Novation Circuit Tracks: Advanced Tips & Features

[@anthonypizza179]

Got the Circuit Tracks for free in a novation giveaway a few days ago, and I gotta say I'm enjoying it a ton! Really fun to make beats on the go and not be tied to the computer. Great tips, love the content!

[@NovationTV]

Glad you're enjoying it! 🙌🙏

[@abstractmodule4574]

Congratulations!

[@freeloopsandsounds9316]

You can make beats on the go on your phone

[@anthonypizza179]

@@freeloopsandsounds9316 yes you can, many times for free, but I like being away from the screen in general.

[@CoenBijpost]

@@freeloopsandsounds9316 weird how I never get to that, but I do use the tracks a lot. Almost as if you’re comparing apples and not apples 😂

[@jambutty2218]

Really appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge. Mine arrived today and I would be more than lost without your instructions.

[@darren3627]

I've got one of these en route as I type this, so excited to get my hands on it. Great video, very useful as always.

[@peterwojtek8468]

Got it two weeks ago and I must say, following your tutorials greatly improved my workflow ! Hope you'll make a video on a proper Circuit Tracks => Ableton recording process. For now I'm mainly recording live performances and god knows how tricky this can be.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Glad to help! I made a video on using the original Circuit with a DAW, and the process is the same with the Tracks. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nF6cZKited53mNE I also did a video a while back about a workaround to record multitrack audio, and one about how to make full songs with live jamming.

[@dinogoldie9716]

(re Scenes) Dear Novation. Please add the ability to store mixer state in a Scene. It would be great to be able to store mutes/solos without having to leave one pattern empty in every track.

[@jakubberan2720]

Yes ,thats what i was thinking also. Seems more natural

[@NovationTV]

Interesting idea. Thanks for your feedback on this, Dino.

[@zoned7609]

@@NovationTV i also think this feature would be very useful live and just in general.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

That would be lovely!

[@lawrencewatts1838]

@@NovationTV Please make this a thing, this is one of my biggest bugbears with the Tracks as it currently is!

[@dougoverly]

Gabe, you'll be remembered one day. Thanks for these 😎🤘

[@undefined12u]

Getting my tracks today and your videos totally convinced me to pick it up, you’re awesome gabe🙏🔥 thanks for the tutorial and these tips

[@FunkTree]

Pity to look again on 4 lit pads in bottom corner to play drums on this new circuit....why not use all 32 pads , 8 for each drum sound tuned to a scale or each pad could store all 4 knobs, so you could have 8 variations of the same sample right on your fingertips for live playing

[@charactersheetmusic]

Perfect timing on this video Gabe. I just picked up a Tracks yesterday and can't wait to dive in.

[@blackflytr]

hey got mine days ago, kinda cool thing and the safed project osunds good too.

[@Chileanseaweed]

Anybody knows if a firmware update will allow patterns to be chained out of order? That was the best thing from Circuit OG

[@freeloopsandsounds9316]

I’ve looked at as many videos as I could to really feel if I could buy and I appreciate you sharing as much as you have. The workarounds are just limitations and I can’t have the feeling that using 9th or 13th chords are gonna be interrupted or whatever I shouldn’t even be thinking about that when creating something. Cheers for your honesty. I keep my original but continue to produce with my iPad.

[@ARCADEGLITCH_]

Gabe, huge thanks from me, it's your videos on the Circuit Tracks that helped me decide on it. Had it for a month now and am totally in love with it. The overall workflow is perfect and so intuitive. This new video is also really good, I've at last understood scenes (I mainly use the Circuit Tracks as the brains of my dawless setup, with two other synths connected via midi. Just ordered a CME widi to reduce cables)

[@lawrencewatts1838]

Absolute lifesaver mate, those microstep and tie tips are super useful

[@GrootsieTheDog]

Probability in micro mode would be very useful - you could input a chord, then choose the probability of each individual note of that chord created by random per step mode👍

[@inframosch3336]

Hi Gabe! A purpose for note tie is, when you have a chord progression. E.g. Pattern 1 is a c-major chord (c,e,g) and pattern 2 is an e-minor chord (b-e-g). If you link the patterns, e and g will play seamless and c and b change. Maybe you want to play „a whiter shade of pale“ sometimes;-) Great tutorials, go on. Thumbs up!

[@parkerhordon]

Just got my Tracks Yesterday! Thanks!

[@JamesAville]

Gabe, you are the best! Now I've mastered scenes!

[@Modrunnermusic]

Great video. Way more comprehensive than anything Novation has put out. Not a diss at all on Novation! I’m a big fan, just saying that these tips are well executed in demonstration that surpass what the manual could relay.

[@picklemaker6276]

I just saw that you'll be jamming live with Novation Product Specialists. That is awesome! Congrats!

[@fluffow2675]

Great tips! Scenes was new for me! Looking forward to more like this!

[@trevormalcolm4328]

Thanks for doing all of the hard work for us!

[@aloharay]

As always Gabe, right on point and very helpful. Thank you.

[@ptshi_channel]

Hi, thanks for this great video. Is there a way to force note tie while recording live? I would like to avoid having notes cut between patterns in the play-back after recording.

[@karibunn]

Dude- your just the best at this

[@WMRhapsodies]

Here is one advanced trick buried somewhere in the manual: you can deactivate the automatic master compression. I've tested it just for and moment but I think I like it way better: sounds cleaner, and distorted sounds are not so over the top (I've also seen Gabe being not too convinced about it in one of his videos, but can't recall which). Hold shift while powering the Circuit on, press the FX button so it turns from green to red, press play, done. In this "Advanced Setup View" you can also set the MIDI Thru port to act as a second MIDI Out. Same steps to get it done, but with the Duplicate button instead.

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Yep, that's in there! I actually don't mind the compressor myself, it usually doesn't affect the sound too much in my experience.

[@karibunn]

Holy freakin crap- I just learned so freakin much

[@Tobes1100]

Nice one Gabe as always! Also as they're watching @NovationTV pleeease bring back the non sequential pattern chaining /how many times a pattern would play before moving to the next one?? If you could do this it would really open up scenes especially if you can select the playback option with scenes to allow for really long intros and breakdowns within a piece of music. I think all scenes selected with all eight patterns runs to about seven or eight minutes (at 128 bpm that is).

[@ndguardian]

Alright, you just had to twist my arm on this. After seeing enough of your videos on the Circuit, I broke down and bought a Circuit Tracks. Gee, thanks. :P Just kidding, I'm excited to play with it!

[@DanieleWonderfoolio]

Excellent video, great tips, thanks!

[@JamBear]

Thanks Gabe, you're the best.

[@jordanWAH]

I can't say how much I appreciate your videos. Just when I start to regret getting tracks you upload another video with more it can do. I'm still learning but certain things like scenes seems to be a bit more cumbersome than I think it should be. Idk why you can't just designate the first bar/loop to the first block, scene or whatever and just record it or hit the next pad to progress. To me it could have been made with a bit more common sense. I like when you're playing with something and you can see what it's going to do automatically so as to basically teach you just from using it. Thanks

[@KunchangLeeMusic]

Excited to try one of these

[@dinogoldie9716]

(re the polyphony thing). Well explained and great advice.

[@blackflytr]

hey jsut a note, next time darker the brightness a little bit of your video so we can see the rgb lights better. like your content. :)

[@beirtipol]

The evolution of the circuit tracks: "Where's the fucking manual?" "Ooh, this Gabe fella has a nice video" *Weeks later "I'm starting to understand this now but it seems like this thing is too limited. Shit, I really shouldn't have bought a circuit tracks." "Ooh, Gabe has a new video"

[@cokecl]

they hould add that shift+pitch knob quantizes the pitch shifting in semitones, I know Novation listened to a lot of ideas in the OG Circuit, do you think they might listen to this one?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I would LOVE to see them incorporate that.

[@daviddechamps8840]

Thanks Gabe. Very useful. Question, here... I have a hard time ensuring that the first note I record falls on the first step. I saw a tip somewhere how to ensure that the first note you play triggers the first step of the sequence, but I cannot find it anymore. Any idea? thanks again for your nice videos!

[@cymusicoff]

HI Gabe! Thanks so much for all the info. IT's sooo usefull! Was wondering if you had the chance to try doing other Signatures than 4/4? I'd like to do a 6/8 or 12/8 song for example. Any Tips? Thx

[@johnsaunders6510]

Very useful. Thanks.

[@iamkeebz]

"there is a work around" should be Novation's new tag line.

[@bastiengrasnick1658]

Hey Gabe, thanks to your inspiring videos I recently got a Circuit Tracks as my first ever entry into electronic music production. I have been playing around with it a little bit and learned most of the functionality (also from your two explanatory videos). Now I searched a little bit about packs and which one to get first. I would love to make some heaver music like dubstep and drum and bass but also stuff like trap. Which pack would you recommend? I saw you used "Dreddsteppa" a lot which looks promising. There is also "A Force Truly Evil - Bass Pressure" which looks amazing from KZbin demos so far, do you have any experience with that? And more generally, is a "Packs recommendation for Circuit Tracks (and possibly different genres)" video planned? I guess you would also recommend Delorean Dream for some 80's sounds? :D

[@jimcompton8638]

Howdy Gabe! Thanks for this and your other tutorials. Do you happen to know if the Circuit Tracks can send Program Change messages from the MIDI 1 and MIDI 2 tracks? I use external synths and would like to have the Circuit Tracks serve as the "brain" of the system and call-up the correct patches from these other devices when required (in my case at the beginning of a new song). I've posted this question elsewhere and folks have said, "you should ask Gabe Miller." 🙂

[@Projacked1]

Nice man! great tips!

[@danthepoptartt]

Thanks for these! Sounds like something off of kid cudi’s new album too btw🔥

[@user-dt9kk6sg8z]

i need a way to cue samples in headphones before putting in the sequence :(

[@Rafix-drummer]

Hey. Questions for the experts. - How do I activate to hear the built-in project package that comes inside the device? - Can the projects and sounds built into the device as they left the factory be accidentally deleted?? - How is it possible to reset the device as it left the factory with the built-in sounds and projects at the press of a button? Many thanks to the helpers

[@NewKilnStudios]

The polyphony had a bug fixed with yesterdays update by novation, as well as the increase in sampling time. Thanks for covering this tricks

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Oh dang, I'll look into it. I filmed this a couple of weeks ago and the edit was done at the beginning of the week so it didn't take that into account. The trick will still work regardless!

[@7digger3]

Thank you for your videos, could you please make a step by step guide how to maximize the control of my circuit tracks with my 49sl mk3 , I’m a noob. Also a future firmware update , of two optional synths on the 2midi tracks, for us sl mk3 owners, would be amazing and a way to pair and sync them in unison and play /record multiple tracks simultaneously. I bought the sl mk3 and a circuit tracks as a sort of starter pack , but It’s glitchy and not optimized, I had assumed they would pair up seamlessly.

[@80iesDude45]

That's awesome Gabe! Thanks a lot ;-)

[@abstractmodule4574]

The scenes function has really grown on me.

[@micaelarvidsson9034]

Odd questions: On drum midi can you for example midi out the drums to the Mc-101 and use the mc-101 drums and mute the circuit tracks drums. Can you then use the side chain compression even if the drums are muted? Do you get the 16 pads on the circuit tracks mapping to the mc-101 drums?

[@leewightman8619]

Cabe is it ready to use out the box as I would like to figure out how to use it get used to the presets before messing around with computers straight away

[@jordanWAH]

I'm almost struggling to find a reason to keep the circuit tracks around LOL. I can't wait to pay it off in a couple months and get a full Standalone like machine Plus or preferably something cheaper than mpc1. But how did you add drums or anything to tracks presets?

[@dinogoldie9716]

(re pitching samples): I've always used the GATE or VELOCITY pages to perform parameter locks on the Circuit/Tracks. Dear Novation, I have a firmware update request. When pressing/holding an active step in GATE/VELOCITY, it only sounds that step's initial state. it doesn't preview how that note may change over time. Say I had a note on step one that lasted 8 steps and there was various automation on the 3rd and 6th steps. Would there be a way of previewing the whole note and the automation there in?

[@RitmoUniversale]

thank you for your videoa! i don't remember in which video you said that i can duplicate what is going on in a synth to a midi scene. well i think it is possible just if you have a midi machine pluged in...isn't it? it's a petty, if i have no other machine to connect i cannot use the midi space with built in synth patches...or i can? it's really a waste of space and possibility... thank you!

[@NicleT]

I have a question about scenes chaining: they seems to be only on base 16. Is it possible to have scenes that have different steps in them? For example, all patterns are in 7/4 but the scene chaining change only after 8 (or 16) beats, which is very annoying.

[@Chloroplastism]

If i tune a sample, the whole track gets tuned and I have to manually detune the track again. That makes it really complicated for me. Does anyone have advice? Thanks in advance ❤

[@ypichardie]

Hello, I just bought the CT few days ago and I did't find a way to get semitone on my syths 1 and 2 as you have at 7:23 ! How did you do that ? There is nothing on semi tone or "piano keyboard" or whatever in the documentation. Pleaseeee :) Thansk (by the way, very good tips !)

[@GabeMillerMusic]

If you hit the scales button, it'll be on the very bottom right pad. Glad the rest of the video has been helpful!

[@ypichardie]

@@GabeMillerMusic wonderfull ! You rocks man !

[@kaitwillows]

3:53 was so sic I want one

[@Pyroja]

I have no idea what I'm doing wrong with the chromatic sample flipping, but whatever I try ends up adjusting all the notes :( I got to Velocity view, I hit Record, I choose my note, I adjust the pitch, I hit Record to stop recording and... All my notes are now set to the new pitch. I keep watching this to see what I'm missing but, well, I'm still clearly doing something wrong.

[@evenacari]

gabe, how do you transite between tracks on a live performance?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I did a video on exactly that recently: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIHVloCEmKZnitU

[@zakjetsel]

I read that for the sidechain, there are 8 different modes that it has. Is that true and what are they?

[@themns4u]

Man, thanks for the video, question here, are there any Congas, Bongos, latin percussion in the Circuit Tracks?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Not built in, but you can import your own wav files into the drum tracks.

[@themns4u]

@@GabeMillerMusic Valuable info, thanks mate!

[@wallacebarnes2391]

My biggest question is : can the Novation be used as a midi controller for fl studios (or any daw)? I havent really found much info for using it with daws

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I'm honestly not sure how much control you'd have over specific DAW functions, but you can absolutely use it as a keyboard/pad controller (and you should be able to map knobs to functions) for any DAW.

[@Mtsepana]

No I did not notice you "engage" sample flip? so I am lost 1:18. On my side it changes the pitch on the whole track.

[@Mtsepana]

Oh shit it's working ...

[@gergokrivicz8102]

Hi, how can I save a project, please help me :-) !

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Double tap the save button. Or, to save it to a particular project slot, go to the projects view, hold down save, and select where you want the project to go. There also might be a setting you need to change to allow you to save projects in the first place, check the manual for that.

[@Steapain]

hi nice video... tmrw i will buy tracks or rhythm ..... but i still dont now what to choose. SO PLease just write rhythm or tracks and i will buy it. I know the pros and cons but still i cant choise...

[@jordanWAH]

How can I create and add my own sample pack?

[@GabeMillerMusic]

I did a dedicated video on that topic! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6HZY5iAqcmmpdU

[@jordanWAH]

@@GabeMillerMusic thanks

[@parkerhordon]

9:59 Shpread

[@paulheartsongs]

Hi Gabe, can you help? I sing, play guitar and use ableton for tracks. What’s the best groove box for pre-programming songs and maybe play over when using them live? Thanks for your videos, I’ve watched a lot!

[@GabeMillerMusic]

Definitely check out the Roland MV-1, I've got multiple videos on it with a couple more on the way.

[@RipstickRimmy]

Is that tequila shots by kid Cudi???

[@DjPrespley]

i can't get a knob change to occur on a single step it changes the whole thing

[@GabeMillerMusic]

If you want a change to only occur on one step, you change it on that step, then change that parameter back on the following step. If you don't change a parameter on a certain step, that step will just look at what the previous step was doing and then do that. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@markwoodson2020]

Still not sure how to duplicate a project

[@GabeMillerMusic]

You just save it into another project slot.

[@capnmooseknuckle]

Kinda disappointed with the Circuit tracks honestly. Why can’t I load a different pack for each drum track? Haven’t been using for long but at this point I’d have to say OP-Z > Tracks by far.

[@tronlady1]

Has he actually sped this up before publishing it? Why this obsession all over KZbin with talking fast and doing everything super fast?

[@ironeaglesoars]

Love these but you talk to fast, homie

[@tronlady1]

It’s nowhere near as pretty as the first version circuit 😔

[@BecomingProductions]

Gabe this is by no means a criticism, but it would be nice to see the subject matter vary a bit from the usual devices you cover on here. I know Circuit Tracks is a deceivingly in-depth device but theres only so much content that can be covered and kept interesting. Much the same with The MC101 and Microfreak. Not expecting content on new devices each week, but would be nice to see a tad more variation. Just my 2c, others may not agree.

[@dinogoldie9716]

And why does my local bakery only slel baked goods? Why can't it sell meat and jewelry and fix my car too?

[@darkuniversesound]

Gabe does the necessary niche for a whole helluva lot of people.... i'm sure you know the other YT places to go for the in-depth reviews of other gear you're looking at! This request sounds like the equivalent of yelling out your favorite song for the band to play at a show.... Enthusiasm is great; i'd personally just not recommend trying to puppet-master Gabe, as he does a great job with his chosen content and helps a ton of people - myself included! (i've also had plenty of songs yelled at me during my shows over the years.... IT gets old 😒)

[@BecomingProductions]

@@dinogoldie9716 I get your point but bad analogy. In that scenario Gabe's channel isn't a bakery, hes a shop that sells only muffins and brownies. The other neighborhood bakeries sell the full range of baked goods, but Gabe's shop has a much more limited selection. Not knocking the quality of those muffins or brownies, in fact they're excellent. It'd just be nice to see a little bit of variation and think the bakery could benefit from it. Damn you now I want a muffin.

[@BecomingProductions]

@@darkuniversesound why does the content being niche have to be necessary? Why can't a music production/synth channel not reach a broader audience than fans of 1 or 2 specific devices. I'm not suggesting Gabe starts doing makeup tutorials or movie reviews. Look at other channels of a very similar nature like BoBeats, who also built his channel with a heavy focus on the Novation Circuit. He still managed to cover a broader range of topics, including music production and a range of other devices. Other devices that Gabe will hopefully have access to with that Sweetwater partnership. Nobody is trying to puppet-master anyone. Gabe is an adult who will chose to make whatever content he wants. My comment was meant as an observation and suggestion, definitely not a demand and definitely not meant with any disrespect.

[@darkuniversesound]

@@BecomingProductions Fair enough 🤙