The latest episode of Sonic State’s Sonic Lab takes a look at the new Korg Electribe Music Production Station, a next-generation, Ableton Live-friendly 16-track polyphonic synth groovebox.
Producer James Pullen, aka Mista Bishi, joins host Nick Batt to take a look at the new Korg Electribe at BPM.
If you want to hear a more complete version of the Korg Electribe track James plays in the video, the vocal version is embedded below:
I really like the features, but I’ve yet to hear any sounds of this machine that are appealing to me. Everything has sort of this flat and small feeling to it. Maybe it’s just how it’s being recorded in the videos. Still eager to try one out in person and really hear it. Insert FX per pad are an extremely appealing idea.
You’re probably usedcto listening records that be been overly mastered to sound like adverts, with loads of extra t.h.d. in them. Sounds great on radio and in the charts but translates as noise on big speakers. Real synths and drum machines don’t sound like that. They sound clear and pure, which the untrained ear hears at first as being smaller.
Actually I was thinking more along the lines of the sounds of something like the Dave Smith Tempest or even the Korg Volca demos. Even in the youtube demos for those products they really popped out as sounding larger and much more interesting. Also to your original point, most of the music I listen to is from the 70’s and 80’s, so the uber-saturated and compressed sound isn’t what I’m accustomed to or would expect a drum machine to sound like. I’ll take some EBM over EDM any day of the week. 😉
its really a sign of inexperience, imho
protip: workflow >>> sound quality
The artist brought the flavor in there. Thank you.
link to user manual: http://i.korg.com/uploads/Support/USA_Electribe_Owners_Manual.pdf
It says on pg. 13 that you CAN change the length of the pattern from 1-4 bars, but I’ve heard several times (including this interview) that you can’t. I’m hoping that’s just a beta bug too.
Watching people like Pullen manipulate these things with real skill is a lot of fun. It also shows just how wrong elitist, snobby instrumentalists are about all edm creators.
I think they look great (esp the sampler in black). Some nice things are added. More/better effects, battery power, all synth parts, poly parts, XY pad, more portable. Clock in and out for analog/modular stuff could be amazing! I miss individual outs, song mode, roll, tubes, and the weird synth types from the EMX that had 2 parameters each (as opposed to 1 on this one). I hope the sampler has some granular magic going on under the “Osc” knob! ?
I am seriously considering buying one. I like the idea of having 16 extra synth parts witch I can program anywhere. Still not 100% convinced about the sounds though.
I like the sound, and that is the main thing, but its engine just looks so simple that I am afraid that it might not offer many interesting/personal sounds.
And even if Electribes have traditionally been sliced into two products, I see no reason to do it here. If there was just one synth box with sampling, I would have bought it, even if its engine was simple. It wouldn’t have to be any more expensive, but I would have paid even more anyway.
Now I am not buying either of them.
Does the Electribe Sampler not have the basic synth waveforms? I thought it was just missing the PCM samples, which wouldn’t be a big loss for me.
I’d imagine if it didn’t, it’d be relatively easy to get them in there. However, it only has three basic filter types, as opposed to the 15 or so the synth has.
RS7000?
Yes. OR MC-909. Can’t decide.
RS7000 for the workflow\sequencer\FX -midi&audio (the LO-Fi fx is second to none)
Yes.
I would want MC-909 for the synth engine, but the RS-7000 work flow seems so inviting, that it is difficult to make decision.
I was more interested in the korg rep.
more info on sampler?
seems like sampler got more interest on announce, but less coverage since.
Ted Fleming
I check my preorder status every hour on the hour. Very excited.
Keep your sampler, I’ll take the filters!
(There’s a rumor that the sampler OS might be loadable on the synth version, and vice versa – eventually and perhaps.)
cant wait to get this. looks fun and inspiring.
I’m givin’ a couple of these bad boys away to 2 winners to celebrate FL3KTOR: Go to dpremix.com, and sign up, and winners will be announced on Charlie Chaplin’s birthday. Good luck (the dual wave-tables look very exciting ; )
THAT SILENCE BETWEEN PATTERNS!!!!
That’s intolerable!!!!
I really hope it is just a beta-bug that will be fixed before they start selling them..
I would be willing to bet that the pause is due to a poor job programming a motion sequence, therefore has nothing to due with a bug in the machine. For instance, let’s say you’re recording a motion sequence on the cutoff. If you start at the beginning of the pattern with a very low cutoff and continually raise it and then stop recording the motion sequence at the end of the pattern, the cutoff will jump back to the low value when the pattern repeats, causing an unnatural transition.
The manual makes no mention of using the audio in as a source, a function I use heavily on my EMX-1. I will assume the feature is implemented, but this beast is so vastly different from its predecessor that I barely recognize it as an electribe. I am thankful that they scratched the ugly blue paint job, but not the vacuum tubes – I know some thought they were a gimmick but I found them to be very useful.
does anybody know of any other product like this that allows you to have totally independent mix/fx settings on every sequence, besides the impc pro on the iPad?
Elektron stuff.
The chord per pad function is nice
I’m more interested in this than I am the Maschine. I hope Korg start releasing expansion packs like NI does that people can use via an SD card, or allow users to share patches.
I was sold a woo- woo- 8:56
wow great to see a real musician looking uncomfortable, yet really giving an insight into how it works. rather than some over confident engineer who doesn’t really have a clue about what you’d do with it.
I didn’t hear him mention anything about how modulation routing really works. Envelopes and LFOs and such. I know the electribe you can record knob movement which is fine but I find that I rely heavily on modulation matrixes for diversity of sound. Also didn’t get to see him use the touch pad much to show off the master fx which would have been interesting. Still though it looks very interesting.
Wheres the “solo” button? That’s a huge one to leave out of a performance machine. And muting all the other sounds to create a “solo” would be a pain. One button solo would be much easier like in the old machine.