MM: Korg ES-1 mkII Electribe

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The Musikmesse show brought with it the ES-1mkII. The Electribe-S mkII lets you create rhythm patterns by assembling phrases using your favorite samples. The sound of each sample can be altered using the knobs to control the pitch and filter, reversing the sample, or adding effects. You're not limited to simply playing back a sampled sound -- you can process it as freely as you would on an analog synth. There's also a Time Slice function that detects the attacks within a sample and slices it, letting you handle each sliced sample separately. For example you can change the pitch and filter settings for just the kick drum, mute individual hits or modify the tempo without changing the pitch of the loop. Of course you can use the knobs to create tonal changes in sliced phrases as well.

The factory sounds include 64 patterns and 86 samples. Even without loading any additional samples, you've got material for immediate use in your hip-hop, R&B, house, and drum'n'bass dance music.

Effect Section featuring New Mod. Delay

The ES-1mkII provides two effect processors: a master delay, plus one of eleven effects that can be switched on/off for each part. The effect types range from staples such as Reverb and Flanger/Chorus to more unusual effects like Decimator, Isolator, and Resonance Filter. There's also a new Mod. Delay that can produce time-based variations in the delay. You can use the knobs to directly edit these effect parameters, and of course your knob movements can be captured as a motion sequence in the pattern.

Built-In Resampling

You can play your sampled sounds and parts through the effects, modify the pitch and other parameters in realtime, and then resample the result to create totally new sounds. Resampling takes place totally in the digital domain.

Create Rhythm Patterns Quickly

The Electribe-S mkII lets you use as many as ten individual sampled parts as building blocks for creating patterns. A measure is divided into sixteen steps, and you can create a pattern simply by touching the keys on the steps where you want a sample to sound out. You can play a roll or reverse a sample simply by pressing a single button, creating complex rhythm patterns easily and immediately.

Motions Sequence Records Realtime Knob Movements

The Motion Sequence function on the Electribe-S mkII records your knob movements to create realtime tonal changes to enhance your patterns. For each part, you can select one of four parameters -- pitch, filter, level, or pan (plus effect on/off) -- and use Motion Sequence to record any changes you make to that parameter. Changes in master delay depth and time, as well as the movement of the two effect edit knobs can also be recorded and played back. In particular, you can control Roll and Reverse using just a single button and record the On/Off movements for these parameters, quickly adding complexity to your rhythm patterns.

SmartMedia Data Storage

The Electribe-S mkII uses SmartMedia to store your samples, original patterns, and songs. You can also load AIFF or WAV files via SmartMedia, utilizing data from your computer. The Electribe-S mkII can use any 3V SmartMedia card, from 4 MB to 64 MB.

ES-1 mkII Specifications (subject to change):

• Number of parts: 12 (One Shot=9, Slice Part=1, Audio In Part=1, Accent Part=1)
• Sampling Frequency: 32kHz
• Maximum Sampling Time: 95 (mono) / 47.5 (stereo) seconds, saving to internal memory
• Number of Samples: 100 (mono) + 50 (stereo)
• Memory: 128 patterns, 16 songs
• Master Effect: Delay (Normal, Motion Sequence, BPM sync)
• Insert Effects: 11 types (Reverb, Flanger/Chorus, Phaser, Ring Modulator, Pitch Shifter, Compressor, Distortion, Decimator, Isolator, Resonance Filter, Modulation Delay)
• Sequencer: (Pattern) 64 steps maximum per part, motion sequence, 1 parameter per part, 64 events, One Shot part=4 parameters, Audio In part=3 parameters, Accent part=1 parameter, Delay=2 parameters, Effects=2 parameters : (Song) 256 patterns maximum per song, event recording: 43,700 events maximum per song
• Output: L/MONO, R (1/4" phone jack -- mono x 2), Headphones (1/4" stereo phone jack)
• Input: AUDIO IN (1/4" stereo phone jack, Level switch LINE/MIC, Gain adjustment knob)
• External Memory: SmartMedia (4 to 64MB, 3.3V)
• AD/DA conversion: 20bit linear
• MIDI: IN, OUT, THRU
• Power Consumption: 6W
• Power Supply: DC 9V (AC adapter)
• Accessories: AC adapter (DC9V, 600mA)
• Dimensions: 296 (W) x 220 (D) x 55 (H)mm / 11.65" (W) x 8.66" (D) x 2.17" (H)
• Weight: 1.6kg / 3.53 lbs.

MSRP: $599