Korg Forums

gibsonsg87 · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 41

I was wondering if the Korg EMX-1 has the right musical and live demands for my area of interest. My band has a style consisting of indie rock, but searching for that electronic vibe such as the Notwist, Postal Service and bands alike. It is a 5-piece band with vocals, bass, two guitars and drums. I am one of the guitar players, but also add my Microkorg into the mix as well. If anyone could let me know if the Korg EMX-1 will fill my musical needs, then it would be appreciated if you would recommend this purchase or not.

My basic requirements:

- It must create unique and original electronic drumming patterns for dancey verses during different sections of the songs. (Not going for trance or anything of the sort really, but something that rocks and makes you move at the same time.)

- The EMX-1 cannot be difficult to perform live and play those created parts of each song without any major touches during the set. I will be playing guitar and synthesizer (unless I can program the synth lines into it) while hitting the play button at the beginning of songs. There will be drum intros or synth lines used for beginning either 1 or 2 measures before every instrument kicks in so this does not create confusion for other band members.

- It would be great if I could program my synth parts and desired drum parts throughout each song which coincidentally keeps perfect time for every band member. I am virtually looking for something which can be used for writing electronic/synth based music and performing the material rather easily with other live instruments.

Tarekith · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 12:39 pm Post subject:

Should be good for you, though if you're talking about programming it live on stage, just be aware like all musical instruments it's going to take you some practice first. Wouldn;t get on stage with a guitar and expect to jam the first week you get one, same deal with electronic instruments.
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Erik M.
InnerPortalStudio.com - electronic music mastering

gibsonsg87 · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 41

Thanks for the quick reply Tarekith. I plan on having everything electronic related to be pre-programmed and dialed before hitting the stage with it. So this idea of having certain configurations set and ready at my finger tips sounds like the hot ticket. Basically, I will start these songs with the press of a single button and let it finish until the end while our real instruments play along on stage live. Also, I want unique and original tones/patterns for my music hoping this will fulfill this aspect of things besides techno/trance without distancing itself much from the indie vibe. The EMX-1 can not be found at any music store even 50 miles away, so I want to make sure this expensive purchase has a proper chance of being what I am looking for.

MagpieIndustries · Junior Member Joined: 24 Jan 2008 Posts: 90

anselmi · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 5:15 pm Post subject:

anyway you can do a lot of dynamic stuff that sound pretty animated by using motion sequences

I found that exact quantizing isn´t a total issue for getting drums or another instrument sounds "real" or "live"...

In lot of my recording production work for bands I quantize the drummer and bass player to exact grid and it doesn´t make the track to sound mechanical or loose groove...the fact that all the individual notes or drum hits are all really different (volume, timbre, tunnig, execution) makes them sound as live as if they wasn´t quantized

I translate that concept to my grooveboxes (EMX, ESX, machinedrum and monomachine) tweaking different parameters for each step (not only volume) in order to get more animated tracks and it works perfectly...the difference is remarcable...

LFOs in S/H mode and low modulation quantity helps a lots too

gibsonsg87 · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 41

It should be mentioned that I do want dancey drum parts with my actual drummer accenting behind these parts during live shows. It will be the melodic guitar/bass lines that will help refrain everything from sounding too techno-ish. Yes, the synthesizers on this machine will be used quite a bit since the musical sound will have electronic components/sounds throughout the majority of the songs duration. Overall, do you recommend this application from my semi-brief description?

reddone · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:06 pm Post subject:

I HIGHLY recomend an Mx ... of course Laughing

You hav a point Magpie on the rigid sound of the drums .. and given that i make mostly acid and idm at the moment u mite not think i know much bout qautizing and such , but really .. im a qautize freak !!

I play drums also and demand at least 98-99 percent rigid-ness or fluidity from my mx depending on what im up to. Honestly , PROPER jazz is out of the question but ive found alotof great ways to qauntize accuratly.

You can start with two beats , but make sure one is your kick definaly and the other doesnt matter too much .
make a kick pattern and find a speed to work at , then add the other sound .

What u want to do is refine the pattern via Tempo, accent , swing .. and the pitch of the kick drum !!!
the kick hold the beat together , and the speed at which the APEX ( loudest point ) of the drum hits thru determines how close it is to the start of each step .

Example ; The kick sounds phat but hits late .. so try upping the pitch to see if it helps , if not adjust the swing and tempo until it works ( compression helps too ) .

Tempo, Swing , Accent on/off , swing on/off , pitch , compression ... these are the tools to start qauntizing with . Then when u want to really change up the feel try programming in 32-beat , 8-tri , 16-tri ... and then theres "last-step" which will allow you to program in smaller sections to get really intricate for desired "feel" at a given moment . Instead of 16 keys to input your drums you can set the machine to do 1 or2 or 3 steps right up to 16 ... VERY useful

nobody can actually say for sure what a fully pushed mx could do ... but i'll bet for sure it could piss on the vast majority of music systems if worked to a higher level in songmode .

ive came from a great soundcard and some great software/fx , but ive dumped all in favour of an mx and es-1 . I believe this's all i'll need for a looooong time .

believe that the mx can do what you want , and you find a way , all it takes is learning the thing .

gibsonsg87 · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 41

I am pretty sure this EMX-1 will become part of my live rig as it sounds quite convincing for my musical direction. If you know of the song Idioteque by Radiohead, then you will hear a similar electronic style of drumming wanted for varying sections of different songs. This blue box seems like the best bet because I am given the opportunity at editing the drum and synthesizer sounds/patterns into a mixture of settings which emerge into fairly distinguished songs in their own regard. What will be needed for my MicroKorg to be plugged into this machine? What are the benefits of connecting the synthesizer along with it? Can the EMX-1 be plugged into the PA system which would then allow proper sound output during live performances? The synthesizers on the EMX-1 will mainly act as backing third guitars behind melodies/solos and harmonized notes between beats, but I would like to play certain synthesized parts on the MicroKorg live when there are no lead lines being played. Is this still possible or is it more tricky/complicated?

gibsonsg87 · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 41

I was also wondering about recording with the EMX-1 and using something quick in the bedroom such as my Boss BR-600 between hitting the studio. After writing my material on the EMX-1, then it can be uploaded onto the Boss BR-600 in which my guitar/bass lines will be recorded onto its multiple tracks and sent through USB onto my PC. Correct? Or could I just play my guitar/bass parts into the EMX-1 then have it all loaded together onto my PC?

Tarekith · Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 3:58 am Post subject:

The EMX doesn't record ANY audio, so you'd need a seperate option in that case.
_________________
Erik M.
InnerPortalStudio.com - electronic music mastering

newsynth · Joined: 03 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

I am fairly new to this whole synthesizer game and was wondering if the new EMX-1 I just got is capable of plugging an electric guitar into. Since I have been playing guitar for much, much longer than I have been using any synthesizer for. Any help that anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.

reddone · Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject:

Pretty sure you can , i used to play guitar alot in bands n stuff so im plannin on gettin a new one annd puttin it thru the mx too .

Should be all good my friend . if anyone knows different please let us know ....

MagpieIndustries · Junior Member Joined: 24 Jan 2008 Posts: 90

Argus · Junior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2007 Posts: 70

since you already have a MicroKorg and have the synth part of your performance pretty covered, I'm tempted to recommend the ESX instead of the EMX to you.

the EMX is a great synth, but since you're talking so much about drum patterns and also recording, the ESX might be the better choice since you can sample and sequence things very easily, and you'll never run out of good drum and percussive sounds.

you can run your guitar through the effects processor, filter and modulation of both of the machines, and you'll love it. talking mod on a guitar is so much fun. good luck.

gibsonsg87 · Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 41

I'm really searching to create electronic based music such as bands like Metro Station and Hellogoodbye, but simply adding more melodic based guitars into the mix as well and retaining that dancey aspect of things. Will the MX-1 help create those electronic vibes/sections with being accented once in awhile by the Microkorg? The drumming is semi-important as I do not want every drum section sounding the same for every song and want unique drum patterns for them.