The sound of the A4

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
1

hey people!

today I went to a friend and hooked my A4 (and MD) to his Yamaha HS80M … holy shit!

that A4 sounds soooo incredibly awesome, I cant believe it! … I dont own professional monitor speakers (yet) … but I was so blown away from what my little baby produced … it is like new life had been pumped into her …

the low end is so refined and plastic and gentle yet powerful, cant describe it really … what an experience … and the 2 hour jam which followed (Me A4 + MD + a professional singer who wanted to jam with a synth artist (noob) and play some piano and singing along… went really well)

2

Very rich professional sound. Id say almost to a fault.

Adding a sampler of some sort really completes the package. IMHO.

Allowing you to define your personality with any off colour , quirky patches.

3

…like elephant farts

4

sculpting good synth farts is an art form of its own

I would say if you can’t sculpt a good synth fart, you don’t know your synth very well…or it’s not a very good synth :slight_smile:

a nice example:

5

pffft…what do you know about elephant farts?

6

here is a patch that I made … just kidding :wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEKePoqplgk …wait for the end …

7

ha!

8

Totally agree. It sounds like it’s a recording coming out of a PA, but it can be kind of difficult to get “those kinds” of dirty sounds. Pretty disconcerting realization to make after selling my OT to get an A4.
Thinking about supplementing with a MicroBrute

9

See some of my other posts for tips on how to get the A4 to go dirty before you add a MiniBrute to the mix. :slight_smile:

10

maybe it’s just me but I never have a problem getting nasty stuff from the A4, there are a ton of modulation options

you start mixing feedback wave form with AM mod and overdrive, then throw in some LFO and starts to get dirty really quick

11

You know, one huge female is led around the streets, “working” and it passes under my window.
Haven’t heard it fart yet.

12

Slight thread hijack, sorry!

I’m not a fan of the A4s tone. Are there any demos out there that show the A4 in a totally different way?

I appreciate all instruments have their own character, but just wondering if there’s more to the A4 than what I’ve heard so far.

13

This is good stuff from a guy on another community.

https://soundcloud.com/i-i-i-o/h

And he makes the a4 sound a bit different.

14

That’s a good start. Thank you!

15

you could also let us know what kind of sounds you are wanting to hear :slight_smile:

17

Most of the demos I’ve heard have this fuzzy screechy quality, for want of a better description. I hate all the vibrato in many if the sounds. Of course the vibrato can be dealt with, but this “fuzzy screech” seems an intrinsic character of the A4. Just wondering if it can sound radically different from its base sound.

18

the sounds can be vastly different, that’s why I said if there was a particular sound you are looking for let us know, sure someone would be happy to craft it and post it

I go anywhere from drone, bass, brass, strings, to percussion and total weirdness.

19

I had an A4 once, but sold it. I’m thinking of getting one again for the sounds that it is good at. I know it can’t sound like this:

https://soundcloud.com/modularsquare/sets/eowave-koma-demo-mayhem-01/

20

To be more specific, I’d like to hear how the performance macros can really mess with the sounds. I know the performance macros are really powerful but I’ve not seen any demos of this feature.

21

I have a Tempest, Blofeld, Tetra, and an A4. The Blofeld sounds sexy, digital, smooth. The Tetra sounds so warm and human if that makes sense? if you broke it open - it would bleed. If i’m looking for something grimey, greasy, abrasive, offensive - I grab my man mr. A4. very easy to get something harsh out of it, yet still sounds good. it definitely sounds like an elektron machine (some people want that) it is somewhat predictable, but that can usually be fixed with some p-locks / trigless trigs. The Tempest, now… This machine has so much fucking character, it makes my elektron machines sound like toys. the software is in no way as intricate as my OT or A4. but in the end, what i am able to get to come out of the audio outs is just pure uncut dope. but yea, anyways…lol…the A4 at least for me is what i grab for if i need something with attitude, something a little hairy. now that you can easily get chords out of it, it can sound pretty sexy too.