Is the electribe sampler a bad joke?

Discussion relating to the Korg Electribe products.

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markxl1
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Post by markxl1 »

Good chat 8)
Regarding latency on the iPad and gadget, I had an iPad 2 and used irig. There's a latency setting on the iPad and played a lot of already made sequences into gadget so don't remember finding latency a problem.
Now I have a more powerful iPad and all I want it to do is receive midi sequences I think after a couple of years, there should be improvements??
There's no latency when using the iPad itself to play the keyboard and I recall that the rs7000 has the ability to shift the midi time forwards/backwards slightly so that it sounds in sync with the rest of the groove if I need to do that. I'm a bit worried now but surely midi isn't going to be a problem, I see the iPad and gadget as my new 'sound module' and not as my new DAW.

As for the original post, people are going to do some killer tracks with the ES2 and after a week of using the E2 I felt I was at one with using it but I don't understand synthesis. Sampling is a different art form combined with motion sequencing will see the ES2 succeeding.

I was always a bit of a preset basher anyway so having gadget and all the extras will get me started. Having to squeeze out something decent from my E2 by panning,tweaking and movement has helped me be optimistic with what I am going to do. I'm waiting for a lightning adapter in the post to hopefully get my 30pin original irig working. If it works, I'll let you know how it all goes.
jbvdb493
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Post by jbvdb493 »

markxl1 wrote:Good chat 8)
Regarding latency on the iPad and gadget, I had an iPad 2 and used irig. There's a latency setting on the iPad and played a lot of already made sequences into gadget so don't remember finding latency a problem.
Now I have a more powerful iPad and all I want it to do is receive midi sequences I think after a couple of years, there should be improvements??
There's no latency when using the iPad itself to play the keyboard and I recall that the rs7000 has the ability to shift the midi time forwards/backwards slightly so that it sounds in sync with the rest of the groove if I need to do that. I'm a bit worried now but surely midi isn't going to be a problem, I see the iPad and gadget as my new 'sound module' and not as my new DAW.

As for the original post, people are going to do some killer tracks with the ES2 and after a week of using the E2 I felt I was at one with using it but I don't understand synthesis. Sampling is a different art form combined with motion sequencing will see the ES2 succeeding.

I was always a bit of a preset basher anyway so having gadget and all the extras will get me started. Having to squeeze out something decent from my E2 by panning,tweaking and movement has helped me be optimistic with what I am going to do. I'm waiting for a lightning adapter in the post to hopefully get my 30pin original irig working. If it works, I'll let you know how it all goes.
Carefull tho gadget doesn't have assignable midi channels so you can't use the synth as sound modules per say!
Edit: if you use a midi filter to filter out note events from your grove box you could obviously just have it synced (which in hindsight seems to be what you were saying anyway)
Almost all the good apps tho do
If you are looking for great iPad synths I recommend animoog, iSEM, Thor and iM1 all have good user interfaces and sound great
Avoid ivcs3, iMS20, and Z3ta, I can't handle the issues with those 3 apps, Z3ta even has horrible clicking when I use the internal delay!
Thread officially hijacked! At least we are now sharing useful info lol
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Post by SMK »

markxl1 wrote:Last year I sold my roland mc808 for the new hyped E2 and after 10 minutes of playing with the electribe I thought " I've f****d up big time"
Now I can't even sell it for £200! so I'll keep it as it may be useful in the future. There are some good things to come I hope.

2 years ago, I dabbled with korg gadget on an ipad2 and even bought a midi interface to incorporate my emu command station and rs7000 purely for midi transfer of sequences.
The ipad2 could only really handle 5 gadgets so I felt limited and Omni midi was a problem at the time.

Weighing everything up and the gear I have in the studio, the E2 just doesn't fit in to how I work and I tried lots of things, spending days thinking of workarounds to the point where I lost my music making mojo and everything else just sat collecting dust.

Anyway, this Christmas my wife bought me an ipad air 2 and I loaded up gadget again, bought the extra synths and suddenly I am excited about making music again.

I can't wait to buy a decent interface and hook up my external sequencers and record/save/edit the results easily on a large touch screen.

The only drawback I can see at the moment is that I will have to build up each song one track at a time but that's not a problem, just slows me down a touch but compared to the hundreds of drawbacks I've encountered when music making with everything else......

I didn't like the ESX very much and wished korg made an EMX where you could load in your own samples ( even if it was just drum section to add fx vocals ).

If you already have an EMX, you could buy an ipad, gadget and interface for the price of a new ES2. You can fire your old beats/tunes into gadget easily and add all the bells and whistles after. If you try doing that with an e2 , es2 all your beats will come out as a series of C notes.

They ( new electribes ) just don't f*****g fit in, Korg didn't do their homework and certainly didn't ask their users what they wanted. I see it as a standalone instrument unless you work four bar.

For people who are pissy and moany about the new electribes ( myself included ) TRY BEFORE YOU BUY :roll:

I hope this is helpful to some and just to forewarn you, the korg/ipad/gadget forum section is f*****g useless and not in the slightest bit helpful as I have had many questions read/unanswered.

Would like to know peoples thoughts on my view :D
YES! Try before you buy! That is so important.

Anyhow, my only thought on your view is that, even though you feel you bought a dud, your Electribe is an awesome controller. I have been using mine with Ableton. I get so much more out of this connection than with any other controller I have owned. It was a very easy set up.

I would imagine that connection to Ipad and Gadget would be the same thing. Look on youtube, I know there is one user who spoke highly of using the E2 as a controller for Gadget.
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Post by SMK »

Yep here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QPEDGiDAk

And it's by Tarekith! Maybe he can talk more about this feature here.

Anyhow, if I had an ipad and Gadget I would be doing this.
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jbvdb493
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Post by jbvdb493 »

SMK wrote:Yep here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QPEDGiDAk

And it's by Tarekith! Maybe he can talk more about this feature here.

Anyhow, if I had an ipad and Gadget I would be doing this.
I asked him about this video and he said they weren't synced and he was playing them manually
Sorry pressing play on them manually!
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Post by sauce »

SMK wrote:I have been using mine with Ableton. I get so much more out of this connection than with any other controller I have owned.
What is different about it? I think the small real-estate requirements would be nice.
Visit https://ghostwrittenclips.com for a FREE pack of robot-war/mech/cinematic fx samples. =)
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Post by krakapow »

i could never gel with my mc 808, like the mc 303 more.
been meaning to sync my e2 up with my rm1x and see if i cant make some magic happen
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Post by Tarekith »

jbvdb493 wrote:
SMK wrote:Yep here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QPEDGiDAk

And it's by Tarekith! Maybe he can talk more about this feature here.

Anyhow, if I had an ipad and Gadget I would be doing this.
I asked him about this video and he said they weren't synced and he was playing them manually
Sorry pressing play on them manually!
Correct, in that vid I was just playing them seperately. Easy enough to connect the two, as long as you don't have issues with the fixed MIDI channels.
h.vel
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Post by h.vel »

As far as I know Gadget actually doesn't have seperate MIDI channels. It is only possible to play/hear the currently selected synth in Gadget - and this synth is receiving on all MIDI channels (omni). That means that you can't play multiple devices simultaniously, just one per time - and this single one will receive everything the Electribe is playing (because the Electribe can't filter MIDI messages on separate channels).

So there will be always absolutely chaos! And to sync them via MIDI clock is also not possible. The only "solution" I could see is to play/start/stop them separately from eachother. In my opinion: useless.

I completly avoid Korg apps (though I bought many), in my opinion it's wasted money - except you want to use them standalone. It's a real pity, because I like the sound and workflow.

Nave, Animoog an iSEM are good and flexible synths.

edit: And to say something to the original topic :wink: :
Yes, the new Electribes are a joke, if people like them I'm happy. But in my opinion the "limitations" are often not meant as limtations. Almost everything seems just half-baked. There is no single area where I would say: good work Korg! It doesn't seem to be developed with dedication and love.
SMK
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Post by SMK »

Tarekith wrote:
jbvdb493 wrote:
SMK wrote:Yep here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QPEDGiDAk

And it's by Tarekith! Maybe he can talk more about this feature here.

Anyhow, if I had an ipad and Gadget I would be doing this.
I asked him about this video and he said they weren't synced and he was playing them manually
Sorry pressing play on them manually!
Correct, in that vid I was just playing them seperately. Easy enough to connect the two, as long as you don't have issues with the fixed MIDI channels.
Ah, oh well, I thought it is you, Tarekith who originally used GAdget with E2 and posted about it.

Anyhow there was a user on this forum who had great success with connecting the E2 with Gadget and that he felt that the usb on the E2 was really seemed like it was meant to be used with Korg iPad and Korg iPad Apps.

In the early release of E2, I remember reading a lot of positive comments on connecting E2 with the iPad. I was seriously considering getting iPad just for this purpose.
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Post by SMK »

sauce wrote:
SMK wrote:I have been using mine with Ableton. I get so much more out of this connection than with any other controller I have owned.
What is different about it? I think the small real-estate requirements would be nice.
Well aside from making a template on Live to handle a 16 channel set up, everything is pretty seemless. Using the E2 or ES2 as an Ableton controller just brings Ableton to your grove box. It's very immediate, no different than making tracks on the E2. The special feature of the E2 can be used on your Ableton tracks: scales, scale / key lock, the gate arp, octaves, kaossilator pad. All of that stuff. Then I get additional knobs and other control features. It's quite nice actually.

Not all pad controllers have these types of features. Yes, you could go the additional keyboard route and get a Tactile (far cheaper) but when it comes to having something that can be used for multiple purposes I really like the E2 / ES2 for this. One box gets me all I need.

Do I get this out of Akai, Quneo or event Korgs own PadKontrol or nano 2 controller, NOPE!
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markxl1
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Post by markxl1 »

I am fully aware of gadget being Omni, it's the midi latency ( if that's what you call it ) I'm worried about.
It would be nice if you could assign a note to each E2 pad so that when you are in trigger mode you can make use of other sequencers and apps.

Should find out if the lightning adapter and old irig work tonight.
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Post by Steinberger »

I like to use specific gadgets with the E2 sometimes when tracking but, yes, playing live is a problem with the latency. I think Gadget is way overdue for some tightening up in the MIDI department. Shame since the E2 works really nice with Ableton and Gadget is in a similar ballpark it would be a great package. I still think the E2 is one of the best sequencers made but not deep enough...yet?....ever?

BTW, People keep dropping the RM1x name and it just so happens I acquired one over the holidays. The person I got it from did a nice job replacing the key switches. I've since upgraded the software chip, the floppy drive to a Gotek USB floppy emulator drive and now waiting for a potentiometer board for the control deck. It's not news that the thing is a wicked groove box but the MIDI implementation is so deep and easy to work with. It's like the last of the great battleships. Korg could learn some things from that. Hell, they could add it to the E2 this year if they wanted.
jbvdb493
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Post by jbvdb493 »

h.vel wrote:As far as I know Gadget actually doesn't have seperate MIDI channels. It is only possible to play/hear the currently selected synth in Gadget - and this synth is receiving on all MIDI channels (omni). That means that you can't play multiple devices simultaniously, just one per time - and this single one will receive everything the Electribe is playing (because the Electribe can't filter MIDI messages on separate channels).

So there will be always absolutely chaos! And to sync them via MIDI clock is also not possible. The only "solution" I could see is to play/start/stop them separately from eachother. In my opinion: useless.

I completly avoid Korg apps (though I bought many), in my opinion it's wasted money - except you want to use them standalone. It's a real pity, because I like the sound and workflow.

Nave, Animoog an iSEM are good and flexible synths.

edit: And to say something to the original topic :wink: :
Yes, the new Electribes are a joke, if people like them I'm happy. But in my opinion the "limitations" are often not meant as limtations. Almost everything seems just half-baked. There is no single area where I would say: good work Korg! It doesn't seem to be developed with dedication and love.
I don't have ipolysix so I can't say about that one BUT iMS20 not being able to sync its step sequencer pissed me off so much when I found out
So far tho I am running gadget and ielectribe via ableton link and am pretty happy with it, now if I could get animoog in there somehow, sync that to the electribe I would be king of the hill! :D
Seriously tho the electribe pad and knobs, gadgets sequencer, drum sounds from the ielectribe and synths from animoog, the dream ultra portable setup is so close yet so far!
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Post by thesigma »

Steinberger wrote: BTW, People keep dropping the RM1x name and it just so happens I acquired one over the holidays. The person I got it from did a nice job replacing the key switches. I've since upgraded the software chip, the floppy drive to a Gotek USB floppy emulator drive and now waiting for a potentiometer board for the control deck. It's not news that the thing is a wicked groove box but the MIDI implementation is so deep and easy to work with. It's like the last of the great battleships. Korg could learn some things from that. Hell, they could add it to the E2 this year if they wanted.
Yamaha RS 7000 was the last great battleship groove box, and it's the size of one too.....everything you like about the RM1X, with some improvements and a sampling engine....and yes korg could learn a few things from it. It is a bit of a complicated beast though...
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