MnM soon arriving. Any tips?

Mihajlo · 2014-07-20T18:57:25.000Z

I decided ill trade my A4 for MnM.
Main reason is midi and outputs.
A4 is a lovely sounding and has a powerfull sequencer.

I just wanna know what are the advantages of MnM over A4. Lets pretend they both sound the same so we dont fight over this. I want to know the FEATURES i get and which i lose.

Thanks!

bluewolfse7en · 2014-07-20T19:34:59.000Z

MNM is virtually a modular in an Elektron box. It’s way more flexible than the A4! Don’t get me wrong, the A4 is wicked but very different from the MNM.
The MNM has loads of tricks up it’s sleeve, each track holds a machine of your choice & each differ greatly, FM, SID, VO, DIGIPRO waveforms, BEATBOX etc…Also each Track can be an FX engine & Tracks can be routed thru each other.
Trigless trigs, Pitchless trigs, Poly, Multi Env, Multi Trig, the list goes on…

My personal favorite are the Trig Tracks

Quote

TRIG TRACKS
For each track you have access to three individual sub tracks named trig tracks, offering individual control over the amplitude envelope, the filter envelope and the LFO trigs. This means you can separate pitch changes from envelopes and LFO trigging, allowing for very in-depth track sequencing.

Did I mention 3 LFO’s per Track! It’s a winner in my book

Don’t expect instant gratification like the A4 tho, it takes some digging to get the best.

Tarekith did a tips & tricks here
http://tarekith.com/assets/monomachine_tipsandtricks.htm

Enjoy

plusn · 2014-07-20T20:12:44.000Z

Loose:

No CV sequencing
No Din Sync (e.g. for older Roland gear)
No microtiming on the sequencer
No individual track lengths on a pattern
No supervoid reverb

Gain:

Six individual midi tracks with each 3 free CC assignable LFOs = 18 LFOs…
Six individual outputs
Six different digital synthesis engine machines: Superwave, Digipro, FM, VO, SID
Digipro machine can load user customized waveforms (based on single cycle samples)
much bigger display!

I have both Mnm and A4 plus MD mk2 (non UW). I dont want to miss the good stuff.

dubathonic · 2014-07-20T20:19:57.000Z

""bluewolfse7en"":

MNM is virtually a modular in an Elektron box. …

Don’t expect instant gratification …

Tarekith did a tips & tricks

…well said, esp. these three points.

i don’t know the a4, use my mnm for midi or mess with the other outputs, so i dunno how useful what i say will be but in case it helps:

stacking tracks together has netted me many of my favorite results. i’ve gotten great sounds out of single tracks as well, but stacking has often been the key to overcoming the “thin sound” new users have frequently found frustrating. a useful part of stacking is the bus system, which allows you to get way more creative with the effects machines. it’s not as vast as a daw’s bus system of course but (like many things elektron) it’s often enough to get you there with some creative thinking.

personally i found an enlightening introduction to stacking in the soundpack that elektron hq released in june 2013. lots of the patterns and kits are set up in ways that take advantage of the possibilities.

worth mentioning: the mnm matured during the elektron-users forum era. its search engine still works, so once you’ve absorbed the manual & tarekith’s doc, i’d head over there, raid the files section and read through old threads, it’s a gold mine.

Rady_Valkov · 2014-07-20T20:38:25.000Z

Mihajlo,

I am a MnM soloist - check this out:

http://music.rvalkov.eu/

I am the happiest man in the world with the MnM - it is horribly underestimated now (I don’t know why). It requires hard work to get the most out of it according to your personal tastes. This is my experience - I am not gonna get any other piece of gear soon. Hope my stuff would inspire you a bit about your purchase.

jonah · 2014-07-21T16:50:58.000Z

you can assign note tracking to anything. you might want to turn it off for the filters tho.

guga · 2014-07-21T17:00:02.000Z

[quote=““Rady Valkov””]
Mihajlo,

I am a MnM soloist - check this out:

http://music.rvalkov.eu/

I am the happiest man in the world with the MnM - it is horribly underestimated now (I don’t know why). It requires hard work to get the most out of it according to your personal tastes. This is my experience - I am not gonna get any other piece of gear soon. Hope my stuff would inspire you a bit about your purchase.
[/quote]

i may have few reasons why the MnM is not as popular as it should be

old machine
steep learning curve: too much time needed to get a hit track in ten minutes
people can’t be bothered having to learn so many things when you can do everything with just one click …
i say: bring back the sfx6!!!

edit: mmmm…suppose you’ve an empty AK enclosure and you stuff it with the MM hardware …

Mihajlo · 2014-07-21T17:58:11.000Z

Regarding sequencing workflow… is it similiar like an A4??
And how much will my knowledge of A4 help me with understanding MnM??
What are the similarities??

guga · 2014-07-21T18:55:09.000Z

if you already have an A4 then it won’t be a problem
all Elektron’s machines have the same workflow, with differences which are more related to the machine itself rather than the workflow

minphase · 2014-07-21T19:33:16.000Z

Rady,

I’ve been really impressed with your demos – really great work! Keep it up, we’re listening and enjoying!

@Mihalo - yes, I think the MnM is a deeper instrument than the A4. If I had to choose one, the A4 would go and the MnM would stay, from the perspective of “what can I do with one box alone”.

Mihajlo · 2014-07-21T19:59:28.000Z

Oh thank god. Words of comfort.

Yeah rady, tracks are awesome… too “agressive/glitchy” for my taste, but it really shows what MM can do.

If machines are what ill have to “study” as a new concept, then it will be ok. Sequencer is my biggest issue. I dont wanna loose that “flow” i had with A4.

Also, really liking melodic demos of MM i see on youtube.
If any of you guys makes more Berlin School style music with it… id like to hear that.

What do you think about outputs?? any noises? clean sound?? i guess if there was any, it changed after MK2 was released, like with MD i also had.

Accent · 2014-07-21T20:09:29.000Z

If you’re into Berlin School stuff, the arps will be your best friend, especially the SID setting with some chords. The “sequencer within a sequencer” is also really useful for getting notes to fit where you’d like without microtiming.

FreeFall · 2014-07-21T21:02:40.000Z

All of the technical difference have been listed already, and can be found on the Elektron website.

The real difference is that the MNM can produce sounds that sound extremely alien. It can also do a pretty good imitation of analogue synths, but it’s real uniqueness lies in its ability to make sounds that DON"T sound like classic vintage gear!

A4 is a great synth, but it’s always going to sound like an analogue synth (warm and slippery). The MNM will dazzle you with sonic surprises, especially once you’ve gotten grips on what it can do (more or less). I’ve had my MNM for a little more than a year and use it a lot, and I still learn new stuff that makes me go “I didn’t know it could do that!” Never ending joy.

The MNM has the User Waveform capability, which means you can load single cycle waveforms (there are thousands available for free download), and that means your MNM can have the tonal quality of the object the wave form was sampled from (i.e. Piano, guitar, horn, other synths, etc). So the MNM really has a slew of synth engines in it, but can also sort of clone other instruments. Plus, you can do psuedo wavetable sweeps using the User Waveform machines (LFO assigned to sweep through the waveform selection parameter = wicked) It really is a strange yet powerful feature of the MNM.

I think a lot of new MNM users get frustrated in the beginning due to the work flow (which you already have a grip on with the A4 …same same), and because the machines and sounds of the MNM are so unlike everything else you’ve played with before. It takes some serious dirty work to coax the magic out of the MNM, but for those who like to get their hands dirty, there is lots of magic to be found.

A few of my must know tips:

turn Filter Key Follow OFF (makes the MNM sound MUCH fatter). Weird that the default is ON. Ask how, once you’ve gotten your machine.
layering sounds and using the routing to combine sounds/effects creates the magic.
Many of the parameters in various machines within the MNM change more dramatically with slight tweaks than they do with big sweeping tweaks. One degree of a knob turn can change everything. More than is typical on analogue synths, and especially true with the FM machines in the MNM. Tweak slowly and carefully to find hidden sonic gold.

FreeFall · 2014-07-21T21:03:16.000Z

[quote=““Rady Valkov””]
Mihajlo,

I am a MnM soloist - check this out:

http://music.rvalkov.eu/

I am the happiest man in the world with the MnM - it is horribly underestimated now (I don’t know why). It requires hard work to get the most out of it according to your personal tastes. This is my experience - I am not gonna get any other piece of gear soon. Hope my stuff would inspire you a bit about your purchase.
[/quote]

Good stuff man!

Ozone · 2014-07-22T03:40:35.000Z

no presets a la A4, but as a woraround, its smart to have some kits dedicated to things like basses, leads, pads, percs so you have personalised starting points for building new patterns.

Also as a modular sequencable fx unit alone, its a justified buy.

Mihajlo · 2014-07-22T06:31:09.000Z

As soob as i got A4 i made empty reset, so presets are no problem. Looking forward to SID and FM especially. I got my moogs to accompany and add warmth.
Seems ill have to focus on sound design the most.

Thanks for the help guys!!!

Rady_Valkov · 2014-07-22T06:59:18.000Z

""Mihajlo"":

Seems ill have to focus on sound design the most.

Thanks for the help guys!!!

That’s it - MnM is a time-eating monster! But you’ll never get disappointed!

Orwell · 2014-07-22T12:59:29.000Z

and please go ahead and listen to the knife on flac or vinyl, the knife really showcase the monomachine
also a little bit of AE helps or maybe actress

sound ding wise :
always helps to run the mono Into analog effects
I really like the stock mono sound these days and/or going into the a4 with a touch of a4 chorus and reverb
btw, I really really like the monomachine compressor

guga · 2014-07-22T15:15:10.000Z

""Mihajlo"":

As soob as i got A4 i made empty reset, so presets are no problem. Looking forward to SID and FM especially. I got my moogs to accompany and add warmth.
Seems ill have to focus on sound design the most.

Thanks for the help guys!!!

here’s something i did a while ago . it’s all MM based (SFX-6 ) with no post processing/external effects. hope you find something interesting

zfigz · 2014-07-22T15:18:47.000Z

""Mihajlo"":

I decided ill trade my A4 for MnM.
Main reason is midi and outputs.
A4 is a lovely sounding and has a powerfull sequencer.

I just wanna know what are the advantages of MnM over A4. Lets pretend they both sound the same so we dont fight over this. I want to know the FEATURES i get and which i lose.

Thanks!

I’ve been meaning to reply to this for a while now.

I got my mnm back in 2007. It was my first real piece of hardware (I had also acquired a monome earlier that year). It really changed things for me since I was so used to mousing about when making music. While it limited my options, it also offered me a completely new palette to work with which made me much more aware of the sounds I was making. It’s been the staple of my music ever since.

Coming from the A4, you’ll have no problem wrapping your head around working with the mnm. As everyone has said, it’s not easy to get the sounds you want right off the bat, but with persistence, you’ll get what you want. I’d cleaning out all the stock patterns/kits though. That’s what I did when I first got mine and it’s really helped me learn in the ins/outs of the mnm.
I highly recommended figuring out a layout for your kits so that you don’t have to think too much when tweaking. Also, be sure to utilize the following to get new/interesting sounds:

Use your LFOs!
Experiment with the different types of trigs.
Play around with swing to give your instruments a more human feel.
I’d stay away from using the effects/routing options until you’ve a firm grasp on creating kits etc.
MIDI up some hardware and/or some VSTs to learn the midi sequencer.
And finally, RTFM…

In any case, just experiment and have fun!