in grid record mode, just hold the trigger and press the note on the midi keyboard (assuming you have all your midi channels set right)
in live record mode, just play the midi keyboard, it will lay it down for you
watch this little guy lay some notes down in grid record mode
i must admit with tiume i understand more and more of the a4/keys.
But i still struggle when i have to save something. is just savuiing the kit suffiecient ? when do i svae track . what does it actually do , as i canno browse tracksā¦ Then save pattern ? and well saving sounds is clear. saving the settings of the sound paramaters for further use on the drive or pool.
but I still miss vids for dummies
Save Track does the same as save patterns, but just for the active track. It stores notes in the sequencer, P-locks, arpsettings, Notesettings.
relationship between kits, tracks, sounds, patterns, is probably the most confusing thing on the A4 in my opinion
basically, in addition to what whet saidā¦
when you save a kit, it will save all the track sounds/settings
when you save a pattern it only saves the pattern plugged into the sequencer
ā¦however, (and this is the part that trips people up)ā¦the pattern will remember the kit it was usingā¦so if you change the pattern, it will actually pull the kit it last used
the kit and pattern are independent but the pattern remembers the kit it was using
you can also think of the save function for restoring soā¦playing around with a pattern, you can change to different kits and still use that same pattern (so it will have different sounds on pattern)ā¦then if you reload the pattern it will go back to the save point
hopefully that will help a bit 
Dear Jon,
I really hope you are reading the posts here.
People are returning/selling their A4ās due to missing tutorial videos.
I really hope you will release them soon.
Please do something about this.
Thnx.
indeed !
such a great machine ! but for people not used to work with that kind of modulation more movies would make this sweet thing even more usefull
19 june 2014
Anyone selling their A4 due to lack of tutorial videos needs a good slap 
when the tutorials will finally dropā¦
it will not be the right tutorials.
cats will become dogs
dogs will become chickens
how_make_music_1080p.mov
the beginning of the end
I donāt think there will be any videos, and not sure they were ever planned, just some cheap talk to help sales at the time. The nearest weā re gonna get is the Cukoo/Dataline posts and videos.
. The next excuse will be āwait for overbridge.ā Elektron seem to prefer their enthusiastic customers to deal with this kind of thing, which would fair enough if the manual was better. I donāt see Moog/DSI etc putting out tutorial vids, so why expect Elektron. Or maybe Iām just too old and cynical.
I think weāve got spoiled with the instant gratification from looking up anything on YouTube. Sure, you can try and ape what another guy in the vid is doing, but theres much deeper satisfaction when you discover things on your own. Even with the manual youre making them your own. Donāt be lazy
I always read the manual first for whatever I am using, does not matter is a car, synth or something elseā¦
Now that I done it looking videos like for the OT could be usefulā¦
I donāt think this mean to be lazy or to be the endā¦
It is just a way of doing things, I can tell you for sure that many people donāt buy Elektron because are difficult to use, I own 4 gear now and is more easy for me, but I remember the first time I had an Elektron unit it was hardā¦
I guess from working in the education sector, I canāt see anything wrong with sharing of knowledge. I donāt think itās lazy or wrong to want to learn from others that are more experienced from you. Itās kind of the whole foundation of the educational system. Sorry, thatās a really strange way to think, in my opinion. But your obviously welcome to your opinion as well.
I guess there is a certain romance in viewing these boxes as mysterious black monoliths to coax dark secrets from whilst wearing cloaks and chanting spells. Sounds like a Hector video.
Count me as one of people thinking of selling. Not because of lack of tutorial videos, but simply because I donāt know if itās the machine/workflow for me. Kits, sounds, patterns, tracks, songs, projects, etc. Save, save, saveā¦ Did I save? Oops. Maybe not. Should I have saved? Did I overwrite something? I donāt know. Crap. Why did the sound change? Damn it. Lost the sound. Undo! Where was that nice pattern? Wait, I saved over it! Damn you, crazy Swedes!
Some official sound design tutorials would be great. I love the actual sounds I can get out of this thing. But itās very slow going with lots of trial and error. Iām no expert but I can very quickly get what I need on other synths like Nord Lead 2x, Thor, OBXD, etc.
I wonder why no official word on tutorials in so long? Itās not a product release, why the secrecy slash lack of communication?
I love the sound and really want to like the A4 as a whole system, but Iām not sure the project/song/kit/sounds/pattern/track architecture is my thing. I guess Iām one of those strange folks who wants an A4 sound engine only in a nice small black box. Make a patch, save it. Sequence it in Ableton. Maybe thatās one way OverBridge will be used?
Well the Moog tutorial I have for my sub phatty is more understandable and clearer to me than the elektron.
Somehow it even follows the way how sounds of synths are made. osc- mixers - filers - vca.
No vids, true, but the moog products I have bought came with some tutorial sections in the manual with example patches etc. and even a glossary of synth related terms. Nice touch for the beginners.
Not pro-or anti-vids, just stating one fact, and one opinion.
Can we just find out if A4 instruction vids are actually gonna come out?
ā¦If Elektron doesnāt have time maybe they can ask Cuckoo to do some?
I would love to see some done by a genuine guy like him, he seems dependable and very knowledgable.
Thatās my biggest beef, too. Thereās a certain lack of immediacy with the A4/AK thatās a little frustrating. Maybe itās all the menu diving. Maybe itās the fact that there are so freakinā many sound-design options (two oscillators plus a sub-oscillator, two filters in series, multiple LFOs with no less than 3,000 routing destinations, multiple envelopes, a bunch of effects, etc., etc.).
If I werenāt totally addicted to the sequencer, I might consider bailing, too.
Hey guys,
While Iāve been sidetracked by life at the moment, here are some tutorials that Iāve been writing. So far, they are receiving positive feedback. Site still under construction but Iām slowly getting it done.
http://www.wiresandones.com/analog-four-tutorials/getting-started/
Drew
Just had a quick look through and after the soccer Iāll go through it. It itās easy to see your on the right track.
What would be great would be a run through of connecting say an a4 and an OT and the power of that combo.
Any tutorials are gold with this gear as itās impossible to reason your way through it as itās complicated and therefore very powerful
The lack of videos would not make me sell mine but it has put me off buying any other Elektron products sadly.
Id be more inclined when making a new purchase decision to go with, say, an OP1 as there are LOADS of how to videos that would really help me get the most out of the product. (and its a product i would like, I wouldnāt buy squarely on the amount of tutorial videos for an instrument.)
FWIW Cuckoo has done a stunning video (1 hr long) on the ins and outs of the Rytm and one on the A4 keys (more patch creation but good tips for A4 users too.)
Maybe if enough people ask here or on his You Tube channel heād oblige with an A4 video?
I would certainly like to see more modulation/routing tips and things.