Adding A4 to my setup? (not sure)

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#1

Hi Dear Elektronauts,

i am thinking in adding a second hand A4 MKI to my setup, but I am not pretty sure, because I guess could be too many machines for live control .

I do experimental ambient, and my actual setup includes MD (for textures and some percussion), DN (bass, lead and pads), Electric guitar with many effects and OT (mainly for resampling, looping, production and some punctual sounds).

The reason I would like to include A4 is because sometimes I think my music lacks of this warm analog sounds that DN just canā€™t provide. Of course guitar adds a nice organic vector, and with OT I can include samples, but I use a lot the DN for the main melodies and guess A4 could add something more to the melodies.

With this 4 pieces of hardware I feel OK live, I feel I still have control. But I donā€™t know if adding one more could start to be a mess.

I would love to hear your opinion.

ā€¦by the way, I am not the kind of guy that dreams with have a lot of synths. I just want to have enough.

Thanks in advance

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#2

For me personally I am a minimalist. Iā€™ve always felt that if you can achieve ā€œyour soundā€ with 3 pieces of gear, why add a fourth. Now of course, if you feel that your current setup is lacking something, or missing something that prevents you from being inspired, then add the A4.

The sound of the A4 is really nice, but again adding it just to ā€œhave something analogā€ probably isnā€™t the right decision. There are a lot of other less expensive small mono synths that integrate nicely into workflow that will give you that vibe without drastically changing your current setup.

I just feel that adding an A4 is a pretty big change to the overall setup if all you want is analog warmth.

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#3

I love my AK but if itā€™s a more classic ā€œwarmthā€ youā€™re after you might be better looking elsewhere. It can be steered to softer analog sounds but it does tend to veer towards harder, even digital sounding sounds - osc sync, AM, buzzy oscs, overdrive etc can all tip the sound away from warmer climes if youā€™re not careful. Just my take.

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#4

Youā€™re gonna get a ton of advice here about using what youā€™ve got until you know everything about every piece down to how many threads the bolts have that hold the front panel on.

I say get whatever you want and can afford. Why limit yourself to one ā€œsoundā€? Canā€™t your ā€œsoundā€ evolve?
Iā€™ve never really understood this monk-like behaviour of not buying any new gear until youā€™ve worn the paint off all your current gear. :man_shrugging:

You can get an A4 MKi for prob $700 easily and itā€™s worth twice that in real value IMO.
Very powerful device.

So short answer. Yes, get it. Totally worth it.

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#5

Thanks Garf,

could you please mention some other analog devices that have this classic warmth. I am actually thinking in A4 because I like the Elektron workflow.

#6

ā€¦more than three elektron devices at once in a live situation can easily grow out of handā€¦

but if u say ambient, this means to me, ur not in a rush and things got way more time to evolveā€¦
that might take out the stress u run into, once u perform for a realtime dancing mobā€¦

basically, the a4 mk1 is, for itā€™s actual 2hand pricetags between 600-700 bux, an absolute no brainer for what u getā€¦and itā€™s a mindblowing machine with itā€™s performance makros, especially for all ambient evolvementsā€¦
and itā€™s built in reverb, i still call one of my best in all my hardwareā€¦
itā€™s like in the digisā€¦but meh, not reallyā€¦might be due to the fact that the truu analog engine that feeds it. is such a beautyā€¦but whatsoeverā€¦itā€™s THE perfect ambience reverbā€¦

and for ur setupā€¦i think it still could work out fine, without becoming simply too muchā€¦
since u could run the a4 through dnā€™s inputsā€¦and get all audio hosted by the otā€¦

leaves only the guitar on an xtra mixer channelā€¦

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#7

Thanks. yes, I like to think I am a minimalist too (not sure :)) . My first issue was that, because I use DN so much in my music (is like my main instrument), that quickly starts clipping because I go after the 8 voices. Then I started thinking that maybe could be a good idea to add this analog sound.

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#8

Guitar directly in A4 MKI (with osc 2 AM). Keeper !


Analog 4 as fx processor - #13 by sezare56

Everytime I use it, something unexpected I really like comes out. Lots of possibilities and unique sound.

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#9

ā€¦thatā€™s a great ideaā€¦

depending on what u do with ur guitar, it could be sensationalā€¦using a4 to host the guitarā€¦
that means no external mixing at allā€¦and if ur really a minmalist, it wonā€™t grow out of oversight, since this way u can easily keep all sonic missions strict by keeping it pretty straight forward within every single machineā€¦

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#10

Yes, totally true about ambient and no rush liveā€¦ there is more time, no doubt. Thanks for sharing your experience with A4. Seems like a great machine.

About routing, now I am sendinging DN and guitar to OT and the MD going direct to the mixer.

I was thinking in using A4 for processing MD.

Any advice about routing would be welcome too!

thanks a lot

#11

Buy a patchbay and experiment everything !

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#12

Donā€™t get me wrong, I donā€™t want to put you off. Like I said it can do ā€˜warmthā€™ with some work (or some nice presets I guess, I donā€™t use them though) and is a crazy bargain for what you get. As for other suggestions, thatā€™s better answered by someone else. Dreadbox abyss would be a deluxe poly droner though - maybe their new one Nymphes is worth looking intoā€¦?

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#13

ā€¦for routingā€¦iā€™d sayā€¦make the ot ur master hubā€¦

let it host the mdā€¦and the dnā€¦
let the dn host the a4ā€¦
and the a4 the guitarā€¦

a patchbay is always great for most flexible experimentationsā€¦but thatā€™s studio terretoryā€¦
for live stage, iā€™d say, doing it as recommended, u get this kind of set up once presetted and established for real and stick with that, and rehearse, u end up with a truu realtime workflow setup ur always in sonic comfort zone, still always ready to surprise to urselfā€¦and let things evolve for realā€¦

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#14

Wow!!! Is this a guitar?!

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#15

It was. :content:
Osc 1 is set to external in, maxed overdrive otherwise the signal is too weak. Osc 2 modulates Osc 1 with amplitude modulation, but it is audible, depending on guitar playing, or internal notes (random arp). Unexpected results !
More explanations in link below the audio fileā€¦

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#16

Thanks sezare!

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#17

The A4 is great and a second hand MK1 is a steal for what you get.
2 inputs (that you can route through the filters/fx) + sequencer + FX (and an FX track you can sequence!) + OB alone could be worth the asking price.

But I donā€™t really consider the A4 as being ā€œwarmā€.
It can do a lot of things though and ā€œwarmā€ is also possible
but other analog synths could give you the warmth youā€™re after by just turning them on.

as @garf said Dreadbox Abyss or the new Nymphes or if a monosynth is OK, Typhoon could be great (Typhoon comes with some lovely FX that would work wonders for ambient).
Moog Subharmonicon is great too and could add a new color to your actual sound.

but then, the A4 has a lot to offer and sounds great!
A4/DN/MD/OT sounds like a of fun!

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#18

Just watched a Rick Beato video with Sting who said exactly this. Drum lead and bass plus vocals of course :slight_smile:

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#19

and the thing is, I am in no way trying to talk anyone out of buying a great piece of gear! Its just that I have always felt that when another fully featured gear thing is added into your process, there is the learning curve (however small it may be), integrating it, then you have to figure out how its going to fit in, and I think that it ends up totally changing the direction that you were going. Now that sometimes isnā€™t a terrible thing, but if you are at the point where you are in the groove and just need to make some adjustments, adding an A4 could flip things on its head!

One thing I didnā€™t think of that would give some analog love and still keep things mostly the way you have them would be some kind of analog signal processor. The Analog Heat comes to mind immediately, and Iā€™m fairly certain that the MK.1 models are cheap second hand. I actually have a rack mount modular ā€œeffectsā€ thing that I often use along with guitar pedals that I route lots of things through with varied results (usually pretty good).

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#20

If you are just after a bit of love(warmth) then the Heat would be a great addition to your set up. Not an instrument but do you need another?

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