NO PITCH BEND... just wow....

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 9:01 pm

I'm getting more and more ready to return this thing... I just checked the MIDI implementation chart and the electribe does not receive or transmit pitch bend... SERIOUSLY, WTF? This is like the second most basic MIDI function after Mod wheel.... which apparently isn't used by this machine either!

What kind of synth does not accept pitch bend and mod wheel control????

damn, I am angry now.

It's pretty weak as just a drum machine as well, as there is no way to layer sounds on the same pad, and there is no velocity modulation.....

Then there's the lack of MIDI soft thru, lack of copying bars , lack of pattern chaining, occasional glitching (doubled notes) etc etc...

This is another toy trying to pass itself off as a studio instrument....This isn't the Korg that gave us the MS20, the Wavestation, the Prophecy/Z1 and the Wavedrum.

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 9:37 pm

There are two ways you can layer - you can assign a part as poly and then put in multiple notes. Or better, copy a part to a second pad and tweak that.

Buska · Post by **Buska** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:27 pm

roblabs wrote:There are two ways you can layer - you can assign a part as poly and then put in multiple notes. Or better, copy a part to a second pad and tweak that.

Assigning a part as poly and playing multiple notes is not layering fyi

It's just playing a chord with a drum sample

Almost as amazing as how shitty this electribe 2 is.. How madly everyone wants to defend it. Go to the electribe facebook page, people loose their s**t if you bring up any of the glaring omissions and faults of this thing.

Pygmy · Post by **Pygmy** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:42 pm

roblabs wrote:There are two ways you can layer - you can assign a part as poly and then put in multiple notes. Or better, copy a part to a second pad and tweak that.

That's not "Layering"; "layering" means being able to play *different* sounds simultaneously in the same track/part.

For example, the Yamaha RS7000 (from 2001) allowed you to play *different* samples at the same time on a single track.
Meaning, in a single track you could get a bass kick, a hihat, a snare and a clap.
If you'd mute that track, you'd mute all those sounds.

On the electribe, you need 1 part (voice) for the bass kick, 1 part for the hihat (assuming your hihat only needs one sample, if you want an open and close you'd need 2 different parts for that), a part for the snare and a part for the clap.

Layering and properly implemented polyphony gives you multiple sounds at the same time on a single track/part.
The electribe gives you one sound on one part at max. You can use polyphony by reusing that same sound 4 times with different note-data on that part, but that'll go off your "polyphony" count so you might not be able to use other parts any more.

So on the yamaha you could do 16 tracks times X *different* sounds (on the same track), while on the new Electribe you can do a max of 4 times *the same sound* on a track, but this will deduct 4 points of your simultaneous polyphony count.

So - let's have a look at the polyphony count.

The 14 year old Yamaha does:
64 voices in SEQUENCER
62 voices in TONE GENERATOR
256 voices in SAMPLER

The 2015 Electribe does:
24 voices polyphony, no layering.
Using effects reduces concurrent polyphony.

So - if you use 4 parts with 4 note polyphony, you're down 16 voices.
Want to add insert effects on those 4 parts? 4 voices down again.
Right now you have a track consisting of only 4 parts, and you've already used 20 voices of your 24 voice polyphony.

Seriously, Rolands and Yamahas that are 10 - 25 years old did polyphony and layering much better than 2015 Electribes.

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:45 pm

What the? How long have I been on this forum? When have you or anyone seen me "madly" defending the electribe2. I made one comment about layering parts. Hardly mad, I'd say. There's a reason why I didn't address the other things he complained about, because there's no solution for things that are just plain missing. But if there's a workaround for something, of course I will make a suggestion because it could help him and possibly others.

I take the electribe2 for what it is. I'm not going to complain about things that aren't there. If I want what's lacking, I'll go and find something that suits me better. But I sure as hell won't defend it to the death either. It is what it is, plain and simple.

roblabs · Post by **roblabs** » Fri Nov 06, 2015 11:47 pm

Pygmy,

Thanks for clarifying that

thesigma · Post by **thesigma** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 12:50 am

Pygmy, what you describe is multisampling, layering is triggering multiple sounds on one keypress. Like two different kick samples, one for punch and one for sub bass.

The RS7000 is an amazing instrument, wish there was a modern equivalent.

Sorry to nitpick and your original beef is still valid the electribe does none of those things....

krakapow · Post by **krakapow** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 12:59 am

U get what you pay for.
U want a full blown workhorse with all the bells and whistles? Then buy a product in that price range.
I mean, how much didnt the rm1x cost when it came out?

Im not "madly defending" the e2, it has bare limitations and quirks.
But for the price its a bang for buck fun unit. Does it have a fraction of the features on my m3? No. But its a fraction of the price, its portable and it runs on batteries

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 1:05 am

I don't think that including support for pitch bend and mod wheel would have made the machine more expensive... and neither would the option to have more than one drum sound on one pad.... neither of these things would make the machine a "full-blown workhorse" - they are basic features that drum machines from 15 years ago had.

I'll try to return this expensive toy and save up some money for an elektron box.. there just don't seem to be any half-decent drum machines with x0x-style step sequencing for less money.

sauce · Post by **sauce** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 2:18 am

krakapow wrote:how much didnt the rm1x cost when it came out?

$300. I bought two of them the day they came out.

sleepsnumb · Post by **sleepsnumb** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:02 am

First post from a Long time lurker here. Been watching these heated discussions from the sidelines ever since picking up my ES2 the week after it became available in states. I have also owned an ESX for about 5 years which was one of the main pieces of my makeshift studio.

Seems like there has been a lot of misinformation around these parts.

Just wanted to chime in a little about the discussion above:

the Yamaha RS7000 (from 2001) is a great sequencer and all in one work station. I've watched a close friend master it over the last 4 years, definitely has quite a few cool unique tricks up its sleeve, but it also has a way crazier learning curve then the electribes, new and old. I think its somewhat unfair to highlight the complexities of the machine without mentioning it's workflow kinks (AKA lacking immediacy). It also shares a similar footprint to a briefcase modular and is the opposite of portable. Long story short: it's a very different beast and had a similar price point to an Octatrack then the new electribes when it was released in 2001 for £1249 ( 1879.68 US Dollars) & the Yamaha RM1x was £549 (826.22 US Dollars) in 2002.

Also for people missing the old stretch parts of the ESX, correctly timeslicing a sample or loop and setting the oscillator to the whole timesliced sample (rather than the individual slices) does the same exact thing and will stretch the sample to fit the pattern BPM.

You could also layer drums on the ES2, by playing two pads simultaneously and utilizing the resampling functions. Saves polyphony too!!

Sorry for high jacking the thread, but feel like the crappy manual lead to a lot of the polarizing experiences with the new eletribes. I for one, think the new tribes pack a lot of punch for the 400 price point

Much love, sorry for the rambling first post.

sauce · Post by **sauce** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:56 am

sleepsnumb wrote: Yamaha RM1x was £549 (826.22 US Dollars) in 2002.

Not true. What you have listed is the MSRP, which, especially in 2002, was *never* the actual street price. The RM1X street price was actually about $550. And yes, many stores bought too many fresh out the gate and had a huge sale, which is why I got mine for so cheap. Maybe it was not totally common, but you could get them cheap if you looked.

sleepsnumb wrote: Also for people missing the old stretch parts of the ESX, correctly timeslicing a sample or loop and setting the oscillator to the whole timesliced sample (rather than the individual slices) does the same exact thing and will stretch the sample to fit the pattern BPM.

Not true. Any sliced loops that don't fit the rough tempo and key of the current pattern sound choppy, unnatural and terrible. Even as I type I have ethnic loops chopped up in my ES2 that sound terrible, simply because I sped them up before I imported to save sampling time. Part of this is because the end of slices no longer loop to "stretch" them until the next slice is triggered. This is necessary for a proper slice, and is inherent in Ableton, Logic etc, *and* on the 10-year-old ESX.

sleepsnumb wrote:You could also layer drums on the ES2, by playing two pads simultaneously and utilizing the resampling functions. Saves polyphony too!!

Yes, and also waste valuable sampling time.

apapdop · Post by **apapdop** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 6:55 am

roblabs wrote:Pygmy,

Thanks for clarifying that

I wish there was an emoticon that could somehow depict my arse falling off due to laughter...

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 2:08 pm

The RM1x cost $700 when it first came out... In '97 or ''98. That's when I got mine.
The E2s is a sampler... If you want sounds layered, make a sample with the layered sounds and load it in.

I look at the E2s not as the worst music production center in the world, but as the best cheap sampling drum machine that can also play synth sounds... And do chords (something the octatrack can't do)

I wanted a tempest for the longest time to pair with my octatrack.. Now I have the e2s and I don't ever think about the tempest anymore....
So the e2s saved me $1000 in gear lust.

There are problems with this unit... There are problems with the octatrack... There are problems with the tempest.

If you feel like these problems kill it for you.. Sell it.

Maybe the reason I love mine so much despite the flaws is that I am using it with the Octatrack and the E2s fills in all the missing gaps.

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 2:15 pm

Also, for the OP in case he hasn't found these yet....

CC 80 controls pitch,
CC 85 controls Mod depth
CC 86 controls Mod speed.