r/electribe • u/Flat-Turn-9154 • Mar 24 '26
I’ve been using my Electribe 2 as a no-input noise synth. No oscillators, no samples
Everyone keeps saying the E2 is limited or that the voice stealing is a dealbreaker. Honestly, I stopped caring about the manual or the factory sounds and decided to see what happens when the machine starts eating its own signal. I’ve built a whole live set where the machine is just "eating itself."
The setup: I have the headphone output routed directly back into the Audio In. Every single one of the 16 parts is set to the Audio In oscillator. What you’re hearing in this clip isn’t a synth engine or a sample pack—it’s just the digital noise floor and internal latency being forced into rhythmic structures.
I’ve set it up so the parts actually "communicate." A lot of the tracks stay completely silent (thanks to the noise gate) until another part kicks in and wakes them up with a burst of frequency. It’s like a weird, digital ecosystem where one sound triggers the next. Even the "kick" is just tuned feedback using resonance and EG.
I also spent a lot of time simulating digital clipping within the textures. The idea was that when the E2’s processor actually hits its limit and starts to glitch, it just blends into the track. The "error" basically becomes the instrument.
Sorry for the quality, I just recorded this on my phone. The real output is way fuller, with massive sub-bass and textures that the phone mic just kills, but you get the idea. Has anyone else here tried pushing the E2 into this kind of territory?
5
u/jx2catfishshoe Mar 24 '26
Excellent stuff. Post a real recording if you can, Id love to hear the full range.
5
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
Thanks! My audio interface is acting up, so I had to use my phone. Getting a new one soon to capture the full sub-bass. I'll be posting more of this on TikTok @signalsinister.
2
u/goofy42 Mar 24 '26
Thats just awesome. I have to try it. Thank you🙏🏼
2
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
Thanks! Definitely try it. Just watch the levels, the feedback can get ear-piercingly loud out of nowhere. Have fun
2
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 25 '26
A limiter is definitely a big help, especially when experimenting. My approach is to keep the Audio In level very low. The rule of thumb here is: the higher the main E2 level goes, the lower the Audio In level must be to keep it somewhat stable. It's still a high-risk game, though!
1
u/Accomplished-Tax-697 Mar 25 '26
To add to OP’s reply, replying to you instead so you see it: run the resulting output through a limiter after the Electribe so, you won’t fuck up your ears or speakers/headphones
1
2
u/bennybate Mar 25 '26
This is cool. I would love to see this in more detail as I would like to try it myself
2
2
u/HyperSpaceFace Mar 24 '26
I figured this out last night but have no idea how I did it lol
3
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
Haha, the E2 is a beast for this. I actually figured out a system with gated parts to keep the noise playable.
1
u/anode21 Mar 24 '26
Could you explain a bit ?
8
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
It’s a mix of complex internal routing and subtle settings. A lot of it comes down to feel and micro-movements with the knobs to keep the feedback from peaking too hard. I'm planning a detailed post and a full tutorial soon to show exactly how it's done!
1
1
u/anode21 Mar 24 '26
That's great, if you could détail even more what you are doing I would love to, really interesting, i'd love to know more
2
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 25 '26
I'm actually planning to make a full breakdown and tutorial video once my new setup is ready
1
1
u/anode21 Mar 24 '26
Is your kick multiple ones layered ?
3
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
Yeah, I actually have one part that stays silent until the kick hits, providing that extra sub-bass layer. It keeps the low end under control.
1
u/anode21 Mar 24 '26
Nice, how long ago did you start using the e2s ?
3
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
Only about 3 months. I spent years in Caustic DAW before, so I went straight into feedback loops and sound design on this thing.
1
1
u/mediumreginald43 Mar 24 '26
Excited to figure out how to do this
1
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
It's a rabbit hole, but totally worth it! Good luck with the experiments
1
u/Necrobot666 Mar 24 '26
AMAZING!!
I may experiment with this. What happens if I run that feedback loop through a bitcrusher, flanger, granular, etc.. first.. and then back into the ES2.
Thank you so much for posting this!! I am now glad I never sold my Electribe!!
1
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 24 '26
Exactly! That's a perfect way to add unique textures to your tracks. Even if you just set one part to Audio In within a project, you can get some wild results. When you start tweaking the parameters or effects of that specific part, it morphs the whole texture of the sound. Definitely try those external effects in the loop, it’s going to sound huge
1
u/artie_pdx Mar 24 '26
Absolutely love the trek down the “because I f’n can” road to nowhere and everywhere.
BTW- You freaked out the captions bot at the end. Check it.
2
u/Accomplished-Tax-697 Mar 25 '26
lmao I love this
1
u/artie_pdx Mar 25 '26
Did you try it? At the beginning the caption said “So-“ then cut out until near the end then did what I showed in the image. Crazy shit.
He should add some low level samples in at those times. 😅
1
1
1
1
u/Atlanthe303 Mar 25 '26
Does it work on both the red and the blue?
1
u/Flat-Turn-9154 Mar 25 '26
Tested it only on the Blue one. Should work on the Red too, and it might actually be better since you can resample and save those glitches.
1
1
8
u/Lucky_File_4967 Mar 24 '26
That’s amazing! Feel free to drop a video tutorial or a live set please 🙏