some features can be achieved by simply routing the midi out back into the Analog Keys.
you can then:
control fx with aftertouch like Delay time on the same track you’re playing your chords
stick the joystick to its current position while tweaking the stick and pushing the MIDI Ext button, this will freeze the position and opens the midi control mode, that could be set to control all necessary CCs for sound sculpting, bravely called a performance mode where you can:
load sounds, freeze the joystick position, transpose and tweak parameters
it’s just like a layer on top, simply by midi routing
Performance Mode. Similar to how FUNC + parameter knob will step from 0 > 50% > 100% on certain parameters, it would be great to gave the ability to set custom step markers.
example might be something light the LFO speed that’s modulating filter. have it jump to 1/8, 1/16, 1/16 trip etc. rather than having to scan the entire spectrum and hope to land on the right number whilst in the middle of performing.
i have such a love/hate relationship with this and the digitone, but mostly this i think. i love everything about it except i always want a few more timbral sculpting options and a slightly better sounding engine. just imagine an analog four with even a minibrute 2s inside. four of those tied together would be so massively powerful, especially with cross modulation and paraphony/4 note polyphony. even just being able to weave four independent patches in and out of one another. sequencing external monosynths with a digitakt isnt quite the same, but that is my workflow.
i understand that you probably need a pretty limited synthesis engine in order to make it compatible with whatever dsp and p lock capabilities, but at this point, you’d think they could make an mk3 with a different set of oscillators or something. different filter even. svf maybe?
people want the new thing (syntakt) to be some kind of machinedrum in digi format or a new sampler but the a4 and dn are the most powerful production tools imaginable. all they need are new/different engines behind them. i hope to god they keep tinkering with that architecture. i want all of my synths to be in an elektron box. even if they teamed up with behringer and put like 4 pro-1’s or 4 model d’s inside of an a4mk2, it would be the best creative piece of gear ever. i have similar feelings about like a ju-06 or cz-101 inside of a digitone
elektron has ruined me for all other gear, but the actual core sound of their synths is still pretty limited. i love them, to be clear, but why not improve on them? even minor changes to the oscillators or added synthesis parameters would be very welcome
although i think ideally, it would be 4 of the behringer 2-xm synths in an a4 i box
Personally I don’t like the sound of the Arturia analog stuff, it sounds very lifeless to me and stiff, almost like a VA, a bit too precise and hard edged. I think the A4 is more versatile and to me sounds nicer, with more scope. Definitely takes more work though due to the way it is laid out - no knob per function.
thats true. and i’ve never owned arturia analog, so im just judging based on videos i’ve watched. maybe the a4 is more versatile. i do like its sound, and i like the amount of work it takes, sometimes i just get frustrated that i dont have more control over the timbre. i dont think they should be expected to improve it, its already incredible and groundbreaking in my opinion. i just really hope they do try different versions of it because standalone synths dont cut it for me anymore
really i’d like something like a quad pro-3 or x-pander, something oberheim/prophet/udo super 6-ish but i would be very happy with even a different flavor of tone in the same format, maybe with a few more ways to mangle the waves
i had an a4 before i had tried many monosynths, so i didnt have much of a frame of reference, but after trying the behringer stuff like the k2, pro-1, model-d, crave, plus the 0-coast, circuit mono station, manther, & erica bassline i was surprised at how rich and complex most of their timbres could get. i’d like a four track elektron sequencer version of any of those. the pro one especially has the ability to sound very complex and beautiful by mixing waves and using simple hard sync. i like the a4 sound, its one of my favorite synths, and i guess i do feel that it just has its own sound. but similar to the digitone, it’s hard to get away from the shiny hollow kind of thin(?) for lack of a better term, fizzy, abrasive tone. not that it’s bad really, i would just like more options in the same format is all im saying. i get sick of every synth after a while
you can do a lot to shape the a4, which is why i bought it 3-4 times. but most of the options (am/fm/sync/overdrive/filtering) are more destructive than musical. i like that for a lot of applications, and i like that im able to use the sequencer and 3 other tracks with feedback, neighbor osc, general sequencing, and qper to take it to places no other synth can get to. but that’s kind of my point here, i just want to see what other synth sounds are capable of in the same box. im just kind of confused as to why people aren’t rioting in the streets demanding that elektron make ten more versions of the dn & a4 with different synthesis methods or engines. its all i want in the world. my setup would be solely elektron if they did that
the literal answer to your question is, if i had my dream version:
-different filter types (svf)
-different vco/dcos
-3rd vco in lieu of sub osc
-wavefolding
-frequency shifting
-ring mod with custom sources
-vocoding with another track as the source
-phase modulation
-tzfm
-looping envelopes/function generators
-comparator
-pro3 style tuned feedbackc(although this might be possible and im just not aware of it)
-bit reduction/rectifier
-more ways to cross mod between track sounds and more freely assignable mod matrix style routings
-graphic eq
-fixed filter bank
-analog 12 stage phaser with ability to ping via aux envelopes with additional trigger sources
-complex multi-stage cz style envelopes
-patch morphing
-formant shifting
-more audio rate sources and destinations
-other additive methods im blanking on
-ability to clock seq/arp with lfos/external cv/internal function generators
-something like majella/pro-3, analog version of the korg radias-mutable warps, dpo/zpo/furthrr/serge/mangrove style dual complex osc with whatever functions they have
i could do with some more knowledge on a4 sound design. i’ve been looking for a while, but every time i sell one, i kind of forget everything i knew about the deep dive stuff. i have the a4 notebook pdf and have scoured the threads here but am still kind of lost on practical or useful methods of utilizing the feedback and nei oscillators for musical results, better analog fm practices, and im sure there are other things im missing but i do have a few banks i’ve filled up, soim making the most of it to the extent of my capabilities
I agree. I do hope they update the sound engine of the A4 at some point. I can only imagine having 4 MS-20s, or Pro-Ones’s, or Oberheim’s in a package like the A4 has. It doesn’t even have to be a clone-type sound, just something different to change it up. They are really hanging on to this one.
I just think it lacks character or a sonic identity, especially compared to the synths I mentioned. I had one for over a year, and I don’t think I could pick out its sounds like I could with many other synths I’ve owned.
I think a lot of its success is because the A4/Keys has been the only analog synth with an Elektron sequencer strapped to it. Of course the RYTM as well, but that one is more of a drum machine.
Granted, I think the architecture is brilliant the way the four tracks work together. It is a nice machine. It sounds like I am talking shit, but this is just an opinion. I have even considered picking one up again to have another run at it and integrate with the few euro modules I have.
“I just think it lacks character or a sonic identity, especially compared to the synths I mentioned.”
To be fair, you did mention 3 absolute icons in the industry with decades of popularity covering so many spectrums - not sure many units can really compare to any of those.
Im not saying your wrong. I’ve had 3 A4/AK and was never that thrilled with them until my current go at it. Its not nearly as robust as the synths you’ve mentioned but once you start really utilizing the sequencer (tastefully) and all the things that the elektron units shine at you really do have quite a remarkable machine.
yeah i know. i couldnt find a better a4 thread to post my imaginary desires in. i’ve already gunked up the syntakt thread enough
i do use a digitakt to sequence all of my synths. i think i mentioned that. its obviously not the same as having 4 independent versions of that synth tied together by p locks and complex step sequencers with automated fx’s, sound locks, and modulation
i think about this all the time. like even the pwm malevolent. something, anything. i just want that format with more sound possibilities. like i saw the la circuits bauhaus oscillator today for the first time and was imagining "what if the a4 had not only sequential style smooth-morphing waveforms, but also a 2-knob waveshaper. or what if they just added the “barrel” control of the mannequins mangrove. maybe even with a more analog style of activating and routing certain connections. sort of like a muxlicer style sequential switch or some sort of digitally controlled logic that behaves in such a way that the results aren’t constrained to virtual predetermined outputs
i understand that it’s irritating for someone who has no idea about engineering to ask for things like this. i dont even know if it’s possible. just something i hope for
i have the same fantastical dreams for like the digitone obviously but even the octa mk3 with more granular options and the warps parasites fx with a more max msp style internal architecture and count to 5/856 for zellersasn looping options, something that allows you to move and mold audio more malleably in space (in-between buffers like mlr, but elastic) or through multi-head delays like thyme or soma cosmos. but i feel like it’s not out of the realm of possibility to ask for alternate synthesis versions of the a4/digitone. something that doesnt exist elsewhere. the magic of elektron is that they combine things in a way that is more than the sum of it’s parts, making these boxes more powerful than almost any other single piece of gear. which is why i dont understand why the number one priority is different a4’s, rather than a mini machinedrum or half digitakt-half octatrack or whatever people are asking for
this is pretty much my problem. not even that it has to be more complex. but i was really blown away, after having owned two analog four mk2s, when i heard the behringer pro one for the first time, the crave, the model d. its not a bad sound, and it is kind of unique, but i find it kind of hard to sculpt into something useful a lot of times. the same could be said for any synth, and i do have that problem with a lot of synths. but i find myself a lot of the time frustrated at the core tonal characteristic of those dcos, at a loss as to what else i can do to make that sound more interesting. i am also not trying to talk shit, i really do love the a4. i keep coming back to it and dont plan on getting rid of this one anytime soon. but i cant help but imagine, every 2 weeks or so when a new amazing synth pops up, “man, what if that thing was multiplied x4 and tied together by elektron sequencers in one box with great effects”
the idea of a groovebox that can be sequenced and altered live, physically in realtime with all the flexibility of an elektron machine should appeal to every music maker. especially those coming from a daw. i try to avoid multi-tracking at all costs, and this is the best way to have editable midi without printing/bouncing to an audio loop in hardware that i know of. but there is so much more to the sound design capabilities with a multi-engine/multi-track synth that excites me to the point where i want to see what every form of synthesis, every type of oscillator is capable of when you have 4 copies interwoven and breathing and playing off of one another, internally routed, and in sync in one single piece of hardware
if the future of electronic production gear is just existing monosynths inside of analog four boxes, i think i could die a happy man
exactly. I’m curious what sounds people are imagining that they cannot achieve because they don’t have enough LFO’s…there is also the sequencer on the A4 to automate whatever you can’t get on the LFO’s. Maybe people don’t use the sequencer that have that issue
For those that have an Analog Four Mk2, you can hook up CV feedback (CV Outputs -> CV Inputs), which lets you control the CV Input macros with the FX track LFOs. Two LFOs with FIVE destinations each, affecting any parameter, on any track!
