Hello everyone, this is my first post here on these forums & I’m very interested in the Analog Keys, so I’m asking a question here before buying. Thank you for any help you can share! Here goes…
1.) I want to use the Analog Keys to trigger it’s own synth engine, a Moog 32 & also a couple soft synths in FL Studio… all on separate MIDI Channels.
2.) Is it possible to completely turn off internal voices for Tracks 3 & 4 of the Analog Keys, so that those channels could be used to trigger soft synths only? I only want internal voicing on AK tracks 1 & 2, if possible, so that no type of voice stealing would happen to pad track 1 & lead track 2.
3.) Below is my imagined setup routing. How possible is this?:
Analog Keys Track 1= plays internal 3-note pad on MIDI Ch.1, plays out AK Main Stereo Out
Analog Keys Track 2= plays internal 1-note lead on MIDI Ch.2, plays out AK Individual Out #2
Analog Keys Track 3= no internal AK sound, keys trigger soft synth on MIDI Ch.3
Analog Keys Track 4= no internal AK sound, keys trigger soft synth on MIDI Ch.4
Analog Keys CV Track= triggers Moog 32 modular on MIDI Ch. 5, plays out Moog 32 output
4.) FL Studio 12 as main DAW sequencer
RME 802 as main audio & midi interface
5.) Final example overview of possible tracks I’d like to have setup all at once:
Analog Keys= 3 voice pad
Analog Keys= 1 voice lead
Moog 32= 1 voice bass, played with AK keys
Sampletank Rhodes EP, played with AK keys
Sampletank Strings, played with AK keys
Again, this is a lot, but I appreciate anything you all can help me with. I’ve got only the manual to go off of, so it’s a bit hard for me to know the specifics of the AK.
The Analog Keys / Four does not sequence midi. It outputs midi messages when you play the keys, but it only sequences CV/gate.
1 Like
Yes, I just wanted to use the Keys to trigger the other units, but FL Studio would be my sequencer, not the Elektron.
Sorry, I see what you mean. In that case yes, I believe if you have midi transmit on, it will send midi note data from the keyboard on the channel that is assigned to the currently selected track.
Is it possible to set an AK track to MIDI-only… so that the 4 voices are split to other tracks only? (ie tracks 1 & 2=internal AK, tracks 3 & 4=used for MIDI only with soft synths/external MIDI gear)
So I could hit AK track 1 on the front panel& trigger an internal 3-voice pad, then hit Track 4 & have it only trigger, for example, a Rhodes Piano VST in FL Studio that is set to MIDI Ch.4?
AK Track 1=Internal 3 voice sound, MIDI ch.1
AK Track 2=Internal 1 voice sound, MIDI ch.2
AK Track 3=no internal voicing, MIDI only triggering FL Studio VST, MIDI ch.3
AK Track 4=no internal voicing, MIDI only triggering FL Studio VST, MIDI ch.4
I think it depends if you’re sequencing things internally. You don’t need to designate tracks as midi only - not sure if you can actually.
Basically what you can do is set voice 2 to be mono, and the others to poly, and what will happen is that those three will all be available for three-note poly use on track one. Track 2 will reserve voice 2 for its own mono use.
I think I understand what you mean, but I’ve been doing some more digging in the manual & found some stuff that may answer it for good. I just need clarification.
page 60 - MORE ON OSCILLATORS, FILTERS, ENVELOPES AND CV/GATE
page 61 - OTHER OSCILLATOR WAVEFORM SELECTIONS
page 61 - OFF This will turn off the oscillator completely. The sub oscillator is not affected though
…and…
page 61 - OFF This turns off the sub oscillator completely. Note that it is otherwise on, regardless of the regular oscillator waveform setting. The oscillator’s LEV setting then determines the level of the oscillator and sub oscillator combined.
***So, perhaps it’s possible to turn off all oscillators for a track, to make absolutely sure there will be no voice stealing… then set said track to a MIDI channel corresponding to an external synth, so that… when you press a white “Trk #” button on the top left panel of the AK, you would then only trigger the connected synth, with the AK’s keys, for that particular track/MIDI channel.
I believe the above is what I’ve been looking for, but found some extra stuff, just in case…
page 50 - AUTO CHANNEL selects the MIDI channel that will give access to the currently active track. If an external MIDI keyboard connected to Analog Keys sends MIDI data on this channel, the keyboard will control the active track. This is useful when for example quickly changing between the active synth tracks to play different Sounds.
page 50 - PROGRAM CHANGE IN CHANNEL selects the MIDI channel that will listen for incoming program change messages. An AUTO setting will use the AUTO channel. Enable Analog Keys to respond to program change messages in the MIDI SYNC menu, covered on page 48.
I’m not sure if setting the oscillator to OFF turns it off for the track or for the voice entirely. I guess for the track. So yes, you could try doing that on the tracks 3 & 4 but I’m not 100% sure it would prevent voice stealing if you had trigs set on those tracks, you just might not have any sound from the oscillators.
I’m not able to test, I don’t own one at the moment. I’m sure someone here can chime in with the definitive answer.
hey finalform, I sure appreciate you sticking with me today. thanks a million!
your last reply, I believe, may work out. Set tracks 1, 3 & 4 to poly. Set track 2 to mono. Once Tracks 1 & 2 are being sequenced, Track 3 & 4 won’t have any voices. I believe that’s what you meant.
I was just confused with how I’d keep Tracks 3 & 4 from stealing voices from 1 & 2.
Like once I hit track 3 & played a note… what would keep a single voice from coming over from Track 1, and so on, etc?
1 Like
To avoid voice stealing, it’s in Kit menu / Poly config that you have to choose on which voices you need the voice stealing to spread.
If you deactivate a voice in this menu, it will be protected from stealing.
On CV track configuration you can set which track is used for each of the 4 CV outs : you can use CV track and FX track to send CV gates and pitch, or any track.
I usually choose Track 4 for such duties, and use inputs to get the external synth back in A4 to use A4 FX.
By setting the inputs as track 4 oscillators, I can even use A4 filters and OD on the incoming signal!
On CV track conf you can also choose to send ENV or LFOs to a specific CV value.
In your case, you might want to use FX track for gate+pitch and CV track for CV values.
This way your 4 A4 tracks are still available 
