Korg Forums

[reddone]

The emx1 is awesome , no doubt about it . It covers so many bases , its almost all i need . I hav used the beast for 4 years an only now do i feel i am tapping its true potential .

4get holding out for EMX2 for now , and stop convincing yourself that EMX1 is limited , think of its few limitations as useful restrictions , beleive the machine can do more , and you'll open up its true voice .
One day you will get used to the tone of the machine and no doubt think " is that it ? " , well no , that is definately not it !!
Try this :

1: make a synth sound and output it thru the pitchshifter . Mess around between osc1/osc2 and use pitchsift as osc3 . Very useful . ( NOT QUITE OSC3 BUT CLOSE ENOUGH )

2: For better ( FAR better ) drum sounds , use a synth part and choose either drums/percussion/cymbals/snare on PCM setting . For drums that burp/belch use the ws+pcm setting and mangle/filter your drums while gating and pitching them with the arp ribbon/slider .
You can also use the keys EXACTLY as you would with a synth sound so that you can play a string of different drums . VERY VERY COOL , DO IT !!!
C'mon , you only lose one synth part !!

3: For a more rounded/softer drum sound try finding your drum then using the"amp" setting on the "modulation" , select "negetive" slope and set your timing to suit drum sound . This is again VERY useful .

4: If you can hear what your sound needs but cant do it automatically , get your £500 worth and tweak the box you bought to tweak . Dont be afraid of having to get it right , off the cuff , you can fine tune the tweaked elements in data form easily later ( in " motion edit " ) .

5: The EMX1 has a distinct tone that runs through all of the sounds it creates . If you bought an "MX" to create truly original "ELECTRONIC" music then well done , good choice , this thing has searing hot electro blood pumpin through its veins . The EMX1 has YEARS left in it , sampler or not this box has loads of untapped power WITHOUT any other gear .

People should try making it do what has'nt been heard already rather than re-creating sounds that are too familier . Older styled sounds are fine , but the world knows these sounds already . EMX1 is capable of roughly double what the majority think possible , lets move to the future .

6: GET YOURSELF SOME PROPER KNOBS !!! .

Lets be honest , those plastic knobs that the EMX1 comes with really cheapen the feel of the machine , and actually limit your tweakability!!
They are too small and apart from looking crap they have no grip , meaning tricky performing .
I lost faith in the EMX1 a bit after about a year or two , doubting the power judging by the knobs .
Eventually i took some knobs off my dbx266 compressor and put em on the "MX" along with a couple of endless rotaries i got at a dj repair store , and what a difference in both look and use-ability !! The beast looks " TREMENDOUS" , and feels better to use for sure !!!!!


7: So there you have it folks , these tips will give your EMX1 plenty more life , so forget EMX2 for now . Make yourself a blackbelt through these tips , your preliminary training is over

[Ruso]

this does not by any means extend or modify it... these are standart features which have been explored before... That's why they've been put in... and btw using synth drum sounds is cool but you only have 5 synth parts.... which are kinda needed... the compressor is useless it sounds like s**t and pops all the time... the recorded drum sounds are terrible...

What would be truly cool is if some electronics geek took it appart, found out what cpu it uses, how it interfaces with i/o and for example came up with an embedded linux modification which would let it work with emx... that would be cool, because now this would let us reprogram the f*ck*ng thing to truly add new features...

[reddone]

Just got 2 say Ruso , that i agree with the compression sound , it is odd and most of the drums sound crap . But if u do some clever trix with the poorer sounding drums u can at least make some strange/cool electro drums .
And if u combine that with making the most of the better drums u can definately get some get the MX to sound alot better . I dont use much compression unless i really need as i hav found numerous ways to emulate compression when combining the effect with high usage of the tube , which is the opposite way i used to use the MX .
There are issues that could definatly do with a bit of "true" modding of the engine however , like the lack of any anti-aliasing or a way of stacking synths without a an externall keybd . Also the synth has a clippyness at times which i have found to be the worst limitation in synth capability .
These issues are all nitpicking tho, it is HANDS ON controll that the Mx was built for and the majority of issues can be resolved that way .
2 years in i had doubts , 4 years in i enjoy it more than ever .

It does take a fair bit of clever programming and performing and also some smart sequencing , but the MX has LOADS of untapped potential .

IT DOES REEK OF ELECTRONICS though , so its not THE BEST all in one studio . BEST SMUT BOX THO !!! lol .....

[itch.]

[reddone]

i get u on the " double the power " thing . Perhaps too strong a point , although yeah i definately tapped into alot more power lately and reckon there is alot more to go .

P.S Smoking more weed hampers my creativity slightly , but just enough keeps me rollin .... Oh yesss !!!

[Ruso]

P.S. Smoking Weed makes you think you're being more creative when in reality due to prolonged effects from smoking weed you feel closer to normal which makes you feel like you're being more creative...


Ruso(7 years of nonstop drugs I'm not just saying this to nag).... there's a good reason I stopped

[itch.]

[guila61]

wasup all - registered today, bought my emx in july. i'm def in favor of tampering the unit's for unexplored grounds. its funny, b/c i think we tend to forget about that. i def bought it to make music i never heard before (rsrsr =P)....

so we're all asking ourselves: does playing and learning the entire thing take yrs? how come i'm no pro? Well, I think that's the wrong route.

we need all the support we can get to remind us that this machine is not here to make the classical electronic stuff. i speak of the esx as well. i've been going on youtube daily to watch everyone's videos, and have found one or two good, eclectic styles. people are forgetting to get emotional and spiritual with it (i've found that helps)... people are forgetting they need to quit turning random knobs and concentrate on challenging themselves. i'm victim of this. the machine is a fantastic creative tool just like a guitar or photoshop, and if we don't discipline ourselves to make new accomplishments, we'll find ourselves hypnotized by the power of these tools. tell me u never found urself doodling with a guitar for hours when you don't even know how to play it? but you got some interesting sound out of it...

btw, my setup is the emx1 + kp3 + roland mc-303 - i'm very happy with the kp3's ability to resample the emx.

a couple things i can contribute, tips i try to remind myself of, that many emx youtube videos aren't following:
(a) importance of being aware that songs have a beginning, middle and end
(b) "i went crazy because i was trying to do too many things"
(c) I'll only want to do it if I know exactly what to do with it - if there is no exactness, there is no objective action. Maybe discipline arises even for the undisciplined ones, but only when s/he isn't afraid of ignoring the hows and only thinking about the whats at first. Think of exactness as the light bulb going off in our head. We need to talk about how to get these bulbs lighting more often when we jam wit this machine!

if any of you relate to some of this nonsense ive writen, we have some hope. i'm strongly inspired to share original samples and ideas in the future to come m8s!

lata-
gui

[reddone]

So , fair enough we can only cosmetically mod the MX , and improve the tweakability with better knobs , but at least it opens up that bit more from the MX .
I do know ( very well ) the limits of the MX and for filling in the gaps it misses i had used software , for a while .
If you want a partner for your MX try hunting down a Roland sh-32 they are also awesome in their own right !!
I find that if my Mx is being pushed then i use my sh-32 so get those more Classic synth timbre's . What the best thing is though is the fact that the two machines sound superb together , almost sounding like one unit .
I got my sh-32 for a crazy £30 ( honestly the guy must've been mad ) , and it is VERY in depth if u need it to be . The drums are crap though so it is used purely as an extension to my pallet of sounds .
I also find that it is'nt as good as the Mx at some sounds , but better at others . PERFECT . Check it out guys . U Should get one for about £150+ maybe cheaper , u never know .