Octatrack and you - Andy Raynor nh

Andy Raynor NH

The Octatrack from Elektron is a 8 channel sampler, with 8 midi tracks and effects per track. Big deal. Actually the description of the device from Elektron leaves a lot to be desired. There is much more to the Octatrack than meets the eye. Lets start with the first misnomer - there are only 8 tracks on the Octatrack.

Andy Raynor nh - actually, there are 32 tracks per project. I'll explain - the Octatrack is broken up into parts. There are 4 parts per bank, each with 8 audio tracks per. Therefore there are 32 tracks per project. Switching parts is admittedly a little cumbersome, but with some practice it becomes second nature. So now we have established there are 32 tracks per project, more than enough to suffice for any ambitious productions.

There are three audio lfos per track. This allows you to manipulate any aspect of the audio passing through the 8 (or 32 tracks) and the LFOs change per part so here we are again there are actually 12 lfos per project per track.... holy cow. Andy Raynor nh

Here is a live set that I recorded using many of the tools available on the Octatrack. In this setup I have audio coming from the Elektron Analog Rytm and Four coming into a 16 Channel Yamaha mixer. The mixer has 2 send groups where I can pipe audio from the synths into the Octatracks 2 inputs. From here you can assign the incoming audio to two tracks and begin to alter the sound using the LFOs or on board effects. I take it a set further and have an effects unit on the CUE output of the Octatrack to send signals in the OT to it. This setup allows the user to route audio to and from the OT without setting up cables.

Check it out Andy Raynor nh