So I bought my A4 mkII nearly a year ago and while I’ve been using it consistently, it’s only been for a limited set of sounds. I could never get rich pads out of it (that’s still an issue actually) and I find the internal effects to sound a bit bright and almost digital (EDIT: I guess they are digital!)).
Well, this is going to sound stupid and obvious… but at least for dubbier type music (which is mostly what I do) my solution has been to run the A4 (and most of my other kit) through my Mackie analog mixer but with delay / reverb pedals added to the sends/returns, so I control the amount of fx on diff devices… The Boss Space Echo RE-20 is particularly great for this (if you do a different style of music, obviously substitute your favorite fx chain here). When used judiciously you can get massive dub tones out of the A4, and the diff amts on the send/returns really tie the sounds of my different synths together.
Here’s a track I made last night with the new routing.
The full audio routing includes:
Digitakt into Mackie mixer (sends set to zero)
Analog Four MkII, Dreadbox Nyx (which also has its own massive reverb effect), Moog Minitaur into Mackie mixer (sends at various levels)
tweaking parameters live on the Space Echo to get things like feedback washes, dramatic occasional echoes etc
control room out of Mackie mixer into Octatrack MKII A/B input
addl samples from Octatrack, master track used as master compressor for the whole mix
Again, this isn’t rocket science and those who spend a lot of time in the studio are probably rolling their eyes as I write this. But yeah A4 really needs outboard effects to shine IMHO, and if you’re using other synths the sound gets tied together much much better if you use an old school mixer with aux sends / returns for the fx.
Still would love to figure out rich pads on the A4 though. Next project might be to try the 4 separate stereo outs on the A4 mkII to get even more control (though if I understand correctly, I lose the A4 internal effects with this method, no?)
Oh as for the track: the dub chord stabs are the A4, as well as the 2-note filtered bass that comes in every once in a while. The “big” horn / lead type synth sound that comes in later is the Dreadbox Nyx. Sub basses handled by the Miniatur (though they are mixed too low here). Vocal samples and old-school jungle synth are running from the OT. Drums by Digitakt of course.
Ahhhhh that explains a lot then. I mean the effects aren’t terrible but they definitely have a digital-like quality to them. Hmm maybe I will try using the separate outs after all.
The A4 is an acid beast in my eyes. Totally love it for that. Hence the name A(cid)4… If you take your time you can also dial in many interesting sounds, I like it to sink some hours into experimentation with this outstanding device
@rabid3k, there is no shame in learning, and many of us learn by doing instead of reading about an abstract idea. Now think of other, new ways to apply the concepts and enjoy the process of discovery.
Yes, yes it is! The Nyx has such a huge sound with its filter and reverb. It took me quite a while to figure out the filter routing (I still only kind of halfway understand it). This youtube video helped a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGMSV6HR1SQ
The key IMO to get a less digital feeling on the FX is to use their dedicated filter.
I always have a bit of HP on the revers to avoid the digital cracks.
And with delay you can go really crazy with Feedback around 2 o’clock and play with both filters to put a narrow band path on front. I feel like it’s a very tasty delay, in fact.
For your chords, don’t hesitate to use snappier envelope curves (exponential is cool for stabs) and maybe sometimes alternate with some low attack on linear env.
And program some trig conditions to break the repetitive aspect of your loop.
It really shines with dub techno.
Plocking Delay time is also much fun.
And about the separate outs : it’s interesting when you have e.g. a bass or a kick, you can use it to avoid the merging with chords. But for tracks using FX, the main out is way easier to use IMO.
Ever since i hooked up my A4 to an Eventide H9 Max, even the flattest sounds can be designed into something interesting. So yeah, A4 + pedals opens a whole new world of possibilities.
