Korg ER-1 Electribe

Very easy to get your head around

If you want to get analog sounds buy analog machines - if you want to create your own unique sounds - buy the Electribes

Excellent for live work

BUY THEM NOW !!!

Let me start by saying this thing is really cool. I use it as a drum machine to make novel, non-acoustic percussion sounds. I don't pay much attention to the preset patterns. The whole purpose of this thing is to create sounds/patterns rather than use the presets. The presets do serve as useful templates. Editing is so so easy and straight-foward.....creating sounds/patterns is really fun rather than a chore. The knobs/buttons are very self-explanitory. The menus are also easily understandable. The manual is actually very good and mercifully brief. I am usually anti-manual, but I actually recommend reading this one.

The features are pretty self explanitory. Basically, there is an oscillator with some other parameters (ie, decay, delay, etc) to help create a sound. The sound is then easily put to a pattern. Several sounds can be used to make a complex pattern. The patterns can be produced either via real-time recording or placing the sounds on the pattern template.....very simple. The MIDI capabilites are good. I have it slaved to my Waldorf Q internal clock, so whatever pattern is playing on the Q, the ER-1 tempo is automatically matched.

The sounds are very good.....It takes some tweaking of the knobs to really find the desired sound, but that is the fun of it. The sounds are very non-acoustic, though "normal" drum sounds are fairly reproducible......Good for industrial, techno, all that......If you are interested in true acoustic percussion sounds, I would recommend a drum machine rather than this.

Seems reliable. Had it about 2 months and never had a problem with it.

Don't know......haven't used Korg customer support yet.

If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another.....For its inexpensive price, it is well worth it. If you have neighbors you really hate, I definitely recommend it! Remember that this is more for sequenced percussion sounds....it is (thankfully) not a TB303. In a nutshell, I love the cool sounds and ease of use. There isn't anything I hate about it yet. I also own a Waldorf Q, Korg Trinity V3 pro X, Korg MS-2000, Future Retro 777 and a Roland JP-8000; the latter is being replaced by an Access Virus KB (have been on the waiting list forever).

The interface is similar to the Roland 808 and 909 boxes with some added functionality. Writing patterns and creating drum sounds is simple. No menus to wade through -- just lots of knobs and buttons.

The only effect that this machine has is delay, and it's global. It has no filter, but the oscillator and amp offer a lot of flexibility for editing sounds. I'm not sure how well this box handles MIDI data, but it's not like you're going to want to use an external program to sequence your drum patterns when you've got such a great hardware sequencer to work off of.

You can easily emulate Roland's 808 and 909 with this box, but it's made to do a whole lot more. If you're looking for synthetic drum sounds, this is the box to buy. If you're looking for realistic drum sounds, then get a sampling drum box. You aren't going to be doing drum 'n bass with this box.

The case itself is very sturdy, but I don't like the rubber knobs and buttons. With prolonged use, I feel that the paint would begin to chip off.

N/A

I returned this machine because it didn't suit needs. I didn't want to be limited to synthetic analog sounds. If that's what you're looking for, then buy this box. It's a like an 808 and a 909 in one box with the ability to make some really original, whacked out sounds. Great for generic 4-on-the-floor techno and anything else that requires synthetic drum sounds, but not so great for drum 'n bass and anything that requires quasi-realistic drum sounds.

Very simple, much like rebirth or any TR series. Would be nice to do whole pattern dumps instead of single sections, but with time you can get a lot done.

I'm psyched about the motion control over delay parameters. My main reason for buying this machine was the midi setup. I've had other machines that couldn't filter and responded to every channel, making it hard to do a live performance from scratch. The low boost and accent are pluses when used right. The only other thing that the ER-1 could really use is a patch reverse button...

Most of the sounds are analog modeling, and are what you make of them. The clap section could be a bit richer, but with the right pitch vs. low boost, you can make it sound like what you want. The Hat section is really nice, very realistic and characteristic of older vintage machines (these can also be pitch and low boost tweaked). I don't like the crash to much... for some reason it cuts off when you use it with a hat. I'm also thinking of buying an extra FX box to change cutoff and resonance.

Very reliable clock. Syncs perfect with my other gear. Played several parties and never had a problem

never dealt with it

I'd definately hit up my insureance for another if it was stolen. I'd buy it over and over again, but the real value in this machine is what patterns you've saved.

Really simple to use, especially if you've used a Roland TR-x0x or Rebirth. Editing over MIDI from a sequencer is a pit of a pain (NRPN nightmares). I've created a Logic environment for it, which needed 3 transformers for every knob (maybe it could be simplified by a Logic expert..)
Using it as a stand alone unit is pretty straight forward though.

It's biggest feature is the tweakability of it's sounds!
The built in delay is pretty cool, everything from long delays to those short comb-filter like metallic noises (ideal for Aphex Twin type beats).
Just about everything is controllable by MIDI (but could possibly be easier) - it can sync to an external MIDI clock (eg a sequencer) or act as a master for other things to sync to.

I'd say the sounds were aimed at electronic/experimental/dance music. I wouldn't reccomend it for realistic drum sounds.

The flexibility of sounds is great. It appears a little limited at first but after a little tweaking you can easily see what it's capable of. It has an LFO to modulate pitch which can easily get into audio frequencies for clangorous cross modulated/FM type sounds.
There's a ring mod that can be used on either synth parts 1&2 or synth part 4 and audio input.
It's also great for techno-ey kick drums, plenty of bass (there's a low-boost effect too that can be used to overdrive sounds if its pushed)

I agree with the other reviews - seems pretty light but sturdy enough.
I'd gig with it.

I'd like to see some nice freebies on the website: like .pdf manuals, sample sounds/patterns.
No idea what the support is like really though (only had it a week)

I'd definately buy it again, and I'm quite tempted by the EA-1 too.
Get all three and you could easily do a 1 man (or woman!) live techno act :)

The presets sound very cool, and there are a lot of them. But who buys these to use the presets? The presets provide some inspiration and spark, where these Electribes really shine is in the ease of use department. I have NO experience with this stuff. I just got my ER-1 today. I've played with it for maybe two hours. I made my first project trying to duplicate the sound of a track on one of my favorite DnB discs. I had it within a few minutes, all it took was reading the manual and experimentation. The manual is very helpful. It uses jargon in some places that a total novice (like me) might be confused by, but you can figure it out.

It's fantastic for what it is, and especially for the price. It sounds good, too. Some of the stuff is a little cheesey, but not enough to matter. When mixed in with good sounds and some creative playing, that cheese will be invisible to the ear. It has built in delay, as well as the tweaks for editing individual parts. I'm not relying on this thing having effects, I just need to generate some cool rhythms, and the ER-1 does that in spades. The MIDI stuff looks to be robust, but again, it's all new to me.

Most of the instruments and sounds are as realistic as any other techno sounds. When running the "vintage" rock and roll patterns, those are as convincing as any drum machine, like a Dr. Rhythm. But these things really shine in dance music, of course. Some of the DnB presets are fantastic. Great starting points.

It's light, it has no moving parts, it doesn't get hot, it's solid, the keys are soft rubber. I'd say it's dependable. Gig with it? That's not my intent, personally. If I had to for some reason, I wouldn't hesitate.

Korg's website doesn't have much other than advertising for this stuff. It'd be nice if they had some additional information, settings, etc online.

If it were lost or stolen, I would absolutely buy another. I've been using it for less than a day, and I'm already very upbeat about the potential this thing has. I'm mostly a guitar player, I bought this because I want to get experimental with industrial sounds. It fits the role perfectly. I will be adding the ES-1 as soon as it is available, and possibly the EA-1, though I don't know if I'll need it for what I want to do.

Presets are awsome and easy to manipulate. The manual is easy to read, even if you're a bit of a techno-phobe like I am

Built in effects are awsome. You can take a crisp drum sound and add boat-loads of delay until it's a slow, shuffling industrial beat. I love that shit. With companion peices like the EA-1 (analog) and the soon to be released ES-1 rythme sampler, this is an extremely versitile toy. Sequencer is a bit tricky, but much easier then the ones I've wresteled with in other drum machines

Always on, never off... Unless you overdo the depth and delay, everything is crisp and warm and otherworldly.

So far so good. I've had it for less then a month and haven't had a problem yet. Sometimes, when turning the dial between patters, it will skip two ahead instead of one at a time. I read somewhere else that another user had this problem... Definitely would feel comfortable without back-up.

If it was lost or stolen, I'd want the exact same thing as a replacement. This is so easy to use, so easy to combine with other players, so dependable, that I think I'd even choose this puppy over more expensive modles. I hear the ES-1 rythme sampler is coming out in America in early May. I'm gunna be first in line to get me one of those bad boys. Electribes rock.

So easy to use! Just select a part, turn a knob, place it where you want. I was suprised at the presets, really inspiring. There are a lot of just empty spots in the "D" bank with just a 4/4 kick. I first started by re-aranging the presets and changing the pitch & Mod. of the sounds. The manual isn't really needed, everything about it is right on the face of it. however the manual is a bit jumpy.

Not sure of the Polyphony, 8 I think... But there is a funny thing about it. It seems that the Hi-Hat closed/Open AND the Hand Clap/Cymbal share one voice. So if you try to put them both in the same spot only one will sound, usually its the Hi-Hat Open and the Hand Clap. But what do I know, I'm only 15!

2 Global Effects, and do I love the Tempo Delay effect. It gives a Metalic sound to the pattern (perfect for Drum N' Bass) Easy to use, just select one of the two effects and tweak the two knobs. No expansion capabilities.the on-board sequencer is awesome, and man do I love the Audio In!!! (it has two of them) otherwise the standard MIDI In,Out,Through

The snare sound is hard to master, but I have a little secret. I was trying to set up a snare sound and came across the best one I've ever herd an the machine (I use it almost on every pattern) it sounds like a "real" snare sound! Otherwise, you can get good punchy bass souds with a little practice. You can also get some pretty strange noises out of that little box. Remember its not a drum machine its a Rhythm Synthesizer. Thats where those who put down the ER-1 go wrong. It's not a like DR-770, or a DR-202! This is by far a Techno musicians dream machine, I know that its used by Expansion Union and Orbital. However if you want to hear both Electribes in action check out Expansion Union's CD World Wide Funk, Amazing.....
Oh yea, no velocity or aftertouch but the Accient function is cool

Seems sturdy, real light. metal bottom and face, the rest is plastic. Never dropped mine, dosen't look like it could take it too well in all honestly. Real low and sturdy won't move anywhere. And I do hit it pretty hard when I play live

If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy a new one in a heart beat. Worth the money by far!! Got it a few months ago, it was my first piece of "Real" gear, and I plan on using it for years to come. Love it to death. So easy to use, and the sound quality is incredible. I would take the electribes (ER--1 EA-1) over any roland X0X-box. I love the EA-1 so much I'm looking to buy two in the next month. To any Person looking to start making music, these machines are it !!!!

the basic programming is pretty self explanatory
programming the various philters might require a breif reading of the manual

again
its easy to use and sounds good
what else do you want

never needed it but this seems to be the average

The UI is quite simple and logical. I only had to look into the manual for the different patternnames. Best Interface on a synth i've experienced so far.

You have 4 synth-controlled drums, which can be tweaked from 909,808 kicks and snare into weird robotic voices. Additional you have 4 PCM Samples for Clap, HiHat and Crash. They can be tweaked a little bit as well by the Pitch, Decay and Low-Boost knobs. No expansions, but you have two nice Audio-Ins which can be routed through the synth-section. Haven't tried it though. Everything (knob-movements etc)can be sequenced with your faveourite Sequencer-Software. The on-board
step-sequencer is up to 4 x 16 steps long and easy on the fly to program. The built-in delay-effect, which can also be a tempo-delay is unfortunately only global. But great fun and usefull for example for dub but also for ringing sounds. For this price, good features which are reliable and do what they promise.

Ok. First of all the bad news. It's not a TR and the snare sounds suck. Second the good news. It's so to speak, "boombasstic". You can tweak wacky, weird sub-basses out of it, for D'n'B, but also punching 4 on the floor Techno kicks as well as nice vintage sounds. If you don't like none of them, you still can use it to tweak weird never heard blips and blops out of it. The variety is fantastic and the general sound is fat and fatter and fatest.

It never failed on me so far, since the week i had it. I bought mine s/h and the preowner used it for live gigs. So i guess it is reliable and good enough for gigs. Though the little cheap plastic case and rubberknobs gives you a different impression.

Never needed it.

I would always buy it again. S/h it is the best bang for your money you can get. I preowned an MC303 for about a year, which i got bored off, furthermore i will get soon a FS1r. Also i own a DB50, Logic Silver with ES1 and a MAM MB33, which i think will replace soon by a EA-1.
I don't like the sensitivity of the knobs, they react sometimes to much plus they could be more stabile and bigger. I love in general the sound (btw. the patterns are great, compared to Roland...) and that i can tweak every sound endless. It's lotsa fun in general using it. I compared it with a Novation Drumstation and Jomox Airbase99. I choose the ER1 because of the step-sequencer, the ability to sequence every knobmovement through MIDI, the superintelligent, simple interface and because it has it's own refreshing sound.
I wish it had more effects, usable independ for every drumsound, bigger, more stabile knobs.
It very much helped me making music in a sense that it supports me while the creative process instead of hindering me, like e.g. MCX0X or ReBirth or whatever similar.
I love this box. Try it out. If you like it as well, go and get it. Best bang for the lowest money.