Playing Chords into the Octatrack from Virus TI keys in MultiMode. Possible?

[audiohack]

EDIT: The short answer to the question is YES! See 4 posts down for the steps.

I recently picked up an Elektron Octatrack to use with my Virus Ti keyboard. 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 played 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. Maybe it is just not possible, but I can't seem to figure out why. Any insight or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have posted over at two other gear specific forums. If I get an answer I will post back here as well. I can't be the only one using the Octatrack and Ti together ... can I?

Thanks

[Yoozer]

What if it's sending on another MIDI channel in multimode, depending on which part you picked?

[audiohack]

Yes. I think that has to be it. The Multi Mode reference chapter in the TI User Guide is not all that clear. Switching the Global Channel on the TI while in Multi Mode has no effect on notes from the keyboard getting to the Octatrack on the correct channel. I cycled through all 16 channels and tryed the keyboard each time. But it looks like the Global Channel setting is used for Single Mode, and from the User Guide when in Multi Mode, only for "switching between MULTI mode programs vis the MIDI message 'Program Change'."

So that leaves the individual MIDI Channel settings in each Part/patch in Multi Mode. The User Guide states that this setting dictates which MIDI channel that Part will respond to. I assume this means that notes played on the keyboard while in that Part will also be transmitted to the TI's MIDI Out on the same channel. It never states that anywhere that I could find, but it is logical ... and thinking about it now, probably very obvious. I mistakenly assumed the Global Channel setting from the Config tab would route the MIDI Out to the specified channel while in Multi Mode.

I will do so more testing on the Octatrack side of this. The Octatrack has a different way of dealing with incoming MIDI. As far as I can tell, it will only receive incoming MIDI notes from an external keyboard on the same channel that is specified as the "Auto channel" in the Octatrack's MIDI settings. Let me check this out and post back if that is the case.

Thanks for your response. It got me thinking about the problem from a different angle.

[audiohack]

Originally Posted by Yoozer

What if it's sending on another MIDI channel in multimode, depending on which part you picked?

After more experimentation, I have come to the conclusion that you are correct. 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).

[audiohack]

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.