I’ve always had a vague understanding of what the Poly Config mode does in the A4mk2, but I spent 30 mins with the manual this morning to figure it out properly… and I feel like I’ve got a new instrument at my disposal…
I was thinking of it as a way to get poly pad/keys sounds, but POLY CONFIG does SOOOO much more…
Unison mode sounds fantastic, using the extra voices adds so much weight to sounds.
I think my favourite is UNISON + USE TRK SOUNDS and stacking up to 4 different sounds.
If, like me, you have only glanced over the Poly Config side, I highly recommend spending some time in there!
Anyone got any favourite uses of it? Please share (while I’m messing around with it!)…
I could demonstrate it at some point actually… I’m still finding things through experimenting. It would make more sense with video though tbh, that I’m not set up for… I could make an mp3 at some point and describe it if anyone’s interested…
I use it pretty basix style. 2 voices for unison on some bass and pads, 2 voice for chords (when you have 2 * osc, each with a sub, two voices can get you a lot of chord.
Always loved how you could just add as little as 1 more voice to a track, for 2 voice unison.
Two tracks of drums and then one big mono unison voice was my A4 sweet spot.
I don’t fully understand the voice allocation methods, and I definitely don’t understand in what circumstances I should use each one. But I guess that’s “Voice Routing”, not “Poly Config”.
Thanks for reminding me about that series. I watched it all right after getting my A4mk1, but I should rewatch now that I have a clearer sense of the machine as a whole.
I like using the round robin mode (I think it’s rotate?) with track sounds on which I found out about browsing the factory patterns and was like “wait I muted that track how am I hearing that sound?” lol
Ok, here’s a quick guide to try out, hopefully it’s step by step and easy to follow;
Do these steps quick so you don’t overthink it;
Get a new/clean pattern, make it 16 steps.
Load a sound into T1- go for a keys sound to keep it simple.
Load similar-ish sounds into T2, T3 and T4.
On T1, put a 1 bar figure into the seq (I’d suggest a simple ARP will work fine).
The POLY CFG experimentation steps;
Go to POLYCFG (FUNC+MIX)
You’ll see TRIGS 1-4 now lit dimly… these are your VOICE on/off for each TRK.
They’ll be ‘off’ in default… but switch on 1-4.
Got to ALLOCATION… Default is ‘RESET’, but scroll through them and you’ll hear the difference… esp when you get to UNISON.
When you’re at UNISON, go back to the TRIGS 1-4 and check the difference out between having 1-4 UNISON voices in/out.
Play with the DETUNE and PAN SPRD here to hear the effect.
Go back to having all TRIGS off and stay on UNISON.
Switch on USE TRK SOUNDS
Switching on TRIG 1 should keep the sound the same, but now you can switch in the other sounds via TRIGS 2, 3 and 4.
You can now get any combination of the sounds playing the pattern with T1.
Now go back to ALLOCATION with all 4 Voices switched on (TRIGS 1-4)
Switch back to RESET and check it out…
Going through the ALLOCATION settings will now make it clear/apparent how the A4 organises/retriggers the notes via the TRK sounds. You’ll hear how RESET is tighter with no spillover and only triggers the original sound (if there’s no note spillover/poly settings in your sequence from an ARP).
ROTATE and REASSIGN allow different types of sustain, and you’ll hear how they use the extra TRK sounds.
If you get to this point, I think/hope you’ll understand what’s going on and you can go and experiment with what sounds cool to you… change the TRK Sounds to basses, or drums, etc… ENJOY!
Prepare a slightly different (but mostly similar patch) on all 4 tracks (experiment with different panning, tuning, Decay settings)
Then switch on Rotating voices + USE TRK Sounds + ARP + Delay/Reverb = instant fun!
I would like an upgrade to play oscillators chromatically.
And so, use the analog four as an 8 voice poly synth.
Difficult to do even with a midi processor, I tried but it’s complicated between osc CC’s destination.
This is why the Access Virus series remains supreme for (thick) polyphony and unison patches.
16 Timbre Parts (Voices) - each which can be assigned additional voices for unison (per part/midi channel)
Having 24+ Voices (starting with Virus B model) so you can at least assign 8 of the 16 parts to Twin-Voiced Unison. With the newer models that have > 100 Voice Polyphony, you can get some seriously rich layers of warm unison love by adding even more unison voices per part, without “hijacking” voices from other parts.
I’m still working through the A4 Unison and MIDI configuration options to see if I can get more flexibility without sacrificing too many options. Overall, it definitely helps (the richness of sound), but the sacrifices it introduces to the entire kit is slightly disappointing. Thankfully, I have another polysynth if I need to use the A4 in unison mode. For the most part, it’s just a different workflow decision.
