Hello sheriff,
We all have been there, no shame to ask ! But i think you should look at this:
This is a 3 part video “New York School of Synthesis” by Dean Friedman
Then apply what he says to the analog 4.
You should understand what is a sound and how a synth work first, and the analog 4 is a beast of a synth. But once you know what is synthesis, you will be able to rule over any synth !
Where are you from by the way ? Maybe someone could help.
Thanks everyone for these fantastic replies, wow! Didn’t expect such an outpour of help and support; greatly appreciated. You’ve all linked and suggested such incredibly useful pieces, all of which I’ll be absorbing over the next week.
I’ll also be taking up TrabanT on his offer to help via Skype.
What a truly amazing community this is!
I’m based in Toronto by the way.
Make easy stuff.
Initialize a sound (track button + clear button), close the filter (wdth down, env depth up) and you got a basic standard synth sound that shouldn’t sound that bad. Maybe add some reverb and delay and play a chord or melody. Record this in live recording mode. Go to the next track, some octaves deeper and play a baseline and you should soon have a nice groove going.
Much of what you hear in the radio involves just basic waveforms, in some songs they don’t even close the filter. You can do weird stuff with synthesis, but why? Your guitar also just has a single default sound and I suppose you can do a lot with that single timbre!
Edit: the A4 is very capable both in the bread-and-butter (see above) and experimental departments. much of what people write in this forum or post on youtube is dedicated to experimental, special tricks, but don’t let that distract you.
Edit2: maybe jam with DaCaVa! 
Sheriff,
I don’t own an Analog Four (yet!) (You are SO lucky to have been gifted one) but I have watched enough videos on YouTube that make me think that if I got my hands on one I’d probably be able to find my way around it quite well.
There’s a pretty decent video by Dataline that shows him building up patterns and a song from scratch.
Hope that link gives you a little more help and inspiration.
Good luck!
Sherriff. …you are not alone in your quagmire, and I have learned a great deal more from this thread than almost anywhere else in last year.
I am a keyboard/synthesis…hardware all the way with extensive set-up. I have found same impasses aforementioned but just placed it in the box until finally ready to try to make it work…because I compose thinking of different time signatures, forwards/backwards…the A4 will not do that, let alone no midi out.
However, I know it has great potential for the ambient and Berlin School experimental stuff I do…I just simply do not THINK LIKE the “Elektron Way”…does not mean it’s a wrong way, just my work flow and compositional flow (USE Reaper/DAW) perhaps will be more forgiving with the new integration platform…but these posts and thread has given me less trepidation about grinding my teeth again.
By the way, I have a Spectralis and can think that way…no, it’s not easy, but more intuitive for me. THAT’s what I meant to touch on lastly, is the A4 simply MAY n0ot be for me because it simply is not intuitive for me and am afraid the Analog Keys would be same story and same small screen.
I bought a Moog Sub 37 instead…it will connect with A4 at some point but I need to try to update using that C6…another nightmare of instructions in so called manual.
Thank you everyone for all the great info in your posts here.
Groove3 is an excellent platform and that would be a great place for Elektron to do their long promised tutorials…of course, would have to BUY them from Groove3.