Hi,
I am new to the A4. Can I play just one of a set of sequences? Like the 2nd or 3rd or 4th. I would like to work on the sound of one set and then change back to running all four. Looked in the manual but can’t find any info there unless I missed it.
I don’t own the a4, but the way i’ve done this on the older elektrons will likely work:
go into rec mode and with function + arrow keys you can move the sequence forward and backward. do this with yours till the bit you want to work on is on the first page, then change the pattern to a 16-step single page.
when you’re finished editing, expand the pattern back to 64 steps … your previous work should still be there.
Haven’t gotten that deep into the A4 yet, but Song Mode is usually where it’s at for Elektron stuff. You can choose how many steps of a pattern play, and I believe you can set where a pattern starts as well.
Song Mode is often an overlooked feature, but it’s the key to unlocking more complex arrangements since you can program mutes, tempo changes, pattern lengths, etc.
Well, I played around with the song mode of the A4 yesterday and sadly it hasn’t the features you wrote (as far as I can see…).
I heard the other machines can do that, so I really hope some features for the songmode will be integrated too. I can live without tempoautomation but patternlength and patternstart would be very usable for the songmode.
Sure one could say if you have two 64 steps patterns (one normal beat and one fill or something), why not break it down in individual 16 step patterns and mix those up but you will run out of patternspace pretty fast in your project (8 patterns instead of 2). I hope Elektron has some plans like this to make the A4 more than just an “addon synth” for the trinity…
I myself can’t afford the other boxes but i really do love working just on the A4 itself so it would be cool to have a better songmode.
on thing i discovered last night but a little different from what you’re asking - i made a one page sequence (16/16) using advanced settings. then added on to that so i had a 3 page sequence. i then set the track back to a one page sequence. when i again switched to a 3 page sequence, my pattern was remembered. a good way to store a sequence in varying length in a linear fashion.
You can move the sequence forward and backward? MIND BLOWN!!! Trying that when I get home. [/quote]
WOW! i just tried this and it worked!!! its brilliant.
what happens is while you hold function + the arrow keys while in step record mode, your pattern will scroll one step at a time in the direction in which you press the arrows.
so i guess what you do if you want to, say work on the third page is hold function+ press left arrow 32 times (length of the two previous pages), then shorten the length of the pattern. now that loops. you edit it. when finished, you press function+ right arrow key 32 times and expand the scale out to all pages?
cheers for this!
Nice tip and very fast if you’re editing and only need to hear 1 track (page + copy that track, go into a spare pattern and page + paste then edit)… wish electron let you copy all tracks via page copy, would be super useful.
Either way, it’s a good workaround that saves you having to nudge a sequence 16/32/48 times.