The sound of the A4/AK... like or dislike?

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#441

For reference, I also have an A4 Mk1 and was referring to that one.

The reverb pedals I own and use are a Meris Mercury 7, Boss RV500, Crazy Circuits Splash Mk3. I also have an Alesis Nanoverb and some other random stuff I don’t use (the reverb on a Space Echo, Zoom G5 etc etc). And of course nearly all the reverb vsts my macbook can handle lol.

I think the Mercury 7 and the Splash Mk3 sound better, but the A4’s reverb gels better with the sounds I aim for / create / come out of my synths. So for me it’s a great tool for sound design (basically as a pre-fader/insert effect, so part of the sound design, not as a space-adding effect).

The Ventris is a very good pedal, I’ve looked into buying it quite a bit but ultimately went with the Mercury7 because I liked its sound better. But I’ll get a Ventris eventually as well, I think it’s one of the best big boxes out there.

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#442

TBH I don’t think anyone is saying that the A4 is incapable of producing bass frequencies. It’s just that most if not all of the bass tones it can produce are underwhelming or not what some people are after when they want synth bass. I just made a simple hip hop beat, just noodling around and I did manage to make a satisfying kick drum and bass sound both, but while they’re passable (the kick drum is even pretty good), I’m sure I could get much more satisfying bass tones from a DFAM or an MS-20. It’s just not a very good bass synth, it just lacks character and dirtyness which IMO are both extremely important for bass sounds.

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#443

…let’s put an end to all this, pleease…

it’s all soooo subjective…esk is sayin’, he never liked the reverb…for example…
while i say, exactly this same inbuilt/onboard reverb spended me some of my most beautiful long verbed tails i ever recorded…

and so on…
and so on…

are there any other synth, where opposite opinions could take such a stretch…?
the a4…no lovers without haters…must be a unique machine…i guess…

#444

i think it’s interesting to hear what specific features or techniques help with crafting sounds that people like. It’s also interesting to hear what features cause limitations. I tend to skip comments that are subjective and aesthetic. those comments can create lively discussion, but it can be hard to tell what commenters are talking about. for instance, what is the reverb good for in your music is more useful and engaging to me (and hopefully others) than generally stating that it is good. etc.
still like reading through comments tho.
cheers.

4 Likes
#445

Thanks for sharing my track here! So I just want to explain something I thought was really cool from 1:55 and onward.

On a few tracks I’ve been using two knobs to control the delay and reverb: one knob to increase the intensity (well into feedback), and the other to push them back. I wanted to try this 2 knob trick on a synth sound, which is how I ended up with the hihat/kick/bassline sound on track 1. I set it up like so:

Knob B increases the filter1 cutoff/envelope depth and lowers the overdrive into the other overdrive mode. Turning this knob up basically turns it into a hihat track with a bit of kick and distorted buzz in it.

Knob C decreases the filter2 cutoff (which is a high pass filter) and increases the osc2 level, introduces more bass and melodic content. It also increases the saw-like LFO’s depth which is also tied to osc2’s level, making that melodic sound “play” 16th notes.

Having those two macro knobs play off each other was really fun! There were a lot of interesting sounds to explore just turning those two knobs. So at 1:55 I mute the bass track and start slowly turning up the B and C macro knobs. At 2:05 I mute the drum track too, so all the percussive sounds and bass sound are coming from 1 voice. At 2:16 I turn B to max and wait until right before unmuting the drums to quickly turn the C knob to max, which engages the other overdrive. I sat for a pretty long time just playing that buildup over and over, it was so fun :smiley: Not to mention upping the intensity at 2:40 by going into the osc2 pages on tracks 1 and 4 to increasing the tune an octave.

TL:DR; performance macros are fun.

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#446

This might be more useful in the A4 Tips & Tricks thread, so people searching for good info can find it collated in one place.

Indeed, the performance macros are by far the best feature of the A4.

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#447

Never used the performance macros funnily enough.

#448

Hmm, I see what you’re getting at, and I sort of agree. But the trouble I have with it, is that you can have a large amount of control without having to sacrifice the inherent basic sound / character, which is what we’re talking about here. Oscillators and filters don’t need to be weak in an init state for you to have a lot of control.

#449

I think the word weak is wrong, neutral is more truthful. And one reason I think theyre so painfully neutral is the endless amount of modulation options. You can modulate a neutral sound a lot more than a sound already rich with overtones.

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#450

Analog Four bingo

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#451

Elektron Fanboy: „you need super pro attitude and put in dedication and time“

AnalogFourHater: „Elektron Fanboy!“

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#452

I am kind of curious how those who don’t like its lack of immediacy get along with at Octatrack, just in terms of functionality.

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#453

I think “painfully neutral” describes it pretty well @ghostbuddy :stuck_out_tongue:

I also agree with @vvilms about “the larger the param set, the smaller the sweet spot.” What I’ve experienced so far with the A4 (and Digitone too, for that matter) is that I can think up a sound and quickly recreate a rough estimate of that sound on the A4. But to get it to sound right, I have to trial and error my way through to the right sweet spots. I haven’t used the A4 nearly as much as I’ve used my Digitone, but it’s pretty much the same sweet spot searching process on both synths.

The time it takes to go from a rough estimate of a sound to the perfectly flavored sound can often be long enough to kill the flow. I think the pros of having all these sound design options outweigh the cons of having to hunt for sweet spots, but only if you enjoy that process. I personally enjoy it.

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#454

Octatrack bingo

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#455

Haha nice one, quick of mind you are.

#456

Or perhaps more accurately in this case:

Elektron Fanboy: „if someone disagrees with me, all I hear them saying is Elektron Fanboy!“

AnalogFourHater: „You can have a super pro attitude (whatever that means?!) and put in the dedication and time, and it’ll still sound underwhelming“

:joy: Just playing with you @Unifono - I couldn’t resist!

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#457

This entire thread is “opinion” followed by “no, other opinion actually” … even the jokes.

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#458

Well shit, that sounds like a message board! And here I thought I was reading the Elektron manual for how to get friends and succeed in life.

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#459

I tried to make jokes on both parties of the discussion (probably not funny :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:)

I have no clue what a pro attitude is either…

I personally agree that the init sound is underwhelming, and sweetspot search can be exhausting.
Then, it can sound superb on other days, when you find a magic parameter combo.
The longer you use it, the more of these settings you find and remember

Always kept it for versatility but I admit that it in my mind it has a quite frequent spot on the things to sell list

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#460

This needs to go into the meme thread :slight_smile:

1 Like