Anyone trying to enter chords into an Octatrack from Virus Ti in MultiMode?

[midiotsavant]

Hi,
I recently picked up an Elektron Octatrack to use with my Virus Ti. I love putting the Virus TI in Multi Mode and sequencing 8 patches from the Octatrack's 8 midi tracks. It works really well.

However, I have been having trouble/no luck getting the Virus Ti to send OR the Octactrack to receive midi notes from the Virus Ti's keyboard when the Virus is in Multi Mode. In Virus Ti Single mode, I can hold a step button down on the Octatrack, play a chord (up to 4 notes) on the Virus Ti keyboard and it records into the Octatrack at that step. However, as soon as I switch the Virus Ti to Multi Mode the Octatrack refuses to record any key presses (single or chords) from the Virus Ti keyboard. I have posted over at the Elektron forum but have not heard anything yet. Maybe it is not possible, but it can't hurt to ask. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[midiotsavant]

After reading the manuals further and experimenting a bit I have come to this conclusion. It is a question of each Part of the Virus Multi transmitting on a different channel i.e. Part 1 transmits on channel 1, Part 2 on channel 2 etc. The Octatrack appears to only receive MIDI on the channel designated as the "Auto Ch:", which is found under Project Settings, MIDI Channels.

For step recording notes from the Virus keyboard into the Octatrack, you either have to,

(1) manually change the "Auto Ch:" to match the Virus MIDI Channel of the Part you want to step record into the Octatrack from the keyboard

-OR-

(2) manually change the Virus MIDI Channel from the Virus EDIT Multi page that has the Midi channel selection for that Part to match the Octatrack's "Auto Ch:" channel setting.

After playing with both, I prefer (1) as you can leave the "Auto Ch:" page of the Octatrack settings screen up on the display and switch channels with one button press rather than using the more finicky encoder knob of the Virus. The downside is that you cannot see the details of the MIDI track you are step recording to while the settings screen is open. Also, the length of the recorded notes is fixed by the note length setting and not by how long you hold them on the keyboard.

The upside is that the sequencer can be running while you step record from the keyboard and you can audition chords alongside the pattern you already have playing before you decide to record them to a step. And the length of individual chords or notes once recorded can be easily changed by tweaking the encoder assigned to note length for that track (usually encoder C on the Octatrack).

[synthfiend]

I am interested in getting an octatrack!
can you answer some questions ?

how well do audio tracks from the octatrack sync with MIDI parts triggered on the virus ?

can you record everything down to the octatrack or do you still use a DAW ?

do you use a mixer for octatrack + virus ?

is side chaining parts out of the question ?

cheers

[midiotsavant]

Originally Posted by synthfiend

I am interested in getting an octatrack!
can you answer some questions ?

how well do audio tracks from the octatrack sync with MIDI parts triggered on the virus ?

can you record everything down to the octatrack or do you still use a DAW ?

do you use a mixer for octatrack + virus ?

is side chaining parts out of the question ?

cheers

From my relatively limited experience with the Octatrack, the audio tracks sync well with the MIDI parts triggered on the Virus. There is some latency. To my ears, it is really only noticeable if I sample, for example, a kick from the Virus. Then playback the kick sample from the Octatrack with an audio track trigger and also use an Octatrack MIDI track to trigger the Virus to play back the kick patch. But if you have different samples loaded in the audio tracks and are triggering different patches of the Virus from the Octatrack MIDI tracks, the latency does not bother me. I think it is pretty minimal.

I have not tried recording everything into Ableton from the Octatrack ... yet. I have been able to record 4 or 5 parts from the Virus played by Octatrack MIDI tracks into the sample side. It worked very well using recording triggers. For now I am seeing how far I can go without using the computer and DAW for anything. 100% Octatrack and hardware. I will post back once I have had more time to use the two together.

I do not use a mixer at this point. I control the volumes of each Virus Part by programming one of the Octatrack encoders on each Octatrack MIDI track to send out the patch volume CC for the Virus. So far it works pretty well.

I have not figured out if the internal Compressor effect of the Octatrack can be sidechained. For now I am working on sending the kick drum out through the Cue Out into the sidechain of my Overstayer VCA compressor to sidechain the rest of the track. I will post back if I find out it can be done 100% inside of the Octatrack. That is the one thing I wish the Octatrack had more of ... inputs and outputs. But sometimes being limited by the tools makes you more creative in the end.

[midiotsavant]

I think I have come up with a decent workflow if you want to play and step record notes/chords from the Virus's keys into the Octatrack MIDI tracks while the Virus is in Multi Mode.

1. Set up your Virus Multi Parts with the patches you want to hear on each Part. Leave the MIDI channel for each Part on the default settings. Part 1 receives Channel 1 MIDI, Part 2 receives Channel 2 MIDI etc.

2. On the Octatrack, setup each of the 8 MIDI tracks to send out MIDI on a channel matching each of the Parts in the Virus Multi. i.e. Octatrack MIDI track 1 set to MIDI channel 1 to trigger Part 1 of the Virus Multi, Octatrack MIDI track 2 set to MIDI channel 2 to trigger Part 2 of the Virus Multi and so on.

3. On the Octatrack set the "Auto Ch:" under Project, MIDI Channel settings to MIDI channel 16. This is important in order for the Octatrack to receive MIDI from the Virus's keyboard.

3. Turn Grid record on the Octatrack while on the MIDI tracks page.

4. On the Virus, switch to Part 16 (which by default transmits and receives MIDI on channel 16) and turn the Part off. This Part will not be used for sound, only to transmit MIDI to the selected Octatrack MIDI track for recording purposes.

5. On the Octatrack, select the MIDI Track that you want to step record in to. Press and hold a trigger and play a note or chords on the Virus keyboard. If setup correctly, it will record the note or notes into the selected MIDI Track at that step. You can do this while the Octatrack sequencer is running. You will not hear the note or chord as it is being recorded, but the next pass through the sequence it will trigger the corresponding Part of the Virus Multi. If you just play the Virus keys without holding down one of the Octatrack's triggers, you will hear the Virus patch as you play it. You can jam along with the rest of the MIDI triggered Parts before deciding what to step record.

6. To record the other Parts of the Virus Multi, just select a different MIDI Track on the Octatrack and repeat step 5 above. You don't have to manually change the Part on the Virus Multi each time. You just have to select the MIDI Track on the Octatrack i.e. MIDI Track 5 to record and trigger Virus Multi Part 5 and so on.

7. For more control of the individual Parts of the Virus Multi (without having to switch Parts on the Virus), it is very easy to setup the Octatrack's encoders to send out the CC messages you want to the Virus (i.e. Cutoff, Resonance, patch volume, ADSR etc.). This way you can tweak the Virus Part without having to leave the Octatrack, manually switch the Virus to the required Part etc.

I will revise this post as I learn more about playing the Virus and Octatrack together.

[synthfiend]

thanks for the info !

as a matter of interest, what style of music do you produce ?

would it be good for house / deep house ?

[phy]

Sorry for the little OT: I own an Octatrack and I'd like to buy a second hand Virus Ti (maybe a Snow). I'd like to know if I can write P-locks for the visrus CC and If I could send Program change from the Octa sequencer to the Virus. Thank You All.