Grooveboxes/synth suggestions for kids/teens

[mjet]

My son (15) has picked up bass and guitar, and is enjoying them a great deal. My daughter (10) has resisted those but has expressed an interest in drum machines. Because anything I buy for the kids is also something I can play around with, I've decided to get her some gear and see where she can take it. I'm thinking of the following machines:

Akai Tom Cat (or Rhythm Wolf)
Korg Electribe 2
Korg Volca Beats (and perhaps Volca Keys or Bass)
Arturia Spark LE
Roland TR8

I've done a bit of research and there are clips of people doing magical things with all of these, even those which generally seem to have more negative comments (not much love for the Akais for some reason). There's definitely a generation gap between the drum machined I tweaked with 20 years ago and those in the list above. I don't want to short-change on creativity but also don't want to turn her off by buying something with too many bells and whistles. Then again, the old adage of "if it's too technical for you, show it to a 10-year old" applies and kids seem to just understand tech much easier than those of us in the 45+ age bracket.

This is an area of expertise where I'm sorely lacking, so any advice either generally or specific to those devices (or others not on my list) would be greatly appreciated! Similarly, if there are any old-school units that I should search for on ebay that you feel would provide a good solid basis for future development (with less complexity), I'm all ears.

[OffYourFace]

Roland TR8 or Korg Electribe IMO.

I still use my Korg Electribe S mkII because it's easy. Having the step buttons is great for seeing and counting the beat.

Edit: I'd go for the TR8. The new Electribe 2 looks too cheap, IMO.

[InLimbo]

The Volca lineup is great - and I think the Beats module probably offers enough of a challenge for a 10 year old (and a 45 year old) without being completely overwhelming.

[jxoxy]

Pocket Operators by Teenage Engineering

[Zork]

Your kids want the novation circuit: https://youtu.be/9GP_hvP_PXM
It's a synth, a drum machine, sequencer and all in production tool designed to play around and create music instantly and have fun. It's also very affordable.

[MechaBulletBill]

The old monotribe had super basic drum patterns and a nice phat analog mono bass in one unit. The tr8 is a pretty serious piece of kit. If you're looking for something between a toy and a piece of studio equipment, I'd go for a monotribe or the volcas.

[Zork]

The monotribe is actually a toy. It's nice for bad lofi acid techno and theremin emulations but there's not much more to it.

[MechaBulletBill]

The monotribe is actually a toy. It's nice for bad lofi acid techno and theremin emulations but there's not much more to it.

You can do some surprisingly powerful things with the sequencer, and if you get MIDI in it's just a simple monosynth with a great fat sound. I miss mine a bit but the volca bass is a lot more powerful, even if the filter isn't as good.

[Kent]

Korg EMX-1 is one of the best groove boxes I've ever used. The three that I've kept are the EMX-1, a MachineDrum UW and Native Instruments's Maschine.

The EMX-1 is extremely easy to use and does far more than one would expect. Listen to anything by this guy in order to hear some of that flexibility beyond being a straight up rave machine.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... 0rVEOC62X7

The Korg Volcas are also an apt fit for what you've described.

[whisperit]

The monotribe is actually a toy. It's nice for bad lofi acid techno and theremin emulations but there's not much more to it.

You can do some surprisingly powerful things with the sequencer, and if you get MIDI in it's just a simple monosynth with a great fat sound.

Yes, with MIDI mod that thing is pretty powerful.
Check out this demo.
Afaik, early Marie Davidson works have been done on Monotribe as well.

[grapesoda]

The electribe seems to fit the bill. A microkorg is much more of a keyboard synth, but is endlessly fun and customizable.

There's a butt-ton of synth ipad apps and stuff too that you may want to look into if you haven't already, but I don't have any specific suggestions other than to say Korg has a few.

[mjet]

I appreciate all of the thoughtful comments that you guys have posted! Lots to think about.

I should post this one YouTube clip by r beny that initially turned me on to the power of the Electribe 2. But after some youtube searches (and clicking through those links provided in previous messages) I have realized that with the right talent, most of those machines I'm considering will do amazing things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsEIcrx6aW4

[fakeplasticdreams]

My daughters ( 9 & 7) love my monotribe and my TE Pocket Operators

[milanm]

Bit spendy but I would have loved the OP-1 as a nipper.

Volca FM would also be ACE. Lots of crazy sounds from the FMzzzz

[ToneFerDayz!!1!]

Pocket Operators by Teenage Engineering

The interface is a bit counter-intuitive, but they're cool.

I have one, Mike, in case you want to check it out.

Otherwise, I'd recommend the Volca beats (though they aren't the most durable), or cheapo old Roland 505s. Also a thought, if your young dude has a smart phone- get him an app like DM1 or Funkbox. They have a ton of decent emulations of old beat boxes, they use Roland-style X0X sequencing, and they're cheap.