Elektron Octatrack - Manual (Page 67)

TRACK RECORDERS AND PICKUP MACHINES
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A recorder buffer thus functions just like a Flex sample and needs, just like a regular Flex
sample, to be assigned to a Flex machine before it can be trigged by the sequencer. How-
ever, when sampling with a Pickup machine, no buffer needs to be assigned since Pickup
machines are hard-linked to the track recorders and recorder buffers. Read more how to
assign samples to machines in section “ASSIGNING FLEX AND STATIC SAMPLES TO
MACHINES” on page 66.
• Recorder buffer samples are not retained in memory after the Octatrack has been
switched off. If you want to keep them they need to be saved to the Compact Flash
card. This is done either in the audio editor, described in the section “FILE” on
page 104, or in the RECORDING SETUP EDIT menu, which is accessed by press-
ing [FUNCTION] + [BANK] while either RECORDING SETUP windows is active.
• Before starting to sample using the track recorder sampling methods, it is often a
good idea to first assign a recorder buffer to the Flex machine of a track. The
recorder buffer should preferably correspond to the track recorder you are going
to use when sampling. If for example track recorder 1 is used, recorder buffer 1
could be assigned to a Flex machine assigned to track 1. When sampling with
track recorder 1 you will then immediately be able to play back the recorded sam-
ple.
PICKUP MACHINE SAMPLING
Pickup machines offer a specialized way of sampling and are oriented towards building
loops. By using Pickup machines it is possible to capture loops, add overdubs, repeat
looped sections, add new loops and even adjust the general Octatrack BPM to the BPM of
captured loops. Pickup machines can be controlled with for example MIDI foot controllers,
making them very well suited for live manipulation of audio.
Pickup machines are still dependent on track recorders and recorder buffers, but can be
regarded as an alternate way of controlling them. As soon as a Pickup machine is assigned
to a track, it is hard-linked to the both the track recorder and the recorder buffer of that
track. Pickup machine behavior is thus controlled by the settings available in the RECORD-
ING SETUP menus. The source they will sample from is set there and the same goes for
recording length, fade in/outs and so on. Since Pickup machines are linked to recorder
buffers as well, no recorder buffer assignments need to be done for a Pickup machine to
play back recordings. Note that for a Pickup machine to be able to sample, the track it is
assigned to needs to be active.
Given Pickup machines are focused on loops, their playback works very differently com-
pared to Flex and Static machines. Pickup machines are not possible to sequence, nor
parameter lock. The screen graphics for the Pickup machines also differ a bit compared to
other machines. Where the sample name is normally shown, the playback position and