Elektron-Users

Ok, on another forum there was some discussion about using the pickup machine for sampling and whether other machines were good enough to use that pickup machines were actually not that useful. In this video for example, Dataline is sampling from Korg Volcas without pickup machines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=okdZFgxFxjQ

The one advantage I can see with pickup machines is you can use them to sample without turning on the sequencer. All the other machines (except I guess Thru) must be triggered by the sequencer.

Any other thoughts?

I haven't tried them yet, but from what I have read in the manual, it might be useful for sampling and creating loops from non-sequence-able sources (I'm thinking guitars, wind instruments, etc.).

You can just use the regular track recorders without the sequencer running, just hold A/B button and hit or hold the destination track button, (assuming your source is connected to A/B.) you can define the parameters in record setup.

I don't think there's any reason to use pickups unless you want to overdub to a single recording buffer. flex allows greater control over playback.

glacier may also have a point tho, since you can supposedly set tempo off of an initial pickup recording, but that felt too clumsy when I tried it. never invested the time to see if it just takes practice.

Thanks all. So it seems like the one advantage of the pickup machine over flex machine is that it lets you do overdubs.

I'll try recording to a flex machine track soon. I've struggled to get it to play back, and so was under the impression I needed to set a trigger then run the sequencer. It could be I've been confused because one of the Octatrack's many modes is one where the left 8 buttons (I think??) trigger MIDI tracks and the right 8 buttons trigger the audio tracks - and I guess that's where I'd get the flex machine track to play without the sequencer on.

I've also struggled with sampling from the pickup machine's track recorder into a flex machine track. I suspect it's because the instruction to press [MIDI]+[Pickup Machine Track #] does not apply if you're sampling from a pickup machine's recorder buffer. I guess it makes sense, because if you set the flex machine sample slot to a recorder buffer instead of a file, no special step to initiate sampling should be necessary. I wish this was documented, but I guess Elektron did not expect anyone to do that.

sounds like you might be misunderstanding that command... MIDI+TRACK# is the track whose recording buffer you want to trigger, and then it will record based on your SRC3 setting. in other words, if your pickup is T1 and you want to sample it into T2's buffer, you need to set SRC3 on T2 to T1, and flex playback to R2. then you hit MIDI+T2 to sample T1 for playback on T2.

or, if you don't need to sample the pickup track post-fx, you can just load R1 into a flex on T2. hope that helps.

I figured out that if I want to sample the output of another track into a flex machine track, I need to be in the Recording Setup Page 1 menu. Elektron's email to me about the tape reel starting to spin did not make any sense to me until I got into Recording Setup.

For example, I decided to sample the output of Track 4 into Track 6. So I assigned Flex to Track 6, set INAB and INCD to "-", and SRC to T4. Then I exited out into the Playback menu. Oops! I pressed [MIDI]+[T6] repeatedly in vain to initiate.

Then....

I opened Recording Setup 1 for Track 6. I finally noticed there's a Tape Reel on the right. I hit [MIDI]+[T6]. The Tape Reel starts spinning! Sampling success!

Why did I miss this in the manual? Did Elektron forget to mention this detail (need to be in a specific menu) or did I simply overlook it?

So that part of the problem is solved. The next problem to solve is how to play back the Track 6 audio without starting the sequencer or opening the Audio Editor to press [FUNCTION]+[Enter/Yes]

hm, not sure what's going on there... you definitely do not need to be on the recording setup page to sample from any source. you'll see a little + next to the track that you're recording to when it's sampling, just as you would see the tape spinning.

INAB/CD settings don't matter if you're using track+MIDI to trigger sampling. you could leave it on AB for example, and then you still have the ability to sample the inputs if you want by hitting track+AB. track+MIDI just tells it to sample SRC3.

you can play back the sample without starting the sequencer by using the track trig mode as you said, or by hitting track+play.

Every time I've attempted to sample with [MIDI]+[Track #] outside of Recording Setup, nothing gets recorded. When I open the Audio Editor, there is nothing in the Trim screen. Whereas if I hit the same button combo inside Recording Setup, I see the reel running, then I see a waveform in the Trim screen when I open the Audio Editor.

It could be I'm in the wrong recording/sampling mode or that I screwed up my Recording Setup configuration somehow. For my next Octatrack session I will take notes of my Recording Setup and Track config settings.

My advice, just start a new project and fuck around with the various recording methods as outlined in the manual, it does take a bit of messing with to get your head around all the recording possibilities but a few hours spent just messing with it and trying to keep track of what it is or isn't doing is time well spent, and if you mess up in the new project it is not like you lost anything important. Stick with it though as it really is a great machine, you'll get there