Octatrack, 6u Modular, Drum Machine : My New Live Setup

MFB Tanzmaus Sample Pack : tinyurl.com/msr3zvj2
AFFILIATE LINKS :
Octatrack :
USA : tinyurl.com/ywzk2ynw
EU : thmn.to/thoprod/509423?offid=...
DFAM :
USA: tinyurl.com/n85shnj9
EU : thmn.to/thocf/oekswnlsl7
Verbos :
USA : tinyurl.com/3ejns9wn
EU : EU : thmn.to/thocf/oekswnlsl7
SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: tinyurl.com/5cfzmdyc
SOCIAL : / ​
Data Roaming Records Bandcamp : tinyurl.com/2kcy8dhr
As I've been playing out more and more, my setup as evolved since my first live stream for ‪@resilience4571‬. In the last year, I tweaked it and refined it to what it is now, something that I feel is a good compromise of size/utility/power, that allows me to play for an 1h to 1h30 depending on the slots I have, and where I can freely mix complete improvisation with the modular and drum machine with more prepared sketelons of tracks in the Octatrack. This feels great to me; I have the thrill of not knowing everything and the chance to be surprised (positively or negatively) by what comes out of my modular, so no two shows will be the same; but at the same time I know that some essentials elements like my bass/rumble are taken care of by the Octatrack and are reliable. Only the Octatrack would make for a boring show, only the drum machine and modular would make a risky (and potentially boring) show, but all together they create something that I think is super powerful and deep with explorations possibilities.
To all my Octatrack power users, please excuse my absolutely n00bish use of the device.
00:01 - Intro
02:30 - Modular Synth Overview
10:20 - Modular Sounds
16:03 - Octatrack Overview
25:15 - Octatrack Sounds
29:52 - Tanzmaus
33:22 - Tanzmaus Sounds
40:17 - Conclusion

[@youlemur]

Awesome man, im happy for you in your progress, thanks for sharing

[@TheCALMInstitute]

I love how we’re all convinced we’re using the octatrack wrong! I just use it as a looper/mixer. Every time I work with it, I consider throwing it out the window. ❤

[@crisp909]

I had the same... So I sold Octactrack and bought Toraiz SP-16. Maybe it's not well known piece of equipment but I took the risk and now Im finally happy ;) The immediacy of this box for live use is way better that overcomplicated Octa.

[@LucasMarchal]

I use it like a basic sample player but it does it so well... you can change tempo and it never ever complains. Invaluable and reliable live, that's all you can ask !

[@vinylarchaeologist]

45 minutes flew by really quickly! Thank you for this.

[@LucasMarchal]

I was afraid there would be too much rambling. Thank you for watching !

[@hdsubstance1]

Brilliant explanation and super efficient setup

[@LucasMarchal]

thank you !

[@gdhancz]

I used to watch 411vm videos to get amped before skating...now days it seems dc11/l.marchal are my go to vids to get motivated to start patching!

[@LucasMarchal]

I used to watch Yeah Right front to back before every skate session ahah.

[@gdhancz]

@@LucasMarchal oh yeah. Me too!...yeahright was insane when it came out!

[@DeepPAUSE]

very interesting, I've been really impressed by this tanzmaus unit

[@meilstone]

The Tanzmaus claps are actually stereo, so is their output, just on a side note. I think the same thing applies to the Toms...

[@LucasMarchal]

yeah they definitely are ! Am I saying the contrary in the video ? If so i stand corrected :)

[@meilstone]

Maybe I missed it, was not meant as a correction, just added info.

[@lachrymal1707]

Friend, thanks a lot for your content is very educational. I learn a lot with you.

[@maximilianboecker5063]

dude, you make me believe there are ufos out there

[@MrStupidHead]

Cool bubbly sounds. Im diggin it.

[@colorhead5892]

Gracias hermano

[@thanqol]

Amazing video, love it

[@PanamaDog]

so kind of you making these videos :--)

[@LucasMarchal]

Thanks for watching !

[@frequencydomain9360]

Lovely sounds, just got your tanzmaus samples. Cheers from the US

[@LucasMarchal]

Thank you for the support, cheers !

[@letmefeelthevibes]

Stylé ça gère

[@noisevector]

Awesome stuff and cool track.

[@LucasMarchal]

thanks !

[@noisevector]

@@LucasMarchal Hi Lucas. Are you aware of this module for the DFAM where you can reset it via trigger? I just bought one and thought you would be interested too because I saw you mention the lack of a reset in one of your videos. It's called the RFD by Sonoclast.

[@ynnn991]

Great video. This should be quite a capable setup! The sound of the Tanzmaus really makes me miss mine. Its user interface tho... not so much ^^ Sequencing the Maus using the Octatrack really makes a lot of sense.

[@LucasMarchal]

Yes using it just as a sound module is the way to go ! Love those crispy hats ! BTW i made a sample pack if you're interested, I added it to the description :)

[@MeganLeber]

Something to watch in the plain to Superbooth tomorrow! 😍

[@LucasMarchal]

Have fun at SB !

[@HenriDeCarvalho]

Et moi qui me demandais si le digitakt du setup nomade de l'été avait tenu face a l'octa...J'ai eu ma réponse. Elles sont tres interessantes tes vidéos, elles abordent beaucoup de sujets différents sur des problématiques que l'on rencontre...sur fond de prods techno comme j'aime. Bravo et Merci Lucas !!!

[@LucasMarchal]

Ah oui non il n'a pas fait beaucoup plus longtemps que l'été... Très très content de l'octa, surtout pour le live. Et merci beaucoup !

[@lesstalkmoredisco9445]

As an Octatrack user, I’m enraged

[@lesstalkmoredisco9445]

PS how do you set up OT tempo/track scales? Are your stems different polymeters/length per pattern, or do you loop them regular 16/32/64 steps? Something I sometimes go back and forth with.

[@LucasMarchal]

@@lesstalkmoredisco9445 I try to keep them regular but some are polymeter. I'm not a big fan of how the OT works with polymeters, every cycle or so it does a weird step repeat at the beginning which often annoys me. Probably reseting the track, but I don't want that, I want them to shift in and out. The track lentghs are not truly independent like on the modular for example.

[@lesstalkmoredisco9445]

@@LucasMarchal I agree, that’s really an annoying limit. The newer boxes like Rytm and A4 have a better solution, where you can have a master length of INF (and so track polymeters that don’t reset), and a second parameter where you can say what the step length is for Program Change, like 32 step /two bars length before it moves to another Ptn or Bank.

[@sebg5742]

@@LucasMarchal Hey Lucas, thanks so much for the video, inspiring and informative as usual. FIY, isn't there a workaround for this? i.e. if you set the pattern behaviour to "per track", the master (func+page) to "inf" and then in pattern settings, change the "chain behaviour" to the desired length (e.g. 64/16)...

[@LucasMarchal]

@@sebg5742 I need to take a look, that would be helpful ! Glad you enjoyed the videos

[@punkotero]

This video it's so helpful for understand a modular techno rig, I was wondering how people play it live with modular. What fx are you using with this rig live, some hardware pedals? Thanks for this kind of videos.

[@LucasMarchal]

Thank you ! I use pedals live yes, usually just the eventide Space on sends. Keep it simple.

[@stackenblochen666]

Hi Lucas, thanks once more for this very educational Video! I really like how thought through and ergonomic your live setup is. I have several questions, but the most pressing one is about your envelopes. What do you mean with the "little envelope" coming from the multistage? As far as I understand, your main envelope is generated by the Control voltage processors top section, and triggered via the gate output by the multistage. With which second envelope do you mix it then in the control voltage processors second section? Thanks and keep up with the great videos!

[@LucasMarchal]

hey, thank you ! what I mean by that is that the voltage multistage has a "ref" output that outputs AD enveloppe on every step which are linked to the gate time. That's the enveloppe I mix with the main one.

[@MyLittleSynths]

@32:00 the Tanzmaus sequencer as strange as it is, seems to be a source of inspiration for me. If you ever used the original TR909, the Tanzmaus feels like an expansion or 3.0 version of the 909's sequencer. Hard to use, but alot of cool features!

[@LucasMarchal]

I agree it's really full featured. The UI is pretty bad though. I'm honestly happy with the basic 909 sequencer.

[@eatingmusic7873]

Hey Lucas, as always Your lessons are great! do you send all outs directly to studio mixer? what mixer do You use? i think about tascam model 12, is it good choice?

[@LucasMarchal]

I don't have a mixer at home it's all going into ableton. Live I use a DJ mixer, usually a xone 92. I don't know much about mixers, sorry !

[@insecto.3725]

Great insight! Octatrack is great maschine for live for sure. Did you tried to control fx parameters or sample selection with the fader? That can give some nice unusally fx and glitches. Will give you some fun to explore the possibilities! For what is the Pams expander for?

[@LucasMarchal]

Thanks ! need to experiment more with the crossfader, I'm sure there are a lot of fun things to do. Controlling FX would be a cool one. The Pam expander sends midi clock to the OT, it's the master clock.

[@doverbeachxyz]

Great video as usual. So you don't send the modular into the octatrack? Imho you can do a lot even if your music is Linear and you don't want to go crazy with stutter effects. You could make transitions between what the modular is playing live and the stems in the octatrack. Or you could sample the modular on the fly, play the recorded version of It (apply effects or whatever), tweak some knobs on your modules, and then smoothly transition back with the crossfader to the live modular.

[@LucasMarchal]

I don't run the modular into the Octatrack at all no. It's on my list to try inb the future though. I think I ought to give it a go at least see if it works for me. The thing I like about this system is that everything is quite independent.

[@afternoon]

Have you considered the Roland TR-6S as a drum machine? It’s small, it makes 909 and 808 sounds, it can play samples and it is tweakable (though not as instant as the Tanzmaus).

[@LucasMarchal]

I did and I think it is indeed a valid option. But I still prefer the tweakability of the knobby tanzmaus. On the very shallow side I really dislike the look of all aira's products.

[@afternoon]

@@LucasMarchal The TR-6S is thankfully free of the Aira green! If the TR-6S was as knobby as the Tanzmaus, that would be 🧑‍🍳💋!

[@pipobob]

Hi, great video ! How do you connect your octatrack to pamela’s new workout ?

[@LucasMarchal]

Midi expander for Pamela's.

[@martebar6700]

Long time octatrack user here and I must say, only using what you need is the way to go! For example, I've had it for almost 10 years now and I still just use the crossfader for the length of my reverbs. I like the way you manage your transitions, I always feel that I have to do something very similar to a DJ set, blending elements from each track with the next one, but yours work totally, and what the hell it's live, it can't work like a produced track! Really cool video and insights into your way of playing, thanks for this!

[@joshkorody7376]

I tried to use a similar set up years ago but struggled with the octatrack. I couldn't wrap my head on how to do pre-recorded stems with it like in this video and that was the main reason i got it, but i was able to figure out a lot of the fx-crossfader-midi etc. I think i was trying to put super long loops that would go past the beat-bar length maybe and wasn't using as tight-2/4 bar loops but it was so long ago i can't remember if that was the main issue.

[@martebar6700]

@@joshkorody7376 Yeah, in the end to play it like that it's a lot of préparation. I cut all my stems in ableton so that they fit and pasted loops and stems together with octachainer so I can use slices to play different parts of the track.

[@LucasMarchal]

For sure, no way you can compete with the smoothness of a DJ mix. But I've though about ways to use the DJ mixer more and maybe get in the ballpark, I need to experiment still. I prepare all my stems in ableton, and usually it's pretty short stems (1 to 4 bars depending on the sounds), I will add the missing modulation in the OT to make it less static. Before every show I look back on my recent tracks and put a couple in the octatrack, so I have an ever rotating cast of new tracks to try out. The ones I like best stay, the one that didn't work so well move on.

[@martebar6700]

@@LucasMarchal I believe there is a way to do that, I've build a new live set using intro and outro patterns that allow me to blend parts of two songs on the fly, but without a preplanned tracklist, so you can kind of improvise your set with dj set style blends. If you're interested, i'd be glad to explain ! And yeah, Ableton is a great help to prepare all those bits ou sound, and also to avoid the ot's weird timestrech

[@LucasMarchal]

@@martebar6700 Hey reading this again 3months later I'd be actually super interested to learn how you're doing your thing with the intro / outro patterns !

[@agusbleuville5830]

cool! Would be nice if we can actually listen to the whole sample pack before buying it :)

[@LucasMarchal]

I'll make a video soon. Otherwise it's a bit annoying to upload 90+ sounds on bandcamp, hence the teaser track.

[@prod.goldspatz2617]

very inspiring! what case are you using to run your verbos modules without problems?

[@LucasMarchal]

It's a MDLR performer case. It works great but I wouldn't recommend buying MDLR, the guy is a bit unreliable in my experience.

[@ennobehrens2608]

well explained as usual! seems like you clocked the seq switch with a semi random pulse?

[@ennobehrens2608]

Tanzmaus hats sound really good!

[@telkmx]

@@ennobehrens2608 more of less the only good things about the tanzmaus lol

[@LucasMarchal]

Yeah some sort of euclidian pattern with random skips.

[@LucasMarchal]

Love the hats on this thing ! And I don't mind the rest really. I know the claps are rather divisive ahah.

[@ennobehrens2608]

Drum machine sounds - cause of division and emotions since 1980 ;)

[@LUPIN-LIVETECHNO]

Great video as usual, been learning loads from your videos. I have one question if you don't mind, how come you went from Digitakt to Octatrack ? As far as I can tell if you are just using the octatrack to play 8 channels of samples, surely a digitakt would do that? I'm trying to downsize my setup a bit and was thinking of going from Ocatrack to Digitakt, but yeah interested why you switched the other way? Thanks :)

[@joshkorody7376]

I might be mistaken but i believe the octatrack is able to do longer loops than the digitakt, so maybe thats a big reason?

[@LUPIN-LIVETECHNO]

@@joshkorody7376 ah yeah that could well be it as it’s playing stems, makes sense! 👍

[@LucasMarchal]

I love the flexibility of the Octatrack, and I find it much easier to have work with stems. The time stretching is super useful when there are a few bpm difference, everything still loops and stays in sync, whereas that wouldn't work on the DT. Stereo is a big plus too, I know big PA aren't really stereo but my stems sound identical that way. Bouncing everything to mono for the DT sucked the life out of some parts. The added I/O, and different ways to possibly use it are also appealing, maybe one day I'll get into live looping, who knows. Also the ability to play longer samples can be super useful for intros/outros etc... These are some of the reasons. I don't regret switching at all !

[@LUPIN-LIVETECHNO]

@@LucasMarchal Thanks for the detailed reply! Yeah I see, that all makese sense now. I know what you mean about the flexibility, can always find a different way of using it. Just wish it had overbridge :( Thanks!

[@LUPIN-LIVETECHNO]

@@LucasMarchalAh OK, I've never really tried time stretching and/or working with stems so I didn't really know about that aspect, that makes a lot of sense now. Yeah it's a beast, I just wish so much it had overbridge! Cheers!

[@jackpfarrelly]

Myself and a friend have a similar-ish setup to you, so this is interesting to see. It's a bit complicated, but one thing we've found really useful with the octatrack is the "crossfader trick" to transition between tracks, eg: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3KnYoCwj8ymg68 From what you were saying about working on the transitions, and also looking for a use for the crossfader, maybe you find this useful. You also get quite interesting results mixing between different tracks, particularly when the kickdrums have different characters or bass groove for example.

[@LucasMarchal]

I know this is an option but I've never tried it yet ! Thanks for the tutorial link

[@robertoroberto6355]

Im trying to figure out how to sequence my Tanzmaus with my OT and cant wrap my head aroung this either, IF you dont mind - could you somehow forward this conversation or something with the person who helped you? Would be so much appriciated

[@LucasMarchal]

I made a screenshot of the message luckily :) "On the OT MIDI Page, select track 1 and slick SRC twice. Here you will be able to select a Midi channel, press the corresponding knob and select it. Next, you want to set the note you want to send to your instrument. Enter the chromatic mode with FUNC+ down arrow and click the root note (the one in yellow). Your instrument should recognize this note and move on to the next instrument. You have to repeat this for the next tracks. Since each instrument has its own MIDI channel I don't think there's gonna be a problem if you use the same notes but be careful of selecting different midi channels for each track." This worked for me ! You just need to put the Tanzmaus in MIDI learn mode (shift + 16 if I'm not mistaken)

[@robertoroberto6355]

@@LucasMarchal Thanks so much mate, im so grateful for this help! Now its working. I can see that you also have your master volume at maximum, you suffer from low volume from the TM?

[@LucasMarchal]

@@robertoroberto6355 No problem, glad I could help ! I know I would have had trouble figuring it out myself. Actually I think the Tanzmaus output is pretty hot, I put the master volume at max but usually keep the instrument volumes pretty low.

[@crud0_ec]

HI Lucas! I’m also trying to figure this out. I already have my OT sequencing TM with a MIDI channel going to each of the instruments on the TM. But is there a way to also control the knobs? or how can you still do some live parameter recording, parameter locks, etc? Would appreciate it so much if you can give me any ideas on this :) Thanks for sharing!@@LucasMarchal