Track From Scratch on the Analog Four

[@IvarTryti]

Time stamps: 0:00 intro and demonstration 1:50 Selecting sounds 3:53 Configuring delay and reverb 6:13 Making an arp melody 7:45 Configuring the pattern length 9:04 Making the bass melody 12:17 Making the main melody 17:48 Making the drums (kicks and snares) 22:12 Rebalancing the sounds for a rough mix 23:00 Making the drums (snares and hihats) 29:53 Naming the performance macros 31:13 Arp macro 33:19 Lead macro 34:58 Bass macro 37:35 Configuring the quick performance knob 38:14 2nd Bass macro 41:13 Drums macro 45:57 Delay macros 52:08 Performancing the pattern

[@destress7730]

Ivar your the best. Thankyou so much for this tutorial. 99.9 percent of youtube is crap, but you really shine as a beacon of light.

[@IvarTryti]

Haha, thank you very much! I'm thinking of doing actual tutorials on the A4, but man these take a lot of time to both record and edit. Glad you like this one!

[@leftmono1016]

@@IvarTryti - some tutorials would be great! I’ve had mine about a month now but barely scratched the surface.

[@christdolphin69]

@@IvarTryti i would love to see more tutorials. unfortunately i recently swapped my A4 for a Digitone (for the 3rd time) but these are my favorite types of videos. The A4 is perfect for this type of in-depth walkthrough because there are so many seemingly hidden functions that can significantly alter the sound with very subtle adjustments. the sweet spots are all over the place, but you have to experiment and get creative to find them. thats why i love elektron boxes. i would really like to see you do walkthroughs of other analog polysynths as well. i think these videos are extremely valuable thank you for sharing

[@IvarTryti]

@@christdolphin69 I've been slowly exploring the A4 with tutorials in mind, and have stumbled upon a few neat tricks so far. I think I'll start writing down notes soon and prepare for a video or two soon :)

[@bentropy]

@@IvarTryti I'm really getting a lot out of these tips/tricks tutorial vids, especially the overall workflow ones where you prepare and execute (lovely and very musical!) live performances (since that's an ultimate end goal, along with recording in a DAW using overbridge, i suppose)

[@G0nz0uk]

This is wonderful! I love these Tracks from Scratch videos on the Elektrons, I learn so much.

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks, Andy!

[@EVILJAMARR]

I love Elektron machines for so many reasons, but the icing on the cake is those remarkably satisfying clacky trigger keys they use on all their modern kit. I just want to press the buttons and not make music, sometimes! SUCH NICE BUTTONS

[@IvarTryti]

Haha, right? Elektron gear is so satisfying to use :)

[@nkozi]

He got a MkII! Whooo!!

[@IvarTryti]

Haha, yep! It's a lot more comfortable to use than the mk1 :D

[@AdamsOlympia]

This = better than 99% of the factory tracks that come with A4, and it has some bangers.

[@IvarTryti]

Thank you very much, man!

[@kenb7540]

Great to watch you work. Particularly the frequent saving (good tip - noted !) and effort to really set up the performance knobs well 👏🙏👍

[@IvarTryti]

Thank you very much, KenB! I'm glad you found it interesting! :D

[@audiomon]

What a beautiful work! Thanks for sharing the process

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks for watching!

[@ezequielsapir]

Great tutorial, very clear, and great track too!

[@IvarTryti]

Thank you!

[@MarkusGrandpre]

Thank you, Ivar. I enjoyed watching and listening to your video very much!

[@MrZtul]

Thanks for the Video!

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks for watching!

[@robarkskillie960]

Congrats on the Mk2 dude, you deserve the upgrade after what youve achieved on the OG.

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks a lot, Robark! The mk2 is on par with the Digitakt and Digitone as far as comfort goes. I'm really happy with the upgrade!

[@Val_Cla]

nice ! Cool to see you with a shiny mk2 one :D ! Always enjoy your stuff man ! Lately i've been listening to your older ones at work ^^

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks, Olival! That's so awesome to hear =D

[@seededvision1442]

Said it before but ill say it again, you really are the best A4 videos on yt. I can be so frustrating watching Synth videos to actually learn anything because no offense, so much synth content is some dude with a ton of technical knowledge but doesnt actually have any clue how to use it to design interesting sounds/ music. Big love for helping me with this Elektron workflow

[@IvarTryti]

Thank you very much, man! I did a live stream not too long ago with the Analog Four if you're interested: kzbin.infoo1XN_vzbk_0?si=sX0tjJ9y0IC8MBrO You can skip to 1:09:33 to hear the "finished" track. I had a lot of fun streaming, and I'm hoping to do it more often. It's especially fun answering questions while working on a track live :D

[@gregmarshall1959]

Good to see you got a Mk2. Love mine.

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks! It's way more comfortable to use than the mk1, that's for sure.

[@arjenarend7755]

Great tutorial and the track sounds very good!!! compliments.... look forward to more :)

[@nielsverhaegh6744]

Congrats on the new A4

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks!

[@montorgueilrecords]

Excellent! 😃😀 I suscribed! 👍

[@IvarTryti]

Thank you!

[@Avernalism]

Hell yeah! You got one at the same time as me!

[@IvarTryti]

Awesome, congrats man!

[@bentropy]

I'm watching your workflow, which is virtuosic, and noticing something on this (amazing!) video. You don't save your kits as you refine their sound's design it seems like? Just saving the patterns and the project as a whole? Are you even saving the kit as you add performance macros, or that too is simply saved when you save project? Anything you can tell me about this, assuming I'm correctly following your edits. I guess by saving the project you're saving the entire edit buffer at any point, in case of a major misclick, or something like this?

[@jubileeonlinemusicschool3169]

Thank you so much. It help me a lot. I am going to try out tonight

[@IvarTryti]

My pleasure, man. Hope you find it helpful =)

[@LewisSatini]

@@IvarTryti I am not able to find the sound. Is it a factory sound?

[@IvarTryti]

@@LewisSatini they're sounds I made from scratch, and they're available for download on my patreon page! Search for a post tagged "project files" and there should be a zip file containing all my A4 projects and sounds

[@christdolphin69]

this rules. great work

[@IvarTryti]

Thank you!

[@ARP_2600]

Congratulations on the MKII! 🎊 Have you spotted any main differences concerning the sound compared to the MKI? It's really interesting to hear it without post processing! I always wonder how much of a difference the Analog Heat, Maximus etc. make for the overall sound!

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks a lot, Sebastian! They sound very similar, but I think there's a tiny bit more bass on the mk2. You can get the same amount of bass on the mk1 by using the 2nd hp filter's resonance to boost the lows, though. The new overdrive on the mk2 is way different, and behaves more like how I'd expect an overdrive to behave. The mk1's overdrive is pretty unique, it seems to "smudge" the sound in a way that sounds great but is hard to predict. One of the mk1's overdrive is still on the mk2 though, so best of both worlds =)

[@karolcelinski8077]

I used to have Analog Keys and swapped it for mkII. The difference is quite significant IMO. Analog Keys sounded a lot warmer to me. And was better for subtle, gentle patterns. MkII is a lot more powerful in terms of energy but could be a littlebit harsh sometimes. Anyway I do not regret the swap but I also miss my AK sometimes

[@bentropy]

@@karolcelinski8077 Funny, I was thinking of swapping my AK for a Mk2, because bigger screen, quick performance knob, better physical interface, etc. (Ivar's videos are nudging me) Interesting to hear there's a qualitative difference between the sounds, beyond just the new overdrive. When the AK came out, Elektron claimed the keyboard had enhanced bass compared to the mk1 (in addition to added outputs and whatever else), so maybe that accounts for the perceived warmth? With the Mk2, is it just a matter of dialing things down?

[@bentropy]

@@karolcelinski8077 One thing that seems to be the case is that you can accidentally (or intentionally I suppose) overload the internal busses of these devices, to the point of unwanted distortion. I guess you have to stay aware of the gainstaging, and there are various level knobs throughout the signal chain, plus the possibilities of overloading the filter, efx, etc. So perhaps that's part of the harshness issue? Just a thought.

[@bentropy]

@@IvarTryti it's funny that most reviewers raved about the new overdrive in the Mk2 and you're praising the inclusion of the Mk1's on the Mk2. I think I agree with you but, only having an AK, my only familiarity with the Mk2 is through youtube. Do you ever miss the Mk1's counterclockwise overdrive? It seems like the Mk1 clockwise one is like a wavefolder more than a classic distortion overdrive on the Mk2. Not sure what the CCW one is doing.

[@fractalimmersion]

Hey Ivar, can I ask (as a prospective future A4 owner), when you are searching the presets for a sound, is there not a way to filter via tags so that you are looking only through the “bass” sounds or through the “pad” sounds? Seems like a more organised way of browsing for a sound

[@IvarTryti]

Yeah, when you save a sound you can assign one or more tags to it. Things like bass, pad, lead, atmospheric, favorite, etc. And when scrolling through sounds, you can filter by those tags.

[@forbesy8568]

Awesome

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks!

[@petitstephane]

Thank you for this video !! I have this Analog Four MKII but sounds bonk are not the same like you. Do you have an idea about that ?

[@a_shoja]

Hi Ivar. I've been enjoying and learning from your videos for a while, and just want to use the occasion to thank you for sharing your wisdom with everyone. And congratulations on the new synth! I couldn't help but notice that you only have 39 sounds on the machine. I thought you might have a filter, but the numbers being continuous makes me doubts that. I'm curious if you've removed the factory sounds? The reason I ask is that I've been struggling with this. I'm trying to learn both composition and synthesis, and have to keep the two separate, otherwise it's just too much. Given that I cannot make sounds from scratch every time I want to do some compositional exercises, I've kept all the factory patches (and added the free sound packs). But that creates another problem. I find that a lot of time and attention is spent on auditioning and choosing sounds every time I want to start something! Was wondering if you have any advice or method for dealing with this problem?

[@IvarTryti]

Hey Ali, thank you very much! I'm glad you like mye videos ☺. You're right, I removed the factory sounds. I listened through a lot of them before removing them just to get a feel for what the A4 can do, but a big part of my enjoyment comes from making my own list of sounds from scratch. Even if there are perfectly useful factory sounds, I learn a lot about the machine and build up a mental map of where everything is by making all the sounds myself. I have the same problem: if I want to compose a track but don't have the right sound, I'll spend all my time (and run out of energy) creating the sound I need instead of composing. So I usually separate sound designing and composing. If I'm not feeling particularly inspired, but still want to do music related stuff, I'll make patches and add them to my small list of sounds. That way, when I *am* inspired, I have a small list of sounds I'm very familiar with, and picking the right sound becomes a lot easier. It's possible to unlock the factory sounds so you can delete the ones you don't like. You can also do a factory reset and get them all back. There is a "favorite" tag you can add to the sounds you think you'll use, but IMO the tag feature adds extra steps to sound selection that I can't be bothered with, so I sort my sounds into banks instead. I only have two banks: bank A is for melodic sounds, and bank B is for drums. And since all the sounds there are sounds I think I'll use, choosing the right one doesn't involve digging through too many sounds. Hope that helps!

[@a_shoja]

@@IvarTryti Thank you for the response and for explaining your approach. I will try to do something similar. I'll audition sounds quickly and pick only a limited number of favorites. If I can bring myself to delete the rest (obsessive tendencies 🙂), I'll do that as I agree that it's more effective and cannot be bypassed. Otherwise, I'll use the "Favourite" tag and filter.

[@MarkVNash]

Thank you for the walk through. Why did you upgrade your A4?

[@IvarTryti]

Sorry for the late reply! The short answer is that the mk2's screen, buttons, and encoders are better. The long answer is something I wrote in a forum post that I'll copy-paste here: "Screen: the mk1 screen is small, the icons are small, the viewing angle is narrow, and it’s sluggish. When I hit play, the number showing where the playhead is in the sequence just looks like an 8 because the pixels are so slow to change colors. Because the icons and text are small and there’s no graphical representation of the envelopes or filters like on the mk2, it’s hard to immediately see what page I’m on. Encoders: mk1 encoders are slow. You can be more precise with them, sure, but I find myself pressing and turning all the time to make it change values in bigger increments. All the elektron knobs take a bit of force to press, and it’s annoying to have to do it all the time. it’s either that (and then not-press turning for precision) or doing 2-3 full turns just to get to the value I want. The mk2 knobs are as fast as on the DT and DN and OT mk2, so it’s a lot more comfortable to use IME. Buttons: mk1’s buttons are a bit hard to read because they have a red LED over the button instead of backlit RGB buttons. The difference between a trig and a lock trig is that they’re fully lit and half lit respectively, and the half lit ones can be hard to see if I have a lamp aimed directly at the A4. I also prefer the feel of the soft square buttons that actuate with little force more than the round hard plastic buttons of the mk1. More controls: On the mk1, going into the settings menu is a two handed button combo. FUNC all the way to the left + GLOBAL all the way to the right. There’s no shortcut for saving a project, so it’s FUNC+GLOBAL -> YES > YES > YES > YES to save, then NO -> NO to go out of the menu. That is assuming you’ve already saved once and that it remembers the last cursor position. On the mk2 you only need one hand, and it’s FUNC+SETTINGS -> YES ->YES, and it returns to the screen you were on before saving automatically. Also, having a little cluster of buttons for kit, pattern, mix, etc between the FUNC and arrow buttons makes saving kits and patterns more comfortable than on the mk1. Also being able to change octaves while browsing through sounds is very handy; arrow buttons to navigate the list, oct+ and oct- to change the octaves. The main difference when it comes to sound is that the mk2 has a new overdrive which I think is easier to use. It behaves more like how I’d expect an overdrive to behave. The mk1 sounds great, but it’s rather unique and hard to predict because it sort of “smudges” and softens the sound while also overdriving it. I also think there’s a tiny bit more bass on the mk2. Just enough that patches from scratch sound a bit more even than on the mk1, not a huge difference."

[@bentropy]

@@IvarTryti thanks for this more detailed comparison. Was going to ask for your opinion! I've had an AK, mostly gathering dust because I found the learning curve steep, but now spending hours with it every day. I figure I'll master it and then decide whether to sell it for the Mk2, but leaning towards a Mk2 because I can see how much better the user experience/interface is - which really matters a LOT when spending time trying to get music finished, rather than just playing around with gear.

[@awpMusic1]

I did enjoy the video, although you're not really explaining howe to do any of the things you're doing, but that is a LOT of work for a few bars of music. Add to that making all your own sounds from scratch and I'd have little time for actually making music. I'm starting to wonder if I should sell my Analog 4 Mkll. :(

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks! This video is less of a tutorial and more me thinking out loud while making my track. I agree, It's a lot of work for a few bars of music even when I don't talk like I did here. It's one of the drawbacks of the A4, I think. The performance macros are amazing, but setting them up takes up a huge chunk of my music making time when working with the A4. Making patches from scratch on top of making music would be a LOT of work, which is why I split my time with the A4 (and Digitone, for that matter) into patch making sessions and music making sessions. The good thing about this is that I end up with a small but growing list of sounds I'm very familiar with because I made them myself, which makes selecting sounds super fast when I'm working on a track. I feel you get the most out of the A4 when using performance macros. The Digitakt and Digitone are easier to tweak on the fly while performing, but the A4 has so many pages and controls that I constantly trip over myself unless I've planned out (and spent time making) performance macros beforehand. They really are amazing, but sadly there's no way around all the time it takes to set them up.

[@bentropy]

@@IvarTryti it's reassuring to know you weren't born super-fast on the A4, but also encountered a learning curve and still occasionally stumble along the way! I found this video much more helpful once I got more hands-on time with my AK - things make much more sense now that I'm more oriented on it, in an IRL way rather than just passively watching people demo/tutorial on KZbin. There's just no substitute for spending time on it, and it gets faster when you do. The hope is that the investment pays off when trying to make interesting, expressive, unique music in a fluid period of inspired creation, without having to struggle with the tech side! 😬 I'm still struggling with procedures so I don't accidentally lose my work (e.g. a sound I'm designing, a pattern, a kit, etc.). It's all too easy to lose your work when you change patterns, or try to load a sound and maybe select the wrong track.

[@luisrguez2950]

Congrats! Good a useful tutorial. The presets you use in the video are factory presets or belong to a pack? Thanks for your videos!

[@lawr.h]

Is it just me, or does the A4 make way better drums than the rytm?? Killer work as usual, Ivar 🔥🔥

[@IvarTryti]

Haha, thank you very much, man!

[@MarkVNash]

I'm no drum expert so I need to find a "drum pack" of patches for the A4

[@GrootsieTheDog]

Do have any idea why, in realtime record, the portamento is not recording? Thanks

[@GrootsieTheDog]

Ah!! I have to set "slide"! lol Well at least I feventually igured it out :)

[@NUNUA]

Hi Ivar, i know somewhere you have a written comparison on A4 mk1 vs mk2 and I searched a lot and couldn't find it. can you point out for the comparison?

[@alien_brain]

when will you do more than make music for youtube demos? youre super talented

[@Marco-ei2ny]

oh man, so silly i cant find the width, on my lfo, doesn't really appear,, I found the other parameters but I cant find feedback o width of the delay...grh,, thanks anyhow, great job

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks! Could it be that you have T1-T4 selected and not FX? Press the encoder to change track. If it's still not there, maybe you don't have the latest firmware update?

[@Marco-ei2ny]

@@IvarTryti thats right man, thanks so much your videos are very inspiring and is making me discover the a4 more,, very precise and top info... thanks so much

[@Marco-ei2ny]

@@IvarTryti i want to ask you,, please, if you have locked in one track 5 sounds how do you do to solo and just listen to one, and mute the other ones,, cheers

[@bentropy]

@@Marco-ei2ny I think you just have to mute the others, or turn them down using e.g the track level knob, or perhaps macros youve set up, but muting is ofc faster - just hold down func and press all the ones you don't want to hear. I think this is the answer to the question you're asking but your wording is a bit unclear ("5"?). I don't think there's a solo function.

[@Marco-ei2ny]

is a bit like telfon telaviv beats, this tune of yours,, really nice

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks a lot, that's a huge compliment :D

[@dialectricStudios]

damn bro

[@IvarTryti]

🙏

[@lat3shift]

The tune is not my cup of tea 🫖 (but great work as usual 🙏 ). Elektron should send you a Rytm 👍

[@IvarTryti]

Thanks a lot, Jens!

[@karl.weaver]

Lots of unanswered questions, thumbs down!

[@FurryNightmare666]

Does he work for you?

[@luisrguez2950]

Congrats! Good and useful tutorial. The presets you use in the video are factory presets or belong to a pack? Thanks for your videos!