So I had the A4 MKI I bought just to try out up for sale, but I think I might actually keep it. Like I don’t need it at all, but there’s just something so nice about it that I can’t put my finger on. Coming from MnM and M:C, the sound palette of A4 seemed limited until I dove a little deeper and found that it has quite a few interesting ways of manipulating the analog circuits. It also makes a great fake TB-303 and can whip up some nice snares, hats, and claps. (I’ll reserve my current opinion on its capabilities as a kick synth.)
I’m about to sound ridiculous but I actually bought it to see if it could replace my MD as I was thinking about selling it. It’s because I thought the drums that people were getting out of it sounded really good and to be honest, MD’s limitations used to turn me off from using it all that much. MCL has since changed that…
I’d just like to comment that while A4 not a good replacement for a MD - like, at all - it does what it was made for very well. Very good sound, lots of well-thought-out modulations. Love finally having access to the mysterious spirit of real analog. There’s so little I’d want more from this device. Besides more voices of course. Great companion to MD for obvious reasons. Drums + chromatics.
Also I want to add … to anyone else who’s owned a Monomachine and regretfully sold it … A4 makes a decent substitute for MnM, in that it can cover a lot of the same sonic territory for chromatics if you nevere cared about the VO machine and have Digitone or M:C or something else for FM. (Though MD can do FM and A4 can do a limited form of it.)
It’s a great instrument and while it’s a bit laborious sometimes to get something cool going on its incredibly deep and IMO pretty unique sounding too.
At first I was a bit underwhelmed with the sound but with time and practice it all totally changed.
As for the MnM comparison I fail to see much in common there, sound-wise or in terms of synthesis since the MnM does many types of fm, wavetable, samples and all that jazz and they just don’t overlap much in any way. It’s also shamelessly digital sounding no matter what you do with it.
Well for me, it fills the void of “Elektron sequencer that does bread and butter analog sounds”
Definitely didn’t mean to imply it can do everything Mono can, just that it’s a good replacement. Along with my Cycles I can get quite a lot of similar sounds so I’m happy.
I haven’t done music in a long time now. That isn’t just Elden Rings fault…. Anyway, I’ve been hardware free for the next part of a year now but I do sometimes entertain thoughts of picking up the A4 again. It’d probably be the 6th or 7th time of owning a Mk1/Mk2/AK. Maybe more actually
At the prices that Mk1s are going for though it’s just incredible value. The prices are now not a kick in the arse away from “toy” price territory. With how the economy is I suspect they’ll stay at this end of the price scale for some time.
The package of sequencer, FX and voice/sound routing is just fantastic.
I should stop there as I know better than most that this is slippery slope and I’ll be back to owning an A4 and OT within a month
Of all the Elektron i have owned, the most interesting one, even if limited, it is the M:C
I have never owned an A4, and I am quite curious about the possibilities the machine offers
I don’t know if i will like the analog engine, I have a rytm mk2 and i don’t like that too, but it is the elektron sequencer that i think makes the analog 4 standing out compared to other
analog mono
most of the time when i feel like im getting stuck with it’s limitations, i start from scratch and explore some of the more atonal sides of it’s sound design, and then reign that in so it’s playable. it’s endlessly rewarding, like most elektron things
Yes! Exploring some one small obscure aspect of these instruments at a time usually rewards greatly. Also that way the knowledge is cumulating and repeating the same ol’ thing over and over again decreases.
One useful tip: I save some of my favorite percussive sounds in Bank P.
When starting a new project, I load the whole Bank into the Sound Pool: it makes Sound Locks immediately available.
This shapeshifting capability is the very first quality of this synth, to me. Only analog synth I know of that can be that flexible.
and no doubts…whenever u hit a sweet spot…save that sound to ur fav bank only waiting for it…THAT’s how u make sure any future soundlox will always treat u fine…
make ur diggin deep sound lab times and the miracle of just messing around randomly ONE SAME thing…
Quite often I’ll look at a new analog synth or interesting Eurorack module and be quite tempted by it, and will then come to the conclusion that the A4 is already capable of whatever makes the new gear interesting. My only real wish is that it had a little more scope for creative sequencing - I have a mk1, and I have wondered if the CV inputs of the mk2 would address this and fully cement its position. But somewhow it doesn’t seem quite right to celebrate the GAS-crushing powers of the A4 by buying an A4, so I content myself with the MIDI input.
But yes, here’s to the A4, it’s absolutely a little marvel.
Well, just the usual linear Elektron constraints - stuff like reverse, ping-pong, step skip, even/odd etc. would be great to have, but that’s just wishlist talk rather than a criticism. Whenever I use a sequencer with those features, I inevitably wish it behaved more like an Elektron in some respects…
Fair enough. I remember reading somewhere that p-locks would make it somehow difficult to implement but not 100% sure if that was the only speculated reason for the lack of those functions. Would be cool though. Far too often I forget to use the parameter slides, those can make things v interesting and surprising.
At the time, I thought that it was too fancy/unnecessary for poor me, who originally intended only to buy MD for the time being and felt guilty about buying the pair. I planned to buy it again later, had no idea what prices would become in a few years.
I agree! And I’m always saying this but I think/hope that Elektron thinks so as well and take inspiration for their next box.
The A4 sounds better to me. Rytm is very grimy, very wild. A4 is more controlled and clear while still having the possibility for some grime.
I’m still new to A4 but it is much deeper than it seems at first blush. I just got a strange almost bit-crushed sounding pad by modulating the chorus send with a fast LFO and then feeding chorus into a thick reverb.
Well for starters 14 knobs and 4 buttons (and the LFO submenu) for sound design and no paging around makes a big difference in workflow.
The fact that you can break the Cycles’ trademark sound by fiddling with the DECAY and CONTOUR with the LFO opens up a wide variety of sounds and timbres. Fake sustain, attack, and changing the curve are all possible… (not at the same time of course )
The fact that it is intentionally designed as a hybrid drum/synth - so versatile. So easy to make full songs with drums and chromatics in a single box.
How the macros were chosen to make sound design in FM easier than analog yet still capable of such a wide variety. It really is much deeper than YouTube makes you think.
And the data knob works surprisingly well for menus and naming things. The way presets work is also IMO better than the bigger boxes.
My bandmate has one and I have tried it briefly couple of times and I really liked the immediacy and was surprised by how suddenly decent music was being created.
Having all those knobs is a cool thing too and makes it v playable.
That being said IMO these factors are mostly convenient for making it more immediate but less interesting as the range of sounds is quite limited compared to the other Elektron boxes I’ve used and it’s lacking the depth I’m accustomed to.
Of course thats just my impression. Initially when it was published I doubted if it would be of any use to someone with experience with the deeper devices and I must say I changed my mind. It was very fun to use.
Ahhh. It is limited, but it’s also distinct. That’s the key thing here, it’s not the most popular Elektron groovebox, and to me that’s a good thing, because it has these limits it can be very easy to use. I like how I can make it sound, but it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea.
When I realized that it’s actually just a pretty generic FM engine under the hood… that’s when I realized it was my main.
A casual playing won’t get you to the depths it has.
OTOH those depths are more like elevators than anthills in terms of difficulty and complexity. You might be surprised though. It continues to surprise me.
But none of this matters if the sound doesn’t do it for you
)