Worth Adding an Elektron Analog 4

[adam_mc]

Hi guys,
I'm gradually adding a bit more hardware to my setup. Currently have Live 9 Suite with Push 2, Elektron Machinedrum and Elektron Analog Heat.
I spent the last 5 weeks marking exam papers and now think I'm worthy of a present to myself.
Have before looking at the Roland SE02 but thought I'd be able to get an Elektron A4 for not much more now they've announced a MK2 to come out.
As all my synths are software based (Repro, Diva, Serum, Bazille) I thought I might benefit most from a hardware synth especially as versatile as the A4.
I make Techno generally and the MD is great with the sequencer.
I'd appreciate people's thoughts and opinions.
Many thanks,
Adam

[digitalgeist]

Would you use Overbridge? I have the Analog Rytm, Four and Heat. I use them almost exclusively with Overbridge but a lot of people do not. I tend to dislike the sequencers but you can get some great results with them (trig locks and such). There's also some amazing visual tutorial videos from macprovideo.com presented by Thavius Beck that will get you up and running. Since you have the Machinedrum it probably won't be as steep a learning curve as it was for me.

Sounds are great on it. The ability to stack the voices in a faux polyphony to do 4-note chords is cool too. Since I usually use Overbridge, you can automate any parameter but the drawback is that the sequencer is disabled if you want to write MIDI notes to it. It's an either/or situation - you either let your DAW activate the sequencer on the unit, or you can disable the sequencer on the A4 and send MIDI notes instead.

Here's a track I made last year where all the synth sounds are from the A4 (multitracked):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI8WUtg4URQ

There's a lot of free patch packs available from Elektron too and with the MK2 announcement prices have dropped quite a bit. I got mine a little over a year and a half ago for $1100, I think they're around $800 now.

[adam_mc]

Cheers for your response.
I trigger the MD from Ableton and bypass the sequencer too.
I found Overbridge adds too much latency to my system to use with the Analog Heat; maybe the interface works better with the A4? At least by accessing it through Overbridge you can P Lock steps in Overbridge by way of Ableton controlling the parameter.
I'm currently 10 minutes away from hitting the BUY button. I think it'll be a great addition to my setup.

[digitalgeist]

Might as well, right?
The MK2 looks nice - the new features like a redesigned deeper bass and the OLED screen and all that - but essentially it's the same as the A4 in a different case.
As far as latency with OB goes, your mileage may vary. I don't have a problem with it and I prefer OB however I find that with Cubase it's touchy - in a "hard crash while exporting" kind of way, so I try to keep Cubase as my mixing go-to with bounced clips. Live is a bit smoother for me for building and arranging.

[login]

With the A4 and the MD you will be able to make music without the computer if that's what you like, it is a great way to get in to different directions.

SO yeah, get it.

[adam_mc]

All bought.
Awaiting delivery.
Looking forward to getting into it and ignoring the computer for a while.
Thanks for the advice as always.

[Shift Gorden]

All bought.
Awaiting delivery.
Looking forward to getting into it and ignoring the computer for a while.
Thanks for the advice as always.

Man, the that wasn't much of an arm twist! LOL.

Enjoy it - be sure to post thoughts...I'm always looking for some gentle arm-twisting!

[Stromkraft]

All bought.
Awaiting delivery.
Looking forward to getting into it and ignoring the computer for a while.
Thanks for the advice as always.

Great move. However, expect some old school interface deep diving typically followed by some manual reading. Those sounds make it worthwhile.

[adam_mc]

Cheers.
Yeah, I know, I gave in fairly quickly.
I'm always amazed by the likes of Jack Bower or whoever on these shows where they're being tortured . . . My resilience is pretty poor. I'd tell the bad guys everything in a flash, especially if they offered me something that makes noises!

[digitalgeist]

FYI, it's an expensive ecosystem

My Analog Rytm was freaking out on Friday night, low hum across all outputs. Booted to the system menu (hold Function while booting), did a diag and had an error on Audio LR 12345678. Was really worried I'd have to ship it for repair - turned out the problem was a bad PSU. A new PSU is $50US. Better than shipping but for a wall wart $50 is steep!

[jx3]

Here's a track I made last year where all the synth sounds are from the A4 (multitracked):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI8WUtg4URQ

Nice track, my man!

[adam_mc]

I thought I'd update my post, now that I've had the device for a few days and give my opinion about my choice.
First off - having an Elektron Machinedrum already really helps with the learning curve. The sequencer is very similar to the MD and there are enough other similarities to allow me to get going quickly.
Second - the Analog Four sounds great. Surfing through the presets reveals some beautiful sounds that are very usable.
Third - I'm starting to realise that using hardware encourages me to create my own sounds far more so than vsts. MD encouraged me to do that more often than not. Analog Four even more so. I'm now reading about sounds synthesis and trying to apply what I learn to the A4 and really enjoying it.
Finally - The modulation and flexibility of this machine creates some beautiful "accidents" that just encourage you to explore further.

OBSTACLES
First - I imagine this is something that exists for everyone but you only realise when you move away from the relative safety of producing things INSIDE the laptop: All these machines talking to each other, passing sounds between, synchronizing with each other sending things to and from the laptop . . . Well, this loosens things up a bit. The perfectly synced loops, beats, samples, waveforms and sounds that I'm used to having previously worked inside my laptop are luxuries that don't really exist with hardware.
Syncing with Ableton requires small tweaks regularly. Within a session, I find my loops, especially if I have three kick drum from my hardware, drift a bit. This can sound great for the "groove" but drives me bloody mental when I record the loop into Ableton and see the kick 1/32 behind even though it was perfectly on the beat 10 minutes ago.

Second - with sounds synthesis comes complexity. There's a lot to learn. I am excited by this but I can understand why this could be a turn off.

Finally - the complexity of synthesis is amplified by the complexity of the A4 and it's menu system which, although well thought out and relatively intuitive, makes some tasks a little long winded.

OVERALL
Absolutely love the machine. Really pleased I bought it. They're going for silly money at the moment due to the MK2. I guess, to answer the topic of my original post: Yes, it was definitely worth adding.

[digitalgeist]

Here's a track I made last year where all the synth sounds are from the A4 (multitracked):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI8WUtg4URQ

Nice track, my man!

Thanks! The whole project was pretty wild, I re-scored an entire 80s film for fun:
http://merch.digitalgeist.com/album/rotor-rewired