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Absolute beginner questions, help (ER1/EA1/EM1) & now EM

 
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camwow



Joined: 24 Apr 2010
Posts: 6
Location: melb, aus

PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:03 am    Post subject: Absolute beginner questions, help (ER1/EA1/EM1) & now EM Reply with quote

Hi guys, I am an absolute beginner here, I like the music but completely have no idea about making it so I have some dumb questions and would like answers in as simple terms as possible haha! I'm not looking to do too much, just have some fun mucking around at home trying to make some tunes. I am getting a Kaossilator and then looking to get something else to play around with it that isnt too expensive (looking at the ER1/EA1/EM1).

What is the difference between the ER-1, EA-1 and EM-1?

Can I plug a Kaossilator into all of these? What do I need to do so?

What do I need in order to run it through speakers? I have read I can run it through a guitar amp? Is there a way to run it through say a computer subwoofer and speakers? What do I need to do this? If I have an ER-1/EA-1 and Kaossilator can I run them through the same speaker/amp or would I need a seperate one for each?

What is required to record/transfer anything I create onto computer? If the Kaossilator is plugged into the ER1/EA1 will the sounds from that, as well as the sounds from the ER1 be recorded?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions! Just want to know as much as possible before investing some money, thanks all!


Last edited by camwow on Fri May 21, 2010 5:52 am; edited 1 time in total
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X-Trade
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Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 6494
Location: Leeds, UK

PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ER1
EA1
ES1
EM1

The ER-1 is a drum synthesizer. What this means is you are given wave and envelope shapes and you select the depth and such to actually create the drum sounds, which you can then sequence using the pattern sequencer. Luckily there are few parameters so it is quite easy and fun to program, however you'll only get really electronic sounding beats, like Kraftwerk. In fact, very much like kraftwerk and minimal techno style stuff. Not to say it can't be used for other things, but don't expect anything that sounds anything like a real drum to come out of it.
I have one of these here. It also has a delay which can be used only across all of the parts, however you can tune it to get some funky bassline-like effects out of it.


The EA-1 is a bass synthesizer and sequencer. I believe it has two parts, each of which is sequenced separately, so you could have a bass and a lead, or something else. It is far from analog-sounding, but uses analog synthesis similar to the ER-1, just with more features and less parts.


The ES-1 is a sampling sequencer. It isn't based on analog synthesis, but it can record anything you input (including the kitchen sink), and you can use that as a sound. It has a variety of sounds already on it, not just including drums but also guitar strums, synth bass, acoustic bass, vocal samples, etc. You could craft an entire song with this if you had a bit of patience, but it is also very immediate and great fun to play. Despite not being related to analog-style synthesis at all, there are still plenty of knobs to tweak to change the sound.
I have one of these here (the mkII). It too has a global delay effect but also an assignable effect processor which can do reverb, delay, compression, distortion, phasing, flanging, bit-crushing, etc. Very fun to play with.

The EM-1 is kind of a cross between the ER1 and the EA1. It is the precursor to the EMX. It has two synth parts on which you can program monophonic bass and lead lines, or anything else. It also has a number of drum parts. I believe there may be some built in ROM samples too so that you can get some more dynamic and realistic drum sounds out of it, but it isn't a sampler. If you have this you really don't need the EA1, and probably not the ER1. The ES1 is still a good match though for sampling interesting sounds.



In all of these you can program patterns, and then string them together as a song. The sounds are actually a part of the pattern - they are not part of the song, and they are not separate parts that you reference. This is great because it means you can create an entire different sound for each song. And even change sounds between sections without any noticeable lag or cut.
They also play great live as once you have hit play, you can scroll through the patterns but it won't change until after it reaches the end of the bar.
You can sync them up via MIDI in such a way that they'll change to the same pattern at the same time, but setting it to ignore everything else (except clock) which is very useful too for creating an entire song workstation out of a bunch of these units.

You could run your Kaossillator through them. For example, I noticed one of the interesting features of the ER1 is that you can put audio through it and turn it on and off for each step, so you can get interesting gating patterns. Still, if you have more than one of these in combination with the Kaossillator, you'd be better off with a small mixer to connect them all to.

You could connect through a guitar amp but they don't reproduce sound in any good quality. They are designed only to amplify the range of sound produced by a guitar, and also to make the guitar sound 'better' - there isn't really such thing as a 'clean' guitar or bass amp.
Keyboard amps are again only really useful if you're practising with a band - otherwise you're probably listening in mono, to something on the floor, with a more limited frequency range. It's best in stereo with a good frequency range for any kind of actual music production.

For the best quality you should be looking at studio monitors, or at least a decent set of PC speakers (the type that come with an amp/sub unit are great, as you'll get some awesome bass). That is what I used to use before I got more serious and invested in some studio monitors. You would probably need a pair of 1/4in jack>RCA adaptors though, or a cable that does the same job.

You can connect headphones too, but you'll need a 3.5mm to 1/4in stereo adaptor if you don't already have one.
_________________
Current Gear: Kronos 61, RADIAS-R, Volca Bass, ESX-1, microKorg, MS2000B, R3, Kaossilator Pro +, MiniKP, AX3000B, nanoKontrol, nanoPad MK II,
Other Mfgrs: Moog Sub37, Roland Boutique JX03, Novation MiniNova, Akai APC40, MOTU MIDI TimePiece 2, ART Pro VLA, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.
Past Gear: Korg Karma, TR61, Poly800, EA-1, ER-1, ES-1, Kawai K1, Novation ReMote37SL, Boss GT-6B
Software: NI Komplete 10 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, Ableton Live 9. Apple OSX El Capitan on 15" MacBook Pro
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camwow



Joined: 24 Apr 2010
Posts: 6
Location: melb, aus

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, thanks for the great reply! Ideally I'd just like to have something that I can Learn on and mess around with at home that I could make a relatively complete (simple) song on without really requiring anything else. I wanna just bang out some basic noisy synthpop type stuff I guess maybe similar to New Order, which of these would you recommend as best for that? Any of these or even some other non Korg products around 200-250 or less second hand. Someone local was selling a Boss SP-505, would that be suitable?
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X-Trade
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Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 6494
Location: Leeds, UK

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know anything about the 505.

From the above products, you have a number of options:

You could go for ES-1 coupled with EA-1 for sampling drums and all other kinds of stuff and basslines

You could go for ER-1 and EA-1 if you want some more unusual vintage style electronic drums (and fancy programming the drum sounds from scratch - an art and science in itself)



You could go for the EM-1 which would give you preprogrammed drum sounds (I think) and some synth parts. If you wanted more synth parts you could add an EA-1 too, but the point of the EM-1 is it is more of a complete production station. So to start you'd have everything you need in one unit. I think this would be the best one to go for. Do think about adding an EA-1 too though if you want more synth/bass parts.
_________________
Current Gear: Kronos 61, RADIAS-R, Volca Bass, ESX-1, microKorg, MS2000B, R3, Kaossilator Pro +, MiniKP, AX3000B, nanoKontrol, nanoPad MK II,
Other Mfgrs: Moog Sub37, Roland Boutique JX03, Novation MiniNova, Akai APC40, MOTU MIDI TimePiece 2, ART Pro VLA, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40.
Past Gear: Korg Karma, TR61, Poly800, EA-1, ER-1, ES-1, Kawai K1, Novation ReMote37SL, Boss GT-6B
Software: NI Komplete 10 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, Ableton Live 9. Apple OSX El Capitan on 15" MacBook Pro


Last edited by X-Trade on Tue Apr 27, 2010 6:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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chad9477
Full Member


Joined: 07 Jan 2009
Posts: 249
Location: Washington DC

PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

X-Trade wrote:
You could go for the EM-1 which would give you drums (I think) and some synth parts. If you wanted more synth parts you could add an EA-1 too, but the point of the EM-1 is it is more of a complete production station. So to start you'd have everything you need in one unit. I think this would be the best one to go for. Do think about adding an EA-1 too though if you want more synth/bass parts.

I agree with X-Trade here. If you're just getting started, the EM-1 is probably your best bet, as it's got all the basics you need to make a complete production (drums, synths and effects) while not so much that it will overwhelm you. It's also pretty easy to program. I'd stay away from the ER-1 till you cut your teeth on preprogrammed drum tones, as it takes time to learn how to make ear-pleasing stuff from scratch and you may get frustrated.

IMHO, the key at this point is to get a piece of gear that you can learn inside out so that you'll know what to "graduate to" after you know more about electronic music in general. The beautiful thing about the EM-1 is that the principles of programming it are similar to a lot of other pieces of gear you might get, so learning on it will give you a leg up in a way that -- and please don't slam me here guys Wink -- a Kaossilator won't.
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EMX-1, KP3, MachineDrum UW+, Octatrack, FCB-1010 Pedal, Mackie PA, Taylor T5
http://dubathonic.bandcamp.com/
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camwow



Joined: 24 Apr 2010
Posts: 6
Location: melb, aus

PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok so I have still been researching and tossing up what I wanna get, have added a couple more potential options, (the Microkorg and the EMX-1) which has only served to confuse me more and make the decision even more difficult!
I have a question about the EMX-1 hopefuuly someone can help, can I plug a guitar into it and then run the guitar sound through the effects on the EMX? What would I need to do this? Just a cable from guitar to the EMX?? If this is possible I think I'll probably get an EMX over the others.
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camwow



Joined: 24 Apr 2010
Posts: 6
Location: melb, aus

PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 5:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah, and the Kaossilator is out of the equation (at least for now anyway!)
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Discore
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Joined: 16 May 2010
Posts: 53

PostPosted: Fri May 21, 2010 12:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes you can run the guitar through the effects on the emx. Actually it's pretty easy. You just need the cable to connect the audio out on your guitar to the audio in on the emx. Now you just need to choose one of the synth parts and make him "AUDIO IN + COMB". You can now modify the sound of your guitar with the filters and of course use any effect you want.
_________________
Korg Gear: Electribe ES-1 MKII, Electribe 2
Korg Gear I had: Electribe MX & ES-1, Kaoss Pad 2
Other stuff: Ableton Live 8, SP-303, M-Audio Mixtrack Pro, M-Audio M-Track
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WaspDeN



Joined: 04 Jun 2018
Posts: 4
Location: 123

PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:28 pm    Post subject: ER-1 ES-1 Reply with quote

Hey All

I'm very new to all this and looking for some advice.
I want to play my guitar through a system and play with the sound.
i have been looking into the Electribes to do this.
Will this work ? if not can someone suggest what equipment i should be looking at

much thanks

N
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thehighesttree
Platinum Member


Joined: 18 Nov 2011
Posts: 594
Location: Canada East

PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aside from the EM-1, any Electribe can accept a line-level input. Guitar is a little more quiet than line level (about 6dB I think) but you can adjust the input gain so this shouldn't be an issue.

They're good as FX units, but better if you're using them with an actual pattern so you can play along and do stuff like gating the guitar sound (cutting the input on/off on different pattern steps) on top of putting it through FX and the filter. What makes these better than a pedal is being able to automate at least 1 parameter in each part, so you can make moving changes to the sound that follow the pattern!
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usagi99



Joined: 23 Jun 2018
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:19 pm    Post subject: Electribe ER MK2 ERROR with patterns please help Reply with quote

Hello ppl!

I'm using an ER MK2 since a year ago already and love it,
i already had this problem twice since i got it and now i'm starting to get very frustrated about it.
I turned it off and when i turned it on again i had lost from pattern a.31 to b.05, replacing all my patterns with a weird -1tempo, all parameters to the max, every automatization on, noise track kinda thing.
I found a youtube video that shows something similar although my error is not exactly the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0bSaov7lzo

one day before this incident, my power cable started to be wiggly, and my machine turned off a couple of times, but i didnt lose my patterns until i turned it off and turned it back on a day later. maybe that was the cause of the problem? is there any internal battery that i have to replace? i dont want to lose all my patterns again in some other occasion.

HELP!
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ChronLogic



Joined: 10 Jun 2020
Posts: 10
Location: LAS vEGAS nv, usa

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:01 am    Post subject: Re: Absolute beginner questions, help (ER1/EA1/EM1) & no Reply with quote

camwow wrote:
Hi guys, I am an absolute beginner here, I like the music but completely have no idea about making it so I have some dumb questions and would like answers in as simple terms as possible haha! I'm not looking to do too much, just have some fun mucking around at home trying to make some tunes. I am getting a Kaossilator and then looking to get something else to play around with it that isnt too expensive (looking at the ER1/EA1/EM1).

What is the difference between the ER-1, EA-1 and EM-1?

Can I plug a Kaossilator into all of these? What do I need to do so?

What do I need in order to run it through speakers? I have read I can run it through a guitar amp? Is there a way to run it through say a computer subwoofer and speakers? What do I need to do this? If I have an ER-1/EA-1 and Kaossilator can I run them through the same speaker/amp or would I need a seperate one for each?

What is required to record/transfer anything I create onto computer? If the Kaossilator is plugged into the ER1/EA1 will the sounds from that, as well as the sounds from the ER1 be recorded?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions! Just want to know as much as possible before investing some money, thanks all!


I've been working on a video series dedicated to recording and programing your own beats from scratch with the Korg ES-1 and the Korg EMX-1 as well.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM3_qbHVhZVJzqa42gPNlFbhwHGwgUW1d
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ChronLogic



Joined: 10 Jun 2020
Posts: 10
Location: LAS vEGAS nv, usa

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:02 am    Post subject: Re: Absolute beginner questions, help (ER1/EA1/EM1) & no Reply with quote

camwow wrote:
Hi guys, I am an absolute beginner here, I like the music but completely have no idea about making it so I have some dumb questions and would like answers in as simple terms as possible haha! I'm not looking to do too much, just have some fun mucking around at home trying to make some tunes. I am getting a Kaossilator and then looking to get something else to play around with it that isnt too expensive (looking at the ER1/EA1/EM1).

What is the difference between the ER-1, EA-1 and EM-1?

Can I plug a Kaossilator into all of these? What do I need to do so?

What do I need in order to run it through speakers? I have read I can run it through a guitar amp? Is there a way to run it through say a computer subwoofer and speakers? What do I need to do this? If I have an ER-1/EA-1 and Kaossilator can I run them through the same speaker/amp or would I need a seperate one for each?

What is required to record/transfer anything I create onto computer? If the Kaossilator is plugged into the ER1/EA1 will the sounds from that, as well as the sounds from the ER1 be recorded?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions! Just want to know as much as possible before investing some money, thanks all!


I've been working on a video series dedicated to recording and programing your own beats from scratch with the Korg ES-1 mk2 and the Korg EMX-1 as well.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM3_qbHVhZVJzqa42gPNlFbhwHGwgUW1d
_________________
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3slhuYeXK6Q&t=6s
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