if EA-1s are so shit

i want some sort of hardware synth, basically i was gonna get an ea1 but everyone says NOOOOO, but i am poor and inexperienced, what should i do? id like an internal sequencer ideally just to cut out the computer altogether if i feel like it

  Coalbucket PI said:

i want some sort of hardware synth, basically i was gonna get an ea1 but everyone says NOOOOO, but i am poor and inexperienced, what should i do? id like an internal sequencer ideally just to cut out the computer altogether if i feel like it

what's an EA1? what's yr budget?

korg electribe

http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/Korg_ElectribeEA.cfm

i can really spend much more than £150 right now

DONT get an ea1 dude

find the nearest craigslist and scout the musical instrmnt section. there are often some surprising deals posted by desperate musicians who have no time for ebayery.

They're not that shit. I used to have a Korg EM-1 and I loved it. I also think you should get one of these instead of an EA-1 as it has all the sounds of the EA-1, plus drums and other shit. And they're cheap as second hand.

I remember it having some nice fat bass sounds, pretty good acid emulation, nice pads, all the classic drum sounds, (even all the bits chopped up of an amen break) easy-as-you-like sequencing, lots of on-board effects. Pretty much everything you need.

Yeah, get one! An EM-1 that is.

No, EA-1's really are shit. I've got one collecting dust in my closet right now. Luckily it was a cheap buy at a pawn shop before I knew what I was doing, so I don't feel too bad about it. :laughing:

I can't really justify buying such a limited synth... I guess I never understood the idea of a hardware monosynth in the first place though.

  chloroplast said:

I can't really justify buying such a limited synth... I guess I never understood the idea of a hardware monosynth in the first place though.

:unhappy:

The man's already said he's poor and inexperienced! The Electribe series is a really good intro into using hardware, and they're cheap. What's the point of him getting something like a monosynth. Can't make a track with just that can he?

I HATE synth snobbery - "oooh, no don't get one of those, they're rubbish, get an Oberheim 4-voice...etc etc" FUCK THAT. EA1's/EM1's/ES1's etc make noises and are easy to use and are CHEAP and that's what he wants. I say get one and learn it like the back of your hand. You'll be whipping out amazing tracks in no time. Don't listen to the haters!

P.S. If you want to hear an EA1 in action, check out "Red & Blue Boxing" by Like A Tim on Rephlex. Made entirely on an EA-1 and an ER-1. It's pretty out there though, like Like A Tim usually is....

ea1s are great! they have two seperate step sequencers, so you can use it to control other synths. the internal sound palette is limited somewhat, but plug it into some fx and bingo. they're really cheap now - ive seen them go for 50-70 quid

the eletribe series are all great for 'hands on' jamming

i dunno why everyone's so against crap kit.. some of the most interesting music i've heard has been done on cheap/broken/modded/old kit. in this day and age, of open source, free dsp available to fucking anyone, you can do anything with anything.

take a yamaha pss 'home keyboard', sample the beat, recycle it, pitch it down, distort it, bitcrushg it, whatever.. you can get some fucking ace sounds out of just about anything (except the mc303lol).. with a bit of imagination.

i've got a bent keyboard that cost 10 quid from woolies.. obviously wasn't bent when i bought it... makes some fucking amazing noises.

tha electribe series are waaay beyond that, and while tha ea1 is limited,.. if you've got a pc, then oit's only as limited as your imagination.

The limit with crap gear is not the caopabilities of the synth (303, 101 LOL), it's how much the sound of the thing inspires you to keep going IN SPITE of whatever the limitatons are.

Maybe see if you can get a deal / stretch yr budget slightly and get a MicroKorg?????

the problem with stuff like an ea1 isn't that its cheap sounding

its that it TRIES to sound $$, and doesnt sound charmingly crappy like a dimestore keyboard you buy for bending.

take ANY box with pieces of the amen already sliced. convenient, i suppose. but in my experience, make a drum with a out-of-the-box amen kit and it sounds awful. you gotta get in there and debreak the break yourself if you want it to sound warm / original / devestating etc.

ea1s try to give you what they think you want...d&b basses, housey organ leads, etc. crappy cheaper keyboards just give you whatever they could come up with. the former < the latter.

i did find my Ea1 somewhat limited, the one feature that would have improved it in my mind is quality ADSR control. but it is good for arpeggios and stuff, and split 5th and 6th stabs a la Orbital.

you can reprogram and you don't have to work with presets.

seriously, i've heard some great music come out of crap kit.

remember punk? 1977? the diy aesthetic?

probably not, most of you.

it's not all about production quality... the overblown 20 minute guitar solo, 7/8 time, falsetto vocals/classically influenced prog rock bands of the late 70's were 'extremely well produced'.

shame they were boring, pretentious, elitist etc etc.

i know it's a cliche, but that's why punk had to happen... the diy aesthetic is worth more (imo), than a slick bit of production.sound quality, and i'm a sound engineer.

it's all about ideas, not what you spent on your kit.

hey good replies fellas, thanks a lot, especially BCM. didnt know the em 1 did all that. electribes do seem to be restricted but i guess it might still be perfect for someone like me at my current situation

Wings - microkorgs catch a lot of hate too, which is why im sceptical to increase my budget for one of them

Blue igloo - i noticed you got a very good price on your ea1 auction, congrats

  Coalbucket PI said:

Wings - microkorgs catch a lot of hate too, which is why im sceptical to increase my budget for one of them

Yeah, but people who have them seem to hang on to them. This is NOT the case with electribes, which can be found stinking up your local auction site en masse.

Also, there's a guy locally who gigs with a whole lot of wacky analogue gear, but the centrepiece of his rig is his MicroKorg - it sounds great and he looks like he's having a blast tweaking the knobs and singing though the vocoder. I didnt realise they could do accompaniement until I saw one in action, either.

FUN is the key here. I'm betting a MicroKorg is way more FUN to own than an Electribe. I further bet that you're more likely to keep using a MicroKorg even after you have bought more expensive gear.

its true, microkorg owners seem to love them... yeah you make good points. id be up to £200 for one of them tho... shit they look like a lot of fun with the vocoder.

the ea1 is fucking amazing - i've got one - had it for years

same with a microkorg - the bottom end on that thing is phearce!

if you're a preset whore then i can see where you'd dislike it but if you get in about it you can get great results.

your best bet is to buy a 909, 303, 202, 101, 808 and every other bit of kit that twats on here bang on about and leave the weird stuff to people who make actually mess with their gear and make music.

plebs!

mo

  mosca said:

the ea1 is fucking amazing - i've got one - had it for years

 

same with a microkorg - the bottom end on that thing is phearce!

If you could only afford one and you had no other kit, which would you get?

they are both dsp and therefore sound exactly the same as vsti versions of them would.

you can't spend too much on a synth remember, so get the EA1 and then get a demo of the korg ms20 vsti (which shares the same codebase as the microkorg) and then you have all sorts of possibilities

killjoy! :tongue2:

Fight fight fight fight!!!!!

(Get an EA-1!! Or an EM-1 preferably.....Just go buy the fucking thing!!! It's bloody well good fun!!!)

Everyone on here who's recommended the electribe series really knows what they're talking about (listen to their tracks). Everyone who hasn't, er, doesn't.

first think about what you're going to do with your new shiny box/keyboard/thin module/elaborate contraption.

type google.com in the address bar of your browser, and sherlock around for a bit.

then check your bank account.

afterwards, go to the nearest quality moosik-instrument store and don't bring your wallet/creditcard/trading goods (like DEER SKINS or SHINY ROCKS or whatever you people are into these days).

try everything that matches the idea of what you wanna do, be and have. take your time, bring some drinks, some meals, maybe a blanket and some books, maybe a board game like monopoly or scrabble to spend the dark, cold winter times.

go back home when you've COLLECTED ENOUGH INTELLIGENCE. then THINK. resist the urge to post on internet message boards about machine that are so well known that virtually every instrument-site has information about them. THINK MORE. then MAYBE spend your money.

(..i will ruthlessly copy&paste this post all over EKT from now on..)

That's good advice iep. Damn good advice. But he's only got £150. Can't get much brand new for that from a music shop.....

Gonna have to go second hand or online....

  Coalbucket PI said:

Blue igloo - i noticed you got a very good price on your ea1 auction, congrats

cheeyas, quite chufft i got over a ton TBH.

its a shame i've had to compromise on pretty much all my gear because the other half is pregnant, but you gotta do what you gotta do. my studio has to now get redecorated and shit. the only stuff im keeping is my old battered groovebox, my old battered pc-200 mk2 controller, and my cheap guitars and amps. ive even had to sell my Rickenbacker 330 (avatar), my thunderbird 4 bass and my fender jaguar.