Question about Elektron analog series

really Alex, what is the polyphony of the octatrak?

 

^ the short answer is 8.

But, if you are looking for a sampler/sequencer then the answer is not an OT...to my mind, there is limited correlation in capability between the Octatrack and say an Maschine or an MPC..

It is an incredibly deep and versatile piece of gear that does a bunch of stuff that Maschine/MPC just cannot do.. and if you read the Elektron forums, it also has a long and steep learning curve that requires you to look at things in a completely different way.

For sure if you look at an OT and try to use it like an MPC or Maschine you will view it as a total fail...

The OT has 8 audio tracks and 8 midi tracks...

midi:
Each midi track has only a 4 note polyphony, but with also up to 10 assignable CC parameters that can be adjusted and parameter locked to each step.. this makes the OT a cool sequencer for external gear..

audio track:
this is where it gets really confusing.. each track can be a live looper (any source), stream an audio file and process it with fx, play a sample, be a sampler (any source), sample mangle, .. then each track has parameters for edit/adjust and also fx for track and global.

if the comparison is take a piano sample and make music, then on an MPC/Maschine you would typically compose with piano sounds, to make piano type music.. On an OT you would (well, you could) take that one piano sample, play a pitched sequence with it, sample it, take that, chop, pitch shift, timestretch, resample, loop, fx it etc etc.. (this may be OTT in scope lol..but trying to give the general idea)

The manual for the OT is certified a cure for insomnia..

 

Octatrack is not part of the 'analog' series. I think the Analog Rytm, Analog Four and Analog Keys is where it starts to be very interesting. It is true, many things cannot be done by the analog instruments. Also for the Rytm, there is no direct polyphony and I was a little disappointed about that too. But the products will keep on growing and possibilities will be endless, just like with the MaschineDrum.

On the other hand.... the starting point of the Analog series, the fact that the sound is analog and the way to control them is digital, is in my opinion extraordinary cool. The combination of a analog drum synth with a sampler is much better than expected. Making music has never been so nice. No computer, amazing oscillators, fantastic filters, astonishing amps, etc... Many times it is strange that for example the engines are almost empty in tweak able possibilities. Sometimes things I want to do is not possible.... but at the end things are also possible on another way than what I expect.

My expectation for the future:
Either there will be a new octatrack or the Rytm will take over the octatrack. The octatrack as it is right now is only usable as a mixer/fx/ looper for my rytm & four.

 

it was surprising the m studio did not have a linear dedicated step sequencer, with it's own pads, in addition to the drum pads. does the electron pass velocity to the sequences.

i thought the tempest was beautiful and the sound was great, though it seemed more of a studio instrument and the electron seems more like a performance one. you can make drum sounds with an analog synth... the pro 2 may be a nice hybrid as you can alway hook up spd or mpd pads to it.

 

this

 

What?

 

^ spazoo means he only cares about live use.. not s much for recording (i think...lol)

 

yep i quit doing studio work about 6 months ago. now i just work on my rig, practice and go out and play. i use the computer for composing and some sequencing but all of the instruments and fx are external.

 

spaz, what does your Live rig consist of now?

 

my super mobile rig...

 

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice, how are you liking the new rolands?

 

i love the new stuff. the 808/909 kits on the tr-8 sound legit. i can't hear any stepping or aliasing on the synths. the sh-101 plugout is awesome. i route the tb-3 through a proco rat 2 distortion box and it sounds pretty sick.

sure there are ways that all of the gear could be improved but i don't have any complaints with it as-is. well, i do have one complaint. the leds are so bright that it makes me wonder if they ever tested this stuff in a dark venue. i need to buy some of those gooseneck lamps so i can see better.

 

cool man congrats on the setup there's nothing like instant gratification

 

That's funny as the Tempest was designed specifically for performance! Why do you think it's more of a studio instrument?