Hi guys, sorry for the noob question but I have RTFM and have also RTF’cookbook’ and still can’t understand this - and as you will guess I am new to hardware synths. Perhaps it isn’t fully explained because it should be obvious to most…OK, so I have four nice voices playing four nice sequences. How do I now use the FX track? I have already assigned FX to individual tracks and notes using the ‘amp’ button when working on those tracks. So why/how do I/would I use the FX track? Thank you very much! 
without any cv gear, the fx track can be used to plock fx/ext params
with cv gear you can use it as a source for, typically, a pitch/gate pair
fress FX, select OSC 1 (red button between the G and H turn knob)
press play
hit fn + fx track to make the fx track RED
turn knob A, observe display what happens at the CHO channel
turn knob B F G observe display,
you HAVE TO have sounds comming from at least 1 voice track to hear a difference… also turning E and J all the way up may help
…
welcome to elektronauts barmyarmy
EDIT
fuck , i am wrong!
nothing happens… i actually only influences the signal from my external input … or does it … have I been imaginging this shit for the last 3 month ?
Thanks guys. LOL@Traban - you seemed to be giving me just the kind of basic steps I was looking for, and then the edit! Thanks anyway
On the FX track, any of the parameters of the Chorus, Reverb and Delay modules can be p-locked to the sequencer on their own dedicated track. Also if you look at the ENV and LFO mod destinations of the FX track, they are different to those found on the 4 voice tracks. The Fx track can also be used as a source for the CV/Gate outs
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Hey thanks Cocker, do you mean then that if you P-lock, say, a delay on one of the trigs on the FX track then it adds delay to that step for all voices (or more than one voice as per your choosing)? Is that why it is better/different than just doing it for the trigs on the individual tracks via the amp button?
Not really. Sending sounds to the FX section is still done via the Amp page. You can p-lock the send level of specific trigs there.
On the FX track you can for example p-lock different values for the Delay Time or the Reverb Decay to specific trigs on the sequencer. Basically giving hands free modulation of all the FX parameters.
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Think of it as an external FX. You chose the send amount on the track you are adding the fx to, and then you chose the parameters of the fx (delay time, feedback amount etc) on the FX track… And then you can automate / plock
On the FX track, you can p-lock FX settings to steps, independent of the sequences on the 4 synth tracks.
Try it out !
Thanks everyone, this is helping me get my head around it…it’s fun learning this machine isn’t it? A thing of beauty
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What I find strange about this is that when you P-Lock an FX track, it stays that value until you P-Lock it to another. This works differently than P-Locking elsewhere. I find this very confusing as you then need to remember to P-Lock back to default values.
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Hmmm, I always thought on the other tracks it’s tied to note lengths or more precisely to note-on messages. So e.g. a p-locked value for the filter cutoff stays that way until a new note is triggered and is not reverted to default on the next step.
You usually don’t have notes on the fx track, as it’s always “on” relating to all other tracks. Working as you suggested could also prove to be tedious when you want a parameter to stay on a certain value for a longer range than one step. Although I have to admit it would feel a bit more natural.
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You’re right, there’s no note on / off messages as such. I wonder if there’s a way to place an equivalent note off type of message? I agree, it would be equally as tedious to have to keep adding trigs to hold an effect open. Maybe using the note length parameter would work? Although then what do you do if you want one FX to be held longer than another (eg: a delay and reverb).
Work with the quirk. 
I am just trying to get my head around the fx track aswell.
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961)]i was wondering why i can do p-locks as well as trigless locks on the FX track. what’s the difference between them on the FX track which isn’t triggering any envelopes or gates anyway? some mentioned the fx track can control cv gates but i didn’t find no information in the manual about that.
you can select a different source track for the cv out signals, they need not be derived from the cv channel, you could use the cv pair C/D to drive another external cv synth whilst using A/B for the first one, or you could sequence things other than notes/gate etc using the extra outs - that’s why you have envs/trigless etc
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thanks! it makes a lot more sense to me now.
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Sorry for reviving an old thread.
By using the FX as the source track, would this open up two more Envs and LFOs? Or would it just be for entering triggering events in the CV track? Any help is appreciated! I know the A4 boasts only 2 env and lfo, but I’m not sure if there’s some internal routing workaround or not…
only the note events are ‘borrowed’ from the FX track - the FX modulators are for targeting FX params
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I apologize if this was answered throughout the thread…
I have an external synth running into the the L input to utilize the FX on the A4. The part that is confusing me with sequencing the FX track is that I’m not hearing any of the parameter changes I set on p-locks effecting that incoming signal. Must I use one of the four main tracks to pass the external synth signal through in order to hear FX track p-locks?
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no - should be fine - just lock the ext input level to see that it’s possible. perceived changes from other params will depend on the parameter - also make sure your Track level is turned up - this is like a global return level for all FX
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