Elektron Analog Four - Manual (Page 52)

CHAINS AND SONGS
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CHAINS AND SONGS
Chains are sequences of several patterns. Chains and patterns are used to form songs.
256 pattern entries are available for the 64 chains, meaning for example one chain can be made of 256 patterns
or two chains can be made of 128 patterns each. In most scenarios, 2-8 patterns per chain is sufficient.
One song is always active and being worked on. Songs contain two main forms of entries, song rows and a
scratch pad row. The active song row is visible on the graphics located in the lower left part of the LCD. If a
scratch pad row is active, the graphics will show “_ _:”.
Each song row contains a chain or a pattern. These entries are saved together with the song. The scratch pad
row also contains a chain or a pattern and is also saved as a part of the song. The intended use of the scratch
pad row is for quickly experimenting with chains and patterns without affecting already programmed song rows.
CHAINS
If the active song row or scratch pad row contains a chain, all patterns of the chain will be played when activating
the CHAIN mode by pressing [CHAIN MODE]. When deactivating the mode, and SONG mode is not active, the
currently active pattern will be played over and over. The currently active pattern, and any other patterns in the
chain, are visible in the lower left corner of the LCD screen. The active pattern is shown with inverted color.
Chains can be created even if CHAIN mode is deactivated. When creating chains this way, two methods exist:
detailed chain mode and quick chain mode. Create chains according to detailed mode by pressing [CHAIN
MODE] + [LEFT]/[RIGHT] to move the chain cursor. It can either be placed before a pattern, on a pattern, or
after a pattern. If the cursor is placed before a pattern and a new pattern is selected by pressing [BANK X/X] +
[TRIG], the selected pattern will be inserted before the pattern located after the cursor. If the cursor is highlight-
ing a pattern and a new pattern is selected, the highlighted pattern will be replaced. When activating CHAIN
mode, the patterns in the chain will be played in sequence. The chain will be looped once the final pattern of the
chain has played.
To create chains in quick mode, press and hold [BANK X/X] and then press the [TRIG] key for the pattern you
want the chain to start with. As long as you keep the first [TRIG] key pressed, subsequent [TRIG] keys pressed
will add patterns to the chain. In quick mode, it is only possible to chain patterns from the same bank. Please
note that the previous chain will be erased when using quick mode. PATTERN mode must be set to SEQUEN-
TIAL if you wish to create chains in quick mode.
Pressing [CHAIN MODE] + [NO/RELOAD] will, depending on the location of the chain cursor, either erase the
pattern located before the cursor or the one highlighted by it.
Pressing [CHAIN MODE] + [PLAY] will clear the chain.
Pressing [FUNCTION] + [CHAIN MODE] will create a new, blank, scratch pad row “_ _:”. The new scratch pad
row will be moved down one step in the song row list, which can be seen when opening the SONG EDIT menu.
The content of the previous scratch pad row will be added as a new song row. The position of the scratch pad
row determines where the new song row is placed. See SONG EDIT MENU on how to relocate song rows
(including the scratch pad row) within the song.
• CHAIN mode is ideal when improvising live. When CHAIN mode is deactivated and only the cur-
rently active pattern is looping, create a chain and then activate CHAIN mode. At any time, exit
CHAIN mode to loop one pattern only. Add and remove patterns to create a completely new chain
and activate CHAIN mode again. By creating new chains through pressing [FUNCTION] + [CHAIN
MODE], improvised songs can quickly be created.