Some monomachine questions

Elektron Gear Monomachine
#1

Hello all,

I am Phil form Belgium and i am new here.I have an analog 4 and recently
I just bought a 2nd hand monomachine MkII+.
At first look it looks a simple device.But i was wrong i have a lot of problems to get it work properly…I am playing for more then 20 years with analog synths,and ik have around 20 of them here in my studio.But te Monomachine brings me a lot of headscratching.Tried to read the manual but my englisch reading is not so wel.The interface and how all things is organised gives me soms problems…

1/ In my analog 4 i can scroll through all my presets and listen to them.
How do i do this on the monomachine?I can only load a kit with 6 tracks.
But that is very slow if i have to reload everythime a kit with different sounds…i just want to scroll through the presets or my sounds instantly.

2/When i play a synth part i can only edit the delay on the effects page
I have to go in the menu to see the reverb,chorus,phaser etc…
How do i put for example a reverb on my sound/track?
Are these effects only accesible through the external inputs?
Or can i put some reverb and chorus on the monomachine sounds too?
For editing the effects the analog 4 is much better.

3/How do i save a single sound and where do i do this ?(on most synths they call this a “patch” or “single” sound.I can only save complete kits with different sounds but thats not what i want cause i play mostly the monomachine in poly mode and use it as a 6 voice polyphonic synth.It looks to me that the monomachine is always in multi mode/multitimbral cause it looks like you can only save a complete kit and not a single sound am i right?

4/External input:when i connect a synth via the external inputs to send them through the effects i dont hear anything.In the menu i choose the right input ( A+B) and the right output (A+B main output)but i dont hear anything?

I hope some people can put me in the right direction cause i tried so much and it is very frustrating :confused: :rage:

Thanks phil :wink:

#2

Welcome Phil :slight_smile: The MnM and the A4 have different architectures, so understanding the A4 will not always help you with the MnM, and (as you are discovering) may even confuse you. I’ll try to help, but have you searched for a translation of the MnM manual in your language?

#1

This is simply the way the MnM is organized. You can easily copy one of the 6 tracks from one kit and paste it into another, then save it to a new location. Tedious compared to the A4, I know.

#2

Each of the MnM’s tracks has a dedicated delay. However, effects such as reverb, phaser, flanger and ring mod are available as “effects tracks”, which you must assign to another one of the MnM’s 6 tracks in the kit edit menu. The easiest way is to assign this new track’s input to “Neighbor”, which means the effect will apply to the previous track. So put your patch on track 1 and the reverb on track 2, for example.

(There are more complex routing options available with the MnM’s bus system, which is part of the Mnm’s flexibility and power. But to keep your life simple for now, start with Neighbor assignment.)

#3

As I said in answer #1, you have to save each voice (or patch) as a track to a kit, which again has 5 other tracks. If you like poly mode, one approach that might help you is to gather 6 different voices that you like playing in poly, save all of them as a single kit, then put the MnM in poly mode. You can select the track you want (at far right) and whichever you choose, the MnM will play that patch in poly.

#4

You need to trig the track that is listening to the inputs. It should be an effect track (Thru, Reverb, etc.). At first, check the Amp page and set the Hold, Dec and Rel to 127 (so the gate never closes), and place a trig on the first step of your sequencer pattern. Press play on the MnM and you should hear your synth.

Hope this helps.

#3

Its not possible to browse/load or save a single sound, only kits.

Only delay is set per track. Other fx you have to place on tracks.
Example track 1 : fm machine and track 2 :reverb. (You can choose the input for the fx track: neighbour for reverb on track 1 , or input a/b for reverb on the external inputs.)

You must put a trigger on track 2 and adjust the adsr for the fx become active.

I hope this helps you out.

Monomachine is no analog4, different beast, takes more time to get under control, But the sound pallet of the monomachine is much larger than the a4.

#4

Hello Dubathonic and Dust runner,

Thanks for the welcome :+1:
I searched for a dutch translation from the manual but found nothing.I think it is difficult to translate (time consuming) for such a big technical manual as dutch is only a small language.

But your answers are very clear and i begin to see the light a bit :kiss:
Te coming days i will try all your tips and see where i come.

Thansk a lot i really appreciate your help :+1:

Phil

#5

Phil, here is a great collection of tips:

http://tarekith.com/assets/monomachine_tipsandtricks.htm

http://musicbycatabolic.tripod.com/webonmediacontents/ElektronNextLevel2011.pdf

#6

Ah yes, the MNM is a weird beast indeed. The frustrations you are having are VERY common with any new user. You will get there, and when you finally REALLY get the MNM, you will probably love it! It can be quite complex at times though.

  1. The patch selection on the MNM is terrible. You do have to load a whole kit just to hear the patches within that kit. No ‘audition’ option at all. At least now you know you’re not missing something! You can copy a patch from one Kit to another, or even into an entirely different Snapshot, if you want. The manual explains how to copy and paste patches, etc.

  2. Dubthonic explained this well in a previous reply ^^^. Understanding how things can be routed internally is a HUGE advantage in unlocking the potential of the Monomachine. Layering tracks and routing them through more effects in the MNM makes massive and complex sounds.

  3. Yep, you’re right. You can only save a complete kit, and NOT just the patch. MNM has its own way of doing things. You have to adapt to its architecture. It may drive you a little crazy, and it never stops being quirky, but it is worth it!

  4. Again, Dubthonic’s reply is spot on ^^^. You have to remember that EVERY machine has to have at least one trigger on its track to make it active. Even for effects tracks, or a THRU machine. This detail is a pain in the ass sometimes!

Monomachine rewards those who are patient and willing to get to know her!

#7

Hello Pulsn and freefall,

Thank you so much for all the advice.I have printed out all the tips on paper and have it beside me with my monomachine right next to me.I will try everything out.Thank you so much this is a great helpfull forum :+1: :wink:

Greets,

Phil

ps: i have seen a user revieuw and the guy told this:(and that is how i feel now for the moment :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :

"
Finally I get it. Love my MonoMachine…

same story here. first months I was thinking “I spent $1500 on a Nintendo with a sequencer…”,

and also for me, prolonged couch-sessions with headphones, manual and a beer or two, things

started to make sense. and when it made sense, it did so in a fantastic way, can’t ever imagine

parting with it now…"

#8

couch session with headphones …

almost the same for me… i had her in my bed for 2 weeks, the last thing I did before going to bed for like 2 weeks , was, with headphones off course, and uninterrupted from other machines…

practice on the mm

helped me soooo much!

#9

@TrabanT Haha i recognize this,the same here :slight_smile:

#10

Hello Guys,

Well after about a week spending a lot of (frustrating)time with the monomachine i finally know how this thing works.It was hard to learn everything and it has a complete other way of organising things but i fianlly understand this brilliant peace of gear!
Thanks everyone for the advice and tips :+1: :kiss:

#11

Sorry for this little question about the inputs. Do you ALWAYS have to press play to hear the external sound?

#12

[quote="“YloopZ”"]

Sorry for this little question about the inputs. Do you ALWAYS have to press play to hear the external sound?[/quote]
you can manually trig, once, the fx track