Monotribe vs. Volca Beats

Discussion relating to the Korg Monotribe

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Two77Clash
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 5:51 pm

Monotribe vs. Volca Beats

Post by Two77Clash »

Hello! I'm a couple steps closer to buying my first analogue synth workstation, which will consist of an Arturia Microbrute and a clicking, hissing and snapping rhythm machine. But, I can't seem to make up my mind over whether I'll get a Monotribe or a Volca Beats, and the key-question here is usability while performing live.

I'm more interested in Monotribe, partly because it also doubles as a synth, but mostly because I love the absolutely minimal drum sounds of the little black box, but from what I've gathered, the Monotribe has no intetnal memory for storing drum sequences, which makes live performing tackier. Volca Beats, on the other hand, has the memory slots I find most handy, but the sound in general is less to my liking than that of the lil' Tribe.

I've stumbled upon this USB compability mod for the Monotribe called USBtribe, which toy understanding would make storing sequences on a music software possible, does anyone know if this is the case? What do you all think would be the wisest purchase in my situation? Are there other inexpensive analogue drum machines similar to the early, minimalistic drum machines of the '70s and the '80s out there?

Any help is most appreciated, and please excuse my lack of experience and vague questions when it comes to synths.

Thank you, happy beginning of summer for you all!

EDIT: Just to clarify, the drum machine would be synced with the Microbrute in order to achieve those warm, minimal and chugging electrobeats à la early Kraftwerk 8) I haven't had an opportunity to sync the Brute with any drum machines yet, but if anyone has any experience on the field, I'd truly appreciate any information!
analoguekid
Full Member
Posts: 177
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:22 pm
Location: Staffordshire UK

Post by analoguekid »

For simplistic ease and CV clock why not go for a proper 80's job in the first place, something like a BossD220 or D110
Korg gear past and present:- DW6000, DW8000, MicroKorg, MicroKontrol, R3, Nintendo Korg DS10, VolcaKeys.
Other gear presently being used:- Tascam US1800 audio interface, Yamaha QX5, QX21, M Audio radium 49, Fender Precision lyte bass and Boss ME50B fx pedal. Yamaha TX1P, XRI xr300, Boss BX-4 mini mixer.
Two77Clash
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 5:51 pm

Post by Two77Clash »

Money's too tight to mention, basically. Buying vintage anything off eBay gets really expensive really quickly if you happen to live outside of the States. Because of this, I've decided to buy easily obtainable machines still in production. The two KORGs are inexpensive and sound amazing. So why waste time and money on a wild goose chase :) Anyway, after looking around more, I've decided to go with Monotribe. The synth attribute is something I just don't want to miss. And after thinking about things for some time, what's the point in getting something too simple to use? With the Monotribe, the certain awkwardness can be transported into a stylistic attribute in itself. So yeah, I'll be getting a Monotribe.
jiggityj
Junior Member
Posts: 83
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2012 5:29 pm
Location: United States

Post by jiggityj »

Got both. If you want better drum sounds, get the Volca Beats. You'd have to spend more money on upgrades to the Monotribe to get it how you want, and still won't sound as good with drums. The Volca beats is ready to go and very handy for rhythms especially with the BPM readout. Open Hihat is a must imo, which the Monotribe does not have. The Volca beats has been my favorite out of the below $200 korg boxes. To bad I'm still waiting for my replacement from Korg since last month.
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