Octatrack tutorial - How I make generative ambient

Many people asked me to show how I make my generative ambient jams with the Octatrack, here it is. This is my first attempt at making a tutorial, so be gentle. If you have questions, ask in the comments.

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You can find more of my music here:

[endless_arps]

Very late to the party but this is a great video, just got my octatrack mk2 since a few months and I must say I absolutely love it. It is such a deep machine even now still after a decade it holds its value 🖤

[roknsound]

One of the most simplest OT videos I’ve seen, but really got me thinking about new ways to create music. Thank you for posting!!!

[synthsbythesea]

Remarkable ! Thanks so much for sharing

[howardanderson]

Wow what a great segment on Ambient music in general even without the Octatrack.
Excellent tutorial...thank you!

[canigetuuhhh]

That's exactly what I like about the OT, it's a very versatile machine when it comes to creativity like this. Very good video man

[howardanderson]

OK, a year or so later your Youtube shows up in my cue and what difference a year makes....I really understand and get it now!
One thing I've humbly learned is that, it takes a lot of time and patience to even begin to really "get" amazing machines/instruments like the OT
Thanks once again for bringing this to all of us, I know it takes a lot to produce such a YouTube

[jamessusbilla]

amazing. thank *YOU* it's cool how you have to find the sweet spot. that's one of the best feelings. =)

[Melanholix]

I need to dive into that ambient stuff with Octa, thanks for the tutorial.

[AgustinDavidF]

Super great!!!! Thanks so much for the tips and the tutorial

[BrunoWiebelt]

just great ... remembers me to not be to complicated

[RandomNoise]

This tutorial is exactly what I needed, thank you for that!!!

[PatchMonger]

Hey man tha k you for putting this together. It’s excellent and just what I was looking for. Still doing baby steps with my octatrack

[leafcuter]

Great tutorial, Marcos, thank you. 3 questions, if you please. 1, what prep do you do for your samples in logic in terms of effects (i noticed a compressor, what was it doing?) and gain staging? 2, how did you arrange the spoken word samples, particularly the one that seems to play for a long time? and 3, can you describe your choices in making the arrangement? sorry for so many questions, but it's your fault for inspiring me! :)

[rimsky_korsakow]

how would you keep the long drones from cutting off once the sequencer jumps back to page 1 again?

[iveno_]

Great tutorial, I am a bit freaked out by computer software editing stuff. Could I also just do this by recording from my synth directly in the OT? Thank you, ....great videos you have about this machine which might replace my RC505 looper.

[scottbrownNZ]

Thanks for creating this video man, it has been infinitely helpful with my octatrack education. One issue I have is that the octatrack seems to repeat 1 or 2 slices a lot more than the other slices that are available regardless of the depth percentage that I set, does anyone know why this might be?

[tsfspeedruns]

Could you explain how you use random lfo for volume, panning, attack and reverb please

[petersambrini]

Marcos. This is a great tutorial and i will attempt it. Can you tell me if the Drones(long samples are sliced 16 times as well)? Or just left running as one long loop. Cheers

[Oceanwireaudio]

Hi, How do get the PMTR - SRC - START on the LFO, it doesn't exist on mine?

[Delfiinit]

Hi Marcos! I've owned an Octatrack Mk2 for about two months now and I'm also into generative composition techniques. So I tried this method (sliced pre-made scales in static slots) today and it works very well. However, the OT manual explicitly says that the track LFOs on static machines can not modulate the sample start parameter. I didn't even know that before doing some research on another issue. Why is it that it works in your example? Is it because the samples are sliced? Or because they're relatively short recordings? With longer samples it apparently causes some issues and can make the OT go out of sync if you're using MIDI and other gear. Or is it just something that's not meant to be done but can be done if you're adventurous enough and that's why the manual discourages it?