Korg ER-1 Electribe

The presets sounds as expected--in other words, they are typical dance and nasty (as in bad) hip hop attempts. They're not worthwhile, but they do attempt to show you what the machine can do. Some of the more inventive ones take advantage of the Motion Sequencers well enough. But in this case, you're not buying this machine for its presets.

Editing patches is so simple you don't really even have to pick up the manual. We're talking about select an instrument, screw around with the knobs until you're satisfied with the sound of each one and then program them in a 16-step pattern. All the sequencing is typical of X0X boxes. You can arrange patterns into songs, etc. The manual does come in handy time to time and is well-written enough to get by if you're new to this kind of thing.

It has 4 parts percussion, 4 parts PCM, 2 audio ins, an accent part. That should be adequate for most, although I know people using up to 4 of these units in a loop.

It has global delay, which is a bit of a pain if you'd like to isolate it to parts, but oh well, not a huge deal. The audio in function has potential, but I've yet to figure out something interesting enough to use it with.

The motion sequencer is helpful, and is something I've come to rely on for taking patterns one step beyond.

Being able to create 256 patterns should be more than enough to work with. You can make sixteen songs made with up to 256 patterns. Considering you can record in tempo changes, that means each 'song' could contain as many as you can fit into 256, keeping in mind space to change tempo (1 or 2 patterns of space). Using the on-board sequencer is slightly painful compared to using a computer, but I find that it helps me edit myself nicely and is simple enough to use that I can leave a computer out of the chain for live performances. My one gripe is that you are mostly confined to using it for straight times--no 5/4 unless you force it. The one way around this would be to perform it 'live' utilizing the play and repeat from start functions, rather than building a song. Something I do time to time, although it means manualing changing patterns with the alpha wheel or pattern memory.

The low-boost on the unit gives it the bottom-end from hell--on the recordings I've done with it, it makes things kick nicely.

I have absolutely no problem with the sounds on this unit. I'm making experimental electro, in the vein of say, Solvent, Lowfish, Ladytron, etc. In this regards, I am very happy. Perfect shiny analog beats that can funk up to a weirdness with creative editing and playful use of the effects. Nothing here is out of this earth, but the unit has a good organic quality that makes it (granted, more onboard effects would be nice, but you could save money by buying this relatively inexpensive box and then finding truly highend effects to chain it into). I know people using it for the entire electronic spectrum (Dance, Techno, Industrial, Synthpop, IDM, hip hop) and a few using it for hybrids (one even is folk based, mixed up with acoustic guitars and a pedal steel). I believe it could be used with any musical style as long as the user leaves all their ridiculous preconceptions at the door. Your limits can often be your inspiration.

I've gigged with it and it hasn't let me down. I have no backup, so this is it.

The only thing I've noticed, as I've only had it for about a year, is that once and a while it does something funny. But it tends to be whenever I'm using the sequencer to write, not while it's just playing.

I've never dealt with the company, and hope I never have to do so.

I would replace it if anything happened to it, as it's integral to my setup--I use it as a master to an EA-1 and a Korg MS2000. I also use an Akai AX-60, but I leave it out of the chain.

I chose it because it held up price and sound wise when I compared it to everything else on the market at the time. I still think it's fantastic.

The presets are pretty much crap. Most are the stereotypical dance numbers with nothing really that interesting about them. Editing them isn't much fun either. There really is not a lot to edit with. Only a hand full of knobs (no sliders). If your not into dance music and need a medium priced beat box look else where!

Four voice polyphony is over kill to say the least. Too busy for me, Two voices would have been plenty. As far as the effects go (or lack of them) most are global, I hate how the delay is global! Again their isn't a lot to edit with, for cooler sounds I would run it threw a Sherman Filter Bank or something. The ring mods are ok, my breath wasn't taken away. I will give ti creidit on the sequencer, its pretty easy to use.

Boring and stale is how I would describe the sounds of the ER-1. If you need a beatbox to go with your Waldorf Q to make that next dancefloor diddy than this is your drum machine. The effects are crap and Korg knows it, people get real!

It is very dependable, I would take it to a "gig."

Haven't had the pleasure.

To me the ER-1 is a parody of a real beatbox. It has none of the features that I was looking for, it is defintly for the factory patch musician. If you have the money I would invest in a Jomox XBase09, or a Sequential Circuits DrumTracks. I love drum machines that are not XOX. This is just a cheap and bland beatbox.

Super easy to use. The manual is very helpful, easy to understand. (Roland could take some pointers here) The preset patterns really give you a good idea for what you can do with this thing and the "origional value" buttong lets you figure out what they're doing, it's great.

My favorite thing about this box, besides the sound, is that it has so many nobs and buttons. There isn't even an LCD screen for all those terrible menus and edit pages. You twist the knob and the sounds change. It's great!!! 2 monophonic parts, so you can have to completely separate monophonic lines going. It's not really polyphonic unless you detune the second oscillator to a fixed interval, but then you can only move around in thirds or 4ths or whatever. The distortion effect is really great, helps sounds cut through a mix very well. I actually am not a techno trancy person, I use this thing for flavor and color in a college age rock band. The tap tempo is a life saver here because the band never stays at exactally 117 BPM or whatever it is at the time. I can keep the tempo close with the tap tempo and then keep hitting start/stop with the huge stop and play buttons to keep the pattern in sync with the band while I do some organ or wurlitzer thing on the keyboard. It allows me to get way more sounds out of my corner of the stage. The delay is also great, simple but easy to use. The flange chorus is cool, I don't use it much though. You also get a ring modulator and a second oscillator for each part with a pitch offset so you can get the typical weird sounds with that. Also, there's two other oscillator effects-sync and decimator. Snyc aligns the two oscillator waveforms to get a similar but very different sound and the decimator basically makes the waveform boxy, so it has no effect on a square wave. It's cool to run a voice or something into the audio input and then process it with the ring modulator, sync, and decimator. You can get some really interesting, almost vocorder-like sounds. With midi, its also a breeze, I often program patterns into it from my keyboard. ONE HUGE COMPLAINT IN THIS AREA-THE EA-1 DOES NOT RESPOND TO SUSTAIN PEDAL MESSAGES AT ALL. So all those cool monophonic lines that seamlessly move about with the sustain pedal and portamento must be programmed, which rules out the use of this thing as an instrument for solos. So, I can't do any cheesy 80's shredding guitar wannabe leads. Maybe that's a good thing! Programming the patterns is quite easy, there's 3 modes. You can play them in while a metranome goes, you can program them in with the 16 step keys (my favorite way right now) or you can step record it, the hardest way. Also, there is nothing expandable about this at all.

Killer sounds! Like I said, I don't even use it for club stuff, I use it in a band with guitars and bass and drums and all, and its a dream. If anything, I prove that it is a very flexible instrument in many different styles. The Cutoff/resonance filter leaves a little bit to be desired, but it is still killer, still far better than a $300 box should have! I use it on most things I do and have been very happy with the resluts.

Nothing's ever gone wrong with it at all, its a pretty simple box. I have the gig bag for it on order just because I'm tired of taking it around in the box I bought it in. All the knobs make it something that I don't want to put anything else on top of and I really don't feel comfortable having it slide around in my trunk, though it would probably be fine. I'd recommend a bag or case or something for it, but I think its extrememly reliable, I would even consider a backup.

Never needed it.

Wonderful! I absolutely love it, I'm going to get an ER-1 soon as well and work some funky drum loops into my bands, I love these things. This thing is worth way more than $300, its the only way to go. Yamahah has one that looks like it has more features, but I don't really see the point after reading about it in Keyboard mag. I bought this as a way to get into the analog synth world cheap and I got way more.

Really easy to use.

Fantastic. Imaginatively designed, with an an endless source of new sounds. Plus lots of neat flashing lights.

The sounds are excellent - electro hell.

Very reliable.

I'd buy another one if necessary.

Presets generally sound very electronical. Maybe 5 or then patterns are rellly good. Pattern programming is very easy but in sound programming the knobs are to sensitive and you never know how will they change the sound before you try them. The manual is anoying when it repeats every time "stop the sequencer" before doing angything. In Cubase and FruityLoops you can do everything without stoping.

For this type of sounds polyfony (4+4) is an overkill. It sounds best when you use only 2 or 3 sounds at once at the most. The built in delay is global and not per part which is annoying. The pattern sequencer is excellent but the song sequencer is not. Try Fruityloops and you will know how a good song sequencer should look like.

Sounds are 100% club-dance. You will not be ashamed with these sounds. The best thing in this machine is how it reacts to your playing. This is the only type of drum-machine on which you can program patterns on the fly.

Dependable (all your patterns are stored even withou power)

I think the ES replaces it completly. It workes well as an addition to the autoaccompainmet of the Yamaha DJX and combined with the AXS softsynth. Love the programming of patterns, hate the programming of sounds. I would wish the ES had one or two parts as with the ER sythesizer.

This little machine is so easy to use, it's almost like a toy. The last person to review this obviously didn't look close enough at the machine. You don't have to erase every step to create a new pattern from scratch, because there is a "clear part" option that clears not only the part, but the motion sequence (if there is one) too. The manual is almost not necessary, unless this is your first time using something of this sort. The presets sound pretty neat, and give you a taste of what the box can offer.

There are a LOT of features that the ER-1 has... and most of them you will probably never use. Audio input (pretty much useless to me) tempo delay... a button you use to tap the tempo... motion sequence... the ability to switch between patterns at the press of a button... and song making capability... Very versatile...

This is where I really have a problem with the ER-1. Maybe I'm not using it the way it was designed... but it isn't really a stand-alone drum machine. There are about 4 drum sounds that you can use... and only 2 that you can use at the same time. The rest of it is a synthesizer you use to make analog-sounding drums... It does this very well... except if you want to make realistic or even semi-realistic sounding drums... you're basically out of luck.

I've had it for about a year and it never messed up once. However, the case is made of cheap plastic and I strongly think that if I accidentally stepped on it or something, it would crack very badly. It would work very well still... but it would look like garbage.

I've never had to deal with it... but that's better than needing to :)

If it were lost and stolen... I would probably buy the new EM-1. The EM-1 does all the realistic sounds I want. But the ER-1 is not for everybody... The really best feature about the ER-1 that I think is the way you can make a bassy pulse with lots of decay time. Not much else can do that so well. I hate how the Close and Open hi-hat use the same channel... so you can't play both at the same time... same goes for the Crash and H. Clap. The only reason I could see this comes in handy is if you want the crash or close hi hat to play a long sound but then cut off quickly instead of slowly... as normal use of decay would do. I wish it had more realistic drum sounds. But what you really need to consider is the price of this thing. For about 200 used you can get a little box that does so much... even if it's now what you really wanted.

The sounds of this box are, of course, it's main attraction.
They are digital wave forms and therefore sound a little frigid,
but, the expressive capabilities of the sounds far outweigh their
short-comings (at this price range). The only other boxs that
function like this are the X-Base or a 909/808 (Both far more
expensive). The ER-1 sells used at around $200-$250. For this
price, it is a wonderful sounding little box.
However, despite what other entries here suggest, this box is not
particularly easy to use. The interface is a little bizzare. It's
very easy to edit the drum sounds, and it's easy to modify the drum
patterns, but as far as creating new patterns, this box is a little
lacking. Without a manual, it would take you a year to figure out how
to write a pattern. This is because it's needlessly complicated
(not to mention tedious) erasing patterns and individual parts.
In other words, it's difficult to start from scratch.
For this reason, I would say the ER-1 was designed mainly for the
pre-set producer. But this is alright, because it only obscures the
ER-1's unique value.

The polyphony is great for a box of this nature, although,
it would be helpful if the ER-1 had individual outputs for
it's drum parts (this is a major drawback).
The Delay is useful in that it provides a Tempo Delay that will
automatically sync to the beat. However, as many have mentioned,
it only functions as a pattern delay and will not delay individual
drum sounds.
Another feature that would help this box is a more powerful
sequencer that could accept external data. Too bad.

Like I said this is where the ER-1 shines. It really does'nt have
specific sounds like a normal drum machine. In this sence, it's
more of a "rhythm synth." Great expression. Great clipped snares,
bassy snares,tinny snares, round basses, soft basses, electro toms,
bleebs, tones, blibs, zaps, etc. You know what I'm saying. It's for
Electro. Of course, you could combine that elecro drum sound with
any other form of music, if you were so inclined.
Velocity and Aftertouch and things like that are not really an
issue with the ER-1. It's not meant for that sort of thing. It's
really a pretty raw (as raw as digital can approximate) little
electro-box.

Yeah of course I would take it to performances.
I mean you don't want to spill your drink on it,
it's a piece of electronic equipment, but it's sturdier than
a HR-16 or a TR 707/606. That is, it's as solid as or more solid
than the average drum machine.

Overall, despite it's many flaws (it definitely has a lot of
flaws), this is a GREAT peice of equipment. I would definitly
buy it again. It is an irreplacable part of my set-up (unless I
wanted to hop on the $1000 909 band-wagon).

super easy, instant access to editing.

simple easy to use grid style sequencing.

enough features for creating interesting electronic percussion sounds and sequences. basic, but just enough.

four VA type percussion generators.

three sampled pcm hi hat, cymbal, and crash sounds.

good range for electronic type of percussion.

variety of modulation sources for pitch. controls for decay, amp...

time will tell, eh?

this thing is very cool. its refreshing to see a percussion synth that isn't *soley* based on sounding just like a TR-909 and that doesn't just rely on sample playback.

in my humble opinion, this is the best of the electribe boxes.

BTW, I believe the album which is described as having two electribe boxes drawn on the sleeve mentioned in the pior post is actually the artist Like A Tim, not Aphex Twin.

The manual isn't that impressive, but the machine is so easy it doesn't matter. After a couple of minutes I figured out how most things work and this is how I think musical instruments should be like!

There are no fancy extras on the ER-1, but the sounds that you can get out of this box are amazing. The sequencer is pretty basic, but good enough for live situations. It's really hard to complain about the lack of this or that, since the machine is so cheap and the over all sound is so good!

If you're into making music with an electronic feel, like techno or electro, the ER-1 is perfect. If you are thinking of buying, say a Roland Groovebox for some (sampled) 808/909 sounds, get the Electribe instead. The kick drums are incredible and so is the electro (think Kraftwerk) sounds. Even people like Juan Atkins (Model 500) and Orbital are praising this machine. It may have some limitations (the delay affects all parts, it has only two outs), but the sound is so good that it's bound to be a classic in a couple of years.

I've used it live with no backup and I haven't had any problems yet. I must admit it looks a bit fragile though (the knobs and the plastic casing...).

This is my first Korg gear and since I haven't had any trouble with it, I don't know if they are good or bad at this.

The best thing about the ER-1, is that it inspires me to write more music. It's like an endless source of inspiration. I must point out though that if I made, say retro pop/rock I probably wouldn't like it (I make techno/ambient type of music). I compared the ER-1 with Rolands MC-303 Groovebox, and I must say the Electribe are far more interesting and inspiring. It's perfect for someone who is a beginner and too good to resist for the pro. One last thing: I saw a record the other day where the ER-1 and EA-1 were on the sleeve (a drawing). I think it was released by Rephlex (Aphex Twin's label), but I'm not sure. Does anyone know about this record?

The preset patterns are pritty decent (Thats a first!) Just select your sound pad input your pattern sequence and BOOM you got a phat pattern. Knobs are plain and simples and many knobs share 2 or more funtions, but its all good. :) I remember playing this at the store and the thing actuly got my head bompin' thats whin I knew I had to get it.

Couldv had more features say' Indie outputs or FX Switch per part instaid of a glabal delay' and umm mayby have abilaty to do up to 16 bars instad of 4 and single fingered mute solo switch per part, and musical interval for sequencer instad of one frequency knob, but that wouldv just made unit more expensive (Mayby for ER-2 model?)
But the Advantages far outwiegh the disadvantages!:)' Make some nice BASSSS go rumble' and global dely is nice and usful for autopanning FX. You can make unit 2 indi outs by park panning then eather hard left or right so you can process 2 differnt sets of the ER-1 kit at the same time (Say Flange Kik and HH and reverb to Other parts liek FX Snare and clap)

Sinouid Bass is the best bass' but a Autopanned Sinoud Bass is evin better :) Can get some nasty kicks and Weird patterns with this thing and then some... Its up to you how it sounds...

256 Patterns is enough to keep me busy for a whiles' and never ever crashed on me.

never consulted with them...

Very good for the money stores are shelling it at $200-$300 now, better get one now before theyr all gone! If you want to hear the ER-1 beaten to death' chech out my music at http://www.mp3.com/miek and tell me what you think!
I make industrial Trance and Brum N Bass'