Bad Gear - Korg Electribe 2 

I figured it out! The real purpose of this channel is not to shame manufacturers of bad gear (although it helps, and probably feels good), it's to shame bad producers who blame their bad gear for their own musical shortcomings. You prove that you can make good music with any kind of gear. Thank you.

I've gotten a surprising amount of mileage out of mine as a production tool, once I embraced its limitations and started exporting the tracks as wav files to finish songs. It's a weird mix of old school and modern and I think it's got its cult following because of that.

I can’t wait for the release of “Bad Gear: The Album”

I had an ER-1, and I have to admit I loves the noise you could make with it.

Pro tip: Each pad has a shift function. Get a label printer and print them out. It will save heaps of menu diving and make it much faster to work with. I don’t know what Korg was thinking by not labelling them.

Absolutely love your work- the hits just keep coming! Idea for upcoming video: “Bad Gear: The Eurorack Format: How It Stole My Kid’s College Fund and Made My Wife Divorce Me”. Seriously though, if you are ever up for doing Eurorack, the debate about how awesome/overrated/useless Make Noise MATHS is rages on. It’s a never-ending war of music snobbery.

My favorite bad gear low end so far, great bassline in this final track.

It was my first synth, and while it has limitations, I still love it!

Aww I love my elwctribe 2. Especially using it live over when I'm DJing

Here in France, lot's of Free party's music are based on the electribes (we even have a genre called "tribe" which also exist in Italy but existed before the first electribe). However, I actually never saw one of the new type in those. Maybe the red (sampling) one could be useful tho ! But we already have the ESX which sounds better. To be honnest, I kinda hate korg for those new electribe (and I'm a korg guy) !

6:09 aaaaand an other masterpiece !!! Wow😮

I really like mine, the Moog filter sounds very nice but I bought it because of the battery. I love going outside and being able to jam in the park. Got it used for 200€, definitely worth it for me:)

Love the tone of the channel and I've learned quite a bit on various hardwares I didn't know about (coming from the acoustic instruments world) . Used covid times to build myself a handy synth setup I can use and your fun videos have helped me quite a bit with some of my choices ... including some bad gear :)

This episode didn't have your typical breakneck speed of both humor and derision

Really and truly hate how the sample version doesn’t have a dedicated “sample end” controller knob (as far as I can tell). If I’m remembering correctly, the “edit” knob can change the start point and make the sample reverse, but the only way to change the end point is to edit the AD envelope (which isn’t always the desired effect) or to menu dive. Why on earth they didn’t just give the start point knob a shift function, I’ll never know.

Yaay been waitin for this, i have a sampler version loving it from the day one. Weird that i wanted to see it in bad gear episode :D

I have the es2 and it's a love-hate relationship. Many features are awesome, but the UX is frustrating when diving into menus. I hope some "better gear" magician comes up with a pirate firmware update.

I own an Electribe 2 Sample, but I didn't do much with it, until this weekend, when I tried to make some actual music with it (to see if I really do have to buy a competing product). With the default setup, you only have about 80 seconds of sampling time left, b/c the factory samples take up all of the memory (which is only 64 MiB). It's a tight squeeze even for just one song. Thankfully, back in the day, I visited the KORG forum and downloaded empty sample and pattern sets (the link might still be there). The empty samples load automatically from card during boot up, but the empty patterns have to be imported manually. After you've done that, the machine is essentially blank, and you have 5 minutes of mono or 2.5 minutes of stereo sampling time available. This is at least something you can work with. Also make sure you have the latest firmware, which is 2.02 (it adds a pattern chaining function, among other things). Before powering the unit off, make sure you EXPORT ALL SAMPLES, or any changes you made to the samples will be gone. An important function from the Parameter Guide manual is EXPORT AUDIO to stream a pattern in individual parts to a card as WAV or Ableton files, EXPORT P.SET AUDIO does the same to a pattern set, and EXPORT CHAIN AUDIO does the same to a chained list of patterns (making sure each file is exported only once). The device is slightly antiquated nowadays, but it still does have its uses, I guess.

Last song is fire 🔥

I came for the gear reviews, i stayed for the memes scattered throughout the video.

Wow ! What a geat tune at the end !

"more of a production tool, than a live performance instrument" - the exact reason why i got mx1+tr8s+mc707 instead of Electribe2. The only thing is - my heart still bleeds of why I sold my ESX-1SD, but had no choice. Maybe will get my son a Volca Sample 2 after all, but I am all Roland now.

I love my E2! Still use it all the time. It's a great little box to jam with.

I came for the title of the jam… I was not disappointed. 😄👏👏👏

Hey, remember me? I'm the dude who defended the Drumbrute! I borrowed that from my friend, who also happens to own this here Volca Big. At 2:36 you triggered my PTSD, be careful man!! So many occasions trying to set up dark industrial ambient stuff, but then this electro wannabe starts BLASTING through our monitors... At least the Drumbrute didn't do that lmao. Actually we've had many good times, my man is amazing with his Gray Slate of Tekno, and it synced with my Volca Easel (2 modulars) and my Volca Sequence seamlessly... anything portable by Korg is a Volca now, fight me.

There’s two used near where I live out for $150 and $180 and I actually seriously considered before watching this video and after I think I will pull the trigger

That last one... Like when The Onion introduced the Apple Wheel.

The most important part about this channel is the part where he still makes something awesome out of the shitty gear just to remind you that you gotta snap out of GAS mode and just make something inspired

I knew you would eventually do this one, very entertaining my friend.

One of my first pieces of gear was a blue E2 exactly like that. After watching your video I realized why I sold it so quickly.

At the time that I got it, (The E2, not the E2S) it seemed like a good deal for the 16 track sequencer and ability to run on AA batteries. It still wouldn't be a bad device to go to town on while embracing the limitations and then bring into Ableton. That said, my biggest disappointment was that it doesn't export MIDI, so you can't A/B your original loop against external hardware or soft synths to try to beat the sound of the original loop. However, it's not like it's rocket science recreating the MIDI data if it's worth the time to even go down that road.

I bought a brand new emx-1 and esx-1 just before they stopped making them.

Maybe a mini série on workstation keyboard, alesis Qs, Korg triton, Yams motifs...or the lovely Zoom, drum machines and samplers...or the EMU workstation romplers

I'm looking forward to the Moog Subharmonicon episode of Bad Gear

Love my original gray E2 and reach for it often. I will say that it is very easy to under cook AND over cook compositions on it. It really shines when you can stretch the voices JUST to the point that everything is rich and clean but before it gets muddy and starts stealing random voices. A great affordable sound pallet that rewards patience.

Oh ..the "IWANNAKNOW" guy new release. Awesome

You should review the Korg PSS60 - Good look finding even one!

Bro your absolutely awesome. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise

Here in the eastern part of germany the are pretty popular especially within the "Tekk" scene. About 60% uses a Electribe 1/2 for making their patterns.

I can't believe Electribe models are setup for left hand touchpad use ! SMH That's the best rave video clip I've ever seen you do 👍

this was my dream episode!

Before I hacked my E2 to be an E2S, played a few shows with it and an Elektron box. The shows went great. Full dance floor at a sold out club, with DJs asking how I got my kicks to hit so hard. Yeah, the presets are mad cheesy, and it’s limited in many ways, but it’s a capable machine when in the right hands. That said, the sampler version is better imo. Never went back, but mostly gets used now for holding analog drum samples from my A4 now.

I like to watch this channel just to see how much of my gear shows up in here LOL. I owned one of these when it was cool to have it and I got to tell you that back in the day, this thing really was an inspirational tool. Limitations and all. The quality of the samples was passable for the price range. I think I wish I would’ve never sold it.

I had one. Loved it, but it was not a very sturdy machine. I learned a lot from using it. The drum samples were outstanding.

The grey version of the eletribe 2 has been featured in the CW's Flash series at least 2 times as some kind of a scientific doo-dad, so take that as you might.

You should check out some of Mistabishi's electribe 2 vids, he makes this thing SING like nobody else.

Heya! I think i got another Bad Gear candidate for you. But it's kinda rare due to it's bad rep. The Alesis Fusion 6 HD or Fusion 8 HD. People hated its looks and its UI, but it's one of the best synths i own. Sadly the power supply died and i haven't found a replacement yet. The Fusion is a damn powerful synth and with the power comes the complexity and many say / said so. ;) I found it comparatively easy to use, but the one thing i couldn't figure out yet, even with a printed copy of the manual, is the sequencer... This thing is just too complex for me... The synth is 16 part multitimbral via MIDI, the sequencer adds another 16 parts! And with the audio inputs you can even record 8 tracks at once into the sequencer. As you seem to be able to tame even the wildest gear, i'd really be intrigued to see, what you can get out of this feature monster. If you want to get one, get a Fusion 6 HD. I have the 8 HD and it's a 30 kg monster. The weighted mechanic keyboard and the substantially larger metal case make it so damn heavy. I don't know, if they still can be found online, but if so, get the Hollow Sun soundpacks. Those presets are waaay better than the factory ones! I have them on my now dead Fusion. Sadly i lost the USB stick, on which i backed them up... Best wishes from Bavaria! :)

Love these vids.. I had the red esx back in the day, my first drum machine sampler before i went with mpcs. I'd love to see a flagship electribe from korg. The tech is there, workflow is awesome, in depth sampling with bit rate options, maybe a selectable analog filter like the rd-8 too, just the it has everything electribe... seems like a no brainer for me

I like how he gets his synths from a castle

Oh dear. I must stop buying bad gear. I have three electribes still in their boxes. Used very little, and unloved. I must really have bad taste. Great show as usual. Danke.

I Was thinking on buying one but changed my mind in favor of Elektrons. But still a big fan of Volcas!

Electribe 2 Sampler+ MicroKorg+ FLstudio. That's my setup.

Nice video man! What would you say is the best, bang for the buck, used groove-box as of May 2023? Your thoughts are much appreciated sir. Thank you.

Excellent! Not as brutal as i would have expected. I’ll say this after using the E2 synth ver for 5 years, it gets better and better over time. You can get some pretty unique sounds etc but it wont do it for you. For sure you have to use it with and other machine, in my case ESX2, from there you can do a hell of a lot. I’ll link a guy who totally rocks it with these 2 units only. Best thing thing about it is once you learn short cuts it becomes real quick to create interesting stuff with mod params…

no Bad Gear. its weird for some Genres but in Tekno/Tribe/Rave (160-190BPM) a GeniusWare . Brutal Hard and Clear Music

5 years ago i sold my analog rytm for the sample edition thinking it’d cover the same bases i needed for less than half the price… ha.. worst choice i’ve ever made. thing had this weird issue when patterns repeated where it seemed to never keep on the clock. like it’d glich a split second while repeating the pattern so it sounded pretty off

Cynical. Sarcastic. Critical. Ingenious. Another Bad Gear. Building a brand from a special enthusiasm of music and gear. Thanks for journey.

My favorite "feature" was when Korg overwrote the shortcut for erasing characters in the naming menu with the useless undo function. yay

4 colours the sampler is also available in black.

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! I've been hoping someone I trust would get hands-on this. I've been considering whether to buy one. I haven't heard any heavy, aggressive sounds out of this box. I think it's too gentle for my taste. Sampling has always been a strong suit of the Electribe series. I'd love to see what you think of the Liverwurst version, and whether that version is full of bologna 😜 Have a great week, brother! Bad Gear Forever!

"Sound design?" - Set the knob to dubstep

I have a question. I have a jx08. Im planning to buy an electribe to record from my jx08 and loop them in multiple layers. Is it okay to use this gear for this purpose?

@1:58 "Available in two flavors and three colors" ... there are four colors - blue is re-release of the grey electribe, while red is re-release of the black electribe-sampler [see ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L5vYGmLFeAU.html for explanation of there differences"; apparently the re-releases just made improvements in the pads but use the same firmware as the updated originals]

i think everybody who had the e2 used that "hey" sample at least once :D

Great video! I got the sample version of this thing to replace my mc-505 that had sadly faded away and... I just hated it. What's worse is it took me forever to find anyone to buy it from me! I think you described it here really well. It's tough to use as a live midi groovebox, the internal sounds are impossible to make anything but some mid 2010s pop with, and it really just existed as a drum machine to me. I dug it for sequencing like that, but found the menu diving for my loaded samples to be more frustrating than my extremely user unfriendly Ensoniq EPS. I should have just paid a bit more for a Digitakt, as the fact that the Electribe is paraphonic makes it a little useless. might as well have mono samples and a better interface.

28 Page menu? That's like half of the pages of what menus would used! What a super streamlined machine!

5:34 I like the bass..

Teehehehe, gear I own, sort of, I own the sample

Where do i get the sample update for the non sample version

I like the thin synth. Good for like new order type of basic sounds. Still haven't found another all in one box that holds a candle to it on the market

Loving your work man. A week is a long wait for your vids. I'm currently trying to get my head around the Polybrute I just bought. Also, would getting a Korg R3 tattooed on my body be a tad excessive?

Oh no, its time to destroy the Electribe 2! I own it, love it and hate it. I have the Sample 2 but these two are very similar. I wish Korg would develop this more. They need to release a new OS NOW, or release the SDK so that the Pajens of the world can take over! The software is buggy and limited, 24 voices are reduced to virtually nothing, sometimes there does not seem to be a reason! Its true ITS SO STUPID to have mini MIDI jacks on a full sized unit like this! Korg need to get their act together, or just give up and release a new generation. Why not learn a few things from the Akai MPC or Elektron Digitakt? Even the Korg Volcas are more stable, and the Volca Sample 2 has sample transfer that works and a good, Korg PC program.

Great video. Mista Bishi managed to rule this device like no one else, or, most probably, Korg made this electribe just for Mista Bishi to enjoy...

Next month you’ll say an original 808 is the bad gear of the month

thanks, just two minutes into the video helped me decide it'd be a bad buy

et-best tool ever pure techno beast.thank u.

If you are taking a crack at brand new units, the Behringer Deepmind 12 might be worth reviewing.

It is not a rumor, I had this unit years ago and did flip the firmware to a sampler version and back

Considering that Akai is making MPC models well into the sub $1000US price range, I would think that the Korg would have a very bracketed market to appeal to. I'm not saying that the MPC is this or that... but feature-wise I'd hold out for the lowest tier MPC.

There are parts of my ES2 that deeply annoy me in comparison to the esx but it absolutely wipes the floor with your Digitakt

Your videos are amazing! Hilarious.

I bought one when first released and then I got rid of it very soon after. Before that I owned the emx1 & esx1 which I believe are the best interfaced of all electribes. I remember feeling like korg had deserted an established community. The e2 is better for hands on live I guess.

curious if you can hit multiple pads at once to pick multiple notes and arp them with the touchpad like the older electribe i have. great feature. really sucks that it does not have a song mode like the older models. dealbreaker right there for me.

When are you gonna cover the Beat Thang

I'd love to see the Novation Mininova or original Novation Circuit. Quite a lot of hate on both of those (particularly the OG Circuit, which was recieved poorly on release)

Tech house? No that's not tech house. Then the vocal sample comes out. Yeah, that's definetly tech house!

I think bad is a bit of a stretch, As far as professional gear goes its a bit lacking but is really good for someone new to dawless music making. Once your used to its quirks its easy to make some cool sounding stuff that doesn't suffer just because its digital. I intend to re-buy it when i can along with the Reface DX, the two were my starting synths along with a Blofeld.

Does it have cowbell?

I have the sampler model, the voice limit is pretty frustrating, and the poor MIDI implementation and lack of outputs (the previous Electribes had both stereo and assignable outs, these only have regular stereo outs) limits its usability a lot, but it's still useful as a sampler. I do miss some of the filter options from the synth version, but I guess I'm not really missing out all that much when it comes to the actual synth engine. Given the limited outputs I can't really use it as a drum machine, but it does a good job complementing my EMX-1 as a polyphonic sequencer. Sometimes it gets really noisy for no discernable reason though, it can just start letting out a loud whining sound for no apparent reason, which can be really frustrating when you're trying to record.

I won't lie, I would have been happier if it was Just the Electribe EMX 1 with modern ports and memory options

It has a 28 page menu! Yowza.

The machine is not bad now for me I wish they would have made it a basic synthesizer with the sequence , they can keep the drums but I am interested in the groove box

You need the discrete digital circuitry of the genre knob otherwise its virtual virtual analog

used to own this guy when i'm just a newbie in synth and electronic music space, only to become a dust colleting machine. hear the previous version are better. sold it and get the emx1 for less than 200. after a minor fix on the pads, now it become the center of my setup. but man, now i kinda get the feeling how bad other "bad gear" in this channel are.

Well, over here in Germany the ol' MX/SX in OK[ish] condition are way more pricey than a brandnew E2/E2S - even the really old ones with Smart Media slots. And dang, I know why.

Between roland's d-beams and korgs wobbly atari 7800 style thumbsticks, let me just say I'm so glad korg got over that horrible habit of putting kaoss pads in their products..... Excuse me? Sorry, what is a "modwave" ?

Unbeliewably hilarious Nick Batt sample 🤣

Thanks for systematically going through all my equipment. Would it help if I sent you a list of my entire studio gear to get this over and done with? 🙄

I love my E2... I don't own a computer, so it is the centerpiece of my rig. Bought it used for $300, never once regretted it. The synth section is capable of some great sounds if you use it right. Using the Overdrive insert effect goes a long way towards beefing up the synth sounds. Each of the 16 parts is on its own midi channel (part 1 = ch1, etc), which is useful when live playing it with my Keystep. I use the gate arp all the time; in combination with the touch scale function it makes for killer improvised leads. I'm fine with all the hate it gets, just means it's possible to find them cheap. Haters can hate all they like, I'll take mine with me to my grave! Great video as always, Bad Gear is one of my favorite youtube shows. Keep it up!

As an ESX aficionado, I skipped on the Electribe 2 literally because of the shortened pattern length. I don't think a successor should ever scale back any feature. Remove/combine feature? Cool, but never scale back.