Elektron Octatrack - Manual (Page 90)

PATTERNS
78
Select a pattern from another bank by first selecting the bank by using the [BANK] +
[TRIG] keys. After the “CHOOSE PATTERN” prompt appears, press one of the [TRIG]
keys to select a pattern located in the chosen bank.
PATTERN CONTROL
Pressing [PLAY] will start the playback of a pattern. Pressing [STOP] will stop the playback
of all tracks, except tracks containing Thru machines. The sound will be cut off, but effects
like the Echo Freeze Delay will continue to be audible until the delay repeats have faded
out. When the sequencer is stopped, quickly pressing [STOP] + [STOP] will stop playback
of all tracks containing Thru machines, kill the Echo Freeze Delay and send out an all notes
off MIDI command on all MIDI tracks. After a pattern has been stopped, pressing [PLAY]
will make the pattern start playing from the beginning.
When a pattern is playing and [PLAY] is pressed the playback will be paused. Press
[PLAY] again to resume the playback.
PATTERN CHAINING
You can use pattern chaining to loop a sequence of patterns. It is only possible to chain
patterns located in the same bank, and a chain can not contain the same pattern twice.
Chain patterns by pressing and holding the [PATTERN] button and then press and hold the
[TRIG] keys in the same order as you want the chained patterns to play. Chaining is indi-
cated by a double arrow between the current pattern and the pattern that will play next.
Several patterns can be chained.
Pressing [STOP] while a pattern chain is playing will stop playback and reset the pattern
chain. Next time [PLAY] is pressed the pattern chain will start playing from the beginning. If
[STOP] has been pressed, pressing [STOP] again will unlink all patterns in the chain.
RECORDING MODES
The Octatrack offers two main modes of inputting trigs when creating a pattern, GRID
RECORDING mode and LIVE RECORDING mode.
GRID RECORDING MODE
GRID RECORDING is a method of composing where trigs are added by using the 16
[TRIG] keys. In the default state, the 16 [TRIG] keys represent 1 bar of 16th notes. This is
however dependent on the SCALE SETUP settings.
Enter GRID RECORDING mode by pressing the [REC] key. A lit red <REC> LED indicates
GRID RECORDING mode is active. Select the track to which you want to add trigs by
pressing the relevant [TRACK] button. Place for example sample trigs on the sequencer by
pressing the [TRIG] keys. Sample trigs are indicated by red <TRIG> LEDs. Several trig
variants exist and they are covered in section “TRIG TYPES” on page 78.
If the pattern contains more than 16 steps, switch to the pattern page you want to edit by
pressing the [PATTERN PAGE] key. The active pattern page is being indicated by a fully lit
<PATTERN PAGE> LED.
Press [PLAY] to listen to the sequence. You can input sample trigs when the sequencer is
playing as well.