NORMALIZE SAMPLE will increase the volume of sample making the loudest amplitude peak hit 0 dB The normalized sample is not saved automatically Should you wish to do so save it using the SAVE TRIM AS NEW SAMPLE command THE AUDIO EDITOR SAVE TRIM AS NEW SAMPLE will save the adjusted sample in the audio pool of the set When choosing this operation the naming window will appear wav file extension will be added to the chosen sample name SAVE TRIM AND AUTO ASSIGN will save the adjusted sample in the audio pool of the set It will also assign the saved sample together with any trim and slice settings to the Flex or Static sample slot from which the original sample was open
108. nsisting of one MAIN page and one SETUP page The MAIN pages are accessed by simply pressing the TRACK PARAME TER keys and offer parameters that are possible to parameter lock and modulate with the LFOs Parameters located in the SETUP menus are accessed by either pressing FUNC TION TRACK PARAMETER or by quickly double pressing a TRACK PARAMETER button Setup parameters cannot be parameter locked or affected by the LFOs and usually affect the behavior of the main parameters e The parameters found in the SETUP menus opens up for more in depth control of a machine track or effect It is recommended that you first acquaintance yourself with the parameters found in the MAIN pages before experimenting with the SETUP menu parameters The parameters found in the PLAYBACK and EFFECT 1 EFFECT 2 pages differ depending on the machine and effects assigned to the track ASSIGNING MACHINES TO TRACKS Machines can be assigned to a track in either the QUICK ASSIGN or PLAYBACK SETUP menus ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU Open the QUICK ASSIGN menu by quicky double pressing the TRACK button of the track you wish to assign a machine to 44 FLES 1 RAGNAROK 2 HANDOLITO 120 j J RAGNARDOK 120 4r YFLODF 140 StTERRODISCO 174 G SUNSHINE 133 E ELI HM BL If the track contained a Flex machine the Flex sample slot list will be opened If the track contained a Static machine the Static s
109. nt 23 Track recorders 28 Q QUICK SCROLLING 13 QUICK START 14 R RACK MOUNT KIT 6 RAM MEMORY 20 RECORDING MODES Grid recording mode 49 ROUTING 46 Routing examples 46 5 SAMPLE LOCKS 50 SAMPLING Manual sampling 30 Recorder trig sampling 31 SCALE SETUP 55 Normal 55 Per track 56 SCENES 34 Assigning scenes 34 Volume locking 35 SETS Audio pool 18 Create set 18 Mount set 24 SLICES 60 SLIDE 53 SOLO TRACKS 26 SWING 54 T TECHNICAL INFORMATION 70 TEMPO 57 Tap tempo 57 Tempo nudge 57 TRACK PARAMETER PAGES 39 Amp 40 Effect 1 Effect 2 44 Lfo 42 2 INDEX Playback 40 TRACK PARAMETERS 13 Cue level 39 Parameter value skip 13 Quick parameter editing 13 Track level 39 TRACK RECORDERS 28 TRACK TRIGGING 51 TRACKS 37 Direct mute 45 Effects 44 Machine assignment 40 Mixer mute 26 Routing 46 Solo 26 TRIGGING 51 Machine trigging 51 Track trigging 51 U UNDO Clear track 52 Clear track page 53 Parameter locks 53 Scene 53 Track copy 51 52 USB DISK MODE 25 USER INTERFACE 12
110. o any of the eight internal tracks More information about tracks are found in the section TRACKS on page 37 MACHINES Machines are assigned to the eight internal tracks Each machine fills a different purpose Read more about the various machine types in Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE How machines are assigned to tracks is covered in ASSIGNING MACHINES TO TRACKS on page 37 Flex machines process samples The samples available to Flex machines are located in the Flex sample slot list which can host 128 Flex samples residing in the RAM memory of the Octatrack To fill the Flex sample slot list with content samples from the audio pool of the set need to be loaded to the list Flex machines offer extreme sample control since Flex samples are loaded to the RAM memory Static machines process samples The samples available to Static machines are located in the Static sample slot list which can host 128 Static samples streamed from the Compact Flash card To fill the Static sample slot list with content samples from the audio pool of the set need to be loaded to the list The size of Static samples can be in the order of giga bytes Thru machines are used to listen to the inputs of the Octatrack They can be used to affect incoming audio with filtering and effects Neighbor machines listen to the output of the preceding track They can be used to build elaborate effects chains 11 12 THE USER INTERFACE THE USER INTERFACE
111. operation If the arrange ment previously was unnamed a naming menu will appear CLEAR Selecting this command and pressing ENTER YES will erase the active arrangement EDIT The arrangement editor is where the arrangement is built In the ARRANGER menu choose EDIT and press ENTER YES to open this menu ARRANGEMENT EDITOR FAT REF Ln SCENE LOOF 00003 ABG 000 024 EBa 000 064 03 04 C G 000 004 000 004 The two filled arrows on each side of one of the rows are the position pointers They indi cate which arrangement row the sequencer currently is playing It is possible to start play back from any row position Move the editing focus to the row you wish to start the playback from and press the ENTER YES button If the arrangement is currently playing when you select another row you will see two hollow arrows on each side of the newly selected row They indicate that the selected row will play next once the current row reaches its end When playing the arrangement the header of the menu will display a counter indicating how many bars and beats have played Insert an arrangement row by pressing FUNCTION DOWN Remove a row by press ing FUNCTION UP Use the UP and DOWN keys to select the arrangement row you wish to edit The LEFT and RIGHT keys move the focus between the columns ROW lists the available arrangement rows An arrangement can consist of a maximum of 256 rows The arrangement
112. ound The leftmost number selects the number of steps of the track The maxi mum number of steps available is determined by the total length set by the rightmost parameter This can be either 16 32 48 or 64 steps If you use 17 steps or more in a track the PATTERN PAGE key is used in GRID RECORDING mode to toggle the focus between the different track pages TEMPO MULTIPLIER offers seven possible settings 1 8X 1 4X 1 2X 3 4X 1X 3 2X and 2X A setting of 1 8X will play back the pattern at one eight of the original tempo 3 4X plays the pattern back at three quarters of the global tempo 3 2X will play back the track twice as fast as the 3 4X setting 2X allows the track to be played back at twice the global tempo MASTER LENGTH selects how many steps the tracks will play before they all are restarted The INF setting will make the tracks play and loop within themselves infinitely MASTER SCALE sets the general time signature of the pattern This setting is completely independent of the individual track tempo multiplier settings It is used to define the overall time signature of the pattern which affects MIDI clock if sent out by the Octatrack as well as the song pointer position in an arrangement PATTERNS TEMPO Here the general BPM of the patterns are set The TEMPO screen is opened by pressing the TEMPO key ELI FAB FLEA RAGNARDOK 01 02 gL ELI Now you use the LEVEL encod
113. pressed and held given they are not pressed longer than the time frame of the RLEN setting allows When sampling through the use of a recorder trig the trig will capture only silence as long as TRACK AUDIO RECORD MIDI is not manually pressed An example a recorder trig with an INAB setting of A B TRIG set to HOLD and with an RLEN setting of 16 is placed on the first step of the sequencer PLAY is pressed to start the sequencer When the sequencer reaches step 4 TRACK AUDIO RECORD AIB is pressed and held and just before the sequencer reaches step 6 the button combination is released The recorded sample will then consist of 3 inital 1 16th notes of silence 2 1 16th notes of audio and finally 11 1 16th notes of silence SRC3 chooses which internal source should be recorded will make the recorder disregard any internal sources when sampling This is the default option It is only possible to record and play back the recording on the same sequencer step when SRC3 is set to MAIN will make the recorder sample the mix routed to the main outputs CUE will make the recorder sample the mix routed to the cue outputs T1 T8 will make the recorder sample the output of the selected internal track LOOP sets whether the captured sample will loop or not A source is set to and you try to sample from it only silence will be recorded MANUAL SAMPLING Recording samples manually with the Octatrack is a straight fo
114. r assigning a Flex or Static machine pressing the RIGHT arrow key will access the sample slot list of the selected machine ASSIGNING FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLES TO MACHINES Once samples have been loaded to the sample slots they can be assigned to the Flex and Static machines If no samples have been loaded to the sample slots read how to do so in section LOADING SAMPLES TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS on page 20 ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU Open the QUICK ASSIGN menu by quicky double pressing the TRACK button of a track containing a Flex or Static machine you wish to assign a sample to The Flex sample slot TRACKS list will be displayed if the track contained a Flex machine The Static sample slot list will be displayed if the track contained a Static machine 44 FLES L RAGNAROK 2 HANDOLITO j J RAGNARDOK dE HFL DR S TERROLISCO G SUNSHINE ELI EM Select the sample that should be assigned to the machine of the track and press ENTER YES to assign it ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE PLAYBACK SETUP MENU The PLAYBACK SETUP menu can also be used when assigning Flex and Static samples to machines To assign a Flex sample select a track containing a Flex machine and press FUNCTION PLAYBACK to open the PLAYBACK SETUP menu The Flex sample slot list will appear To assign a Static sample open the PLAYBACK SETUP menu of a track containing a Static machine The Static
115. racks will stay muted If the solo ed track previously was muted its corresponding lt TRIG gt LED will be yellow The track will revert to a muted status once solo mode is exited If a track is cued muting it prevents it from being sent to the main outputs The track will however still be audible from the cue outputs A cued track being solo ed will be audible from the main and cue outputs A If track 8 has been turned into a master track it won t be affected by mutes If Neighbor machines are used the track or tracks preceding the last Neighbor machine can not be muted To mute the chain mute the last Neighbor machine Itis possible to mute a track without entering the MIXER menu Just press FUNC TION the TRACK key corresponding to the track you want to mute Track solo ing is only possible in the MIXER menu though e The lt TRACK gt LEDs also indicate mute status A muted and currently active track is indicated by a yellow lt TRACK gt LED A muted and currently not selected track is indicated by an unlit lt TRACK gt LED PROJECT SETTINGS In the PROJECT SETTINGS menu settings affecting the active project are found Open by pressing FUNCTION MIXER FROJEGT SETTINGS SEND HIDI CLOCK DEE SEND TRANSPORT OFF RECEIVE TRANSFORT OFF HASTER TRACK Dn TH BLU BL Hi ELI EL E SEND MIDI CLOCK ON makes the Octatrack transmit MIDI clock OFF doesn t send out MIDI clock Th
116. rectory of the Compact Flash card This can be seen when connecting the Octatrack to a computer with a USB cable and browsing the content of the Compact Flash card with the computer Read more on how to connect the Octatrack to a computer in the section SYSTEM on page 25 Back up your sets to a computer Should you lose your Compact Flash card it is easy to transfer the sets from the computer to a new card e When booting the Octatrack the previously mounted set will mount automatically given Compact Flash cards have not been changed SET MOUNTING SCENARIOS In order for the Octatrack to be able to use samples and save projects a set needs to be mounted When starting the Octatrack or inserting a Compact Flash card while the Octat rack is switched on various information windows dependent on already existing data and current Octatrack settings may appear NO MOUNTED SET The Octatrack normally mounts the previously mounted set but sometimes that might not be possible for instance when inserting a freshly formatted Compact Flash card or switch ing cards to a card containing new sets If no set is mounted the Octatrack will display the text NO SET IS MOUNTED If this text appears mount a set as described in the section CREATE AND MOUNT A SET on page 18 If the Compact Flash card doesn t contain any sets a set needs to be created See the same heading for instructions how to create a new set SWITCHING COMPACT FLASH C
117. rward process First please follow these preparatory steps PROJECTS If you are sampling from the external inputs make sure audio from an external device is being sent to the Octatrack inputs The AUDIO RECORD LEDs indicate the strength of the signal sent to the inputs If you hear sound but see no LED activity try increasing the volume of the external audio by either increasing the GAIN parameter in the MIXER menu or by increasing the volume on the external device itself If you don t hear any sound make sure the DIR parameter in the MIXER menu is not set to zero Select the track whose recorder you want to use by pressing the relevant TRACK but ton If you want to make detailed source settings open up the RECORD SETUP menu by pressing FUNCTION any of the AUDIO RECORD buttons Select from which source or sources the recorder should sample from by setting INAB INCD and SRC3 as needed If needed make RLEN and TRIG settings This step is however not necessary to start sampling To sample from input A B press the TRACK AUDIO RECORD A B buttons Depending on the INAB setting the recorder will sample from either input A B A B or nothing at all To sample from input C D press the TRACK AUDIO RECORD C D buttons Depending on the INCD setting the recorder will sample from either input A B A B or nothing at all To sample internal sounds press the TRACK MIDI buttons The recorder will dep
118. sample slot list will appear FLAYEACK SETUF EL E ELI ELI Select the sample that should be assigned to the machine of the track and press ENTER YES to assign it TRACK PARAMETER PAGES The five TRACK PARAMETER pages contain parameters that control the behavior of the assigned machine and effects Each TRACK PARAMETER page is divided in two sub pages The MAIN menu contain parameters that can be parameter locked The SETUP menu contains additional parameters often affecting the main parameters The parameters in the SETUP menus can not be parameter locked All TRACK PARAMETER pages con tain a shared LEVEL and CUE parameter TRACK LEVEL All TRACK PARAMETER pages feature a LEVEL setting This setting affects the overall volume of the track after any effects have been applied This setting is adjusted by the LEVEL knob and doesn t affect the cue out signal only the main level signal CUE LEVEL When pressing CUE and turning the LEVEL knob the cue level for the track is set Just like the main level it adjusts the volume of the track post effects It doesn t affect the main level signal 39 40 TRACKS PLAYBACK MAIN Open the PLAYBACK MAIN menu by pressing the PLAYBACK key This menu will differ depending on the type of machine assigned to the track Read more about the various machine types in Appendix A MACHINE REFERENCE ee zin uae 5
119. scenes can be assigned on a per row basis Move the focus to these columns by using the ARROW keys Use the LEVEL knob to browse through the scenes The scenes are chosen from the part of the arrangement row pattern The first column sets the scene for the scene A slot The second column sets the scene for the scene B slot B allows individual BPM settings for the arrangement rows No setting is this column will make the pattern play according to the main BPM setting Move the focus to the B column THE ARRANGER and press ENTER YES to open the ROW TEMPO window Set the BPM with the LEVEL knob Rows with dedicated BPM settings are indicated with a M offers mute settings per arrangement row Move the focus to the M column and press ENTER YES to open the ROW MUTE window Enter mutes by pressing the TRIG keys The first eight keys mute internal tracks Rows with mute settings are indicated with an M paste clear and undo functions are available in the ARRANGMENT EDIT menu 67 68 EARLY STARTUP MENU EARLY STARTUP MENU To access this menu hold down the FUNCTION key while powering up the Octatrack From here you can perform a variety of maintenance tasks To choose the different alterna tives press the corresponding TRIG key QOCTATRACK MENU TESTMODE TEST MODE To enter this mode press the first TRIG key If you have any trouble with your Octatrack and suspect it may be due to a har
120. set ting will make only the delay signal be heard SYNC controls whether the delay should be tempo synced or not LOCK controls the feedback behavior of the delay When set to 1 it will override certain parameters and give them other values The SEND parameter of the DELAY MAIN page will be set to 0 and the DIR setting to 0 and FB to 100 This is handy when using the delay as a repeater PASS controls how the signal will be routed when the LOGK setting is active A setting of 1 will send the direct signal to the LOCK A set ting of 0 will hinder it from being passed to the LOCK Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE GATEBOX PLATE REVERB The Gatebox plate reverb has many uses thanks to the implemented gating possibilities REVERB MAIN REVERB SETUP r LE TIME mnr snte 5 EFFECT 2 SETUF z 2888 Ai i 3 EF HESSE FART i ME GLF 5 5 n n n n PEIFLRTE REI EFFECT 2 FLATE REU 01 002 TIME controls the decay time i e how long GVOL sets the volume of the gated signal time the reverberated signal will stay around before dying out DAMP sets the reverb damping which is the effect of soft walls The higher the parameter is set the faster the sound will die out Damp ing differs from the DEC parameter in the way that certain frequencies disappear quicker GATE sets the gate time The reverbated sig nal is gated after this time if the signal level is low The maximal
121. speed of the phase depth modulation FB controls the feedback of the original signal WID controls the stereo width of the affected signal MIX adjusts the output between the original dry signal and the phased signal Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE A 5 FLANGER A flanger is a modulation effect sharing similarities with the phaser The main difference is the notches being evenly spread out in the frequency spectrum FLANGER MAIN FLANGER SETUP F 120 LEU DEL i DEF SFD 5 F EFFECT i SETUF End none 5 n JE Mie 5 5 FILTER 5 n Zena exe TTTTT n n EQUALIZER n F FART 1 FE MID ATH 5 DJ EQUALIZER n i i n FHASER n 5 AOI e i i Cs 5 5 BBIEFFECT 1 FLANGER CHORUS DEL controls the amount of delay of the No setup parameters are available flanged signal DEP controls the depth of the flanger SPD adjusts the speed of the flanger FB controls the feedback of the original signal WID controls the stereo width of the affected signal MIX adjusts the output between the original dry signal and the flanged wet signal A 6 Appendix B EFFECTS REFERENCE 2 10 TAP CHORUS The variable tap stereo chorus is great for enhancing the stereo image of a sound and for making it appear softer and smoother CHORUS MAIN CHORUS SETUP F 120 LEU DEL i DEF i 5 F EFFELT 1 SETUF 5 lo n Korg la 5 FART 1 F
122. stereo samples can be loaded The length of the sample is not restricted by the amount of free RAM memory but rather by the memory of recorder Each recorder can contain 2 7 MB of data If the loaded sample is longer than allowed by the recorder it will be truncated At the top of the Flex sample slot list the amount of RAM memory available to the project is shown If Flex samples are present in the list their BPM and size in MB are also displayed LOADING TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS IN THE PLAYBACK SETUP MENU The PLAYBACK SETUP menu can also be used when loading samples to sample slots To access the Flex sample slot list press FUNCTION PLAYBACK to open the PLAY BACK SETUP menu of a track containing a Flex machine If no samples have been loaded to the Flex sample slot list the machine list will appear Press the RIGHT arrow key to access the Flex sample slot list If the Flex sample slot already contains samples the Flex sample slot list will be opened directly The same applies when wanting to access the Static sample slot list 21 22 PROJECTS If the track contains any other type of machine a Flex or Static machine first needs to be assigned to the track Read more about this procedure in section ASSIGNING MACHINES TO TRACKS on page 37 FLAYEACK SETUF BL EL Load a sample by selecting an empty sample slot and pressing ENTER YES The file browser reflecting the content of the au
123. t TRIG gt LEDs A red lt TRIG gt LED indicates the currently active pattern This method of pattern selection allows for quick changes of the active bank and pattern If you don t wish to select a pattern just release the button combi nation after the CHOOSE PATTERN prompt appears A If you are working on an unsaved project only the active bank will be retained in memory after the Octatrack has been switched off If you have made changes to other banks it is very important that the project is saved PARTS A part consists of machine sample and effect assignments along with track parameter set tings and up to 16 scenes Parts are assigned to patterns and one part is always active Each bank can host up to 4 parts If a bank doesn t contain any saved parts and the part related settings of a pattern are altered the Octatrack will still remember those settings after being power cycled However 33 34 BANKS PARTS AND SCENES if you want another pattern of the bank to contain other assignments you need to save the current settings as a part The EDIT PARTS menu is opened by pressing FUNCTION MIDI BL ELI EL Em ELI The PARTS column to the left displays the parts and their names The MODE column to the left offers various commands related to parts The text of the active part is inverted Parts that have been altered but not saved are marked with an asterisk USE activates the selected part
124. te trig complete with all parameter lock settings and paste it toa new location in the track First make sure you are in GRID RECORDING mode If not press REC Press and hold the note trig you want to copy and press the REC key A window saying COPY NOTE will appear Then press the TRIG key corresponding to the location you want to paste the note to and press the STOP key to complete the paste operation A win dow showing PASTE NOTE will be shown NOTE CLEAR Instead of removing parameter locks one by one from a note you can use the clear note locks command First make sure you are in GRID RECORDING mode If not press REC Hold and press the TRIG key of the note trig you whose content you want to clear Then press PLAY to clear the note The message CLEAR NOTE LOCKS will appear The clear note lock operation can be undone by performing the operation one more time The message UNDO NOTE LOCKS will be shown in the display SCENE COPY It is possible to copy scene and paste it to a new scene location Press and hold a SCENE button to access the available scenes While keeping the SCENE button pressed press and hold the TRIG key of the scene you want to copy and press the REC key A window saying COPY SCENE will appear Then press the TRIG key corresponding to the location you want to paste the note to and press the STOP key to complete the paste operation A window showing PASTE SCENE
125. teps If you use 17 steps or more in a pattern the PAT TERN PAGE key is used in GRID RECORDING mode to toggle the focus between the dif ferent pattern pages TEMPO MULTIPLIER offers seven possible settings 1 8X 1 4X 1 2X 3 4X 1X 3 2X and 2X A setting of 1 8X will play back the pattern at one eight of the original tempo 3 4X plays the pattern back at three quarters of the global tempo 3 2X will play back the track twice as 55 56 PATTERNS fast as the 3 4X setting 2X allows the track to be played back at twice the global tempo Double speed is useful for increasing the base resolution of the step sequencer to 32th notes Three quarter speed is useful when the Octatrack is playing alongside other instru ments set to the same BPM and you want the Octatrack to play triplets When changing pattern length from 16 to 64 steps the first 16 step pattern page will be copied to all the subsequent pages given the other pages previously have not been programmed PER TRACK Complex poly rhythms are easy to obtain in this mode as every track in a pattern can have a unique length and time signature SCALE SETUF SCALE TRACK HODE 15 18 a HASTER SETTINGS LENGTH 0016 SCALE EL BL SCALE TRACK sets the length of the active track Select the track whose length you want to set by pressing the corresponding TRACK button Below the track indicator the scale values are f
126. the LFO restart when a note is trigged run for half a cycle and then stop SPD sets the base speed of the LFO The speed is always synced to the master tempo The use of both a speed controller and a multiplier allows a very wide range of speed set tings while providing a high degree of control For slow LFO speeds keep the MULT parameter set as low as possible The SPD settings for all three LFOs are also reflected in the main LFO page DEP sets the amount of modulation applied to the target parameter Setting DEP to 127 allows for modulating a parameter to and from any extreme value For example if the tar get parameter is set to 64 a saw wave LFO DEP setting of 64 is sufficient for modulating the target value to its minimum 0 and maximum 127 values The DEP settings for all three LFOs are also reflected in the main LFO page LFO DESIGNER The LFO designer allows you to draw customized LFO shapes Such waveforms can in some instances almost be regarded as mini sequencers as they for example can be used to make rhythmic track parameter changes Each track host one LFO designer and all 43 44 TRACKS designer waveforms are available to all LFOs Access the LFO designer by navigating to the DESIGNER menu in the leftside column LFO SETUF ELI ELI custom LFO waveform consists of 16 steps where each step can have unique value The steps can either
127. to Open the set folder by double clicking it Inside the set folder a folder called AUDIO is located This is the audio pool of the set All audio material in this folder will be accessible by the projects of the set Simply drag and drop audio files or folders containing audio files to the AUDIO folder to add content to the audio pool of the set When done the Octatrack can be unmounted from the computer SETS When loading samples to the Flex and Static sample slots a representation of the AUDIO folder will appear as a file browser in the Octatrack Read more about the file browser in FILE BROWSER on page 22 A After opening a set folder the AUDIO folder and the saved projects of the set are visible Although audio files can be placed in the project folders it is for conven ience sake recommended to only put audio files in the AUDIO folder An audio pool folder can contain a maximum of 1024 files AUDIO FILE COMPATIBILITY The Octatrack can handle different variants of audio files depending on the type of machine used Static machines can handle 16 bit 44 1 kHz wav and aiff files either in mono or stereo Flex machines can handle 16 or 24 bit 44 1 kHz wav and aiff files either in mono or stereo 19 20 PROJECTS PROJECTS Each set can contain an amount of projects only limited by the size of the Compact Flash card A project contains Up to 16 banks Up to 8 arrangements e 128 Flex sample slots and t
128. y available when keeping a SCENE button pressed The XLEV parameter is found as an overlay to the LEVEL parameter found in all TRACK PARAME TER pages The XVOL parameter is found in the AMP MAIN menu The XDIR AB and XDIR CD parameters are found in the MIXER menu The XLEV parameter can be locked to two settings e MIN will mute the signal e MAX will let signal through at the LEVEL signal level The XVOL parameter can be locked to two settings e MIN will mute the signal e MAX will let signal through at the VOL signal level The two XDIR parameters can each be locked to two settings e MIN will mute the signal e MAX will let signal through at the DIR signal level Pressing the LEVEL knob while holding the SCENE key pressed will remove the LEVEL lock An XVOL lock is removed by pressing the corresponding DATA ENTRY knob while keeping the SCENE button pressed An XDIR AB lock is removed by pressing knob B while keeping the SCENE button pressed XDIR CD is removed by pressing knob C while keeping the SCENE button pressed THE CROSSFADER IN CONJUNCTION WITH SCENES The crossfader interpolates between scenes The scene assigned to slot A comes into full effect when the crossfader is at its leftmost position and the scene assigned to slot B comes into full effect when the crossfader is at its rightmost position For all other cross fader positions interpolation between the scene parameters will occur If only one scene 35 36

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