Electron Octatrack MKII Quick Manual
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Electron Octatrack MKII Quick Manual

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Octatrack MKII
More than a sampler
Quick Guide

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Summary of Contents for Electron Octatrack MKII

  • Page 1 Octatrack MKII More than a sampler Quick Guide...

  • Page 3: Thank You

    Octatrack MKII THANK YOU Thank you for purchasing Octatrack MKII. During its seven year life span, the original Octatrack quickly became one of the most widely used live performance samplers. An industry standard if there ever was one. It undoubtedly changed the way gear setups look like and gave artists the power to perform live in the truest sense of the word.
  • Page 4 FCC compliance statement This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the follow- ing two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
  • Page 5 European Union regulation compliance statement This product has been tested to comply with the Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC and the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2004/108/EC. The product meets the requirements of RoHS 2 Directive 2011/65/EU. Your product must be disposed of properly according to local laws and regulations.

  • Page 6: Important Safety Instructions

    IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS 1. Do not use the unit near water. 2. Never use aggressive cleaners on the casing or on the screen. Remove dust, dirt and fingerprints with a soft, dry and non-abrasive cloth. More persistent dirt can be removed with a slightly damp cloth using only water.
  • Page 7 WARNING! TO REDUCE THE RISK OF FIRE, ELECTRICAL SHOCK OR PRODUCT DAMAGE • Do not expose the unit to rain, moisture, dripping or splashing and also avoid placing objects filled with liquid on the unit. • Do not expose the unit to direct sunlight, nor use it in ambient temperatures exceeding 40°C as this can lead to malfunction.

  • Page 8: Table Of Contents

    2.2 REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS ..........14 3. OVERVIEW OF THE OCTATRACK MKII STRUCTURE ..........15 3.1 SETS .
  • Page 9 5.2 ENTERING DEMO MODE ........... . . 21 5.3 PLAYING THE DEMO PATTERNS .

  • Page 10: Introduction

    1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 CONVENTIONS IN THIS MANUAL The following conventions are used throughout the manual: Key names are written in upper case, bold style and bracketed letters. For instance, the key labeled “FUNC” is called [FUNC]. Menu names are written in upper case letters. The SRC SETUP menu is an example of that.

  • Page 11: Panel Layout And Connections

    2. PANEL LAYOUT AND CONNECTIONS 2.1 FRONT PANEL CONTROLS 1. [REC1] and [REC2] keys are used for real-time sampling through the external inputs. [FUNC] + [REC1/2] opens the RECORDING SETUP 1/2 menus. 2. [REC3] key is used for real-time sampling from internal sources. [FUNC] + [REC3] opens the RECORDING EDIT menu.
  • Page 12 4. Screen. 5. <CARD STATUS> LED, indicating the activity of the Compact Flash card. 6. LEVEL sets the overall volume level of the active track. [FUNC] + LEVEL sets the main output volume. 7. DATA ENTRY knobs. Used to set parameter values. Press the knob when turning to change values in larger increments.
  • Page 13 17. [NO] key. Used for exiting an active menu and for deselecting options. Secondary functions disarm one shot trigs or one shot recorder trigs. 18. [YES] key. Used for entering sub-menus and for confirming choices. Secondary func- tions arms one shot trigs or one shot recorder trigs. 19.

  • Page 14: Rear Panel Connections

    2.2 REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS 1. POWER, Switch for turning the unit on and off. 2. DC In, Input for power supply. Use the included PSU-3b power adapter, connected to a power outlet. 3. USB, For connecting the unit to a computer. Use the included A to B USB 2.0 connec- tor cable to connect to a computer host.

  • Page 15: Overview Of The Octatrack Mkii Structure

    E ects Assignment Machine Assignment 3.1 SETS A set is the top level structure of the Octatrack MKII. It can contain a near unlimited amount of projects plus one audio pool. The number of samples in the audio pool, as well...

  • Page 16: Audio Pool

    Flex and Static sample slot lists. 3.3 PROJECTS For the Octatrack MKII to work as intended, a set needs to be mounted and a project needs to be loaded. A project contains 16 banks, 8 arrangements, 8 track recorders and...

  • Page 17: Scenes

    Static sample slot list, which can host 128 Static samples streamed from the Compact Flash card. A single Static sample can be as big as 2 gigabytes. Thru machines are used to listen to the inputs of the Octatrack MKII. They can be used to affect incoming audio with filters and effects.

  • Page 18: The User Interface

    4. THE USER INTERFACE The screen is the information center of the Octatrack MKII editing. The main interface screen is shown below: 1. Track icons that shows the machine assignments and status of the tracks. The active track is highlighted. Track assignments are abbreviated. “F” = Flex machine, “S” = Static machine, “T”...

  • Page 19: Screen Navigation

    6. Up to six track parameters. They show what the DATA ENTRY knobs control and also indicate the current parameter values. When two parameters are related to each other in some way, they will have a small “clip” between them as shown below: 7.

  • Page 20: Func] Key Press Combinations

    2. Connect the MAIN OUT L/R from the Octatrack MKII to your mixer or amplifier. 3. If you want to use MIDI, connect MIDI OUT from the Octatrack MKII to the MIDI IN of the device you wish to send data to. Connect the MIDI IN of the Octatrack MKII to the MIDI OUT of the device you wish to receive data from.

  • Page 21: Entering Demo Mode

    5.2 ENTERING DEMO MODE In demo mode, the Octatrack MKII can play back a set of 16 demo patterns without need- ing to have a Compact Flash card inserted. Demo mode is a great way to get acquainted with the basics of the Octatrack MKII. Note that you can not save any changes made to the sounds or patterns while in demo mode.

  • Page 22: Experimenting With Scenes

    5.5 EXPERIMENTING WITH SCENES Scenes contain locked parameters. The crossfader is used to morph between the locked scene parameters. 1. Select any demo pattern. Set the crossfader to its rightmost position. This will fully activate the scene assigned to scene slot B. 2.

  • Page 23: Using Parameter Locks

    6. THE SEQUENCER The Octatrack MKII's sequencer stores information in patterns. Patterns consist of infor- mation about how the eight audio tracks and eight MIDI tracks should be played back. 6.1 SELECTING A PATTERN 1.

  • Page 24: Trig Types

    A trig is a sequencer event that you can place when you want the sequencer to perform an action. The Octatrack MKII sequencer accommodates a number of different trig types. Trigs can be entered while being in GRID or LIVE RECORDING mode and are, depending on the type of trig, indicated by red, green or yellow [TRIG] key colors.

  • Page 25: Pattern Recording Modes

    [TRIG] keys. 6.4 PATTERN RECORDING MODES The Octatrack MKII offers two main modes of inputting trigs when creating a pattern: GRID RECORDING mode and LIVE RECORDING mode. To create a new pattern first select an empty pattern slot in one of the banks.

  • Page 26: Live Recording Mode

    If the pattern contains more than 16 steps, switch to the pattern page you want to edit by pressing the [PAGE] key. The active pattern page is indicated by a fully lit <PAGE> LED. 6.6 LIVE RECORDING MODE LIVE RECORDING mode is the second method of adding trigs to the tracks. In this record- ing mode, all the [TRIG] keys are played in real time to input trigs to the tracks.

  • Page 27: Scale Setup

    Enter a lock trig by pressing [FUNC] + [TRIG]. With a lock trig, you can modulate the sound without trigging a note. Remove a single parameter lock by holding [TRIG] + pressing the DATA ENTRY knob of the locked parameter. If you remove a sample trig and then enter it again, all parameter locks are erased from the trig.

  • Page 28: The Midi Sequencer

    LEVEL knob to change settings. 6.9 THE MIDI SEQUENCER The Octatrack MKII MIDI sequencer has 8 dedicated MIDI tracks. It is used to control external, MIDI equipped, gear. Each MIDI track can trigger a chord of up to 4 notes with adjustable velocity and length, control pitch bend and aftertouch as well as 10 freely as- signable control change parameters.

  • Page 29: Technical Information

    7. TECHNICAL INFORMATION ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATIONS HARDWARE Impedance balanced audio outputs 128 × 64 pixel OLED screen Main outputs level: +17 dBu peak MIDI In/Out/Thru Output impedance: 440 Ω unbalanced 2 × 1/4” impedance balanced main audio Digital S/N ratio: 104 dB (20–20,000 Hz) out jacks 2 × 1/4”...

  • Page 30: Credits And Contact Information

    8. CREDITS AND CONTACT INFORMATION CREDITS CONTACT INFORMATION PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT ELEKTRON WEBSITE Oscar Albinsson https://www.elektron.se Ali Alper Çakır OFFICE ADDRESS Magnus Forsell Elektron Music Machines MAV AB Anders Gärder Sockerbruket 9 Jimmy Myhrman SE-414 51 Gothenburg Jon Mårtensson Sweden David Revelj TELEPHONE...

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