Your Modular Synthesizer's Best Friend: The Elektron Octatrack

In this video resident expert Matthew Piecora (aka EZBOT) shares why he thinks the Elektron Octatrack is a great addition to your modular synthesizer.
Since its first appearance, over a decade ago, the Octatrack has been mangling its way into the hearts and minds of live performers and audiences across the globe. Its dynamic sampling powers have turned it into an industry standard across a wide variety of genres, changing the way gear setups look and giving artists the power to perform live in the truest sense of the word. More than ever, this is a machine to set your imagination free.
Order the Elektron Octatrack here: bit.ly/octatra...
patchwerks.com/
Demo by: Matthew Piecora
Video by: Matthew Piecora (aka EZBOT)
www.ezbot.live

[@grandmasterjo1]

Love the way you do justice to the Octatrak. Thanks to you my OT is the cockpit in my setup. Nice 👍

[@a1o1]

This is exactly how I use my Octatrack and modular - but I guess no surprise since the EZBot Octatrack videos helped me get there :)

[@cl1xor]

lol. i was just here to point out that we should give EZBot the credits for live/recorded slider trick but it was actually him himself

[@EZBOT_]

@@cl1xor "But It was me Dio Brando!" :P

[@vonehrenheim]

Super cool! I am struggling a bit to get fluid transitions on the modular. This is a really interesting option! Thanks for the great explanation of how you achieve this w the OT!

[@Natemasterflex]

I’ve always wanted an Octatrack, I have the Analog Keys since it was released and still love it! Great video as usual 🤘😼🤘

[@cold_fashioned]

Thanks for breaking things down so clearly. Looking forward to trying some of these moves out.

[@ElliotMurphy]

Great explanation! New lenses looking great 👍

[@troyouttram]

Love it 😍 great work Matt this is a good refresher for me

[@snoopyoverthehills]

EZBOT FTW! thank you for sharing all this knowledge!

[@aSimpleChat]

Nicely done. You instruct very clearly and it's inspiring as a new OT user. Thank you! Pretty chill how you recorded the pattern and let it play then slid back onto the prerecorded sample in the OT. I have to watch that part again as that's what i want to do using my OB-6. Your have simple but powerful and well thought out/produced videos. Jam on!

[@XanderEwald]

Insightful video, thanks!

[@EZBOT_]

Thanks, I enjoy your content as well!

[@maarzt]

very good, very clarifying. I guess it makes a case for having 2 separate sequencers in operation...I wonder how you'd set the OT up to perform both duties...sequence external synths AND do the clock mixing and transition stuff. Nice thing about having that external sequencing is that you can change your pattern without messing with or having to complicate the OT project...I think...?

[@mikesegarra869]

I can’t even imagine how fun your cf card is lol

[@allyouracid]

> don't know the Patchwerks channel, yet (subscribed, btw) > See this Octatrack > "It's got to be EZBOT's OT!" > Matthew shows up 😁 Your way of using the OT is such an inspiration for me, i really love the idea of having this record loop which you can use to switch stuff in the background. Also, the effects... 🤯 Btw, this video just made me understand how to use random locks properly - just tried it once or twice, but didn't set the playback trigs. Guess I'll be playing a bit, this afternoon. 👍

[@tubeyouricky]

Awesome demo!

[@mynmyself]

This is how I use my ipad and eurorack live. I need to find a good midi controller to make everything a bit more playable, but I love the whole method of looping/sampling the modular so I can free up the patch and change the whole setup whilst the loop is running and I can still apply effects, slice, etc to give some variation to the loop. I am using an Expert Sleepers ES9, so I have 8 inputs from the modular (so I can independently loop different synth voices and drums), inside AUM running a bunch of different effects and loopers. Best setup technique ever in my opinion. I literally spent many years playing live with my modular and feeling it got super boring after around 20 mins of playing around the same patch I was enslaved to.

[@stephenmurphy8349]

Nice!

[@shedarfondu]

excellent

[@nealen]

very cool!

[@des7638]

So dope! Great combo

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

I just got the octatrack, because of this live switching between audio input and recoding. Plan to use it with my synths. Now all I need is a modular rack 😋

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Octatrack is complex but an amazing machine. Sample modular, chop up modular samples and profit.

[@McEnroe911]

Great video.

[@kostantinosmag2986]

This great nice one 🎶

[@phshy]

Great video! I use the nerdseq and OT combo as well and it's great to see your techniques. Can I ask how you get the scene to do the beat-repeat type sound? Is the scene automating delay control? Thanks!

[@TNNLZ]

Still trying to figure out how to set this up. This is pretty much the main thing I want to use the Octa for but there are SO MANY settings. I see he’s using a Flex machine on 7 but it says SRC>Flex in the lower bar so I’m missing something. Any clues? Yes, I know this a year old and various artists have been using this technique for a decade - I don’t care. Just want to use the octa with my modular.

[@mynameismynameis666]

note: seamlessness only works if you don't have long tails of lfos, envelopes and reverb/delay on the recorded sample, that would of course produce an audible cut in whatever sonic movement is still unresolved

[@nsiivola]

"Don't record effects on your loop" applies here as well, I guess. :D This is pretty much what I'm planning to use 2hp's looper for.

[@MichaelToop]

Nice Ezbot!

[@jasonbarile2014]

You make that look too easy!

[@banyarling]

Nice vid. My impression of the Octatrack is still high effort/price, low reward for a DAW studio setup, but amazing for performance purposes. Feedback, anyone?

[@squelette20]

Very nice! I have a question though. How do you monitor what the modular synth is playing while you're turning knobs etc, while the OT is playing the recorded loop? Do you simply use headphones plugged to the modular synth, or is there another way to monitor the sound going from the synth into the OT (but not being sent to the speakers). You channel is honestly the only one I've watched that makes using the OT look like fun. Thank you for your very accessible videos!

[@sebp400]

good question! I know there's a module for that but is there another way?

[@mynameismynameis666]

actually there are 2 best friends and they are almost equally expensive: the allen&heath qu-16 and the octatrack. no question about it.

[@mntbighker]

I'm revisiting a few EZBOT vids since getting on the Patreon party. I have a couple of questions. How does the Octatrack input like the PM output? (voltage/impedance mismatch?) Any reason you used the PM output, and not the PM external effects loop? On mine I got a 4MS Listen IO to fix levels both in and out. My Analog Rytm mk2 goes direct to AB, and my PM effects loop goes to CD and Main via the Listen IO. I run the main PM output to my ES-9, and I keep VCV Rack running to route the audio to my amp. I do virtually nothing in VCV, but I COULD do plenty with it or a DAW if I wanted to. This affords me a lot of options (too many probably). *_ I'm open to any and all alternative ideas to optimize/improve this setup. **_* Oh, and for clock I run Pam's into Nerdseq, and out to Midi (OT, AR), with resets sprinkled around as needed. It's a bit of a hassle to have to start everything from the Nerseq if you are mostly noodling the OT. But it's muscle memory for me at this point to use Pam's for clock ALWAYS. It does get interesting mixing Pam's multiply/divide rates to accommodate various device requirements. Acid Rain Maestro isn't 24ppqn for example (it has to be x8 not x24 in Pam). And I'm fumbling around in the dark a lot (newb wise) so it can be trial and error. I feel like a small miracle happened to get this far ;-)

[@andrewbradt984]

Do you have a template of this on your Patreon?

[@pepejul]

I've also seen the thru track record trigger being place at the last step and microtimed to the very last position (Ricky Tinez I think). Is there an advantage to do that vs placing it on the first step?

[@edjefferson9175]

I think I heard you say "zero crossing"? So when you record these loops there is not the problem of clicks at the beginning of the loop? Is there a way to use a foot switch to start recording?

[@PatchwerksSeattle]

Correct!

[@jamiesmith1776]

How do you set everything up to achieve this? Could you please go into those details

[@Bezz_Jeens]

How are you listening to the modular while the recording is playing? I’ve set up something similar but can’t figure out how to have the scene change between cue and master

[@conradclipper]

I’d guess a simple headphone cue module eg ALM HPO

[@fredbloss]

what is the MIDI cable from your Octatrack connecting to here? I dont see a uMidi or anything ...

[@PatchwerksSeattle]

It's connected to the midi input on on the NerdSeq, its a small 2hp expander that has a TRS Midi cable a bit hidden on the side.

[@hakonanthonsen3543]

how do you do those fill on the drums? do you simply press the up arrow or do you have to set something up?

[@EZBOT_]

UP + PAGE to active the trig condition FILL

[@hakonanthonsen3543]

@@EZBOT_ Very Nice, thank you 😃

[@evanbingham8]

Looks like the setup is still smoking after that recent freq boutique

[@mindrobber1962]

For transitions within you modular get yourself a CV recorder/looper.

[@LittleMusicBoxes]

Could you replicate this functionality with an MPC Live 2?

[@EZBOT_]

I think you could do something similar - but it wouldn't be the same without the crossfader and designing your own fx. Still would be good though and worth it!

[@timnordberg7204]

how does it handle 10V p-p signals? What about 0-8V unipolar signals?

[@nilskozstum8256]

Modular levels will clip the OT on the input stage if they are not attenuated. I use a bubblesound reducer to get my modular down to line levels and haven't had any issues with it.

[@AdamDaughterson]

I’ve noticed that I can record my modular into a thru machine, but the AED doesn’t come up. The only way I can get to the sample is through fn+rec3, but not actually play the sample with the thru track. How’d you do that?

[@AdamDaughterson]

Oh, I see it now. You are recording the modular onto a recording buffer, and track 7 is a flex machine listening to AB, so you are monitoring the modular on track 2, but recording it to RB 7, and your scenes either bring up the volume on the thru machine, or the flex machine.

[@rascal_rae]

first!

[@easibroeasibrode6381]

👀

[@ZenMountain]

Everybody has been doing this since 2010.

[@31pas0]

Writing useless smug comments? I think, it's started much, much earlier.

[@fantasyproduct1042]

@@31pas0 especially they have no KZbin content themselves 🤷

[@russ254]

I’d never know without this video!