Parameter slides & accents

I just found out the A4 has Parameter slides but can’t find many examples of people using them.

Am I searching the wrong thing or is it not a very good feature?

Does anyone have any videos or music where there’s some A4 p-slides going on?

I’m wondering if it’s possible to have percussion sounds that slide into other percussion sounds.

Or weird soundscapes with just one track and P-slides.

I just learned about P-slides myself. Very cool. They basically slide one parameter lock to another parameter lock. That simple. For pad/droney stuff this can be really interesting when the P-locks are many steps away from each other. Thats my 2 cents.

Hey thanks for the info. Can’t find a lot on them. Don’t know if it’s just one parameter or ALL parameters

I am not completely sure, but i would imagine they are the same. it should be in the manual.

https://www.elektronauts.com/search?expanded=true&q=slide%20%23elektron-gear:analog-four

1 Like

Read the manual about it. Seems like an untapped feature on the A4. Or maybe I’m holding high hopes & it’s bland. Not sure.

I think it’s one of many untapped things. Just try it.

Parameter slides are exactly that. You p-lock a parameter and depending on where you place the p-slide, the parameter will slide from the unlocked trig to the p-locked trig, or from the p-locked trig to the unlocked trig.

Just try it, it’s awesome!

2 Likes

I will add : try the Parameter Slide with the Pitch first. It’s a Parameter that you can hear clearly.

3 Likes

I’m happy OP posted this question, cause I always feel lost in my conception of them. And it seems like you understand Parameter slides.

First of all I always forget if you place a Slide Trig at the trig that you want to start a slide, or at the trig that you want the slide to slide towards. I’m guessing it’s the second. But then from what point will the slide start? Or do you always place two slide trigs?

I imagined slides only worked between twó Plocks. But you seem to suggest a slide can happen between regular ún-Plocked state to a Plock, correct? But then again the same question, how does the A4 understand from where to slide? Is it just the last note? Or can you set a start and end for every slide?

Everyone always seems to think the slides are super intuitive/logical, yet it’s one of the few things I actually can never wrap my head around. Curious if this thread will end that:)

1 Like

From the MkII manual:

When you open the PARAMETER SLIDE menu, the [TRIG] keys with previously placed note trigs lights up light blue and trigs with added parameter slide lights up with a darker blue.
When this menu is active, place or remove parameter slide trigs by pressing the [TRIG] keys. If a parameter slide trig is placed on the same sequencer step as a note trig, the note trig will apply parameter slide.
For a parameter value to slide between two trigs, it needs to be locked on one of the trigs. A locked parameter value will slide to the unlocked value and vice versa. To make the parameter value slide, place a slide trig on the same sequencer step as the trig whose parameters you want to slide. The speed of the slide is relative to the current tempo, and the slide is completed when the next trig is reached. Several parameter values can slide at the same time.

2 Likes

Thanks @PeterHanes. I honestly never completely understand this. But I think if I understand it:
So this “next trig […] reached”, is that the next regular trig?

  1. So then it means you place a Slide Trig where you want the slide to start, and the length of the slide depends on how closely or far away the first upcoming regular trig is in the (non-slide) sequencer?
  2. And so then you could slide either from a light blue to a dark blue, by placing a Slide Trig on the first; or just as well slide from dark blue to light blue?

Now I just have to buy an A4

3 Likes

…hehe…

It’s always good to be informed before buying.

Okay I finally got it! What didn’t help, and I believe this might have happened before as well, is the fact that there are “Note Slides” too, and that they are nót the same as “Param Slides”, a button next to it…🤦🏻 Especially since I was again trying to figure it out with notes (pitch)… Took me 10 minutes to figure out.

Anyways, I get it now. Just using the right function helps:) And then it becomes clear quite soon that it will just start a slide where you enter the Param Side trig, and the slide duration ends when it reaches the next regular trig (or hallway a slide of the note isn’t long enough to reach the next trig of course).

Thanks all, for bearing with me

1 Like

Trig speed depends on bpm is what the manual said. So if you’re p-sliding notes far apart but using a note per pattern and having a bunch of patterns chained together, I’m sure some smooth stuff could be sequenced.

I really want an A4 but my funds are low :frowning: