Hey,
Just got my MnM, I read about all the synth methods before buying but just assumed (I know my bad…) there were full ADSR envelopes for the Amp and Filter. The envelopes available seem quite limited. Feeling a bit disappointed…
Is there a way to get around this? To fake an ADSR…
Say for example I want the sound with a slow attack that then decays to be quiet before fading out with a long release.
does that make sense?
Cheers,
Luke.
Hi Luke,
on the ‘amplification’ page for every synth you´ll find ‘attack’, ‘hold’, ‘decay’, ‘release’ parameters…
Congrats with your mnm. It’s a fantastic synth
…also check out the four bottom parameters on the filter page. (Not sitting in front of my mnm, so cant remember what theyr called) Check out the manual to figure out how these work.
You can (mis) use an LFO for that.
check the manual on page 36 for the waveforms
http://www.elektron.se/sites/default/files/products/files/monomachine_manual_OS1.32.pdf
Set an LFO to use an isaw or exp waveform.
set the trig mode to ONE or HALF, this will trigger one or a half waveform every time the monomachine plays a note.
Next: set page to AMP and destination to VOL in order to manipulate the volume with ONE or a HALF LFO cycle.
I use this allmost always on my bass sounds to give them a fast attack.
regrettably, if you want to use this trick on more parameter, you have to sacrifice an LFO for every parameter you want to manipulate, but it’s worth it!
please let me know if this is a solution, or a usable workaround for your issue
Depending on the configuration of your tracks, you could use Multi Trig mode and therefore the MultiEnvelope (which is an ADSR). This has the potential disadvantage that it would apply to all the tracks simultaneously. See ‘Multi Trig’ and ‘Multi Env’ in the manual.
As stated the ADSR Amplitude Envelope already exists.
You get the AD envelope of the filter itself along with careful use of the filter width you get a lot of scope sonically on the filter - not to mention parroter locks and / or LFO’s used as mentioned above.
Also remember that velocity can be used to control filter modulations in the Track Assign pages along with the RL and U D sections of the joy stick.
For example, I quite often use key tracking to effect filter or say pulse width of a machine engine so you have a lot of flexibility.
You’ll often find using the LFO’s to mod the width and base offsets yields better results than direct filter modulation via LFO’s as the filters have very unique sweet spots that aren’t immediately apparent.
The MnM is still one of the deeper Elektron units and they take a while to really dig into and get a feel for.
Take your time and don’t just assume that the surface appearance of the units synthesis is as deep as the machine can go.
It is a veritable pandoras box IMHO and rewards you best after long hours of end user experience.
@Venn
Monomachine has Attack, Hold (=sustain), Release but is definately missing a ‘traditional’ ADSR so it lacks the ability to really shape a sound.
The Filter envelope has Attack and Decay.
so you have AHR on the amplitude and AD on the filter.
Can you show me where I can find a full ADSR on the monomachine?
Really, can’t believe I missed that in the 9 years I’ve been owning and using monomachines.
Multi Env ADSR is in the manual on p. 43. I have never used this either as it only applies in certain scenarios that I don’t tend to use.
The LFO ADSR trick is also mentioned in the manual (search term ADSR).
This thread confuses me a bit.
What is that you and others find is lacking compared to ‘traditional’ ADSR? I mean how is the mono’s AHDR so different from ‘traditional’ ADSR? Please elaborate…would like to know.
My Bad
You have ATTACK HOLD DECAY RELEASE on the AMP.
Personally I don’t find it all that limiting though.
When combined with the LFO Mod options I cover all the scenarios I require.
Holding both data page buttons simultaneously brings up the Multi ENV ADSR and I am still as yet to fully explore all the options using Multitrig modes (pages 41 through 44).
Looking at it’s behaviour with the arp on different tracks though I’d say it will open a whole other can of sonic worms I haven’t discovered as yet.
Getting into using one of my Monomachines as a percussive unit and the other as melodic counterpart with my A4.
The lack of an ADSR envelope hasn’t ever bothered me. Once you get used to the Monomachine, you can easily figure out ways to make sounds behave more or less as you wish. But the truth about the Monomachine is that nothing in it is “normal”! It’s a quirky fucker. But it is also a Pandoras’ Box of sonic discovery, like Venn Diagram said. Embrace the unique weirdness, and forget about the Monomachine being like every other synth out there. You have to learn the ‘Elektron way’ of doing things now
Thanks for the replies. I will try out the Multi Env ADSR but it looks like this applies to all tracks at the same time so maybe not really what I’m after…
I’ve been playing around and getting some alright sounds but the amp AHDR and filter AD still seem to me as a massive disadvantage and nowhere near as useful as a proper ADSR for sculpting sounds…
I’ve had my MD for 3years now and love it, I still find new things all the time (it was love at first play) I hope I warm to the MnM.
Also I read a lot of people saying to just experiment with the MnM and I am all for experimenting but I’d also like to get to know a synth so when I imagine a sound I am able to dial it up like I can on my MD.
Have you found you can do this? Or is it more a process of random experimentation for you?
Cheers!
I’m in agreement with Freefall, treat it as an individual. You can’t compare it to other synths.
It takes a lot of people a long time to come to grips with, but it will repay the effort in the end
I think the more you get to know it, the more you’ll go to it for what it can deliver. If you imagine Pad sounds then yes it’ll do it.
If you imagine the sound of a Virus then no matter how much tweaking you do you’ll never get it! The same of course is true the other way around
Ive had a monomachine for allmost 9 years now. first mk1 and now mk2 and I love the machine. Still discovering new sounds and the userwave DDRW and DENS are really kickass. I put in a load of raw waveforms and it changed the sound of my monomachine.
I (mis) use stomper as a wave generator and add noise to the waveforms I create, this adds more dirt to the monomachine.
Try it ;-).
.R
I had the same concern when I first got my MNM. I didn’t want a machine that I couldn’t control when I had an idea or need for a particular type of sound. It took me a while to get used to all the unique ‘machines’ in the MNM and how to control things in a predictable way. But rest assured, you will get there! You’ll may also find the sound to be thin and very digital too, but I promise that this is not due to the machine’s limitation. You just have to learn how to make the MNM sing the way you want it to!
Tips for getting better sound from the MNM:
-
Turn FILTER TRACKING off. Go to the Kit Setup menu (button), select ASSIGN, scroll over to the KEY tab, and turn off both the HPF and LPF settings. This can change the sound drastically, and usually makes it much louder and fuller. Sometimes it’s good to leave the LPF setting ON though. Experiment.
-
Layer sounds, and run them through either an FX machine, or an THRU machine where you can EQ and FILTER the sounds further.
Honestly, I don’t understand how the lack of a traditional ADSR makes that much of a difference. You can control the sounds quite well with the parameters available. Just give yourself some time …more time than you expect!
Same here, but it turns out I never had a synth that gives me more control over the sound and sequence than the Monomachine.
It’s all interlocked, the sequence, the sound.
I love the machine
You have to consider putting note offs in the sequencer
as the env hold is linked to them.
Multi env works with Multi trig where it becomes a 1 voice 6 sound mono synth,
lots of fun exploring that mode and using arps and playing live!
all monomachine all arps tonsafun
…a six voice poly synth.