# Hands, With Occasional Face...

- Site: Analog Industries
- Author: Chris Randall
- Date: 2013-07-12
- URL: https://analogindustries.com/2013/07/hands-with-occasional-face/

<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9dYsFEgrxFE" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>

Fun with the Analog Four, driving an original Oberheim SEM and the Eurorack jank with its CV outputs. No DAW, no plug-ins, no computer. Everything is sequenced from, and mixed in, the A4. It's worth noting, if you're thinking of buying one, that the analog inputs on the A4 have very limited controls. If you want to give up a synth channel, you have full control, but if you're just bussing them to the outputs, you only have pan, level, and FX sends (chorus, delay, and verb.)

That being the case, the A4 isn't ideal for this situation. I think if one had both an Octatrack and an A4, one would have better luck with this sort of environment. I had actually been planning to buy an Octatrack fairly soon.

HOWEVER...

As those of you with the constitution to follow my relentless tweetstream know, the missus and I bought our first house last weekend. Things are moving at a punk-rock clip (largely because we got fully pre-approved before we offered on a house) and we close on August 9th. Aside from nipping my Octatrack Dreams right in the bud, this will no doubt prove to be a wise decision in the long run. Not least of which because it has a huge back yard. More than large enough to build a Facility in. (c.f. the previous post on the subject of Facilities.) Now, whenever someone says to me "I'm building a studio!" my first response is "did your parents drop you on your head?" But yeah...

Anyhow, if you don't hear from me for a couple three weeks, that's why. In other news, I did another video a few days back, and I never posted it here. Similar kit, but I multi-tracked it in Live instead of mixing directly in the A4. Here 'tis:

<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jRioEjFgCPY" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>

## Comments (36)

**Geo196** (2013-07-13):

Congrats on buying your first house! Very good feeling of land at home, it's yours. Good for you and your family!

Cheers.

**inteliko** (2013-07-13):

That resonance tune if f'n bananas.

**Jinsai** (2013-07-13):

Congratulations to you and your wife on the home purchase, Chris.

I always enjoy watching your work - it may not be exactly my thing, but it is inevitably inspiring.

**DGillespie** (2013-07-13):

Congrats on the house.

The kick drum in both those tunes is fantastic, are they both from the A4?

**ashtarbrian** (2013-07-13):

congrats on the house Chris. Makes you an official grownup right? :)

**DGillespie** (2013-07-13):

*are fantastic, even

**iTaco** (2013-07-13):

iThougth there was no love for the Octatrack. It would be interesting to see what you come up once you get it.

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-13):

@DGillespie: Yeah, both tracks' foots are from the A4. The A4 is singularly capable where the foot is concerned. I've had a hard time getting a good snare out of it (the noise is shift register, not white, so it can't really get a good snap), but as far as kicks go, it's game on.

@iTaco: I couldn't really see the Octatrack fitting in to my WORKFLOW when it came out, and the early demo videos were so bad, music-wise, they did zero to change my mind. But the last few videos they've put up, plus a hands-on demo, have made me more sanguin on the subject. Adam just got one, and I await his report, since his current WORKFLOW is similar to mine.

-CR

**inteliko** (2013-07-14):

Whats that module doing with all the blinking lights ?

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-14):

That's a René sequencer: http://www.makenoisemusic.com/rene.shtml

It is sequencing two of the percussion sounds.

-CR

**beauty pill** (2013-07-14):

The house is major and excellent news!

- c

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-14):

It's very strange because it feels so "adult." Living the lifestyle we live, we rarely interface with the adult world; the last time was when we bought a new car.

Another thing that intrigues me: the system for purchasing a house is remarkably efficient, given the number of people involved. It basically is just a matter of being willing and able, and picking one out. A couple emails to the corporate and personal accountants, a trip to the bank to initial some shit, and it's pretty much done.

I imagine, if one were purchasing something that was at the limit of one's finances, or one didn't have one's financial ducks in a row, one might have a less streamlined process in front of them. However, we have good credit, a big downpayment, and a thorough accounting of our financial deeds, all of which made everyone involved very happy.

It's still strange. Not used to this level of efficiency.

-CR

**bleen** (2013-07-14):

Wait until closing day - your hand will develop cramps from the number of times you have to sign/initial papers.

**darklordjames** (2013-07-15):

Nah, closing paperwork isn't even that big of a deal anymore. We were in and out in half an hour having signed like eighty pages. Besides, you are talking to someone that has sat down and signed a thousand copies of a disc as a purchase incentive. Eighty pages is nothing.

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-15):

Yeah. At the height of SMG's fame, I would easily sign a couple hundred autographs a night, and way more than that at a label-sanctioned record signing. As a result, my signature is a super streamlined scribble that only takes like 0.05 seconds to do.

-CR

**inteliko** (2013-07-15):

Dont forget about haggling prices down... and never take the first loan offer they make... at the end of the month when its time to meet quotas they have no prob dropping rates.... it may be a small drop, but whether your loan is 15/30 years it will shockingly add up to a large some than what you borrowed and make a huge difference...

**inteliko** (2013-07-15):

sum*

**synthetic** (2013-07-15):

Congratulations on the house.

For the backyard, just get an SSL Shed and you're done. http://www.solid-state-logic.com/news/article.asp?ID=16

**seancostello** (2013-07-15):

@synthetic: The SSL Shed is a Summerwood shed with NO sound insulation. Or any other insulation, for that matter. It has a $250K SSL console inside of it.

Having said that, the Summerwood sheds look like nice solutions for a home shed office. They have designs that work with a variety of architectural styles. Many of the other office sheds would only work with modern house styles. I've spent way too much time researching this lately.

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-15):

Luckily, I have in my toolset of skills the ability to actually design and build a building (I know, right? I'm a man of many talents. I amaze myself sometimes.) So I don't have to fool with some other chump's idea of a "shed" or whatever. And the building codes are so lax here for non-residential buildings as long as I keep an assault rifle in it that makes it totally legal. Or something.

-CR

**stevehumbert** (2013-07-16):

"with no financial penalty for the."

I typed that and thought I'd come back and fill in a suitably vile noun (plural) to describe these people. "Bastards", "fuckwads", "spunk bubbles"; that sort of thing.

Obviously no single description would suffice, and that's my excuse. I didn't just forget, no sirree.

This constant memory loss is a terrible

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-16):

Heh. That "fabulously wealthy" thing... a dirty secret of the music tech industry is Industry Accommodation Pricing. That is to say, we all give each other discounts basically at cost.

Embarrassingly, I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a piece of gear. Oh, maybe the Meeblips. I almost always say when I got something for free if I'm reviewing it here or whatever. Not all bloggers mention that fact.

-CR

**stevehumbert** (2013-07-16):

Does that mean you all have to sign an oath in blood promising not to reveal what "cost" actually is?

I can think of some bespoke guitar pedals, for example, where revealing the markup would surely cause the makers to shrivel up and die from embarrassment.

Mind you, if they had a sense of shame they wouldn't be making guitar pedals in the first place. Stealing candy from babies is demonstrably a morally superior profession to parting guitarists from large sums of cash.

"Here's a new guitar; we have spent no small amount of time ensuring it is fucked up exactly like that of "insert famous guitarist here"."

"Wow! Please take my $15K".

There ought to be a law protecting the poor souls.

Software wranglers are obviously exempt from such criticism, being saintly creatures who deserve every hard-earned cent.

Except if they work for S*%b*l (name redacted for legal reasons). In which case they can, in the words of Nicki Minaj, suck a big dick.

**seancostello** (2013-07-16):

I just realized that your post title is the reason I've had "Eyes Without A Face" stuck in my head all day. Thanks, Chris. That's JUST what I needed.

Hands, with occasional face

Got no human grace

Your HANDS with occasional fay-hace (fay-hace, fay-hace)

**j.j0b** (2013-07-16):

seancostello - curse you!

Adam Schabtach - I've been using the OT and A4 as mixers for external gear, which while limiting, does save me the expense (and space) of a separate mixer... for the moment anyway. Inserts and 4 (or 6) aux sends would be pretty nice I have to admit.

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-16):

Also, some USB and FW interfaces can be stand-alone mixers. I've used the MOTU Ultralite Mk 3 as a mixer on several occasions. The UI is a little odd, but it works great, and the built-in verb and dynamics aren't terrible.

-CR

**Chad** (2013-07-17):

One cool thing is that the A4 Inputs is that you can parameter lock Trigs and adjust OSC1+OSC2 to take Inputs L & R. Then on other Trig steps use an OSC voice. It can be fun for experimenting around, especially plocking the inputs on multiple tracks, each with their own filter and effects settings unique to the loaded Sound.

I've always enjoyed how all of the Elektron devices can be used to create daisy chains of gear.

**Adam Schabtach** (2013-07-17):

@j.j0b: Yeah, thanks; I do intend to mess with the signal routing of the Octactrack. Its I/O and internal FX should be handy.

@CR: That's a good point. A MOTU 828 wouldn't be a bad mixer and it occupies only 1U of rack space. I could add my existing A/D/A box via ADAT and end up with 16x16 analog I/O plus SPDIF.

Man, I'd kind of forgotten the one-thing-leads-to-another aspect of working with hardware.

Oh, for the purposes of disclosure: I paid street price for my Octatrack. I was impatient. It was the heat of the moment.

--Adam

**joshua-s** (2013-07-17):

As a bonus, MOTU boxes are nicely compatible with things like Silent Way. Those 1st gen 828's are still being supported by MOTU with driver updates, and work just fine in Mountain Lion. Unlike 99% of all the other interfaces which tend to go the way of doorstops after a couple of OS upgrades.

**Adam Schabtach** (2013-07-17):

@joshua-s: I'm actually already covered viz Silent Way, after having gone to admittedly extreme lengths; see my blog entry here: http://studionebula.com/blog/diy-synths/modified-tango

However, the intent here is to get away from the computer as much as possible. Silent Way is a wondrous thing, but if I wanted to stay in that mode of working I wouldn't have purchased the Octatrack. But yeah, your point stands.

MOTU interfaces are indeed good boxes, though. I had an 828mkII for a long time, after writing a review of it for a magazine. It's faintly ironic that I could use it again after having sold it many years ago. I reverted to my ancient RME PCI card which always felt a little... I dunno, more solid? tighter? less fiddly? than the 1394 interface. It's still cheerfully running under Windows 8, despite having originally been released with Windows 98 drivers.

--Adam

**justin3am** (2013-07-17):

Re: Industry Accommodation...

I always feel like an ass asking for accommodation pricing. It's a weird personality trait of mine (which probably explains the sheepish tone of the e-mail I sent Chris, earlier this year). I just don't feel entitled to special treatment, even if the treatment isn't THAT special.

I bought all my modular and Elektron stuff at full retail. I also try not to mention who I work for, unless I'm acting in some official capacity. I guess it's different if you are your company, as opposed to just an employee. I mean, as far as my employer is concerned I'm more than just an employee, but I don't really feel comfortable presenting myself as a rep for the company. Anyone naw'meen?

It's strange, because I have no problem passing on requests for accommodation pricing, from other people. I just feel weird making the request for my own benefit.

Sorry for the ramble. It's a topic that I wouldn't feel comfortable discussing at my normal haunts but I have always been curious how other people, who are employed within the music(al instrument technology) industry, feel about it.

**justin3am** (2013-07-17):

Oh and congrats on the house!

Glad to hear the experience wasn't so painful. My wife and I had a similar experience, everything went pretty smoothly. We had been planning for a few years just to make sure we didn't make any stoner mistakes.

**Chris Randall** (2013-07-17):

I used to be pretty reticent. But so many people have asked me for NFRs or trades in the last 10 years, I don't have any problem with it at all. It's a well-established aspect of our industry.

Plus, I can't afford all the things I want. So there.

-CR

**justin3am** (2013-07-17):

"Plus, I can't afford all the things I want. So there. "

I know the feeling. :smile:

I hope that didn't come across as "I'm better than you, nana-nana-nana". More observation of my stupid quirks than judgement.

It's funny, because I have acquaintances who work for companies whose gear I like and use. Each time they offer to hook me up with a deal, I have inevitably already bought the product in question (admittedly, this hasn't happened often). Perhaps it says more about my lack of self control/sense of thrift, than anything. Ha!

Peace,

- Justin

**j.j0b** (2013-07-17):

@CR a good reminder for me to RTFM on stand-alone operating mode for my RME Fireface UFX.

@AdamSchabtach I find that the one-thing-leads-to-another aspect of hardware is especially problematic after spending so many years in software land where you can easily have whatever you want. I often find myself drooling over pre-amps and compressors but then have to face the reality that I can't buy just one hardware compressor and replicate it on multiple channels at once. I could track into a DAW but that would ruin the fun of being away from my computer. Of course the non-replicating hardware compressor issue (bug?) just leads me to focus my obsession on buss compressors which I could slap across the whole shebang...

**Adam Schabtach** (2013-07-19):

@j.j0b: Yes, and that's basically why I'm going to make the compromise of using a DAW for mixing, and eventually for tracking. As much as I'd like to try working without a computer at all, practical constraints of space and money pretty much require a computer to be part of the system. I do have quite a collection of FX boxes now (accumulating signal processors is an occupational hazard for me) but getting them all cabled up without a big mixer or a computer (or possibly a standalone-capable interface, as discussed previously) is somewhat untenable. You can't have everything, in short.

--Adam