Elektron-Users

Analog 4 is a great machine. It sounds great and is great to programme. But it lacks polyphony. Or does it?

Some may have already found these, but they might trigger some new ideas:

1. 4 note poly (or less if set differently) using qunexus

If you have a qunexus, you can set "rotate" on and choose how many midi channels it will rotate through for each new note. If you choose four, you get all four tracks of A4. If less, you get some left to sequence too. Set the correct midi channels, copy the same sounds to the A4 tracks you choose for poly and you are set to go. Performance mode macros can be made for controlling all voices at once.

2. Drone chords using performance mode parameter macros.

Set 4 tracks to the same note or notes that make a chord. Then set a (or more) parameter macro that controls the main pitch of the oscillators to as many levels you want to 'transpose' the notes of each track. Start the droning tracks and turn the parameter macro knob all the way from 0 slowly to 127. That will detune your droning sounds from one chord to another.

that second trick of yours sounds like a great thing to try!


for poly dispatch, there's also the mutable-instruments midipal..

but i have neither it nor the qunexus so i had to write my own thing to do note dispatch from a midi keyboard.

it can except channels from poly use like the nexus, and instead of performance macros, for tweaking polyphonically, i mirror any CC message arriving on any poly channel from the a4 back to the other poly channels. a very simple script, but it really completes the polyphony.

this is much simpler to use than the performance macros: nothing to set up. just load an empty kit and tweak it.

(i've also accidentally had the poly script enabled once while tweaking a kit not meant to be polyphonic (percussion, bass, ...)... didn't know what's going on and the results from the CC mirroring were quite inspiring. similar to a CTL-AL machine on the MD. very effective! less flexible than performance macros, but more immediate and unexpected as there's nothing to set up.)

You can do the same as step one without any other gear by using 'Auto Channel'

Set all tracks to the same channel and also set the 'Auto Channel' to that channel. All 4 tracks (up to 16 voices!) will play from a midi keyboard or DAW.

Gonna try that drone set up. Sounds fun.

hm it's not quite the same, this will just play unisono, no? still good trick