Help with A4 sound design tips!

Hello!

So I’ve had my A4 for a little over a year and my DN for two. Whilst I’ve had a blast with the DN because the sound design process came quite intuitively for me (I can pretty much think of whatever sound I’d like to make and program it with decent ease) I’m completely lost on my A4. I can’t seem to program any nice sounds besides the most basic of synth patches. It’s frustrating me, I feel like I can’t control it to the level that I’d like. I hear people making such crazy beautiful sounds on it and I can’t even come close. Are there specific parameters that I’m completely overlooking? What is it?

I like otherworldly, experimental, and strange sounds, as well as beautiful bright pluck, key, and pad sounds. Ala Arca, Sophie, Aphex Twin, FKA Twigs, James Blake sort of vibe.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

3 Likes

Just as a quick note. I had exactly the same feeling when i started. My problem was, that i was looking way too much into the osc and filter pages, but you should really learn more about envelopes and lfos. This is what made all the difference to me.

7 Likes

I’ve thought that for a few days now! I just don’t know where to start I’m a little overwhelmed by the options. What parameters do you suggest I experiment with? What set you off on your newfound path?

Just try to focus on the amp and filter envelopes. Just those two and of course the depth of the filter envelope on the filter page. Try every possible variation and just see what happens. Then play a little bit with the filter and resonance. For a start use just one sawtooth osc.

William_WiLD kindly shares a lot of his knowledge :slightly_smiling_face:

4 Likes

I feel like maybe you’re overthinking it and getting frustrated, which leads to more frustration. The A4 architecture, generally speaking, is pretty simple, it just has a lot of little extra details that allow you to take it that much farther.

I wonder if finding sounds you like in some sound packs (there are plenty of good free ones) and reviewing how those are set up would be helpful.

As other suggested, trying to keep focused on a specific section, as opposed to the entire architecture at once, might also be helpful to really drill down into the possibilities, especially in regards to modulation with LFOs and Envelops.

5 Likes

Checking out some sound packs, and breaking down the patches helped me a lot.
For me that was the BioPads packs. and a few others.
Some threads like this too

7 Likes

That feedback input feature thoooo :eyes:… I didn’t even know it existed. Thank you!!!

1 Like

Wowee this is gold. Thank you so much!

1 Like

Thanks to share your experience on the DN, I’m tempted now :slight_smile:

Thanks to people to share the Lowend101 here… you should download the pack and try exercices from the website. Just a side note is I take this project from the low end of frequencies perspectives - I end up with not only low-end patches for sure.

What surprise me is in theory FM is more difficult than Substractive synthesis… but if you have in mind something and get it in FM right away Elektron probably made a incredible job to simplify FM with the DN, that’s cool.

For the A4 I would say @Monobear is right with Envelopes and LFO, I would say especially LFOs. How to combine OSC to get a variety of tones, A4 options to altered the Tone, And a part I didn’t speak at all in this project is the Elektron Sequencer for sure (it’s a beast).

Try chords with a tone you like, try to FMish with LFOs, and add synced tempo weirdness with LFOs that’s a territory where the A4 shines for me. Then combine all the knowledge : the key then is in the sequencer, again with A4 options, sound lock etc…

Also you should learn Layering Synthesis and make a good use of the USE TRK SOUNDS option in the A4 combined with the Poly config (but it’s a bit more complex as you split characteristics of the sound and design it separately)

You should also practice content from these video :

2 Likes

Don’t forget the sequencer with the trigs and parameter slides, it can do some magic too!!!

4 Likes

I had a lot of fun with feedback settings tonight the A4 can make some nasty bass with it!
Synthesis has never been my strong point but I’m finally making an effort getting to know and learn the A4

3 Likes