In this music tech news roundup we look at 2 new Electribes along with a new Volca Sampler from Korg, the SBX-1 sync box from Roland which promises to link all your new and vintage gear, a MIDI controller for the Elektron Octatrack.
Just when you thought the industry had caught up to Korg’s ingenuity with portable electronic instruments, Korg leaps ahead once again with two new Electribe instruments (one synth based, one sampler based) introduced 10 years after the MX model. The two units also are tightly integrated with Ableton Live. No word on a price and they’re both set to launch in 2015.
The Electribe features 16 parts, 24 voices, 409 different types of oscillators, 16 different filters, 72 modulation types, 38 insert effects, 32 master effects, 64 step sequencer, and 250 patterns.
“KORG has collaborated with Ableton to offer a new music production workflow that combines the best of hardware and software. The electribe can internally save and export patterns in Ableton Live format. Individual patterns and parts are saved as scenes and clips in an Ableton Live Set. Use Live’s powerful Session and Arrangement workflows to edit and and refine your ideas, perform or record new parts, arrange your ideas, and mix your song. The Korg electribe includes Live Lite.”
“The electribe series lets you play back your carefully constructed patterns while using intuitive operations to add spice and reveal new sonic possibilities. Approximately ten years after the Electribe SX first went on sale, there’s now a new sampler in the electribe series that’s designed to be simple and easy for the beginner to understand, and even more enjoyable for previous electribe users.”
Korg also announced another cool addition to the impressive (and impressively inexpensive) Volca line, the Volca Sample. The Volca Sample is a digital sampler and sequencer that allows you to “tweak, play, and sequence samples – Volca style.” The Volca Sample allows you to edit and sequence 100 samples in real time. Judging from the video, there’s a lot of cool possibilities with this instrument. Imagine running the Volca Sample along with a Traktor DJ set-up or sequenced to an Ableton Live set for live performance. No word on price but expect it to be about the same as previous Volca iterations.
Just announced from Roland is the SBX-1 Sync Box, a new unit that is sure to ease many headaches in gear-heavy studios. The SBX-1 allows you to sync all of your electronic instruments from many eras. It also has ways to control timing and groove over the master clock and the SBX-1 can run off of USB bus power. It also sends CV/GATE to incorporate modular setups.
A new third party piece, the Oktakontrol is an open source controller for use with Elektron’s Octatrack performance sampler. It’s designed to go directly under the Octatrack and give you hands-on control of volume, muting, and a number of other Octatrack functions. Each button and fader is user-customizable.
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