Electribe 2 Petition help

[Kurgast]

Hi,
my name is daniel from german.

I dont know if anybody notice this here but 335 people vote on a german site called sequencer. Maybe its posible to compile the results. At least i think its important to work together. I also will post a comment in the other forum. I tried it a few times. I dont know why it is but I still make the same mistake by registrating and it dont work. So i cant write anythink.

http://www.sequencer.de/synthesizer/vie ... p?t=106141

greetings

[Cade]

Me again, someone in the facebook group mentioned that changing the Modulationtype while havin the depth at 0 will still change the sound of the Osc as if it would have a positive number. Its minor but still.

This may have been explained on the FB group:
quote: "I think the default mod depth is not zero. Everytime it changes it defaults to like 25%."
Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to check this out yet.

Hi,
my name is daniel from germany.

I dont know if anybody notice this here but 335 people vote on a german site called sequencer. Maybe its posible to compile the results. At least i think its important to work together. I also will post a comment in the other forum. I tried it a few times. I dont know why it is but I still make the same mistake by registrating and it dont work. So i cant write anything.

http://www.sequencer.de/synthesizer/vie ... p?t=106141

greetings

Vielen Dank für diesen Daniel . Ich habe ein paar der fehlenden Featureanfrage hinzugefügt und die Petition info überarbeitet, hatte aber einige von ihnen weg zu lassen ( 500 bar ? ) , LOL =
Thank you very much for this Daniel. I have added a few of the missing feature requests, and revised the petition info, but had to leave some of them off (500 bars?), LOL

-Latest Here-

Help make an update for the New Electribes a priority for Korg Inc.



The Electribe 2 and Electribe 2 Sampler are digital Music Production Stations that were released in 2014 and were created using Korg’s latest modelling technology, have an effect for every part, polyphony and velocity–sensitive drum pads. The Korg Electribe series is a Digital analog modeling synthesizer that was first produced in 1999. Through the years, the Electribe series helped define an entire generation of dance music. With the 2014 Electribe 2, fans of the Electribe series were hopeful that the new instrument would live up to the legacy that the predecessors established.

Unfortunately, upon release, some important features were missing and many Electribe 2 owners are disappointed in a lack of functionality and hindered capabilities on the devices. While a few earlier issues had been addressed in previous updates, there still remains a substantial list of problems and improvements to address. Korg has indicated that they are resolved to continue to create innovative and uncompromising instruments which maintain the high quality that inspires professional artists and creators. (Source: http://www.korg.com/us/corporate/) We are hoping that viewpoint encompasses these instruments as well. The user community is recommending continued development of the Electribe 2 and Electribe 2 Sampler to help remove the bugs, address the missing features, and improve and complete the instruments.

These are the current issues and problems:

1. Voice Stealing: Unfortunately, even when no fx and no polyphony is activated on the unit, just 10-11 tracks can play simultaneously without voice stealing. It doesn’t seem reasonable that muted parts or IFX use CPU power and steal voices when not playing. For instance, when only 4-8 IFX are used in a pattern, the Electribe 2 seems to unnecessarily calculate all 16 IFX.
2. Note cutoff on pattern change: When switching patterns, the notes and effects from the previous pattern stop playing. This causes issues with the live-playing capability that the units were designed for.
3. Knob (filter) improvements: There is a significant amount of "jumping" when trying to adjust the knobs in small increments. This could be improved with improved tracking of the knobs, or greater resolution of the filters, or simply enabling the shift+knob (fine tune) option for filter movements.
4. Re-triggering glitch: There is a significant digital click or pop sound at the initiation/beginning of the sound (synths and samples) when re-triggering notes.
5. Song mode is lacking: One of the greatest features of the predecessors (older electribes) was the ability to create entire songs by setting the unit to automatically play patterns in a specific order to build a complete song.
5. Fix Noise (high pitched noise [~13kHz]) when audio in is enabled, and the hum when power save mode is enabled on the unit with audio in.

These are the current recommended improvements:

6. Pre-listening of samples directly from the SD card.
7. Enable access to the “sample import” menu more direct. A simple way to achieve this would be: long press on a pad + Menu/Enter = direct access to the SD card file tree.
8. The units should have the ability to chain patterns together.
9. Revise display screen to display more information: knob values; FX info; ADSR graph; waveform representation on the screen - for quick editing; and the display should show if the current value isn't the original value anymore (like on the EMX/ESX).
10. Add an "undo" feature (shift+exit).
11. Revise the arpeggiator to include Up/down, random, and scales.
12. Improve the step sequencer as the current workflow is clunky and easily remedied: At minimum, make the step sequence menu circular so you can left arrow from the on/off screen to the velocity screen; or use the track pad to enter gate and velocity in the sequencer mode (front panel) without menu diving; A last alternative would be to implement a step record function as was present in previous Electribes.
13. Pads should blink in Mute mode.
14. Send CC automation values to MIDI out.
15. Decay and release could be separated. A simple way to implement this would be to use the shift key to edit the release amount.
16. Unit should have synced step jump so it stays in time on release.
17. Add the ability to loop individual bars.
18. Add the option for per part play speed: allow a single part to be played at half speed / quarter speed or other option.
19. For the E2 have the step edit for Oscillator edit just like in the E2S.
20. All Step Jump actions and changes recorded and reflected in the sequencer in NORMAL record mode.
21. Add the ability to set velocity numerically for each part; 1-127.
22. Add the ability in Mute mode to press/hold the Mute button to select tracks/pads and chose record mute on/off.
23. Visual display of scales and chords played on part.
24. Add the ability to be able to enter notes or chords in sequencer mode and the ability to nudge notes.
25. Add the option for MIDI local on/off and/or midi thru and MIDI channel choice per part (should allow part layering).
26. Direct access to editing various modifications/parameters of each step.
27. Add the ability to copy/paste bars/notes around the whole machine.
28. BPM LFO's should be parameterized by musical values.
29. Add the ability for per part MFX send level.
30. Add the ability to be able to assign the X-Y pad to do different modification parameters and save that setting with each Pattern.
31. Add a time stretch function for samples.
32. Key transpose in sequencer mode and make transposing of whole parts easier.
33. Follow the playback position on the pads.
34. Add a few of the additional filter options and/or waveforms that are on the Electribe 2 to the Electribe 2 sampler.
35. Add the ability to save and load different pattern sets (.all files), and associated sample sets, to and from the SD card.
36. Revise the manual to include details about MIDI implementation and the unit’s voice architecture as well as any improvements.

Sign this petition to help make the Electribe 2 and Electribe 2 sampler updates a priority for Korg, Inc. We are requesting that they address the problems with additional updates so we can make the most of these incredible machines.

I would like to send the petitions to:
Tatsuya Takahashi
Engineer at Korg Inc.

Dan Phillips
Manager of Product Development at Korg R&D

Hironori Fukuda
General Manager of Software and Computer Gear at KORG Inc.

Kazuhito Inoue
Software Engineer at KORG Inc.

Andy Leary
General Manager, Korg Research and Development

Tiffany Stalker
Senior Sales & Marketing Manager at Korg USA.

and

customer_service@korgusa.com

the problem is: I can't locate email addresses for the above Korg employees.
I am also thinking about putting up the same petition at iPetitions: http://www.ipetitions.com/
thoughts?

[sl23]

.....

[sl23]

.....

[h.vel]

8. The units should have the ability to chain patterns together.

Could you pleeease (I already wrote it often) add an explanation for Korg for the case they'll misunderstand it (as some kind of song mode)? This feature has won the votation and it still isn't explained (or even was deleted). Please add something like:

8. The units should have the ability to chain patterns together (for longer patterns then just 4 bars)

34. Add a few of the additional filter options and/or waveforms that are on the Electribe 2 to the Electribe 2 sampler.

I don't know why you've added this dream. Requests like this will make the petition just dubious. Korg will never be so stupid and make one of their machines redundant! In my opinion this is high level whining (sorry).

I remembered one more bug:

- When saving patterns the audio glitches (also the MIDI clock)

[thebiglebowski]

34. Add a few of the additional filter options and/or waveforms that are on the Electribe 2 to the Electribe 2 sampler.

I don't know why you've added this dream. Requests like this will make the petition just dubious. Korg will never be so stupid and make one of their machines redundant! In my opinion this is high level whining (sorry).

Couldn't agree more! You might as well ask Korg to add sampling capabilities to the regular Electribe. This is Korg's decision, not ours. The grey Electribe has a more capable synth engine and is a synth groovebox, the black Electribe is a sampler and is a sampling groovebox. End of story!!!

If we expect the petition to be met with a serious response, lets make it as serious as possible and make it clear of your pipe dream Electribe fantasies or just plain whining.

The petition should be focused on:
- bug fixes
- UI tweaks to improve the existing workflow (step sequencing!!!)
- bring back features that worked well in previous Electribe generations and require just new lines of code, not more hardware power (arpeggiator, song mode etc)

Just this and no more! This Electribe generation is what it is, just deal with it. Theres a lot to like about them, and a lot that can be improved. What we want to really know, is if Korg cares anymore. Thats it.

[Cade]

What about the korg facebook page? Surely that's good a place as any? No company wants bad publicity and that's gonna be seen by millions.

Yep.
However, I was more concerned with obtaining legit email addresses of Korg employees to send the petition to, as required by change.org.

I remembered one more bug:

- When saving patterns the audio glitches (also the MIDI clock)

I appreciate your opinion, and thanks for the help.

For the last bug... possibly..
I'm just not sure if this is a bug common to others, as I hadn't noticed it. Do you think it can be corrected, if the problem is the limited processing power?

-Latest Here-

Help make a software update for the New Electribes a priority for Korg Inc.



The Electribe 2 and Electribe 2 Sampler are digital Music Production Stations that were released in 2014 and were created using Korg’s latest modelling technology, have an effect for every part, polyphony and velocity–sensitive drum pads. The Korg Electribe series is a Digital analog modeling synthesizer that was first produced in 1999. Through the years, the Electribe series helped define an entire generation of dance music. With the 2014 Electribe 2, fans of the Electribe series were hopeful that the new instrument would live up to the legacy that the predecessors established.

Unfortunately, upon release, some important features were missing and many Electribe 2 owners are disappointed in a lack of functionality and hindered capabilities on the devices. While a few earlier issues had been addressed in previous updates, there still remains a substantial list of problems and improvements to address. Korg has indicated that they are resolved to continue to create innovative and uncompromising instruments which maintain the high quality that inspires professional artists and creators. (Source: http://www.korg.com/us/corporate/) We are hoping that viewpoint encompasses these instruments as well. The user community is recommending continued development of the Electribe 2 and Electribe 2 Sampler to help remove the bugs, address the missing features, and improve and complete the instruments.

These are the current issues and problems:

1. Voice Stealing: Unfortunately, even when no fx and no polyphony is activated on the unit, just 10-11 tracks can play simultaneously without voice stealing. It doesn’t seem reasonable that muted parts or IFX use CPU power and steal voices when not playing. For instance, when only 4-8 IFX are used in a pattern, the Electribe 2 seems to unnecessarily calculate all 16 IFX.
2. Note cutoff on pattern change: When switching patterns, the notes and effects from the previous pattern stop playing. This causes issues with the live-playing capability that the units were designed for.
3. Knob (filter) improvements: There is a significant amount of "jumping" when trying to adjust the knobs in small increments. This could be improved with improved tracking of the knobs, or greater resolution of the filters, or simply enabling the shift+knob (fine tune) option for filter movements.
4. Re-triggering glitch: There is a significant digital click or pop sound at the initiation/beginning of the sound (synths and samples) when re-triggering notes.
5. Song mode is lacking: One of the greatest features of the predecessors (older electribes) was the ability to create entire songs by setting the unit to automatically play patterns in a specific order to build a complete song.
5. Fix Noise (high pitched noise [~13kHz]) when audio in is enabled, and the hum when power save mode is enabled on the unit with audio in.

These are the current recommended improvements:

6. Pre-listening of samples directly from the SD card.
7. Enable access to the “sample import” menu more direct. A simple way to achieve this would be: long press on a pad + Menu/Enter = direct access to the SD card file tree.
8. The units should have the ability to chain patterns together (for longer patterns than just 4 bars).
9. Revise display screen to display more information: knob values; FX info; ADSR graph; waveform representation on the screen - for quick editing; and the display should show if the current value isn't the original value anymore (like on the EMX/ESX).
10. Add an "undo" feature (shift+exit).
11. Revise the arpeggiator to include Up/down, random, and scales.
12. Improve the step sequencer as the current workflow is clunky and easily remedied: At minimum, make the step sequence menu circular so you can left arrow from the on/off screen to the velocity screen; or use the track pad to enter gate and velocity in the sequencer mode (front panel) without menu diving; A last alternative would be to implement a step record function as was present in previous Electribes.
13. Pads should blink in Mute mode.
14. Send CC automation values to MIDI out.
15. Decay and release could be separated. A simple way to implement this would be to use the shift key to edit the release amount.
16. Unit should have synced step jump so it stays in time on release.
17. Add the ability to loop individual bars.
18. Add the option for per part play speed: allow a single part to be played at half speed / quarter speed or other option.
19. For the E2 have the step edit for Oscillator edit just like in the E2S.
20. All Step Jump actions and changes recorded and reflected in the sequencer in NORMAL record mode.
21. Add the ability to set velocity numerically for each part; 1-127.
22. Add the ability in Mute mode to press/hold the Mute button to select tracks/pads and chose record mute on/off.
23. Visual display of scales and chords played on part.
24. Add the ability to be able to enter notes or chords in sequencer mode and the ability to nudge notes.
25. Add the option for MIDI local on/off and/or midi thru and MIDI channel choice per part (should allow part layering).
26. Direct access to editing various modifications/parameters of each step.
27. Add the ability to copy/paste bars/notes around the whole machine.
28. BPM LFO's should be parameterized by musical values.
29. Add the ability for per part MFX send level.
30. Add the ability to be able to assign the X-Y pad to do different modification parameters and save that setting with each Pattern.
31. Add a time stretch function for samples.
32. Key transpose in sequencer mode and make transposing of whole parts easier.
33. Follow the playback position on the pads.
34. Add the ability to save and load different pattern sets (.all files), and associated sample sets, to and from the SD card.
35. Revise the manual to include details about MIDI implementation and the unit’s voice architecture as well as any improvements.

Sign this petition to help make the Electribe 2 and Electribe 2 sampler updates a priority for Korg, Inc. We are requesting that they address the problems with additional updates so we can make the most of these incredible machines.

[Cade]

The petition should be focused on:
- bug fixes
- UI tweaks to improve the existing workflow (step sequencing!!!)
- bring back features that worked well in previous Electribe generations and require just new lines of code, not more hardware power (arpeggiator, song mode etc)

Just this and no more! This Electribe generation is what it is, just deal with it. Theres a lot to like about them, and a lot that can be improved. What we want to really know, is if Korg cares anymore. Thats it.

Totally. A clear and well thought out petition will be taken more seriously by Korg. This is exactly what this thread is for: refining the petition.
I know we need additional clarification/explanation on at least 5 of them.

Honestly, I think 10 to 15 from the list can be removed, but I am trying to be diplomatic and accommodating.

[Redmond Barry]

I agree with Cade & h.vel 100%. We can't have stuff like demanding features from the other Electribes (as much as I would love those extra filters on my E2S). It will make our concerns look less legitimate and be easier to justify blowing us off. Also, I think we need to take a page from the DSI petition where they not only want the Tempest to reach its potential but express that they LIKE the Tempest. Ours doesn't have that kind of wording in there. I know I'm sometimes frustrated by the E2S, but I am glad it exists and really enjoy it. I just want it to reach its promised (reasonable) potential. I think it's important to avoid coming across as overly disgruntled customers. (even if some of us are!) Just something like "We find the new Electribes to be incredibly useful and fun music production tools that deserve to reach their potential" maybe. Just a thought. Thanks again Cade!

[immon]

I really appreciate all the work that has gone into this project so far.

However I don't think we should get too concerned with the details. This is Korgs baby and without actually being part of the development team we will never truly be able to understand what actually is possible with the hardware, in the same way that the product engineers do.

I want Korg to know that we love the product but we want improvements, and I believe they will only respond if we generate enough attention/hype/likes online. Our focus should on our media campaign!

That said I played with this tool here https://emailhunter.co for hunting down email addresses and a few come up for korg.com, korgusa.com but the most I've found were for korg.co.uk

Obviously there are other Korg markets out there with associated domains. Emails are easier to ignore than blogs & twitter etc.

Anyway this is just my view. I will gladly like and share and retweet once the campaign goes live.

Thanks again

[Cade]

...
I want Korg to know that we love the product but we want improvements, and I believe they will only respond if we generate enough attention/hype/likes online. Our focus should on our media campaign!

That said I played with this tool here https://emailhunter.co for hunting down email addresses and a few come up for korg.com, korgusa.com but the most I've found were for korg.co.uk

Obviously there are other Korg markets out there with associated domains. Emails are easier to ignore than blogs & twitter etc.

Anyway this is just my view. I will gladly like and share and retweet once the campaign goes live.

Thanks again

Thanks for the help. You make very valid points. At this point, (Korg) emails may not be as important for the petition, as much as getting the message out on social media.

I think it's important to avoid coming across as overly disgruntled customers. (even if some of us are!) Just something like "We find the new Electribes to be incredibly useful and fun music production tools that deserve to reach their potential" maybe. Just a thought. Thanks again Cade!

Great suggestion. .. something like this?:
Many Electribe 2 users are extremely pleased with the instrument and find the new Electribes to be incredibly useful and fun music production tools. In addition, most Electribe 2 users also feel that Korg addressing these issues would help these instruments reach their full potential and likely result in a revived interest in the machines and increased sales.

[Redmond Barry]

...
I want Korg to know that we love the product but we want improvements, and I believe they will only respond if we generate enough attention/hype/likes online. Our focus should on our media campaign!

That said I played with this tool here https://emailhunter.co for hunting down email addresses and a few come up for korg.com, korgusa.com but the most I've found were for korg.co.uk

Obviously there are other Korg markets out there with associated domains. Emails are easier to ignore than blogs & twitter etc.

Anyway this is just my view. I will gladly like and share and retweet once the campaign goes live.

Thanks again

Thanks for the help. You make very valid points. At this point, (Korg) emails may not be as important for the petition, as much as getting the message out on social media.

I think it's important to avoid coming across as overly disgruntled customers. (even if some of us are!) Just something like "We find the new Electribes to be incredibly useful and fun music production tools that deserve to reach their potential" maybe. Just a thought. Thanks again Cade!

Great suggestion. .. something like this?:
Many Electribe 2 users are extremely pleased with the instrument and find the new Electribes to be incredibly useful and fun music production tools. In addition, most Electribe 2 users also feel that Korg addressing these issues would help these instruments reach their full potential and likely result in a revived interest in the machines and increased sales.

Looks great!

[h.vel]

For the last bug... possibly..
I'm just not sure if this is a bug common to others, as I hadn't noticed it. Do you think it can be corrected, if the problem is the limited processing power?

I'm quite sure that this bug exists on all Electribes, because I've read in the past sometimes about this problem. Maybe you can check it? Just play an existing pattern and save it a few times. At least with every 2nd saving you should hear the glitch. If Korg can fix this? I'm not shure, but we should mention it.

Honestly, I think 10 to 15 from the list can be removed, but I am trying to be diplomatic and accommodating.

I can live with the requests (some I really like). Maybe 12 is a little wordy? And my opinion is that we did a votation (with just a few users) and to stay fair we should mention the issues with a lot of votes (3 and higher).


In common I think: Of course the petition could be optimized in somes points. It is also possible to rewrite everything... But: the most important thing is that Korg will recognize that many users are "unhappy" with the current bugs and the workflow. So, I guess it's not that important that everything is written 100% perfect - it's much more important that the petition gets signed by a lot of people!

I would say that the current petition is good enough to reach our goal (Korg will recognise us and maybe doing something).

Anyway, in the end Korg will just fix the issues, which are reasonable/doable for them..

[Sulfur]

For the last bug... possibly..
I'm just not sure if this is a bug common to others, as I hadn't noticed it. Do you think it can be corrected, if the problem is the limited processing power?

I'm quite sure that this bug exists on all Electribes, because I've read in the past sometimes about this problem. Maybe you can check it? Just play an existing pattern and save it a few times. At least with every 2nd saving you should hear the glitch. If Korg can fix this? I'm not shure, but we should mention it.

I can confirm that this happens for sure and I'd say always, but I've never seen it as a bug. I mean, when the processing power isn't even able to handle all the parts playing, I've always considered "normal" that adding another task, like saving a pattern, affected the sound. Also I think (or at least my experience suggest it to me) that if you're still in need to save a pattern you're still in your creative process, programming your sounds and your sequences. In this stage a glitch is not a real concern to me, not like something that affects the usability of the device and its live performance, like pattern changing glitch and lag that make the Electribe quite unusable in a real performance environment.

[Cade]

...edit...
I can live with the requests (some I really like). Maybe 12 is a little wordy? And my opinion is that we did a votation (with just a few users) and to stay fair we should mention the issues with a lot of votes (3 and higher).

In common I think: Of course the petition could be optimized in somes points. It is also possible to rewrite everything... But: the most important thing is that Korg will recognize that many users are "unhappy" with the current bugs and the workflow. So, I guess it's not that important that everything is written 100% perfect - it's much more important that the petition gets signed by a lot of people!

I would say that the current petition is good enough to reach our goal (Korg will recognise us and maybe doing something).

Agreed. We are done refining, and the petition will go live today.
(after I fix 12 and a few minor things)

For the last bug... possibly..
I'm just not sure if this is a bug common to others, as I hadn't noticed it. Do you think it can be corrected, if the problem is the limited processing power?

I'm quite sure that this bug exists on all Electribes, because I've read in the past sometimes about this problem. Maybe you can check it? Just play an existing pattern and save it a few times. At least with every 2nd saving you should hear the glitch. If Korg can fix this? I'm not sure, but we should mention it.

I can confirm that this happens for sure and I'd say always, but I've never seen it as a bug. I mean, when the processing power isn't even able to handle all the parts playing, I've always considered "normal" that adding another task, like saving a pattern, affected the sound. Also I think (or at least my experience suggest it to me) that if you're still in need to save a pattern you're still in your creative process, programming your sounds and your sequences. In this stage a glitch is not a real concern to me, not like something that affects the usability of the device and its live performance, like pattern changing glitch and lag that make the Electribe quite unusable in a real performance environment.

Totally understood, and great points. (I checked the pattern save audio glitch out today)
I agree: In the event that one would like to save a new pattern while playing (even if in a live situation), this bug causes an issue, and I think should be in the list of bugs.
adding: 6. Audio and MIDI glitch when saving: When saving a pattern while the instrument is playing, the audio and MIDI clock have noticeable glitches, making it nearly impossible to save a new pattern while playing live.

-Note: the petition is up-
https://www.change.org/p/tatsuya-takaha ... r-korg-inc