Korg Monotribe

[jamiewoody]

has anybody seen this? i just read about it. i don't think it is in retail yet. i could not find one on amazon.

it looks to be a larger version of monotron with waveform selector, sequencer, etc.

one bummer is that it still has the little ribbon keyboard instead of a REAL one with real keys! that would have been nice.

i notice there is already a clone of it out there! lol

[Matt the Modulator]

They are starting to be sold £195 recommended retail price which i think is just a little too much looks too much like a toy for that money what are the clones like

[nochtanseenspecht]

they should be cheaper than that, here in holland at least..
but it seems an interesting piece of gear, i like the drums on it.
also interesting for the benders, or should i say modders

[samspike]

195 for a stylus keyboard, WTF? I didn't pay much more than that a Microkorg XL (which by the way I'm not going to bend!) which includes a proper keyboard, effects, MIDI, and vocoder.

[Circuitbenders]

No Midi, USB or even CV/Gate. Just some crappy audio sync? Anyone know how that works?

That sync better work incredibly well or i suspect Korg might have made an error there. The monotron sold so well because its a toy, and its priced and marketed as a toy. If i was paying nearly £200 for something like that i'd at least expect some way of controlling it thats better than a tiny ribbon keyboard.

I just got a Roland MC202 for £210. I know which one i'd rather have........

[jamiewoody]

well, seeing that it is an ANALOG synth, usb would nbt apply. that, to me, is a huge part of the appeal. it would be like saying, "i'm not going to buy this stratocaster, since there is no usb jack".

i have a stupid question about midi...first of all, i understand what it is, how it interfaces a lot of keyboards, etc together. but, seeing that it is a DIGITAL interface,how can this work with ANALOG equipment? if so, is it truly analog? i would somehow assume so, since a lot of new moog gear has midi features...

[jamiewoody]

my biggest beef with this...for the price, over $200 usd...why not REAL keys?!! i wonder if they think they would sell less of their modeling synths, since people know they can get a REAL stynth?!

[Matt the Modulator]

i have a stupid question about midi...first of all, i understand what it is, how it interfaces a lot of keyboards, etc together. but, seeing that it is a DIGITAL interface,how can this work with ANALOG equipment? if so, is it truly analog? i would somehow assume so, since a lot of new moog gear has midi features...

the midi clock  signal can be counted and divided  into pulses to time the sequencer or midi note messages can be converted into an analogue CV signal so completely analog synths can be midi controlled

[Matt the Modulator]

ps what clones are out there !

[Circuitbenders]

well, seeing that it is an ANALOG synth, usb would nbt apply. that, to me, is a huge part of the appeal. it would be like saying, "i'm not going to buy this stratocaster, since there is no usb jack".

No it wouldn't. 

http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/m-cv/usb-solo.shtml

Theres no reason why you can't control an analog synth via usb, or even via any digital system. How do you think people control analogue synths?

[samspike]

well, seeing that it is an ANALOG synth, usb would nbt apply. that, to me, is a huge part of the appeal. it would be like saying, "i'm not going to buy this stratocaster, since there is no usb jack".

i have a stupid question about midi...first of all, i understand what it is, how it interfaces a lot of keyboards, etc together. but, seeing that it is a DIGITAL interface,how can this work with ANALOG equipment? if so, is it truly analog? i would somehow assume so, since a lot of new moog gear has midi features...

Analog means continuous control.  Digital means step-wise control, starting with binary on/off (1 or 0), but also step-wise where the range of a setting may be represented by a number such as 0-127, 0-255, 0-32,767, 0-65,535, etc.

Even in a classic analog synth a la 1970s,  the sound generation process would be entirely analog, but the controls rarely are purely analog. Yes, the knobs and pots may be continuous, but there are various things that are typically just on/off switches - starting with the keys - which are each pressed or not pressed.   A simple MIDI implementation (MIDI is a digital protocol) would control these.  There are MIDI synths like this, where the note on's/off's are controlled by MIDI, but most everything else is by knobs, which are not MIDI controlled - I think the FreeBass is one of these.

The next step up in MIDI is where the position of the knobs, or simulated position of a virtual knobs, is controlled by MIDI. If the numeric range of knob positons is large enough (say 0-32,767) the steps are usually so small, that you can't notice it's not analog.  The sound generation process can still be analog though, as after the simulated knob positions is controlled digitally, the circuitry that makes the sound can be analog.  Oberheim 1000s and Cheetah MS6 are I think in this category.

As for USB vs MIDI - they are both digital protocols, just different in detail, but there's no fundamental theoretiical reason why they can't both contain the exact same sorts of stuff - just setting up a particular interface combination might be difficult in practice.

[Matt the Modulator]

i notice there is already a clone of it out there! lol

now I'm more interested in the clones have u a link to any clones our there ! and is it a manufactured clone or just a one of build

[noiseybeast]

well, seeing that it is an ANALOG synth, usb would nbt apply. that, to me, is a huge part of the appeal. it would be like saying, "i'm not going to buy this stratocaster, since there is no usb jack".

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-iAXE393-Electric-Guitar-Black/dp/B000OYTJY0/ref=sr_1_5?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1303292822&sr=1-5

Soon Fender will have some too!

[selfpreservation]

i definatley wont be paying £200 for one of these , KORG YOU NEED TO PUT A PROPER ENVELOPE GENERATOR ON YOUR SYNTHS OTHERWISE THEY JUST SOUND STOOPID, if i see one second hand for about £70 i might buy it  , the monotron is cool btw just put proper jacks on it , destroy the osc , bypass the headphone amp and put a pot level pot on the input and you have a very close MS20 filter complete whith the wispy white noise effect you get with the real deal , i reckon theyre will be loads of monotrons for about £25 when this comes out , every cloud and all that...

[samspike]

well, seeing that it is an ANALOG synth, usb would nbt apply. that, to me, is a huge part of the appeal. it would be like saying, "i'm not going to buy this stratocaster, since there is no usb jack".

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-iAXE393-Electric-Guitar-Black/dp/B000OYTJY0/ref=sr_1_5?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1303292822&sr=1-5

Soon Fender will have some too!

I think that's different.

But I'd imagine the USB is just an A to D on the audio output of the guitar.   (No different from plugging a strat into a digital recorder with a digital out on the recording-device - just one less box, and a somewhat less nice guitar).

The guitar itself is still a 100% analog instrument.

A truly digital guitar would be something like the Casio DG20, or maybe EZEG/EZAG (I haven't tried these so an assumption)