How I edit and mix Octatrack recordings

[@RickyTinez]

damn this could not have come at a better time. I just packed away the OT because i wanted to "make music" vs fiddle around all day. but nvm.. its coming right back out haha

[@oakfox]

it needs to play with the xerxes.

[@truecuckoo]

Man, yeah you gotta find your workflow that suits you. Then just keep to that and be efficient. For me it’s all about pre-producing and pre-mixing really good sounding slices. I’m mostly using the Static engine so that I won’t need to think about memory constraints. I just line up 16, 32, 64 slices on a grid in my daw, and export them, then use the create slice grid function in the Octatrack to make the procedure efficient.

[@andrzejkucharzyk9970]

​@@truecuckoo Hi Master. Is there any viable way to record separate tracks from Octatrack into the daw? I wanna purchase Octa but im afraid I wont be able to finish tracks because of one track recording instead of bunch like DT with Overbridge.

[@joost3783]

Dude i love how subtly you use those effects in such a dedicated way, and it actually yields incredible transparent results. Im very impressed! :)

[@truecuckoo]

Thank you so much! 🙏🏼

[@JTMusicbox]

It made me smile just to see an upload from you! It’s great that you will be adding to the KZbin library. Sounds great. Thanks for sharing your process.

[@ekedalen]

The best tutor out there. Mr Cuckoo is in a league of his own.

[@strangersun7721]

Always great to see another artist's process. Thanks for sharing yours with us.

[@truthmaker1]

Thank you, Cuckoo!

[@SpeldosaMusik]

Nice! I've recently bought an Octatrack and have been pondering how to integrate it in a larger song making context. I'll try your tips out.

[@AvianBreak]

This video is even better after listening to the album a bunch of times! A perfect behind the scenes look.

[@mikeexits]

Is it only available in the YT royalty free music library? I checked his Apple Music page and I don't see any albums from 2019. I'd love to hear this one though.

[@truecuckoo]

It’s a royalty free album, and that makes it incompatible with streaming services because of all the automatic copyright algorithms. You can buy it for free on my web page, or pay if you wish. Or you can order the vinyl version on my merch store.

[@mikeexits]

@@truecuckoo Oh I see, thank you, I wasn't aware that the two would clash or be mutually exclusive in some way. Thanks for the response! Much love from Connecticut haha

[@truecuckoo]

Thanks mate. If it wasn’t for the automatic copyright systems on KZbin and streaming services it’d be fine to upload it on streaming services as well. But due to the magnitude of how intertwined it all is, it’s impossible to make exceptions to make one particular album not be tracked.

[@falsaapariencia5898]

Learning so much from this, Mr. Cuckoo. Thanks!

[@MGoolas]

As I use my sp404 a lot to make quick beats that I would like to make em not hurt your ears this video hits right at the spot. I was experimenting with a "mixdown" mixing as well with variable results. Thanks for the tips.

[@szekeresgeza]

Haahaa, I always do the same manual gain correction on my mixdowns.. I thought I'm the only fool doing this.. One tip for the imager: try to avoid going minus with the phase (on the left +1_0_-1 vertical meter). It can cause mono compatibility issues and phase cancelling (around 12:46 the clap pushes it to negative). This can be easily treated with an automated stereo width on a particular band. Love the flow of all ur vids btw!

[@truecuckoo]

Thanks mate!

[@nym053]

That suggestion feature of proQ is quite cool. Of course it's just a tool and one should always use their ears. But when you've gotten so used to a track while producing, it can be dificult to notice what you should maybe change. I always thought that the feature where you can pull down the peaks was cool as well :)

[@strom7080]

Would it not be easier to record the AUTO MIDI channel? That way you can edit everything in Logic until you are satisfied and after that record the audio. This way you can also record the audio from tracks in the Octatrack separately afterwards and thus create a better mix

[@grumpycomposer5658]

Brilliant cuckoo! Can I ask...what made you choose a limiter over a compressor? My knowledge of compression and limiting is...limited...I tend to be heavy handed as I’m not sure what I am aiming at. Or too timid so my mixes sound soft and small. 🙏

[@truecuckoo]

With the stuff coming from the Octatrack, it’s pretty flat already, and the stuff I feel I need to compress is very precise, so I’m taking care of it with the dynamic EQ. In this case I would much rather just boost the volume, and the FabFilter Pro-L is simple to use, very transparent sounding, and amazing for that. I’d use a compressor on sources with more dynamics that require finer and more delicate handling. Like vocals, a flute etc. Also I’m gonna take all the shortcuts I can in this case. A compressor takes time to set up. The Pro-L limiter is a “quick fix maximiser”.

[@grumpycomposer5658]

🙏🔥👌

[@sudbenzer6603]

Possible to make such a track on the digitakt? Guess no. Damn, this is lit, thanks Cuckoo! The imager advice is useful!

[@truecuckoo]

You can come very close on the Digitakt, and there are other advantages on the Digi. But the Octatrack can stream huge samples with many slices straight from the card, and has more tricks and tweaks.

[@Nicholicious89]

thanks for the walkthrough of your process, your videos are informative and entertaining!

[@chris.dillon]

Yeah, I edit jams down to get the nuggets. It's almost like idea compression. I hate to even say cheating but that's been the debate for decades. Idea compression and it sounds cool. Plus, you could take the stems back out and perform them. Then capture that in the OT? How many passes could you do? Your music is extremely unlike mine. But it's inspiring. What I mean is: I was reading about Rick Ruben and how he avoids pads and strings. And I realized this is when I stop liking my layering. So yeah. I gotta stop doing that. I once did a very intentional mix using sections, discipline. It came out very differently. So constraints and fresh rules are neat. OT is just so tough (but fair). I was working in a project called "Progression" just to practice how to do a 30 min set with like 5 "songs" in it. Building and moving between the banks. It's been over a year of practice and I finally have it down(ish). I put the other machines in (A4/Rytm) and have a set going. But dude. It's all very complicated. And I haven't even touched the ARR. It takes a long time to set up macros, scenes and fun things to play with when doing a progression. And then to have a convention or notes to know what's coming up next?! Still figuring that out. Convention/consistency seems to be where I'm going but it took me 3 banks (discrete ideas) and days to discover this. Anyway, what I mean to say is, I find watching workflow helpful and like camaraderie. "Ok, we use similar tricks. I'm just not that far off the mark. I can keep going." :)

[@lundsweden]

I agree 100%. I made a term almost the same: I call it distillation or idea curation. I guess bands do pretty much the same thing by practicing, experimenting, having happy accidents ect. They then choose the best bits, then practice those parts to death, until they are second nature.

[@shoosh6256]

Спасибо за видео. Много нового узнал о организации процесса. Это очень интересно

[@lennartlennart2264]

Tack för tårtorial!

[@ambientzoneofficial]

Great video!! Looking fwd to the release, you have my thumbs up!

[@kontainer01]

Bra tips. Tack! (Låter bra med!)

[@dankefurnichts]

your shirt!!! ... i know this scenario so good ^^

[@truecuckoo]

Haha, yeah #life 🤣 I’ve got the T-shirt on my t-shirt store if you’re interested ❤️

[@thsithks]

Another trick for you to use with your Ozone Imager, is to bring the low frequency slider down, good practice to sum your subs to mono :)

[@IgnacioChavez]

I do this too, its a must

[@MickySarge]

Great stuff as always, Cuckoo.

[@Sebastian_Roth]

Your videos are always great. One question what is the name of the acoustic panels , they look so cool?

[@truecuckoo]

Vicoustic. They’re a bit expensive, but I got a pretty good price when I bought a whole lot of them. I’ve heard of cheaper no name brands which are probably just as good, but I was getting impatient, and they were available in store :)

[@03sidiansardinia41]

really needed, thanks !

[@hermanpettersen7321]

Been waiting for this one 🙏

[@franzwilhelm9682]

Great inside into your workflow, while you are in de middle of it. Deadlines, music, mixing, shooting clips and still, you always sound so calm. Are you related to the Buddha and meditating or is there special canna-opiod-xanax-mixture in there somewhere?

[@truecuckoo]

Thanks mate. No Buddha or special fluids or fumes involved in my life. I’m veggie-no-drugs kinda guy actually.

[@lowbias]

Where we would be without Cuckoo?

[@tendingtropic7778]

great stuff! thanks! do you clock sync logic & the OT?

[@H2SO4RUS]

Multitrack, multitrack... Maybe OT3...?)

[@DayflightTrok]

I do not like the glitchy music but I like the way of explaining.

[@sadoko84]

I've been debating just doing my digitakt and digitone songs like this. I'm having a hard time capturing the magic, even with overbridge. Do you think the stereo bounce is a fine way to work with elektron gear?

[@harmony2368]

what are those frames you put on the walls, cuckoo? where can I find them?

[@Rustik1722]

Great timing on this! What settings on ProQ? Preset?

[@seantemmerman6236]

if i buy the octatrack mk2 and i have a pc , can i start playing or do i need studio monitors or headphones ? or can i play via my desktop screen and boxes?

[@thegreatsiberianitch]

You just need the octatrack, some good headphones and a way to get samples but depending on your music and production experience, you really don't want to start in with an octatrack. I'd start with a digitakt or a syntakt and some good headphones... Then once you've mastered either of those, then get an octatrack. These ppl on youtube make it look easy, it's not! Lol... I have a lot of music and production background and I've had a syntakt for a little under a year, I got an octa and I almost returned it, lol.. But I'm sticking it out and dedicating myself to learning it. If I didn't have experience with my syntakt I would have been way more lost. The digitakt or syntakt will get you familiar with the "elektron workflow" and then if you feel like you want to you can move on to the octatrack. The octa looks really cool, and it is, but jumping straight into octa, no don't do it, lol... Just my 2 cents.

[@not-hank-s]

Where do you get those acoustic panels?

[@gustavkrivinka4634]

Could you perform in Czech Republic?

[@Dsowers777]

Where’d you find those dampeners?

[@Heathcliff_hensel]

Logic Gang!

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

plugins are not free, right?

[@willstill9156]

How are you going about recording into Logic?

[@SpeldosaMusik]

I would guess he's just running two cables from the main outputs of the Octatrack to the inputs of his audio interface. Edit: In another comment, he's saying: "I recorded the Octatrack through the Arturia Audiofuse. It’s a great 4 input compact audio interface with very clear gain and converters. I can recommend it."

[@wega4105]

@@SpeldosaMusik thanks I was asking myself how to do it. And this solves it. Great to see how to do the aftermath too:)

[@zbsfm]

very nice tutorial. you make me want to switch over to logic - reaper's interface is nowhere near as good.

[@Asiosky211]

it can be. thats the joy of reaper. you can make it whatever you want :P

[@jorgefpramos]

You could have recorded it in multitracks.

[@truecuckoo]

There’s no multitrack recording option on the Octatrack. It has stereo out, and cue out. You can use a combination of Main out and Cue our to get 4 tracks. Sometimes I’m recording in many passes, but since I’m having a heavy focus on improvised hands-on performance it’s impossible to recreate the same performance on every take. A faster workflow is the need in this case.

[@basicid7884]

why you wearing emo gloves?

[@truecuckoo]

Feeling emo, lol. Nah winter is coming over here. And I'm just keeping my wrists warm with wool, that's all.

[@DayflightTrok]

Keep running ...it warms

[@jbflinnla]

I really like those gloves! What brand are they?

[@frankschneider7190]

is this music?

[@DefineLines]

Nice gloves...