Ohh, great tip! I'm gonna try that out. It sounds very similar to how you add multiple notes to trigs on the midi tracks on the Digitakt and Digitone. Hehe, Tryti's Trig+Yes :P

@jaystink can you explain in little more detail what you mean or how you do it, for those of us still learning the A4? thanks!

Thanks a lot, man!

Word!

Thanks for watching, man! Glad you learned some tricks from this video :)

Thank you very much! Yeah, a used A4 is still pretty expensive. For what it's worth, the Digitakt synergizes better with the Digitone than with the Analog Four, in my opinion. They're small enough that they can be used side-by-side as if they're one big Elektron device, they have pretty much identical workflows, you don't need to change the midi settings as much because the default settings work very well. The A4's workflow is different enough that there's a little disconnect when using the two devices together. For example, saving patterns and projects on the DT+DN uses the same motion (FUNC+YES then FUNC+SAVE PROJ -> YES), but on the A4 you have to save the kit and pattern separately (YES+KIT, YES+PTN, FUNC+SAVE PROJ -> YES). Doing these actions at the same time on both devices feels more natural on the DT+DN combo than on the DT+A4 combo. I could go on about the differences in workflow, but this is pretty much the reason I still make more music with the DT+DN combo than the DT+A4 combo :)

@@IvarTryti Thanks for the detailed reply. I was a bit worried the digitone can't make more 'natural' piano sounding patches, but after looking, it just seems like you have to learn fm and it is still one of the best multi timbral beasts out there. i keep wondering if i may end up with one. only gripe i have w the digi teir machines is is that you cant change the reverb+delay settings in the sequencer. if that was possible i think it would blow the machines wide open. midi loopback exists but it is such a pain!

Tusen takk! :D

One creates sounds via FM-synthesis and the other uses subtractive wave synthesis.

Glad to hear it! I'm gonna update the timestamps, thanks a lot :)

I think so too. I haven't tried combining them yet though, because I always get overwhelmed when imagining using the two together. Both make great sounding drums, but designing drum sounds and programming drum patterns on the Analog Four and Digitone is much more labor intensive than doing so on a Digitakt or Syntakt. That said though, I really should try using them together!

Thanks for watching! I haven't used that trick much, gotta try it out more. I think I remember it worked as you explained.

@peterdekkers can you explain a bit more? I'm learning the A4 (via an AK) and haven't yet mastered the ARP, but find tips/tricks a useful (if ass-backward) way in. is the arp argpegiating if only the first note of it plays? Sorry if I'm being slow

@@bentropy hello, yeah, so if you like having the arpeggio going, but you want to turn it off for certain trigs, then you can set a short note length for only those trigs where you don't want the arpeggio. It will then indeed only play the first note of the arpeggio, for those short trigs. On other, longer trigs, it will play out arpeggiated notes for the duration of said trig. Hope that makes sense :)

@@peterdekkers cool thanks I’ll try it!

Thanks for watching! I have my sounds and project files available on Patreon :) patreon.com/ivartryti

@@IvarTryti Oh wow thanks, I’ll take a look.

Any tutorials put there for making chords with Algo 7 or how you would make a sound on the A4 that serves as 3 drums at the same time? Would really appreciate it!

@@fargoththemoonsugarmaniac I don't think there's any real way on the A4 to make one sound that serves as 3 sounds at the same time, on the same track, except by clever sound design - taking advantage of all the oscilators, filters, noise gen, envs, lfos, fx and ofc PLocks to emulate the sound of e.g. a kick + snare + hat sound all hitting. I'm sure some people have done this and sound locked it into a track with individual drum sounds the resemble the elements of this combined sound. It might sound cool/interesting, but I doubt if it sounds 'natural' or realistic. Maybe @ivartryti will offer his insights/experience/opinion.

It's a tedious workaround, but it is at least possible to fake retrigs this way :D

Maybe the Digitone, I think. I really like both the A4 and the DN, but the DN is easier to use together with the Digitakt, and that's a really good combo. It's also cheaper, which should be taken into consideration.

@@IvarTryti thanks for replying! indeed looking like both powerful machines. I am trying not to buy new synth, but it's not the easy one :) already having DN, loving it. Instead of DT using sp404 mk2, still learning it.

@@mykhailshavkunov7345 My pleasure, man :) The A4 is a lot of fun, but it takes more effort. Sometimes I just don't want to deal with that. The Digitone is easier to just jump straight into!

@@IvarTryti really appreciate you sharing this experience! Thanks! Also I am super happy that elektron finally find out your talent and sent you syntakt! Thats a big step I think, congrats!

Haha 😅! I sold the Heat last year so I can't compare the tones, but from what I remember the Digitone doesn't sound like any of the Heat's circuits. I think the closest would be the saturation or enhancement circuits, but on the Digitone you have a one-knob overdrive while on the Heat you have controls for drive amount, dry/wet mix, low and high EQ, envelope follower (that I used as a pseudo compressor all the time). That said, I really like the Digitone's overdrive :D

@@IvarTryti word. I got a heat that I haven't used yet. Waiting patiently for the day I finally get a digitone. Keep doing yr thing man

@@IvarTryti why did you decide to sell your Heat?

Happy to help! Thanks for watching =)

Glad you found this video useful!

Wow is this right? If I play 4 separate sounds they all share the Arp? That's a big bummer if so

​@@TheJKOLP No, it’s per track (as opposed to per sound on the Digitone). A big part of the Elektron workflow is the ability to lock different sounds to steps on the sequencer within a single track. On the Digitone you can lock the arp to be on or off per sound on a single track. On the A4 the arp is controlled per track (for example: tracks 1-3 no arp, track 4 arp enabled etc.).

@@soundsofsamsara thank you! That makes more sense to me now

@@soundsofsamsara That seems like a limitation but not a dealbreaker. It's still an independent arp per track (also ones for CV and FX tracks?). It would be cool if Elektron updated it to per trig/soundlock but there are always limitations with any device. And the A4 is already so deep, so many parameters and features, that it's fairly overwhelming. I wonder how often one really *needs* this amount of flexible arpeggiation/note, even tho yes it sounds cool? I did walk away confused by how Ivar made it sound like there was simply one ARP for all the tracks, rather than at least 4 separate ones...?

You should def check out the bass tutorial that @IvarTryti made for the a4. I learned a lot from it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q713dZOFuKiwgI0.html

They're labels for a few plugin parameters in FL Studio. I've been playing around with using a midi track to control some mixing/mastering plugins so I don't have to click around as much on a screen. The labels are Input Gain, Ratio, Speed, Makeup Gain, Level Match, Saturation Mix, LMH Mix and Bass EQ. Then on tracks 1 and 2 there's Active and Full Volume. Muting track 1 will bypass the plugins on the master channel, and track 2 will turn off level match so I'm hearing the full volume.

Oh, you're right! I imagine people who watch this video stumbled upon it while doing research on whether they should get a DN or an A4, or that they have one of them and are considering getting the other.

can you say a bit more about your experience with thei or explain in a bit more detail what you mean, for those of us trying to deepen our understanding of the A4 (and its limitations/necessary workarounds)?

@@bentropy For example: you make a pattern where T1 has 1 page of a sequence (16 notes), T2 has 1 and 1/2 page (16 + 8 notes). So it gives a polyrythm obviously (repeating only after T1 will play 3 times). If you'll Jump then everything will be broken. T1 will play normally but T2 will play with some offset. And it will sound not normal (like two separate tracks that was started individually with some time lag). I've expected that with Jump function everything will be playing "seamless" (as it meant to be). Maybe to prevent any offsets there must be a choice how to process a switch to the next pattern. BTW, my next pattern was in the same conditions! I mean that T1 has 1p, T2 has 1+1/2p scale. Also as I remember: if you press a combo for a next pattern precisely then it's not making an offset. By "Jump" I mean the choice of switching when a sequence "jumps" directly to the next pattern without restart. If it was on 3rd note (at that moment of a key press) then it will continue on 4th note of a next pattern. I think that there is some miss in the code. It can be improved (or I must say "fixed").

"a choice how to process a switch to the next pattern" - I've meant that there will be options: - reswitch a page position to 1st if a Track has not full page length (maintaining a relative note position: calculating the necessary offset) - playing "as is" (like usual Jumpe meaning) with "IF" condition: IF a next pattern has different Track(s) length then their "note switch positions" will be calculated relatively to the core (minimal) page length. If T1 has 1 full page then IF T2-1 has 24 notes and T2-2 (the next pattern) has 22 notes (less than T2-1) then IF "key press" was on 22nd or 23rd note -> T2-2 note position will be set with (-16) notes offset (16 is T1 length). I wish that I could work on A4's firmware! :)

@@bentropy P.S. I don't know workarounds... It will be a "workaround" if my words will be heard by the guy which write code for A4's firmware :)

@@KiR_3d thanks for this! I think I follow you, but I probably need to try it for myself. I’ve def been using polyrhythmic sequences, and jump (the kind where it picks up the next sequence on the next step, rather than starting from the first). I’m not sure what the default behavior should be but it would be nice if to gave the used some smart/creative options.