well....goodbye Electribe, hello Circuit

Korgenstein · Post by **Korgenstein** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 10:12 pm

Today I returned my Electribe (after 3 weeks) and got a Novation Circuit to replace it. With no song mode, only 4 pattern sets, and having to manually knob through patterns to call them the E2 just wasn't working for live applications. Not being able to clear and or edit individual bars of a pattern independently was also a huge deciding factor for me in returning it. My Electribe was never intended for studio use as it is clearly not usable in that function with no individual outs just to start, not to mention the toyish sound, but it was the live limitations that did me in. Not to mention Korg's apparent lack of f*&%s given in addressing user complaints/suggestions as people have mentioned on other threads here already. "Did Korg abandon the Electribe?"
The Circuit is much better for live and their new firmware update where you can now use your own samples, well, it was a no brainer...

But I still have my other Korg devices and software, so all good...see you on the other Korg forums!

scum · Post by **scum** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 4:51 am

Come on, man, take a look at your new Circuit - It's ugly!

DaniH · Post by **DaniH** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:07 am

I have a Korg Emx and Mc-909 but both the E2 and curcuit seem dull for live production.

sl23 · Post by **sl23** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:17 pm

.....

DR.DR · Post by **DR.DR** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 5:35 pm

Agree with OP. The lacking song mode is really a sore spot for me, as well. I guess you can try to chain patterns, but then you're in the wonderful "pattern by knob" bit. My work around was to only work within a pattern, and turn parts on and off. But if you've got a bass lick that needs a new kick, then you're gotta get one part off and one part on while still playing the bass. Song mode would fix that.

I think the frustration of many users is 1) these are expected features, and 2) they're easy fixes if they'd put an engineer on it.

jbvdb493 · Post by **jbvdb493** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:49 pm

While I get the frustrations voiced by many here I fail to see how 2 synth voices, no matter how great they are, can replace the electribe.

1_inch_punch · Post by **1_inch_punch** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:24 am

"While I get the frustrations voiced by many here I fail to see how 2 synth voices, no matter how great they are, can replace the electribe."

I am with you there.

I know plenty people threw away a guitar after three weeks in favour of a harmonica.

They spent the next year playing Row Row Row your boat... and very little else.

I guess it's to do with the music you make but dont tell me foregoing the groove templates for each individual track on my es2 - to lay my drums jammed to a grid... is a good idea. They are part of me now and I am not going to give them up at this stage

BTW - I have both Circuit and ES2 and I like them equally - but this wave of excitement for 4 samples, I just don't get it.

thebiglebowski · Post by **thebiglebowski** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 10:46 am

DR.DR wrote:Agree with OP. The lacking song mode is really a sore spot for me, as well.

Ableton Live/WAV export is the new song mode. I personally like the idea of starting and shaping ideas on a hardware groovebox which is more immediate than a computer, and then finishing it later in a DAW. Best of both worlds.

colulizard · Post by **colulizard** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:40 pm

DR.DR wrote:
Agree with OP. The lacking song mode is really a sore spot for me, as well.

Ableton Live/WAV export is the new song mode. I personally like the idea of starting and shaping ideas on a hardware groovebox which is more immediate than a computer, and then finishing it later in a DAW. Best of both worlds.

Not trolling, but I know it will seem like it... so apologies in advance.

What is the difference between song mode on the Electribe and having it as a backing track, and pre-recording a performance into Live or similar and playing that as a backing track?

I guess if you have patterns mapped out, you can "play" the electribe live by muting/ unmuting parts, experiement with loops etc. which seems to make the electribe more a live tool.

Personally i'm not using it live - i'm using the sampler as a drum machine and recording that direct into the PC. So it makes no odds to me.

Ted3000 · Post by **Ted3000** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:00 pm

Maybe the Circuit 2 will support 8-part drums, more synths.

Maybe they'll give it an audio input, and a screen.

Maybe they'll make it out of metal.

Maybe it will be called the Korg electribe 2.

DR.DR · Post by **DR.DR** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 2:41 pm

colulizard wrote:
DR.DR wrote:
Agree with OP. The lacking song mode is really a sore spot for me, as well.

Ableton Live/WAV export is the new song mode. I personally like the idea of starting and shaping ideas on a hardware groovebox which is more immediate than a computer, and then finishing it later in a DAW. Best of both worlds.
Not trolling, but I know it will seem like it... so apologies in advance.

What is the difference between song mode on the Electribe and having it as a backing track, and pre-recording a performance into Live or similar and playing that as a backing track?

I guess if you have patterns mapped out, you can "play" the electribe live by muting/ unmuting parts, experiement with loops etc. which seems to make the electribe more a live tool.

Personally i'm not using it live - i'm using the sampler as a drum machine and recording that direct into the PC. So it makes no odds to me.

Re: backing tracks - The desire to stay outside of the DAW entirely. It is a 400 dollar box and does a lot of stuff really well. But it would be over-the-top, end-of-discussion awesome with just a bit of love on song mode and IMHO the sequencer or a step record mode. For what it is worth - and at the cajoling of some other forum members - I'm largely trying to work within the confines of the box - mostly turning parts on and off within a pattern. There are a lot of merits to this - most notably that it really is live and it is musical and flexible. But say you've got an A/B structure and you're playing (another instrument) live with it - I can get a hand over to build parts (turn stuff on) - but it gets really complicated if I've also got to switch out the kick or hat track (simultaneous on/off.) Song mode addresses that for that scenario. With the step sequencer - I'd just like it to be easier to get ghosts and accents without menu diving. I can get the accents by live recording over.

jpeg · Post by **jpeg** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 3:50 pm

honestly korg should or merged the grey and black into one unit and added song mode and wave form editing

there is no reason they could not have produced such a unit int 2016; they held back making these things because it means they cant sell future items.

captain johnson · Post by **captain johnson** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 10:46 am

Ted3000 wrote:Maybe the Circuit 2 will support 8-part drums, more synths.

Maybe they'll give it an audio input, and a screen.

Maybe they'll make it out of metal.

Maybe it will be called the Korg electribe 2.

Muhahaha! awesome!

circuitghost · Post by **circuitghost** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:25 pm

The Circuit's not so much about the feature, but rather the way it's designed. I think it's of little relevance what it can and can't do, compared to the Electribe Sampler. It's the way you play it and work with it that makes it different, not the number (or lack thereof) of voices and features.

Ironically, it's the other way around with the Electribes. They're quite fleshed out when it comes to features, but it's the way you play them and work them that stands in their way.

musicmagus · Post by **musicmagus** » Wed Apr 20, 2016 12:55 am

I like pizza!