Korg EM-1 Electribe

After a quick glance at the manual and a few minutes of playing with the knobs and presets, the EM-1 begins to flow like water. hough experience with recording and sequencing is always a plus, this is a great machine for novice users.

The on-board sequencer is very simple to get accustomed too, though it's a shame the polyphony is limited to one note per part.

From vintage analog to organic instrumentation, the EM-1 suits many ranges of modern music. The accent feature is also a plus.

I have yet to drop my EM-1 and I hope such never happens--knock on wood--but the machine seems very sturdy. I look forward to a gig with it.

The EM-1 is a must for any small or bedroom studio. Along side the other Electribes, it's an abolute monster. Classic sounds at an affordable cost.

the presets are cool at first, but then they get annoying after a while.. building your own sounds and drum kits is easy though. its really easy to use. the manual is good to get you started..

the polyphony is only 2 for the synth part which is okay because i use this with korg's x5d and es1. the drums are okay but i wish yu could put more than one effect per pattern.. this kind of sucks. the panning feature rocks though. i use it sometimes as a sequencer with my x5d and i've also connected it to my sampler which makes it useful.. the sequencer rocks. its easy to edit all the steps if you know about pitch and gate time. thats all you really need to know. motion sequencing is definitely a plus+

the instruments.. well.. theyre anything but realistic i think. but if its used for certain types of music..(techno, industrial, etc.) this is a very good thing. i personally like the sounds. they are fun to edit. i'm still not sure what type of music it works best for.. i guess anything really.. i've been trying to make some cool ebm sounding stuff with it and it basically comes down to one thing: the harder you try; the better it sounds. if you want good sounds and sequences with anything youre going to have to sit down with it for a long time to get what you want.........

i was in a band for a while and i brought it to my friends house and it did fine. i would definitely have no problem using it live.. this thing may not look sturdy but for all of the people who say the electribes are plastic crap: i must have dropped this thing twice really hard since ive had it and it still works. i spilled water all over the front panel as well. all i had to do was open up the rear panel and put a fan to it to dry it.. it still works! i love korg.

i never had to talk to them.

black and silver machine. awesome. 400 bucks. buy it now.

I found this unit very easy to learn. Just by watching & listening to the presets you'll get the idea of how it works. The presets are OK, but they needed a lot of help for what I do. (Who wants to use presets anyway?) Sounds are not hard to edit, synth parts are tweakable with basic synth filters. The manual is helpful in the learning process, but after a few days I really didn't refer to it anymore.

The features are pretty cool for the price & size of the unit. I wish it had better polyphony. Synth parts are only mono, but with some editing you can make great rhythm or bass loops. The sequencer is great. It's very easy to come up with new patterns from scratch in a minimum of time. I don't get into MIDI much, but it does work as a good tone generator.

The drum sounds are incredible, that's the main reason I got this unit. It works very well for techno, industrial, synth pop, & it's just awesome for rhythms that have a more spiritual feel to them. The effects are cool & can add a lot of dynamics to your sound, but only 1 effect can be applied to a pattern.

Anyone who takes care of their equipment should have no problem with this unit. I'd use it on the road, no big deal.

Never dealt with Korg.

I would die if something ever happened to this unit. It's really helped to shape my current sound. I've had the thing for almost a year & everytime I pick it up it just come alive. Using this unit along with a good sampler & synthesizer is all you need to make really cool tracks

Super easy to use. Had it up and running in 30 mins and was writing my own patterns. There's a ton of presets, some are cool, a good chunk are pretty lame though, but who wants to play with presets anyway? Overall just a very simple machine to use.

2 note synth polyphony and 8 drum sounds although 4 of them share 2 channels (for open and closed HHs). 11 effects + global delay. You can only have 1 effect on per pattern though and it's either on or off for a part. MIDI In/Out/Through. Good sequencer. No LFO for the synth parts though, but there is enough tweakable features. A great feature is the motion sequencer and it can sequence a lot more motions than the ER and EA models. No chords except the built in chord sets, which kind of sucks. Lots of great drum sounds and the synth sounds are pretty cool. Gains points for the price though since it's pretty much everything you need to make some cool songs

Nice sounds. Some cool drum sounds, with the standards plus also some synth style percussion and indian drums. Synth sounds are cool, but they usually need effects or some tweaking, otherwise they sound a bit flat. Effects are great and the delay isn't bad, too bad it's global. Keys aren't touch sensitive, but you can record level movement or add accents.

Wouldn't want to drop it, but otherwise seems sturdy. hopefully the rubber knobs last a while. My roomate has had his ER-1 for quite some time and it's still holding up so I'd guess it's pretty durable

This is thing is really cool and easy to use. If it were lost I'd probably replace it. This is my first forray into electronic music and so far it has everything I need. Some of the features are a bit limiting, but I'm hoping to get a sampler or a synthesizer of some sort, since that's where this thing is lacking. For the price this thing is great.

i had figured out the basics while still in the music store. the preset sounds are great, but even better when you mess around with them. you can take even the lamest sounds and transform them into something you've never heard before. even further, the cool sounds can be improved even more. the preset patterns are good (though eventually to be deleted) at giving the beginning user an idea of this machine's abilities, and the different techniques in creating patterns. EM-1 is especially friendly to someone new to this stuff.

enough effects to keep you happy and busy, although sometimes it would be nice to use multiple effects (boo hoo). bottom line, more potential for effects than i personally desire. sequencer is cool too, can program by step or performance, both useful. not a limitless machine (only two synth voices), but i didn't buy in hopes to replace a keyboardist, bassist, or drummer(?).

sounds are generally authentic....unless you want it to sound like an acoustic drumset (but why?---i'm a drummer as well, and these machines are a different realm for percussion). nonetheless, for creative "electronic" sounding drum patterns, the EM-1 is a great choice (and AFFORDABLE).

haven't gigged with it....

if i lost it, i would be especially PO'd about losing my patterns...but that wouldn't stop my expanding interests in music technology. i would buy it again (or maybe upgrade). but that's what you risk with this stuff. just take care of it!!! this tool does not help me create music, i still use the old fashioned stuff. nonetheless, it is great for taking your outlines to the next step. if you've realized that we cannot duplicate the rock greats, this tool may help you to find a fresher, and more expressive style. i have played the drums, guitar, and piano for years. have a (not so) strange inability to find and/or work with other musicians....well, music technology has come a long ways, quite worthy of the expression for the computer generation. ok

The preset patterns that come with the EM-1 are your standard generic
techno/dance fare, but the interface is so simple, I had my own original
patterns inside within minutes. The manual is a mere brochure, a far cry
from those daunting Roland "textbooks."

Polyphony is limited, two monophonic synth parts and eight monophonic
percussion parts. The built-in keypad is kind of lame for programming
the synth parts, but using my guitar works out great. It responds to
dynamics well enough through midi. The on board sequencer is super-simple
and great for writing on the fly to an existing midi beat. It does not
accept new cards or sounds but what it has is flexible enough with the
filter and effects, for my purposes.

I love the tablas and hand drums in this guy. You can motion sequence
pitch bends in them as well for realistic effects. I think if used
sparingly, this machine would work for most styles of music. I am using
it for everything from techno-pop to dub reaggae to world music inspired
acid jazz. The effects are nice but would be better if I could assign
different ones to different sounds in the box.
It responds to velocity when using an external midi controller on the
synthesizer section. otherwise there is an "accent" feature.

I have always had good experiences with the other electribes in the series,
and would take this one, as well as any on the road without skipping a beat
(no pun intended)

never had to call Korg, knock on wood. I hear it can be quite a hassle.

This thing is just what I was looking for to do basic backing tracks
live, and I would replace it if lost or stolen, definitley. I have been
playing for over 23 years and own quite an assortment of simular gear.
I love it's simplicity, but it's kind of a drag to not have touch sensitive
pads and higher resolution for the sequencer. I wish it had seperate outs
for the drum and synth parts, and more effects (more different effects
at one time, that is) It is very much a quick and easy way to get
inspiration flowing live or in the studio.
I find it to be the most flexible of the electribes, and I have seen
all of them in action. I find it better than anything else in it's
price range.

fantastically simple to use. i love that within a few movements you can pretty much figure out everything thats happening, which is something you really had to dig for with the Roland dr202.

I'm sold on the electribes. they aren't the end-of-the-search items (i'm a gear junky!), but they do enough that for their price and size i'm perfectly happy. With this plus the es-1 you are set.

there is something that bothers me which occurs throughout all the electribes. you have the ability to select a sound without triggering it. but if you solo anything, you are unable to call up another sound without having it enter the mix (lets say you want to select another sound in order to turn its volume down so that you can then bring it back into the mix and slowly bring its volume back up- its something i like to do when performing live a lot but have to do a dodgy workaround for)

i can bitch also about the limited effects bus, but, well, i can live with it too.

at first i counted off this unit for its preset sounds. but i was/am surprised by its range and depth. i have a virus, and this ain't one, thats for sure. but for a simple monophonic lead or bass, i'm impressed. it kicks the dr202 ass up and down. the sounds have a very good keyboard range (not merely limited to, say, the mid ocataves like the dr202) and are highly flexible when twiddling with the knobs.

the drum sounds are very very good. it pretty much makes my er-1 useless i have to admit. that thing's good for bleeps and bloops, this one is good for slamming kicks and crisp rides.

i wish the sounds could morph like the yamaha series can.

so far i've never had a problem with an electribe (unlike the dr 202). they are solid devices. i would gig without a backup.

i sent in a product for repair under warantee and it took 5 months to get back!! that sucks!

i want 2! they are so much fun!! just sitting twiddling knobs, bringing sounds in and out (best done with 2 or 3 electribes snyc'ed together) is a blast. it makes making music a breeze- find some patterns that you like and throw them in together- i can't wait to turn mine on right now and start playing. i've been using software sequencing for a bit and man, nothing kills my creative juices more than staring at a computer screen moving the mouse millimeters for hours at a time. sure the capabilities are much greater (and cheaper), but the tradeoff....this gets me to make music, and thats what ultimately counts for me. and even if i never played out anywhere, the process is so fun and rewarding that just sitting at home in bed farting around makes the expense worthwhile.

Ok.. Here's the deal. We just picked this thing up today at a Guitar Center for 350 bucks. As far as ease of use is concerned, the only thing that I've ever used that was easier was my DOD TEC-8 effects processor *rip*. Having just picked it up today, we already know everything there is to know about it. I don't see how it can get any easier than this... I'd give it an 11 if it were possible.

As far as features are concerned this thing is lacking somewhat.. But it isn't intended to be your groove-all synth/drum machine. It's intended to do drum and bass grooves (at which is excels), and for 350 bucks, who am I to disagree. For those who are into the composition of electronica, I see nothing better in the price range. This thing has a bad case of the TECHNO MANIA. My only real gripe about it is the lack of effects busses. Only one effect can be used at any given time. :( But I guess that's what external equipment is for. A+ for the price range.. -2 points on the lack of effects.

This thing has a pretty damned decent soundset for a unit of its price. Polypohony is slightly limiting, but not nearly as limiting as the 4 voices on my MS2000. When combines with the MS2000 and good MIDI sequencing software, this thing is absolutely amazing.
A+ for drum sounds. C- for synth sounds, but that's what my MS2000 is for anyway. :) I'll give this category a 7.

Well.. So far it's been reliable, but it's too early to tell. We did, however drop the thing on concrete later in the evening and it's still functional. My friend is jamming away on it now.
A+ for surviving a 4 foot drop to concrete, but no score due to not having it for an adequate amount of time.

Never dealt with Korg, but there is an authorized service center around the corner that said they could fix anything Korg in less than 4 days, so I'd consider that pretty decent. No overall rating because it hasn't happened yet.

This thing is pretty sweet. It can come up with some seriously smooth techno/trance/R&B/Hip-Hop grooves. We're going to try mastering some tracks of it to vinyl for some scratching. Very good bottom end on the sound. Extremely fat. I'd highly suggest using a MIDI controller for any aggressive lead stuff, though ultimately I'd suggest a different piece of equipment entirely if you're going to be going down that route. Overall, I give this unit a 9. The only thing keeping it from being a 10 is the lack of multiple effect routes. That can tend to be somewhat limiting.

I imagine this unit will go nicely with my setup, which consists of a PC running Reason and Fruityloops 3.4, Soundblaster Audigy EX, Korg MS2000, and Electribe. I have all of the capabilities of a full rack of professional equipment using this setup. :)

Nothing is easier to use than an Electribe. The preset patterns are ok, some are quite nice(trance, etc.), but I've overwritten most of them. Editing patterns is easy, though for the synth parts I use a Roland keyboard to enter the notes. Manual is quite nice, esp. for learning motion sequence, etc.

synths parts are ok, good for bass patterns and arppegios(sp). built-in effects are adequate. using delay on the synths helps to fatten them up a bit. the sequencer is fantastic, took me minutes to master.

the drum sounds are good. synth sounds are ok, though of course you can't create your own.

only had it hang up w/ MIDI once. by itself, it is flawless, wouldn't hesitate to use it live by itself.

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for use as a drum machine and bass patterns, this thing is great. i use it along with a roland keyboard(and soon to add a good VA synth), and it fits in great. song building can be tedious, but worth the effort. if you don't really need the synth parts consider the ER-1.

The Korg EM-1 Electribe is pretty easy to use. I had the entire thing down within 2 days of tinkering. It's not hard at all to choose all the different types of drum/synth sounds, and everything is as easy as just spinning knobs around.

Polyphony on the drum side of the machine is great. However, the polyphony on the synth side is still a little weak, as you have 2 monophonic layers going on at once (no chords except for preset pitch-shifted ones). Built in effects are easy to use. MIDI is nice too, I plug my keyboard into the EM-1 so I don't have to use the onboard keyboard, but the keyboard on the EM-1 isn't bad if you don't have a keyboard laying around. Overall the features are great! The only thing that I wish it had were a bigger selection of synth sounds, and polyphonic instruments!

The sounds are great! It doesn't have a touch sensitive pad when doing drumbeats, but you can use a knob to tweak the volume. The expressiveness is great too. This is the strong point of the EM-1. I am very impressed with the sounds it has onboard.

I'm planning on taking it with me to my next gig. We'll have to see on this one.

Overall, if you don't want a drummer in your band then you should consider the EM-1. It's worth the price paid, I think I would buy it again if it got stolen. I really can't complain about the polyphony a whole lot because it would jack the price up. This is a good machine to use, but plan on buying a synth module because the selection is limited on that side. The drums are excellent though.