It’s good to have some confirmation that the workflow is different. Sometimes I feel stupid when I mess around with the A4. I think I may only have the time and room in my brain for one Elektron box. I clicked with the Digitone. Perhaps I’m better off using that as a midi brain for analog synths I prefer.
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I had a Digitone for quite a while and really got on well with it. It’s really a very fun synth to use.
It’s still early days with the A4, I might end up hating it (I have form for this) but it’s definitely nothing like the Digitone.
I wonder how much of it was sound and how much was enabling all the extra outputs. Really sound just gets two bullets on the announcement: more “defined” bass and different overdrive. The rest is all about the bigger screen, higher resolution encoders, bigger/extra buttons, qperf, and the per-track outs and CV in.
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FDB This setting is only available to OSCILLATOR 1. Instead of using the oscillator waveform as the audio source, the audio coming from the ladder filter output will be used. Just as with the oscillator, the LEV parameter sets the level of this signal path. Turning it up high can introduce a self-oscillating feedback useful for drums or uncontrolled screams. The filter cutoff and resonance settings also affect the feedback behavior. On more moderate levels, it will give a more overloaded sound character to whatever enters the filter from OSC2, similar to the external feedback patch known from certain 1970s synths.
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Excuse the potentially obvious question- but is Overbridge exactly the same for the A4 mk1 and mk2? As in UI and functionality? (I know there are sonic differences between the units).
Yes.
The difference is big enough that Elektron specifies on some Sound Packs that they were designed for Mk2 and will sound different on Mk1. I guess it’s not necessarily even different circuits, might just be calibrated differently, e.g. gives a wider range. So the same value for a given setting might sound slightly different between Mk1 and Mk2.
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I have the mk2, the distortion / overdrive it has is a big part of its sound design potential imo, I use the mk2’s version much more often than the mk1, I think it’s something that’s worth not overlooking though I’m sure the mk1 is more than capable on its own.
The feedback oscillator is so incredible and is a great way to get more vintage or unruly sounds out of the A4 as opposed to the sounds that many complain of being too polite or modern
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this is more of a tips & tricks thing, but I usually make my 01 kit a perf macro template so i generally have the macros I usually use whenever I make a new kit. just load in kit 01 then save it to a new slot and select/create sounds, etc. I found myself under utilizing the perf macros because I hated setting them up each time, but now I know I’ll want hat filters/bass mods/etc. etc. i have them. editing the macros is a lot quicker than starting from scratch too.
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Great tip!! So you make a macro that ie. high passes all 4 tracks or smth?
After your complaints about the Pro-2 UI, this becomes one of the stronger endorsements, for me. (not that I used the Pro 2… My Rev2 is fairly easy to use and yet I still find it annoying, so I’ve been eyeing up the A4 as a possible replacement/alternative)
I find myself constantly using the pattern that loads from last time I used the A4 as the basis for whatever I do next, macros and all. I really should set up a better selection sometime as pattern 01 though.
I did find patterns thoroughly confusing when I got the A4, especially as my first Elektron device,. So I think I just tweaked away on the presents not knowing why they kept on doing odd things. I should also take the time to go through the factory presets and get rid of them now too
Not sure I’d want to replace a polysynth with it. It really feels like four monosytnths that can do poly stuff, but it’s definitely a monosynth first and foremost.
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Fair, and noted.
It’s not a transition I’ll be making soon… but I am annoyed by this big, great thing that shouldn’t be annoying (and which makes great sounds) and am pondering what to do about it. Mostly just GASin’.
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so i always set up my kits to be T1 - lead/pad T2 - hats/perc T3 - Kick T4 - bass. Sound/P-Locks fill in the extra spaces on T-2/3 so hats sound faster using FX sends or whatever.
I’ll then usually have macros for:
- lowpass filter for drums (macro A)
- highpass filter for drums (macro B)
- delay/reverb sends (macro C)
- FX parameter changes like feedback & delay time & reverb decay (macro D)
- filter 1 & sometimes LFO set to panning for bass (macro E)
That tends to be enough, but i still have 5 more macros in case I need them for specific kits or whatever. I don’t always use the macros, but it’s nice to have them available if I want. it’s a whole lot easier to go in a tweak the settings for macros that are already routed than start from scratch.
I will also say I’m getting into the habit of saving a new kit for each pattern even if I am using the exact same sounds for multiple patterns, hence the need to have a template kit I save as a starting point, etc.
edit: better formatting
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Yeah nice. I often take a kit from the factory patterns and then change those sounds. Sometimes there’s a lot of performances, other times not so much
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i personally like the way that patterns & kits are saved separately on the A4. I like the immediacy of patterns saving each sound on the models or DT/DN, but the way A4 handles kits & patterns makes more sense to me. I tend to save a new kit for each new pattern while I’m working on the A4 just in case I want to make tweaks to a sound as a song evolves without disrupting what I’ve been doing on other patterns. It’s also fun that you can always load a kit onto a pattern you’ve sequenced and get a whole new sonic landscape if you’re sick of how it sounds. don’t sleep on the reload kit feature either, nice for jamming and cutting loose.
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Yeah, I do all of these habitually now; it was very different coming to the A4 from the Electribe way of working in 2012/2013 though!
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thank you!
I have two Analog Fours a mk1 and a mk2 and absolutely love them. Great sound, great for sequencing Eurorack, fun and easy to use. I’ve even thought about picking up a third, since the mk1 can be found on eBay for $500ish. Does any synth compare at $500? Yes, I wish it sounded fatter at times, but it sits perfectly in a mix. I also wish it had per track effects instead of global settings, but not that much. My only real gripe is the red and green led’s on the mk2. It looks like a tacky Christmas edition. I really hate those colors (nothing against Christmas).
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