Re: slightly ot: the quest for a groovebox

[Ian Popperwell <popperwell@iname.com>]

Hi Jim,

I use the Electribe ER1 - I love it. Despite a few inadequacies, its got me
into drum programming again in a way that I hadn't since selling my Roland
TR606 15 years ago. It does 4/4 & 3/4 which is a limitation, so, even with
working with multiples of 3 or 4 you can't easily get a 5/4 or 7/8 rhythm. 
It
is incredibly intuitive to use though and you can very easily develop 
patterns
live. You can't save a pattern whilst its playing but its very 
straightforward
to change and develop them as they're playing. The onboard percussion 
synths
give loads of control over your sounds (which don't need to be
"percussion-like" at all). You can also send MIDI messages to other gear -
using the ER1's pattern-based sequencing to control other drum sounds 
which I
really like. 

I've found that it syncs up well to MIDI clock with most things - fx, other
drum machines, sequencer, arpegiators.... The exception to this has been 
when
using my Fostex hard disk recorder as "master", for some (as yet 
undiscovered
reason) The ER1 runs slow and out of time, the same happened when   using 
it
synced to an AKAI multi tracker.

Oh, and there's the Motion Sequencer! Which gives rhythms another 
dimension of
movement and intricacy.

I've found it very simple and reliable.
Hope this is of some help.

Ian.


At 10:57 06/03/03 , you wrote:
>regarding the ELECTRIBE series:
>
>i've been thinking about the ER-1...does anybody use this?  i'm wondering 
>if
>you're restricted to 4/4 and if the unit is able to be sync'd to my edp.  
>if
>anybody has a suggestion for a different beat machine, i'm all ears but 
>i'm
>not trying to spend a fortune on something that i plan on using in
>moderation.
>
>-jim
>