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A Few Questions about Elsa (e-l-s-a)
I’m intrigued by the idea of buying and using Elsa as a novel way to sample the Moog Model D app and build song sketches using the built-in sequencer. I’ve consulted Elsa’s official webpage (http://www.humbletune.com/elsa/) for the full list of features, but I still need clarification on some things:
1.) Can I build a crude sort of split synth patch by sampling one note per octave of one patch (e.g. bass) for the lower half of the keyboard and another patch (e.g. lead) for the upper half?
2.) How do step dividers and pitch length compensation work, and what are their potential use cases?
3.) Am I correct in assuming that this sampler is polyphonic, the individual sequences are monophonic, but multiple sequences can be played at once? Can i sequence chords quickly or do I need a separate sequence for each note?
Sorry if any of my assumptions are way off, as I’m going off the very scant info I can find about this sampler online. Appreciate the input of any proficient Elsa users out there. I know there aren’t many of you.
Comments
1) You can set each note or each octave to trigger different regions of the sample, although I haven’t played around with that feature enough to know its strengths and limitations. I think your use case would work as long as you either a) record your bass notes and lead patch into one long sample or b) use an AUv3 host, run two instances, and set up a keyboard split in the host.
2) Step dividers and length compensation can be a bit tricky to wrap your head around, but they’re VERY VERY cool. I think the easiest way to understand it is with a looped piano sample (not a phrase, just a single note). With a normal sampler, when you hold notes, the sample will start from the beginning as soon as it plays all the way through. If you play a chord, every note will be playing at a different speed so they won’t necessarily restart in time with each other or your song tempo.
For step dividers, e-l-s-a divides the sample into regions that align with the internal tempo. Rather than playing the sample from start to finish, it plays from start to the end of the assigned step division so that the sample loops in time with your song. (EDIT: I slightly misunderstood this. e-l-s-a gives visual indicators based on the current tempo, but you have to manually set your start and end points. They snap to the visual indicators so it’s really easy to do, but you still have the option to divide based on the total sample length.) You can also set this up so that every note triggers a DIFFERENT division (e.g. the first time you hit a note, the sample is looping every eighth note; the second time you hit it it’s looping on a quarter note division; etc.). However, since samplers work by adjusting the playback speed, these divisions only actually apply to middle C — any other note will fall out of time.
Pitch compensation dynamically adjusts the length of each division so that every pitch, including notes in a chord, will also loop in time with each other. Say you hit a C major triad with step division set to quarter notes, your C will repeat as soon as it hits the quarter note division, but your E and G will play past the end of the division so that all three notes retrigger on the quarter note. If you add a lower note, it will retrigger before it reaches the end of the step division. And if you configure each note to play to a different step division, you can get some really cool syncopated patterns just from holding a chord.
I hope that makes sense. I don’t feel like I have the technical chops to explain it very well… but basically, these features are what makes me reach for e-l-s-a over instruments that are more powerful and/or easier to use.
3) Correct. Each step contains one note, each sequence can contain up to 64 steps, and you can save up to 12 sequences. You can also set note probability and control the playback rate of each sequencer, so it’s a really useful tool. Sequences are triggered, stopped, and muted using the keyboard, and you can either run multiple sequences at once OR have one sequence stop when another starts.
Shortcomings: in standalone, Ableton Link doesn’t seem to work over a network for me. When running as an AUv3, there’s no host tempo sync so you have to manually match the tempo.
The user interface requires a lot of memorization, which is generally fine. But some of the controls are nearly invisible and most of the controls can be very, very fiddly, which I find very frustrating. Also, there’s no double-tap to reset parameters.
The sequencer controls don’t behave like I expect them to, which is fine, but I STILL make mistakes on a regular basis.
They got rid of dark mode when the sequencer update came out. The UI is VERY bright.
None of those shortcomings are critical IMO. It’s easily my favourite instrument on iPad and it’s the kind of thing I find myself coming back to over anything else, even Ableton Simpler. But it’s also important to know that you probably will find it frustrating at first, and some of the problems are just things you need to learn to live with.
Thanks so much for this! I think I’m gonna get it.
@jrjulius Very generous response.