The Korg Kaossilator, the hot new gadget that generates a symphony of sound with a few swipes of the finger, has generated a ton of interest, and not just among musicians, but of people with no prior music composing experience.

In the age of iPod’s, PSP’s and portable computing, the Kaossilator has a real chance of enticing the casual market. Its gadget-like appeal, ease of use, and well thought out features enables anyone to pick one up and explore their creative potential. Who says you need piano lessons and music theory? In just minutes, a novice beat-maker can have something that even Timbaland might try to steal from!

But what if you’re looking for something a bit deeper than what the Kaossilator offers? The relative brevity of the unit’s two-bar looper is a noticeable bottleneck. Some users, I imagine, will eventually wish for a tool that can sequence a full music track, rather than just a 5-second loop. Fortunately, Korg, among other manufacturers, make an exciting class of products known as grooveboxes that do just that.

The Korg Electribe line are a series of grooveboxes that have been used by electronic musicians for quite some time, and in many ways can be seen as the true parent of the Kaossilator. These all-in-one devices contain a library of synth and drum patches that can be arranged, recorded and played back live. This allows composers to produce music efficiently, but in a way that seems to amplify spontaneous creativity and enjoyment.

Grooveboxes, like the Korg Electribe MX-1 (EMX-1), Yamaha’s RS7000, or Roland MC-808, can play dozens of instruments and make use of an easy to grasp step-sequencer to layer and record these sounds. Novices, in particular, are a good match for step-sequencers, as they allow for more time spent creating music than worrying about all the technicalities of the process. Alternatively, and traditionally, composing music can also be done using real instruments or virtual instruments on a computer. But for many groovebox artists, the spontaneity and flow of creating music is diminished when the process becomes time consuming and complex.

Assuming that you’ve already watched a few Koassilator videos and know how the device generally functions, you can easily compare it to grooveboxes by watching a couple performances:

In the last video, the user operates an older Electribe model, but the process of building a loop (in this case consisting mainly of drum parts) is exactly the same for any model. Here, the step-sequencer ensures perfect timing, allowing multiple sounds to be layered and arranged without creating a train wreck of noise. The process works similar to the Koassilator’s internal sequencer, but the Electribe has the added benefit of possessing many knobs and buttons that can further manipulate the sound during playback. In comparison, the Kaossilator leaves all these features out for the sake of simplicity and portability, but in doing so loses the ability to modify patterns and sounds after they have been recorded. Additionally, the Electribe can play or mute any instrument part with a simple press of a button. Some of the newer models, like the EMX-1, even have sophisticated DJ-style effects, which can add a whole new dimension to recordings and live performances. Finally, the Electribe MX-1 has the capacity to loop 8-bar patterns and can store hundreds of these sequences for instant use.

Sadly, with all the additional control and features offered by the Electribes, they also come at a much higher price. Korg (like Apple) sets their prices nationally, so it’s difficult to find their latest unit, the EMX-1, for under $500 (unless you buy it used). Still, for budding electronic artists looking to launch their bedroom studios, a groovebox might be a great thing to own.

Here are some interesting groovebox performances to check out:

Incredibly, this guy uses 4 grooveboxes and a keyboard for a symphony of electronica!

High BPM with amazing complexity. The kid is on speed!

This composer also uses the EMX-1’s sister, the ESX-1, which is capable of sampling.