what can a MnM do that an A4 cannot do …
sitting in front of the MnM for a few hours … I doubt that I need it … have the A4 (+MD UW) for 3 month
i got the Monomachine and didn’t personally find that i needed it. It was fun to make some scrambled digital sounds that sound like some circuit bent madness wich is something the A4 cannot do. I dint like the Filters on the MNM, when you use polyphony it can only use one track, and i found myself only really liking a few of the Machines so i traded it in and bought a subphatty and couldn’t be happier. It does have a pretty cool drum machine though and the Fm machine and Digipro machine are pretty fun, effects are ok for what they are. But from my limited time with it i felt the money could definitely better spent with some of the things that are out there now.
Well, it has a lot of synthesis methods, for one. Three LFO’s per voice. Awesome tape delay effects. You can load your own waves into it. It can generally sound incredibly good, very digital, otherworldly, it has a completely different sonic character to the A4.
But it depends on what you want from it. What kind of music do you want to make? If you want to explore odd soundscapes and how weird you can go, I’d recommend you to keep your MnM. If you’re making something a bit more straight forward, and are looking for good “basses” or “leads” or whatnot, maybe it’s not for you.
Overall I think the Mono and the A4 accompany one another very well, they sound excellent together.
But then again, I’m a huge fan - wouldn’t sell my Mono for the world. Last bit of kit I’d ever git rid of. 
This…
ADVANCED SEQUENCER CONTROL
For users that seek the most control over the creative process the Monomachine offer unique sequencer features for fine tuned sequencing.
TRIG TRACKS
For each track you have access to three individual sub tracks named trig tracks, offering individual control over the amplitude envelope, the filter envelope and the LFO trigs. This means you can separate pitch changes from envelopes and LFO trigging, allowing for very in-depth track sequencing.
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I’ve never really figured out how best to utilize the advanced seq control.
Any tips?
Try placing some trigs, Amp only on 1-4-7-10-13
Then place Filt trigs on 3-6-9-12
Pump up the filter Q, & get some movement with bofs & wofs
Now adjust the Amp & Filt Env to taste.
You can get some wicked rhythms where just as the Amp is dying the Filt pokes out it’s head.
You can add yet another level with the LFO’s. I set them to Hold a lot. By playing with the speed you can give the illusion of polyrhythms.
The Arp has Trig tracks too
Try this: Take a wave with lots of harmonic content, maybe an Ens machine. Make a pattern a bar or two long with just one regular trig. Set the Hold, Dec and Rel parameters to fairly high values so the note lasts most of the pattern. Give the note some “character” in terms of its filter settings and LFOs.
Now add a few trigless trigs. Plock them all to change just one parameter, then another. Let the sequencer run and listen as you change the plock values and move the Ttrigs around on the grid.
Some changes will have more effect on the sound than others of course … I find it’s good to be fairly methodical till you get a feel for the possibilities.
Occasionally convert some of the trigless trigs to ones that trig either the filter, the LFO or both. Or just the envelope and not the others, etc. Continue digging.
TBH this isn’t a quick learning process, and the advantages sound better on paper at first. I routinely spend entire sessions doing what I just described and my batting average is probably 85% useless garbled noise and 15% angel choirs.
I recently did a video trying the MnM as a dedicated drum machine and it was pretty fun but I’ve not even scratched the trigless trigs and stuff. To be honest I’ve only really gone deep on the OT sequencer I should give the MnM sequencer a chance. Might link up the shruthi and jam out with it tonight.
Don’t let that smudge in your screen make you not fall in love with the MNM!
The magic of the MNM is not as immediate as the A4, which is actually kind of cool because the MNM has a totally different type of magic inside!
The machines in the MNM are like nothing else, and it does take time to get used to them to the point where you sort of know which machine makes what type of sound the best. The MNM excels at weird digital sounds and complex pad sounds. You can also load your own wave forms, which can make the MNM sound like something entirely different than how it sounds by default. The A4 sounds lovely, but it will always sound like an A4.
The MNM also has amazing MIDI control. A4 can’t do that.
MNM can do six mono sounds at once, or a six voice poly sound, or split the keys and have a variation of the two. I know A4 has poly now, but it’s only 4 voices of one sound, I believe. The MNM can make some absolutely massive and lush synth pads that the A4 will never be able to make (it’s just different). Great for evolving textures.
I think you have to decide if you want more analogue, or more digital in your setup. The MNM makes a great contrasting element to an analogue heavy setup. Just gonna take some time to get used to it so you can really get the most out of it.
The A4 is like dog who’s in your face and ready to play. The MNM is more like a cat that has it’s own finicky way and unique characteristics.
Imagine you have a two bar long pad sound (no LFO trigs) that goes:
…“sssssshhheeeeeewwwwww…”
Placing an LFO trigger somewhere after the first trig has started might make the pad sound like:
“ssssssshhhwww …(LFO trig)… whawhawhawhaahhwaawhhaawhhaa”.
And then another trig further down the pattern with a different LFO setting so the pad now goes:
“ssssshsssseeeew…(LFO trig 1)…whaahhwaawhhaawhhaaw…(LFO trig 2)…WubWubWubWubWubWub”
All from a single ‘note on’ trig. That way your sound can evolve and change without sounding like it has been ‘played’ again.
Imagine you have a two bar long pad sound (no LFO trigs) that goes:
…“sssssshhheeeeeewwwwww…”
Placing an LFO trigger somewhere after the first trig has started might make the pad sound like:
“ssssssshhhwww …(LFO trig)… whawhawhawhaahhwaawhhaawhhaa”.
And then another trig further down the pattern with a different LFO setting so the pad now goes:
“ssssshsssseeeew…(LFO trig 1)…whaahhwaawhhaawhhaaw…(LFO trig 2)…WubWubWubWubWubWub”
All from a single ‘note on’ trig. That way your sound can evolve and change without sounding like it has been ‘played’ again.
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I tried that but this happened…
Haha!
Seriously though some nice tips here. I love the MnM and find it compliments the A4 well.
hello and good morning EVERYBODY
firstly, biig thanks for the useful advice I was given …
i had doubts, but now my doubts seem to be alleviated.
nobody said: MnM + A4 = waste of money … thats what I feared, but it is not.
realley cool tips here and (as usual) friendly feedback and constructive from experienced users …
thanks everybody for contributing (posted this question before going to bed, and now I am having my wake up coffee … what a pleasant read
The Mono just takes time. I’ve had it for just under a year now. I went from “wow!” to “meh” to “is this really what it can do?” to “holy shit, it can do this?!?!” to “Holy Shit, I can’t stop using this thing!” within a few months, maybe 6-8, and at this point I’d probably still keep it if I was homeless. What it can do is not going to be readily apparent until you spend time with the machine and the manual, but if you put in the time you will wonder how you ever lived without it. Comparing it to the A4 is like trying to compare two restaurants that serve totally different cuisines-you might have a great meal at both, but the flavors and experience will be different.
Thanks for the tips guys!
Yeah the Mono is really indispensable in my rig. I’ve had it since late 2010 and it’s constantly surprising me.
It sits next to the A4 for a reason. It’s less immediate but god, what a deep machine. I think it will go down in history as a serious digital classic along with the PPG, Waldorf Wave, etc… And I think that with this recent analog hype it makes it even more special and indispensable if you’re looking to not simply follow trends.
Gonna go and do some weird sounds now!
I made this a while back to compare the two. Did you see it?
I tried creating the same patch on both synths and used the OT to switch between the two.
Not only do the A$ and MnM work well together, I firmly believe I can get much deeper bass out of the MnM…even after the A4 update. The MnM midi sequencing of external gear makes it a monster then you have various synthesis machines, with the FM machines having quite a lot of magic to be found…and incredible sounds.
hey nedavine … your track sounds really nice … i dont really get the “this is MM and this is A4” , but thanks for your info still!
eventually i have to get the OT … but not now … really like the glitchyness you added
i also noticed the deep bass grolling rolling bassyness of the MnM compared to the A4…
thanks for your post namnibor
As far as Elektron gear I only have an Octatrack right now. But I am and have been more interested in the MnM than the A4. It sounds better and has way cooler sequencing and more interesting features overall, even if it never gets an OS update.
The A4 seems cool but just not as cool. It will be more interesting if I ever venture down the CV rabbit hole.