KORG MONOTRIBE

Limited · Post by **Limited** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 1:03 am

Hi,
I was showing off a prototype of the Monotribe which only arrived the day before at Musikmesse. Some facts we found out over time:

- pressing&holding one of the drum buttons gives you another layer of seq-steps, were you can set double-hits (two 16th notes for each of the 8-steps) to give you some kind of an 16-step light-Sequencer
- you can save one sequence so that it loads up at every reboot.
- the upper body of it is metal, the bottom made of plastic.
- the little tempo-potentiometer can be set to "narrow" mode via a button-combination, enabling you to set the tempo more sensitively (in "wide" mode it ranges from somewhat 40-400bpm
- availability depends on numerous companies delivering parts from all over the world and isn't made easier by the limitation of communication in Japan following the sad events in the last weeks
- as already stated flux-mode leaves the synth unquantized, you might use that for playing e.g. arpeggios with the tempo set very low and then speed the machine up to a normal speed.
- it can be set whether you want a drumsound to played when hitting the select-buttons bd, sn, hh on the left or not.

If I might help you with other questions, feel free to ask.

ShannonS · Post by **ShannonS** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:29 am

Thanks for those details, I have a few questions.

What exactly does the active step button do?
When you have the gate time button held and record on, does it change the gate time of the recorded pattern?
With record on are the drums (BD/SN/HH buttons) recorded or just the synth?
Any idea how fast the decay/attack envelopes are?
Does the tempo also scale the envelopes/LFO?
How many times per loop is the tempo knob flashing?
Is the filter tracking the ribbon in all 3 modes and if so in wide mode does it track the same as with narrow or is it the same as the pitch (6 octaves)?
Does the octave knob do anything with the ribbon in wide mode?

kimu · Post by **kimu** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:15 am

i add: does VCF adn VCA affect also drum parts or only monotron voice?

Pokelok · Post by **Pokelok** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:29 am

kimu wrote:i add: does VCF adn VCA affect also drum parts or only monotron voice?

In the youtube demoes I've seen, it appears the drum voices are separate from the filter and vca. Filter tweaking doesn't affect the drums.

It would be great to see a stereo output jack, with the drum voices on the tip and the synth voice on the ring (or vice versa). Then you could run the drum and synth voices separately into the mixer, the drum voices through the filter or whatever.

Pokelok · Post by **Pokelok** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:47 am

@ Limited; Thanks for the info! A couple more questions;

- is "sequencer memory" just a single storage location that prevents losing sequencer data on powerdown? Or is it possible to switch between two separate sequences - one stored and one in "RAM"?
- Is gate time controllable pr step, or globally only?
- Is it possible to record anything other than the pitch and trigger from the keyboard into the sequencer? Like, filter frequency, octave switch movements etc.
- Is there any official info on the pricing?

slug · Post by **slug** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:56 am

Limited wrote:Hi,
- pressing&holding one of the drum buttons gives you another layer of seq-steps, were you can set double-hits (two 16th notes for each of the 8-steps) to give you some kind of an 16-step light-Sequencer

This is demonstrated in this youtube clip where step 8 is playing second 16th - i believe you can see the light flashing twice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb5Xaj4-QQg

These "secret" 16th notes you have pointed out and shown in this video are just particularly sweet icing on the cake for the Monotribe - Great job Korg.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:14 pm

Pokelok wrote: - Is it possible to record anything other than the pitch and trigger from the keyboard into the sequencer? Like, filter frequency, octave switch movements etc.

I've seen from videos that the octave switch is recorded. but the sequencer appears to just record pitch and gate. Meaning that octave switch effectively only affects the keyboard pitch output and can't do anything to what is already sequenced.

Limited · Post by **Limited** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:21 pm

ShannonS wrote:Thanks for those details, I have a few questions.

What exactly does the active step button do?

It activates and deactivates the steps of both synth and drum part. However, the sequence will continue running from left to right and will not leave any pauses. For instance: You're hold down "active step" and normally, all eight leds are shining. The seq plays steps 1234567812345678...
Then, you'll deactivate let's say step 4,7 and 8, the seq will play 1235612356 resulting in an 5/8 bar. Or you'll deactivate all steps except the first, the seq will go 111111111111111... till braindeath.

When you have the gate time button held and record on, does it change the gate time of the recorded pattern?

As far as I could see, the gate time worked only in realtime. Just like "slug" expects, everything the seq records is the output of the ribbon controller, not the settings of the potentiometers etc.

With record on are the drums (BD/SN/HH buttons) recorded or just the synth?

drums aren't recorded, but can only be programmed.

Any idea how fast the decay/attack envelopes are?

I've not done any measuring, but the slow attack of the "pad"-preset is rather short, not what you would call slowly evolving, it just gives a softer touch to it. Decay of the "piano"-preset or how you'd wanna call it is somethin bout 800ms but better look for some youtube vid to hear it yourself.

Does the tempo also scale the envelopes/LFO?]

Don't remember exactly since I stayed at a fixed tempo most of the time and only changed during performance when I wanted to do the 400bpm fx

At least I can say that with deactivated flux-mode, the LFOs tempo is quantized to 4th,8ths,triplets etc. and will be stepless when flux is on.

How many times per loop is the tempo knob flashing?

quarter notes -> 4 times

Is the filter tracking the ribbon in all 3 modes and if so in wide mode does it track the same as with narrow or is it the same as the pitch (6 octaves)?

Sorry, think I don't understand exactly what you mean, do you mean keyfollow?

Does the octave knob do anything with the ribbon in wide mode?

nope.

- is "sequencer memory" just a single storage location that prevents losing sequencer data on powerdown? Or is it possible to switch between two separate sequences - one stored and one in "RAM"?

As far as I know, there is only one. the one that gets loaded at start-up

- Is gate time controllable pr step, or globally only?

only globally

- Is it possible to record anything other than the pitch and trigger from the keyboard into the sequencer? Like, filter frequency, octave switch movements etc.

the octave switch will be recorded, so when you've recorded 32" bass, notes pitch won't be changed when you're turning the knob afterwards.

- Is there any official info on the pricing?

Everything I can say is listprice 237€ in Germany.

As with everything I stated here, this is only what I've found out and I can't foreclose that some of my statements here will be proven wrong by some odd button-combinations, a misconception of myself or tweakings/new features Korg might implement on the way from prototype to the final product.

Pokelok · Post by **Pokelok** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:23 pm

Limited, your answers are much appreciated!

slug · Post by **slug** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:00 pm

Limited wrote: At least I can say that with deactivated flux-mode, the LFOs tempo is quantized to 4th,8ths,triplets etc. and will be stepless when flux is on.

Wow I hadnt picked up the LFO beat sync.

plosive · Post by **plosive** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:38 am

Limited wrote:Hi,
I was showing off a prototype of the Monotribe which only arrived the day before at Musikmesse. Some facts we found out over time:

- pressing&holding one of the drum buttons gives you another layer of seq-steps, were you can set double-hits (two 16th notes for each of the 8-steps) to give you some kind of an 16-step light-Sequencer

You only mentioned drums, does this 'double step' feature also work for the synth part?

Thanks for all the additional info, you rock.

Limited · Post by **Limited** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:20 am

double-step works only for drums, as far as we could see.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:52 am

Limited wrote:double-step works only for drums, as far as we could see.

However, I would like to add - Flux allows you to put more than one note on a synth step anyway. The buttons are just for gating the pattern. So in reality it isn't much of an issue.

Pokelok · Post by **Pokelok** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:03 am

^ Unless you're dependent on quantized notes

Although I think it will be fun recording sequences in Flux mode at lower tempos and then speed up.

@Limited:
- If you record a sequence in Flux mode with all 8 steps active, what happens to this sequence if you remove steps in Active step mode? Will it continue it's 1/2-bar travel? Or isn't Active step and Flux mode available at the same time? Will Flux recorded sequences "disappear" if you enter Active Step mode?
- Does the filter follow the keyboard in any way/mode, or is it only controllable with the LFO and filter knob?

Pokelok · Post by **Pokelok** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:05 am

This sounds like fun (from http://www.lazytrap.com/?p=277):
"The Gate button lets you control the length/gating in realtime. When held down, you control the gate length by using the ribbon controller."