Korg Electribes

I have two electribes; the ESX-1 and the EA mkII. I'm only going to review the EA mkII though. The presets are very expressive and show the potential of the machine, but I'd rather write my own stuff. all control over the sythesis engine is directly on the face of the machine; no digital nonsense. the knobs turn smoothly and they are in good locations. there are four banks, a b c d. each bank has 64 patterns in it. you actually only get from d12 to d64 (all the rest are presets, but you can delete them if you want). to be honest, i didn't even need to use the manual to learn how to use this thing, and i tend to be one of those people who can't figure anything out, even after looking at the manual.

The sequecer is extremely easy to use. highlight a note, set the length and pitch. Overlapped notes will create quick slides. (it's monophonic). melodies can also be played and recorded directly into the sequencer, and then edited afterwards if you made a mistake in playing it. playing melodies with an Electribe keyboard is not easy, so just program the thing. it can receive midi note messages and can send and receive start/stop messages, but cannot send midi note messages. there is nothing velocity-sensative about it. its basically two identical synthesizers (which can of course be set to different settings), so the total polyphony is 2. however, each part has two oscillators, and the secondary oscillator can be detunes, so you can actually get up to four note chords with it, but its a pain in the butt.

The synthesis engine is very easy to use, (thats probably the greatest strength of this machine) but not horribly limiting. If you want to emulate a 303, You can get pretty freaking close, and I know what I'm talking about. (The square wave sounds identical, and the envelope is very good too.)

But if you want to do something so out there and unheard, you can. It has several cool features that rig the oscillators up so you can get past the three basic waveforms and into the crazy FM, ring, and sync stuff. It has two oscillators, one of which can be detuned a fair amount, from one octave down to something like four octaves up, but you can still hit a lot of notes in between. It has a distortion button (not a knob, a button, so you cant tweak the amount of dist). the filter is brilliant, cabaple of moog, 303, etc sounds. it has no amp. envelope, but it does have a filter envelope with decay control and a steady attack (which is incredibly short, but it's there) It has two simultaneous onboard effects; chorus and delay. the chorus can sound like a really deep grinding flanger if you want, or it can be nice and smooth. has control over speed and depth (speed can get pretty fast so you can get crazy sounds) the delay is actually capable of emulating a crude reverb effect if you turn the time down really short. while it is a tempo synced delay, a knob is used to control the time and there is no label of the speed, so you have to listen carefully to figre it out. seems like intervals of 32nd notes. the keyboard is clearly not meant for performance. you can tweak the knobs live (there is no steppyness when you turn the knobs really fast) or you can record one knob movement per voice (two voices, so two automations per pattern) good for any electronic music. trance, dnb, house, acid, electro, ambient, etc.

The only things that caught my eye were the knobs (which are just a tad shaky; they move around a little bit, but they aren't going to break or come off) and the big counter knob that cycles through the patters; sometimes it shifts by waaay to much, or sometimes you don't even touch it and it goes to another pattern, and if you didn't save then you just lost all of that work. it doesnt do that too often. the interface is slightly crowded, but not to the point where you can't stand using the machine. I wouldn't worry about it being a pain during a gig.

I never needed customer support. it's a wonderful device and i have had very few problems.

it was worth the money. I wish it had more polyphony, though it is essentially two identical synthesizers, so programming chords is possible but not easy. it fits in wonderfully with my other electribe. i especially enjoy routing the EA through the effects on the ESX-1. the decimator actually makes 303s sound really cool. even if your setup is mainly software, this thing can work into the setup pretty well. It has individual outputs for each part, so you can put fx on each part separately. if you are just beginning to make elctronic music, i really, really recommend that you check these electribes out. I've noticed that the EA mkII is extremely easy to use and understand.

I own both the ER and EA and the manual was never required! Everthing you need to know is front of you. I bought the Er first out of the two, and suddenly I found myself playing on it for 19 hours straight! The tweaking options seem endless and tinkering with sounds is both easy and absorbing. The solo and mute functions are a godsent for playing live. (however, as a previous reviewer mentioned, the EA is sadly devoid of this option) The realtime editing is superb and can make creating insane rythms next to simple.

The effects options sound really good, the tempo delay on the Er especially can bring a simple rythm to complex life. (With the settings at roughly two o'clock on both depth and time, the sounds trip over each other perfectly creating strangely funky results)

The motion sequence provided great entertainment, the basslines that can be streached out of the EA using this are warped, (for an extra dimension on the EA sounds, I found that using the OSC balance when programming a motion sequence made a single part sound like two interwining). I love the warm ananlogue synth sounds from the EA, it does take some tweaking but they are worth the effort, very bold and powerful. The ER's motion sequence can bring forth great static basslines that sound downright dirty(using either the pitch or mod depth knobs), also an interesting sideline to the motion sequence is that if you tweak with the parameter that has been utilised, it creates bizarre spasms of the original sound, which is great for organic sounding ecectronica.

I think that the range of sounds on both machines is superb, all it takes is time to get to know them, I have owned them both for over a year now, and I am still finding new sounds and new ways to get them. I love the abstract nature of some of the ER sounds, very industrial and dirty!! The EA is limited in that the keys are small and you only have the sixteen keys on display, toggling up and down the octaves is a pain in the hairy arse. (but it is a module after all)

I have found no particulr problems thus far. I have used them in all of my live gigs with no glitches (touch wood!)

I would rate these little beauties v.highly. As a previous chap said, what you get out is exactly what you put in, and if you put in the time and imagination they provide endless creativity!!

What you put into it is what you get out of it. The Electribes allows you fresh idea beat/bassline creation in realtime! Awesome sounds will only come out when you make them. No menu's, everything is in your face, so editing is very very easy. Presets are not too Shabby, I give major props to korg for this one.
However, I feel that better /patternmutitrimberal control could still be implimented, ie' assignable knobes such that controls 8 knobs comtrol volume/pan for 8 parts instaid of one pat at a time, and multi outs for the ER1.
The EA1, could use an instant mute switch per part also!

The ER1 sport 8 Parts. 4 co op FM Synth parts and HH/CP/CR PCM parts. The PCM parts are very 808ish and sound a little thin, however you can do many unique things with them like make a HH flange effect by motion sequencing the PITCH of the HH slowly over 2 or 4 BARS up and down.
The ER1 Delay section is cool I think. When you play with it at like quartr interval to 1/16 interval, you can face snare rolls with practice, The deleay is also fun to use when you use high delay depth a beat or two brfore soloing say a imput part that you dont use. This Creates very Very Phat drum outros!
And can you say bass? Yes there is earth shattering nasty bass out of this thing. TIP: When making kicks try use ring modulation of part 1 and 2 and make same kick sound and sequence on both parts, then change the settings on part 2 of the ring modulated sound such as depth, bass depth, pitch, you can get very very deep deep uniqu bass kick sound Not too Shabby!
What could they do to improve this baby? Well one toutch mute/solo modes would be nice, and mute part save memory per pattern, also Pattern A/B for pattern to switch sequence without f-ing up the drumkit and mutesettings. What elce? Well Realtime Cut-Time modes would be very Awesome, you can change 16x16 12x16 or 32x16th note modes with stoped playback, unfourunitly you cant do this in realtime, what a shame :( Same with bar settings, Your seque ce is eather 1,2,3, or 4 Bars long, whitch can be changed with stop playback but not playing, This is a DAMN Shame. Another Improvement witch could easily be implemitned is the alternat realtime step mute
mode, whereas entering a 4/4 kick on 1,5,9,13 on Bar 1 would do 1,5,9,13 on bars 2,3,4 at the same time, this way you can do trick seqwening without worring about switching bars. Also Accent mode could double as a psudo alt step mute realtime. Korg would you be so kind as to allowing up to pattern playback up to 16 bars? for dnb/complex progressive beats? Oh the agony, well you cant ahve everything. (Mayby ER-2?)
The EA1 has its own uniqu sound, it can pull off psudo 303 bleaps/basslines, to sweaps to down right tweakage. I like the filter, it self oscilatse and there built in compression post filter, but higher rezonance (past the 10oclock position or so) kills the bass off the signal, (DAMN) oh well, the EA1 is very very AWESOME for GOATRACE, Progressive and DnB, I shit ye not. The EA1 is very inspiring.
What is the EA1 missing that coulve ben implemented? Well a LFO would HELP! Shitballs. I would Take out the MOTION SEQ, and DISTORTION buttons and replace it with 2 LFO knobs, Knob 1 would be somthing like "WAVE, DEPTH, RATE(1), RATE(2), RATE(3), DESTINATION" while Knob 2 would select one of 5 or so LFO Waves (SIN or TRI, Square, Saw, S&H, and Smooth S&H), Rate (1) with independant rate, Rate(2) with Tempo rate (From 1/16 to 8/1), Rate(3) witch is in sync with Rate 2 but makes a Retrigger Rate pattern ber wave period(To create polyrythmic LFO for part) and also changes phase of lfo at designated periods. Destinations would be Simple, OSC1/2 Pitch, OSC 2 Pitch, Cutoff, Rezo, AMP LEVEL, Chorus/Flnge RATE. And depth, well thats self explanitory. Shitballs why didnt anyone think of that already? If you steal my ideas and dont give me credit, I will kick your ass, or at least haunt you when im dead if I havnt already... :) Well anyway

I dont mind the limitations that much, provided that the limitations make you think, meaning you find new ways to do things and BAM!, new ideas and sounds pop out that you wouldnt have ever concieved before!

The electribes sound Good and Bad, Good at BASS and Beats, bad at emulating 303 808 909 or anything, but I like that, EA and ER have their OWN sound :) Most Awesome sounds one you get down and program them.

I played at a gig with these and other things! My show kicked soo much ass that no more people coulnt fit in the room The door was too crowded! The realtime control of teh electribes make performance Kick ass. I still use the boxes, I rigged the boxes a bit so my electribe and power and cables side in, and out of diffent slots. Save your Box. Just tape the sop part down, Cut the openeing part of entry on the sides, and tape box postiotions, and electribes acan slide in and out, no truble! :) Oh yes the ER1 Did fall down while Setting up from stage, I was furious with the chick who droped it, but we kissed and made up:) and then I pluged it in and it still werks liek new.

I never (had to) contact korg customer service.

You better gat Both of THEM! They are soo worth the 200 bux secand mark is out for. They are only as good as you put into it. and plus, you can get bass ass cutomized sequences and sounds on the fly, Very Very Inspirational!

As easy as beating a drum.

There arenot enough hours in the day to maximize the potential of these units.

I have found some limitations, but nothing that can't be compebsated for.

Not problems yet. However they are made to look much stronger than they actually are.

Aloof.

Virtually any schmuck with an inkling of talend can be a pro in no time. Probably limiting for the well experienced gorrove maker.

This friggen thing kicks ass for the money. I work at a music store - won't say the name - and I won one for free. It's pretty packed for a little $500 sampler, presets are actually usable for once. The Resampling feature is really cool because you can sample an entire pattern to one sample area!!! And the time slice feature is ridiculous for breaks and vocals. You can actually sample an entire drum break, slice it, then resample each individual drum to create your own new break!!! The one thing I'm pissed at so far is trying to load up wav files - this is a no-go for me and if anyone has the ES-1 and has successfully loaded up a wav from the computer, please e-mail me: anthony.c.castaldo@snet.net Lateravers..........
LitE BritE

whoops, didn't see this screen. ES-1 = great bang for the buck!! I'm talking bout the da' hard beats & NY Hardcore style!!!

Samples sound pretty good.....oh yeah I think they are 20bit and 32khz

The presets in the 'tribes' are quite cheesy. It has some house, old school hip-hop and some techno songs/patterns, that I would never use. Editing is pretty simple, but you can't tweek more than one knob when recording (this makes it a very long process). Manual? you don't need one. I figured out everything in about a week.

Keyboard is difficult on the A, very small pads. Plus you can't do chords, only one at a time. all the effects are OK. Though you do hear crackles and pops when adjusting the delay (bad news korg).

This is what I hate most about the electribes. They supposedly emulate anolog sounds, but come up far from it. The only word that comes to mind when thinking of its sounds is CHEESY!

Overall Rating? I wasted my money. These machines might be Ok for doodling around in your dorm room, but they will not be on your next album. There's nothing analog about its sounds.

good preset sounds (very tecno dance type)
easy to use editing just a quick read of the manual and bobs your uncle
very easy step by step instructions with pictures to help (even a moron
can follow them i did)

key board on the ea-1 is not very good as they are small pad keys
but can be used with a midi key board (i used a roland ep-20 basic midid key board)
3 midi inputs in,out & thr
can be easily sequenced with the er-1
has a midi clock mode

the er-1 has a very broad aray of sounds each individual voice can
be changed and messed round with to get the right sound from very realistic to very machine like
tempo is no problem sounds dont distort or sound off

very reliable (unless you drop geavel in the alpha dile...dont ask.)
i would and have used the er-1 and ea-1 toghether at a gig
they gave a full intremental afect and a bloody nice result

n/a

i would repace them if stolen
i have used these for around 2 months
i wish i had a cross fader with a bass muffle affect also
mabe afew more synths
main music device used alond with computer programs (editing....acid..sound forge)
oo they are also good for inputing external sounds such as cd players
mics and messing round with there sound...good for robot voices and all that.

It's very easy to use, and the manual is also very userfriendly!

It's a stepsequencer with effects, which is very easy to manipulate.
No expansion capabilities. They are from Korg's Electribe-series, and it consists of
the EA-1(the bassline), the ER-1(the rythmbox) and at last the Kaoss Pad.
I just love these cool products, and I hope that Korg will expand the "dance tools" serie, and maybe create some nice effect modules as PCF, or what ever!

The instruments are very easy to create and use. It's designed for electronic music...dance..techno...drum`n bass....ext

I can ALWAYS depend on my ELECTRIBES!...made in a good quality as well!

I've tried to find the Korg customer support here on the web, but I haven't found it!...do anyone know the email adress???..

If I lost my Electribes I would die, and if I survived the chock then I would do everything to get them back....I'm addicted!...don't take drug away from a junkie!...
I've played with the Electribes for two months now, and I still find new sounds and tricks.
I can't compare the Electribes with any other product of the same kind....they have their own special sound, as the TB-303 has it's own special sound.
Check out some of my works here==>> http://www.mp3.com/Phase1

This is just an addendum to my earlier post on the EA-1. I just recently bought the ER-1 also. I was hesitant to purchase it befor because (1) I already have lots of (sample-based) drum box and (2) i'd puke if I hear another TR-808/909 simulation. I played with this for about an hour in the store and the sound just blew my pants off !! This is no X0X--- it's a totally new world!!!
So easy to use--- if you've plaved with xox's before ( i have an MC-303 and Rebirth), you will not need a manual for this. Great, great, great.
And it's cheap---> I paid the equivalent of $300US for this (In the US, it's something like $400 retail). So, the EA1/ER1 for $600US is a great deal !! To think that I paid $700US for an MC-303 in 1996.

Four models -- which you could use for kicks, snares, toms, FX, whatever... they sound great but I wish they had a filter.
Four samples -- clap, hihats (open and closed), crash cymbal. Quite generic sounding although you can really whack them out using the control knobs.
Has delay FXs. What I wish it had is some sort of distortion like the one on the EA-1.
As I said, the sequencer is soooo easy to use.
I give it an 8 for the limited sample soundset and the limited FX (no distortion)

Phat, phat phat. The FX is quite good too. Great for all kinds of electronica but you can also use this for pop / R&B.

I've travelled with it from Japan in a suitcase. Looks OK although I'm a little bit concerned about the knobs. I've had good experience with the roadability of Korg gear (I used to owen an 01/WFD and X5's), so with reasonable care, I think this will last.

No comment

I really like this box. I was looking for a good rhythm source to pair with the EA-1 which is light and easy to carry. I really, really tried to like the DR-202, but it sounds so lame. I dont want yamaha's QY-series and Roland's PMA 5 (I used to own them) because they sound so thin. I wanted something that I can use while travelling and be able to keep the sounds, sequences I made on the road. These two boxes fit the bill very well indeed.
Back in my studio, I can add the other sounds using my "semi-pro" set-up : Roland Vintage synth, Emu Proteus FX, Pentium 233 MMX with Midiman Dman. I also have an MC-303 which I'm thinking of getting rid of but maybe i'll keep if only for the arpeggiator and the 8-track sequencer.
I wish it had some sort of distortion for the kick, at least. And maybe individual outs. And a slider for each sound. But maybe it's asking too much from a $300 box.
Also, I wish they were battery powered, so that you can use them on the plane or train or on the beach.

Really easy to use. One of the greatest things about them is that their simplicity allows you to really flex your creativity; which in my mind is much more powerful than having tons of features most synths like to taut, not to mention the learning curve and sometimes unnecssary complexity of trying to do the simplest tasks. The Electribes are thus great tools for people who like to concentrate on making music and not waste time fiddling around with a manual.

In terms of features the two units are very basic. The best part of course are the realtime knobs to control and synthesize the sounds. They are REALLY sensitive though, maybe a little too much so in some instances. Turning an oscillator dial just barely can yield a wildly different sound. Watch those speakers/levels before going too crazy with the cutoff/resonance knobs. Still, even though there aren't a lot of features I feel that this is a GOOD thing...at least for now. :P

This is what I bought them for; very unique and powerful sounds can be gotten from these units. If you're into minimalist techno (like Richie Hawtin/Plastikman) these are all you need. I disgree with a previous poster who says you can't create music with just these two -- this would be true if you're trying to go for the MTV pop techno-music style and want lots of layers of sound. You want that, go for a Roland MC-505. Especially the ER-1 (drum machine) -- in my mind it's the BEST you can buy right now for techno-oriented music. In fact, Orbital uses it on everything they do now, getting rid of the typical 808/909. Other users include The Orb and Apollo 440. The closest competitor is would be Generator (a software synth).

Haven't had a problem yet.

Haven't had to call yet.

I would definitely buy them again, no question. There isn't anything out there that can compare to the features, performance, and especially when you consider price. In fact, besides Generator I know of no other drum-machine that uses synthesis