User Manual

ManualsBrandsElektron ManualsDJ productsOctatrack MKII Anniversary Edition - 8 TRACK DYNAMIC SAMPLER

Table Of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION
- 1.1 CONVENTIONS IN THIS MANUAL
2. THE BACKGROUND OF THE OCTATRACK MKII
- 2.1 SUGGESTED APPLICATIONS OF THE OCTATRACK MKII
3. PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTORS
- 3.1 FRONT PANEL
- 3.2 REAR CONNECTORS
- 3.3 OCTATRACK MKII ACCESSORIES
  - 3.3.1 RACK MOUNT KIT
  - 3.3.2 CARRYING BAG AND PROTECTIVE LID
- 3.4 THE COMPACT FLASH CARD READER
  - 3.4.1 COMPACT FLASH CARD SPECIFICATIONS
- 3.5 CONNECTING THE UNIT
- 3.6 CARE INSTRUCTIONS
4. OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK MKII STRUCTURE
- 4.1 SETS
- 4.2 AUDIO POOL
- 4.3 PROJECTS
- 4.4 FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLE SLOT LISTS
- 4.5 BANKS
- 4.6 PATTERNS
- 4.7 PARTS
- 4.8 SCENES
- 4.9 ARRANGEMENTS
- 4.10 TRACKS
- 4.11 MACHINES
- 4.12 HOW INFORMATION IS HANDLED
5. THE USER INTERFACE
- 5.1 MENUS AND WINDOWS
- 5.2 PARAMETER EDITING
  - 5.2.1 QUICK PARAMETER EDITING
  - 5.2.2 PARAMETER VALUE JUMP
- 5.3 QUICK SCROLLING
- 5.4 COPY, CLEAR AND PASTE
- 5.5 THE NAMING MENU
  - 5.5.1 POP-UP MENU NAMING
6. QUICK START
- 6.1 DEMO MODE
- 6.2 MOUNTING A SET AND LOADING A PROJECT
  - 6.2.1 MOUNTING A SET
  - 6.2.2 LOADING A PROJECT
- 6.3 LOADING SAMPLES
  - 6.3.1 ASSIGNING A MACHINE TO A TRACK
  - 6.3.2 ASSIGNING A SAMPLE TO A MACHINE
7. SETS
- 7.1 CREATING AND MOUNTING A SET
- 7.2 AUDIO POOL
  - 7.2.1 ADDING CONTENT TO THE AUDIO POOL
  - 7.2.2 AUDIO FILE COMPATIBILITY
8. PROJECTS
- 8.1 PROJECTS AND RAM MEMORY
- 8.2 LOADING AND CREATING A PROJECT
- 8.3 LOADING SAMPLES TO THE SAMPLE SLOTS
- 8.4 THE PROJECT MENU
  - 8.4.1 PROJECT
- 8.5 SYSTEM
- 8.6 CONTROL
- 8.7 MIDI
- 8.8 MIXER MENU
- 8.9 TEMPO MENU
9. TRACK RECORDERS AND PICKUP MACHINES
- 9.1 RECORDING EDIT AND SETUP MENUS
- 9.2 TRACK RECORDER SAMPLING METHODS
- 9.3 PICKUP MACHINE SAMPLING
10. BANKS, PARTS AND SCENES
- 10.1 BANKS
- 10.2 PARTS
- 10.3 SCENES
11. TRACKS
- 11.1 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLEX AND STATIC MACHINES
- 11.2 ASSIGNING MACHINES TO TRACKS
  - 11.2.1 ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU
  - 11.2.2 ASSIGNING MACHINES IN THE SRC SETUP MENU
- 11.3 ASSIGNING FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLES TO MACHINES
  - 11.3.1 ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE QUICK ASSIGN MENU
  - 11.3.2 ASSIGNING SAMPLES IN THE SRC SETUP MENU
- 11.4 TRACK PARAMETER PAGES
- 11.5 DIRECT TRACK MUTING
- 11.6 MAIN AND CUE OUTPUTS ROUTING
12. PATTERNS
- 12.1 TRIG INDICATIONS
- 12.2 BASIC PATTERN OPERATIONS
- 12.3 RECORDING MODES
  - 12.3.1 GRID RECORDING MODE
  - 12.3.2 LIVE RECORDING MODE
- 12.4 TRIG TYPES
- 12.5 PARAMETER LOCKS
- 12.6 SAMPLE LOCKS
- 12.7 TRIG MODES
- 12.8 MIDI NOTE MAPPING FOR AUDIO TRACKS
- 12.9 SEQUENCER COPY, PASTE AND CLEAR OPERATIONS
- 12.10 TRACK TRIG EDIT MENU
- 12.11 PATTERN SETTINGS MENU
  - 12.11.1 PATTERN
- 12.12 MICRO TIMING
- 12.13 CONDITIONAL LOCKS
- 12.14 FILL MODE
- 12.15 SCALE SETUP
  - 12.15.1 NORMAL
  - 12.15.2 PER TRACK
13. THE AUDIO EDITOR
- 13.1 ACCESSING THE AUDIO EDITOR
- 13.2 AUDIO EDITOR FUNCTIONALITY
14. THE ARRANGER
- 14.1 THE ARRANGER MENU
15. THE MIDI SEQUENCER
- 15.1 ACCESSING THE MIDI SEQUENCER
- 15.2 HOW MIDI IS ROUTED
- 15.3 MIDI MODE RECORDING AND PARAMETER LOCKING
- 15.4 MIDI TRACK PARAMETER PAGES
16. OCTATRACK MKII SETUP EXAMPLES
- 16.1 OCTATRACK MKII AS A PERFORMANCE HUB
  - 16.1.1 DIR METHOD
  - 16.1.2 THRU MACHINES METHOD
- 16.2 OCTATRACK MKII WITH EXTERNAL EFFECTS
- 16.3 OCTATRACK MKII PROCESSING LIVE INSTRUMENTS
- 16.4 OCTATRACK MKII AS A DJ MIXER AND SAMPLER
  - 16.4.1 DJ MIXING USING THE DIR METHOD
  - 16.4.2 DJ MIXING USING THE THRU METHOD
- 16.5 OCTATRACK MKII AS A MIDI CONTROL CENTER
  - 16.5.1 MIDI CONTROL USING CC DIRECT CONNECT AND THE AUTO CHANNEL
17. OCTATRACK MKII TUTORIALS
- 17.1 TRACK RECORDER SAMPLING
- 17.2 LOOP REMIXING
  - 17.2.1 LOOP REMIXING USING SLICES
  - 17.2.2 LOOP REMIXING USING THE CROSSFADER
- 17.3 PREPARING LOOPS AND SAMPLES
- 17.4 THE OCTATRACK MKII AS A DJ DECK
- 17.5 THE OCTATRACK MKII AS AN EFFECTS PROCESSOR
18. STARTUP MENU
- 18.1 TEST MODE
- 18.2 EMPTY RESET
- 18.3 MIDI UPGRADE
- 18.4 SEND UPGRADE
- 18.5 EXIT
19. SUMMARY OF KEY PRESS COMBINATIONS
20. TECHNICAL INFORMATION
21. CREDITS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
APPENDIX A: MACHINE REFERENCE
- A.1 THRU MACHINE
- A.2 FLEX MACHINE
- A.3 STATIC MACHINE
- A.4 NEIGHBOR MACHINE
- A.5 PICKUP MACHINE
APPENDIX B: EFFECTS REFERENCE
- B.1 NONE
- B.2 12/24DB MULTI MODE FILTER
- B.3 2-BAND PARAMETRIC EQ
- B.4 DJ STYLE KILL EQ
- B.5 2-10 STAGE PHASER
- B.6 FLANGER
- B.7 2-10 TAP CHORUS
- B.8 SPATIALIZER
- B.9 COMB FILTER
- B.10 DYNAMIX COMPRESSOR
- B.11 LO-FI COLLECTION
- B.12 ECHO FREEZE DELAY
- B.13 GATEBOX PLATE REVERB
- B.14 SPRING REVERB
- B.15 DARK REVERB
APPENDIX C: MIDI CONTROL REFERENCE
- C.1 STANDARD NOTE MAPPING
- C.2 CHROMATIC NOTE MAPPING
- C.3 SLOTS NOTE MAPPING
- C.4 SLICES NOTE MAPPING
- C.5 QUICK MUTE NOTE MAPPING
- C.6 DELAY CONTROL NOTE MAPPING
- C.7 CTRL CHANGE MAPPINGS
- C.8 MIDI MODE CTRL CHANGE MAPPINGS
INDEX

12. PATTERNS

Remove sample locks in real time by pressing [NO] while pressing the LEVEL knob.

Remove speciﬁc parameter locks in real time by pressing [NO] while pressing the DATA ENTRY knob

corresponding to the parameter that should be removed.

To stop both the recording and the playback of the sequencer, press [STOP]. To exit LIVE

RECORDING mode and keep the sequencer playing the pattern, press [PLAY].

12.4 TRIG TYPES

A trig is a sequencer event that you can place when you want the sequencer to perform an action. The

Octatrack MKII sequencer accommodates a number of dierent trig types. Trigs can be entered while being

in GRID or LIVE RECORDING mode and are, depending on the type of trig, indicated by red, green or yellow

[TRIG] keys colors.

12.4.1 SAMPLE TRIGS

Sample trigs trig the machine of the track, making the sample assigned to the machine play. Enter by

simply pressing a [TRIG] key. Sample trigs are indicated by red [TRIG] keys.

12.4.2 NOTE TRIGS

Note trigs trig notes on the MIDI tracks. Enter by simply pressing a [TRIG] key. Note trigs are indicated

by red [TRIG] keys.

12.4.3 LOCK TRIGS

Lock trigs trigger parameter locks, but without triggering samples/notes. Lock trigs do not trig machines,

LFOs or FX envelopes. Enter them by pressing [FUNC] + [TRIG].

Lock trigs are indicated by dim green [TRIG] keys. Already existing sample trigs can be turned to lock

trigs by pressing [TRIG] + [NO] twice. To turn a lock trig into a trigless trig, press [TRIG] + [NO]. When

pressing the [TRIG] key of a lock trig, it will turn into a sample trig. Press the [TRIG] key again to remove

the sample trig altogether.

When in LIVE RECORDING mode and changing lockable parameters, lock trigs containing the locked

parameters is added automatically to the sequencer.

12.4.4 TRIGLESS TRIGS

Trigless trigs function similarly to lock trigs, but trig LFOs and FX envelopes. They can only be applied by

converting sample trigs or lock trigs.

Trigless trigs are indicated by full-bright green [TRIG] keys. An already existing sample trig can be turned

to a trigless trig by pressing [TRIG] + [NO]. To turn a trigless trig into a lock trig, press [TRIG] + [NO].

When pressing the [TRIG] key of a trigless trig, it will turn into a sample trig. Press the [TRIG] key again

to remove the sample trig altogether.

12.4.5 ONE SHOT TRIGS

One shot trigs trig a sample or a track recorder only once. They are especially useful when using the Oc-

tatrack MKII as a backing track machine, as they, for example, can trig very long Static samples without

retrigging them once the pattern loops. This trig type is also available to recorder trigs. One shot trigs are

not available to MIDI tracks.

If a track contains several one shot trigs, all one shot trigs of that track will be disarmed once one of

the one shot trigs has been activated by the sequencer. This extends to the tracks of other patterns as

well. If a one shot trig has been trigged on track 1 of pattern A01, any one shot trigs on the ﬁrst track of

patterns A02-P16 will also be disarmed.

One shot trigs are entered by pressing [FUNC] + the [TRIG] key of an existing sample trig. The [TRIG]

key will change from red to yellow, indicating the trig now is now a one shot trig. One shot trigs that have

been activated by the sequencer are indicated by alternating yellow and red [TRIG] keys. Quickly press-

ing [STOP] + [STOP] while the sequencer is stopped, power cycling the Octatrack MKII or changing

projects will re-arm all one shot trigs. The [STOP] + [STOP] behavior can be disabled in the PERSONAL-

IZE menu. For more information, please see “8.5.4 PERSONALIZE” on page 33.

There exists several ways of arming and disarming one shot trigs. While in GRID RECORDING mode and

either the RECORDING SETUP menus or the TRACK TRIG EDIT menu with REC TRIG chosen, is active,

all one shot recorder trigs of the active track will be re-armed when pressing [YES]. The text “ARM REC

TRK” will be visible. The one shot recorder trigs will keep re-arming for as long as the key is held. Note

that one shot sample trigs will not be aected. This way of arming and disarming can be disabled in the

PERSONALIZE menu. For more information, please see “8.5.4 PERSONALIZE” on page 33.