OctaLib is a simple librarian app for the Elektron Octatrack.
Why should such a thing exist? While Octatrack is a great product, it's lacking some core librarian functionality, and to my knowledge, no such product exits today.
Some simple operations--such as swapping banks within a projects--can be done directly on the filesystem, but more advanced operations involve rewriting Octatrack's proprietary files in a way that is beyond the average user.
OctaLib will be developed using a phased approach.
Provide a basic view of a project, with the ability to swap banks within a project. This will include:
- A grid layout showing occupied banks and patterns
- Part numbers for each pattern
- Part names for each bank
Phase 1 is partially complete: OctaLibConsole can be used to view a crude visual representation of a project, as well as swap banks within a project.
OctaLibApp currently displays a visualization of the project, including part names for every pattern, and a UI for swapping will be provided next.
Known issues:
- The logic to determine if a pattern contains data is currently flawed--a pattern is only considered as having content if there's a regular (non recording) trig on page 1.
- Add more advanced operations, such as swapping parts and patterns between banks.
- Reordering project samples (this will require rewriting banks and markers)
- Creating new composite projects from existing banks (i.e. copy bank 1 from project A, bank 2 from project B, etc.)
This project is currently divided into three parts:
OctaLib: a class library containing functions to query information about projectsOctaLibConsole: a Windows console app mainly intendedOctaLibApp: a Windows UI app that will serve as the main application
For notes and findings re: reverse engineering the Octatrack file format, see Research.