EMiX reborn

EMiX reborn is an editor for the KORG Electribe MX / EMX-1 native .EMX format.

It provides two main editors:

Song — edit song arrangements, mute events, live notes and automation.
Pattern — edit drum/synth patterns, steps, parameters, motion sequences and effects.

EMiX reborn can also communicate directly with an EMX-1 over MIDI/SysEx and import MIDI files.

WHEN USING OVER SYSEX, THIS SOFTWARE NEVER WRITE IN THE MEMORY OF THE EMX. YOU HAVE TO DO IT MANUALLY.

Repository:

https://github.com/themesser/EMiX

Getting started

Starting EMiX reborn

When the application starts, it automatically creates a new:

Untitled.EMX

This is based on a verified empty EMX-1 bank containing:

256 initialized patterns
64 empty songs
default EMX pattern parameters
initialized Drum Accent and Synth Accent tracks

Note: the EMX-1 "Clear Part" default contains a Drum 1 step every four steps:

x---x---x---x---

Use Save As… to save the new bank.

Files

Open .EMX

Opens an existing native KORG EMX-1 .EMX dump.

Several dumps can remain open at the same time. Use the file selector at the top of the application to switch between them.

This is particularly useful for copying Songs or Patterns between banks.

Save As…

Saves the currently active bank to a new .EMX file.

Undo

The Undo button restores the last edit.

Keyboard shortcuts:

Platform	Shortcut
macOS	`Cmd + Z`
Windows / Linux	`Ctrl + Z`

Many larger operations such as Pattern import, Pattern swap and Song swap are stored as a single Undo operation.

Song editor

The Song tab displays the EMX Song as a timeline.

It contains:

Pattern positions
Drum parts
Synth parts
Mute events
Live note events
Motion/automation events
Tempo events

Song list

Copy Song

Copies the complete selected Song into EMiX's internal clipboard.

The copied Song contains:

Pattern sequence
Note offsets
Live notes
Mute events
Automation
Tempo
Song length
Mute Hold
Song parameters

You can switch to another open .EMX bank and paste the Song there.

Paste Song

Replaces the selected Song slot with the copied Song.

Swap Song

To swap two Song slots:

Select the first Song.
Click Swap Song.
Click the destination Song.

The two Songs exchange positions.

Song timeline

Selecting events

Click an event to select it.

Click and drag from empty space to create a selection rectangle.

The rectangle can select several:

Notes
Mute events
Automation points
Pattern positions

Selected events can then be moved together.

Delete events

Select one or more events and press:

Delete

or:

Backspace

Add a mute event

Ctrl + Click

on a Drum or Synth track.

A mute-state change is inserted at that Song position / clock.

Add a live note

Shift + Click

on a Drum or Synth track.

A new live note event is created.

If a note is already selected, its pitch is used for the new event.

Move notes vertically

On macOS:

Cmd + Drag

an existing note.

The note keeps the same Song position and clock but moves to another compatible track.

This is useful for moving a live note between Synth parts without altering its timing.

Pattern positions in Song mode

The Pattern lane at the top of the Song timeline supports multiple selection.

Select one Pattern position

Click the Pattern position.

Select a range

Shift + Click

Selects a continuous range from the current Pattern position to the clicked position.

Add/remove individual positions

Ctrl + Click

or on macOS:

Cmd + Click

toggles Pattern positions in the selection.

Move a group of Pattern positions

Select a continuous range of Pattern positions and drag it horizontally.

The destination is overwritten.

The operation does not behave like an insert command and does not shift all later Song positions.

Events in the destination range are replaced by the moved block's events.

Edit the Pattern number directly

Double-click a Pattern position.

Enter a Pattern code such as:

A01

B22

D64

Press Return to validate.

Press Escape to cancel.

If the edited position is the beginning of a continuous run of the same Pattern, EMiX changes the complete run.

Swap Song tracks

Click track names on the left side of the Song editor.

Select two compatible tracks, then click:

Swap selected tracks

Supported:

Drum ↔ Drum
Synth ↔ Synth

Not supported:

Drum ↔ Synth

The operation swaps:

Live notes
Mute states
Automation events

Song Mute Hold

The Song inspector includes the native EMX Mute Hold setting.

Off

Pattern mute settings are applied when the Song changes Pattern. If the next Song position uses the same Pattern, the current mute state is maintained.

On

Mute state is maintained even when changing to another Pattern.

Send selected Song to EMX

Send selected song to EMX transfers the complete selected Song to the current EMX Song edit buffer through MIDI SysEx.

Choose:

MIDI OUT → EMX MIDI IN
MIDI IN ← EMX MIDI OUT
EMX Global MIDI Channel

The Song is loaded into the EMX edit buffer.

EMiX does not send a WRITE command.

Use the EMX's own WRITE function if you want to store the Song permanently.

SysEx Librarian is not required.

Import current Song from EMX

Import current song from EMX reads the Song currently loaded in the EMX edit buffer and places it into the selected Song slot in EMiX.

It imports:

Pattern positions
Note offsets
Live notes
Mute events
Automation
Song length
Tempo
Mute Hold
Next Song
Song name

The EMX hardware is not modified.

Import MIDI arrangement

Import MIDI arrangement converts an exported MIDI arrangement into an EMX Song structure.

EMiX detects repeating MIDI regions and reconstructs Pattern changes.

Example:

A01 x4 → A02 x2 → A03 x4 → A01 x4 → A02 x2 → A03 x3

Gaps in a mapped MIDI track can be translated into Song mute events.

Before import, EMiX displays a summary where MIDI lanes can be mapped to EMX parts.

Pattern codes can also be changed before importing.

This importer creates the Song arrangement. It does not create the actual Pattern note data.

For that, use Import patterns from MIDI in the Pattern tab.

Pattern editor

The Pattern tab edits the actual contents of the 256 EMX Pattern slots:

A01–A64

B01–B64

C01–C64

D01–D64

A Pattern can contain up to 8 bars, with 16 steps per bar.

Pattern list

Copy Pattern

Copies the complete native Pattern.

This includes:

Drum steps
Synth notes
Gate values
Drum/Synth parameters
Accent tracks
Motion sequences
Effects
Pattern properties

You can switch to another open .EMX file and paste it there.

Paste Pattern

Replaces the currently selected Pattern slot with the copied Pattern.

Swap Pattern

To swap two Pattern slots:

Select a Pattern.
Click Swap Pattern.
Select the destination Pattern.

EMiX also automatically updates every Song using those Pattern slots.

Example:

If a Song uses:

B22 → B23

and you swap:

B22 ↔ A01

B23 ↔ A02

the Song references become:

A01 → A02

so the Song continues to play the same musical content.

Pattern step sequencer

The Pattern editor contains separate tracks for:

Drum 1
Drum 2
Drum 3
Drum 4
Drum 5
Drum 6A
Drum 6B
Drum 7A
Drum 7B
Drum Accent
Synth 1
Synth 2
Synth 3
Synth 4
Synth 5
Synth Accent

Use the Bar 1–8 buttons above the sequencer to navigate longer Patterns.

Selecting and toggling steps

The step editor intentionally separates selection from toggle.

First click

Selects the step.

Second click on the same step

Toggles the step:

On
Off

Clicking another step only selects the new step.

This prevents accidental step deletion while editing parameters.

Drum steps

Drum steps are represented by their color.

No additional dot is displayed.

Each drum MIDI trigger corresponds to one active Pattern step.

Synth steps

Selecting a Synth step displays:

Note
Gate

The Pattern's Synth parameters belong to the whole Synth part, not to individual steps.

Synth Gate

Gate values are displayed in musical step units:

0.25

through:

128.00

Gate resolution follows the native EMX encoding.

Typical examples:

0.25

1.00

1.75

2.00

16.00

64.00

128.00

Numeric parameter editing

When a numerical parameter field is selected:

↑ increases the value.

↓ decreases the value.

Typical increments:

Parameter	Arrow increment
Normal numeric parameter	1
Pattern Tempo	0.1 BPM
Synth Gate	0.25
Swing	1

Press:

Return

to validate the edit and leave the parameter field.

Clicking outside the field also validates the value and removes focus.

Swing and Accent per part

Each regular Drum and Synth track has two toggles beside its name:

S = Swing

A = Accent

These correspond to the native EMX per-part Swing and Accent enable states.

Drum Accent and Synth Accent

The EMX contains two separate Accent sequences:

Drum Accent
Synth Accent

They are displayed as independent Pattern tracks.

Each Accent track also has its own Level parameter.

Drum sounds

Selecting a Drum part displays the native EMX Drum PCM sound.

The dropdown shows:

number • sound name

Example:

2 • BD-99 1

The editor contains the full native EMX drum sample list.

Synth parameters

Selecting a Synth part exposes its track-level parameters.

These include:

Part Common

Level
Pan
Amp EG
Roll
FX Send
FX Select

Modulation

Type
Destination
Depth
Speed
BPM Sync

Synth Oscillator

Oscillator Type
Wave
Synth Tune
OSC Edit 1
OSC Edit 2

The Wave menu changes according to the selected oscillator algorithm.

For example, Wave Form, Dual OSC and PCM oscillator types expose different Wave choices.

Synth Filter

Filter Type
Cutoff
Resonance
EG Int
Drive

Motion Sequence

When Motion Sequence data exists for a Drum/Synth parameter, an editable graph appears directly below the associated part.

Motion values are represented by points.

Click or drag a point to edit it.

Select a point and press:

Delete

or:

Backspace

to remove it.

Pattern properties

The Pattern inspector exposes native global Pattern parameters including:

Tempo
Swing
Roll Type
Arp Scale
Pattern length

Effects

EMiX supports the native three-effect section:

FX1
FX2
FX3

For each effect:

Effect Type
Edit 1
Edit 2

FX Chain options:

None
FX1 + FX2
FX2 + FX3
FX1 + FX2 + FX3

Example verified native setup:

FX1: Distortion
Edit 1: 25
Edit 2: 70

FX2: Short Delay
Edit 1: 100
Edit 2: 10

FX3: Chorus / Flanger
Edit 1: 35
Edit 2: 77

FX Chain: FX1 + FX2 + FX3