Korg volca - 3 small analog groove boxes

[WOK]

Is it possible to synthesise drum sounds on the Keys or Bass? Also I see the Bass has a 3 part sequencer. Does this make it effectively multi-timbral?

I'm asking because I'd like to purchase one of these and have it doubling duties to produce drums , bass, and possibly keys.
*Ok, I just saw the 3 part sequencer is for unison lines and does not make it multi-timbral.

Complete song (multitrack-record) only with Volca Keys (and some effects):
https://soundcloud.com/wok-music/volca-keys-ibanez
Drums are possible (but not very good)

 

[lectrixboogaloo]

Complete song (multitrack-record) only with Volca Keys (and some effects):
https://soundcloud.com/wok-music/volca-keys-ibanez
Drums are possible (but not very good)
 

Snare more good than Volca Beats...

[Uncle E]

Complete song (multitrack-record) only with Volca Keys (and some effects):
https://soundcloud.com/wok-music/volca-keys-ibanez
Drums are possible (but not very good)
 

Snare more good than Volca Beats...

Hah! Agreed! I liked the Monotribe's snare much better.

[idfpower]

Complete song (multitrack-record) only with Volca Keys (and some effects)

Awesome work Um...might reconsider my decision of not buying one of those, he he

[Johnny!]

Also, you can 'layer' an extra oscillator on only particular notes, if you wish, for some extra umphs here and there?

Yes you can, and it works quite nice that way

[idfpower]

Snare more good than Volca Beats...

Um...maybe 'cause... http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... ecall.html

[lectrixboogaloo]

Snare more good than Volca Beats...

Um...maybe 'cause... http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... ecall.html

Thanks. Takes the Beats go from 'nah..' to 'maybe..', for me. Clips of this mod really do sound much nicer.

[idfpower]

Thanks. Takes the Beats go from 'nah..' to 'maybe..', for me. Clips of this mod really do sound much nicer.

Heh, glad to be of help But for the record: I am not the guy who discovered the issue & made the mods - I'm just passing along what I consider to be potentially interesting info I don't want to get credit for someone else's work

That aside, I think Korg were deviously clever with these Volcas They wanted to keep riding the analogue craze wave by providing something so cheap & portable that it would be a no brainer even for the guys on a very tight budget (heck, even I can afford these); they knew ppl would hack (mod) these anyway so I guess from their perspective it was logical to cut corners and leave some loose ends in order to keep the price down If you're expecting the whole world for pocket change then more likely the Volcas won't meet your expectations - but if you take them for what they really are: a cheap intro ticket into the analogue world and a good starting platform for modding, then you can't go wrong After all, there's no alternative (ftm) - although I'd love to see some cool stuff from other brands as well (Korg proved that it can be done for peanuts)

The only thing that keeps me from buying the Bass & Keys is not being able to save presets. I like sound banks & managers and not having that is a deal breaker for me. But I guess that would have jacked the price up... On the other hand there are some videos on YouTube that show how cool these units can be for jamming and live tweaking & improvs (prolly what these were build for in the first place). Have a listen at this (very minimalistic & portable setup, but damn that's relaxing & inspiring - at least for me): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl0JhbquHYU

[Uncle E]

The only thing that keeps me from buying the Bass & Keys is not being able to save presets.

This is a consistent issue with Korg's Electribe-type products. The very first Electribes had lots of memory locations but very little actual memory, which made using the motion sequencer problematic. I imagine they'll come out with a Volca II series in a couple years that will rectify this.

[idfpower]

This is a consistent issue with Korg's Electribe-type products. The very first Electribes had lots of memory locations but very little actual memory, which made using the motion sequencer problematic.

Yeah, I know (I briefly owned an ER-1). Same for the Yamaha units of that era...I think they thought these would be used more "as is" with minimal to no tweaking at all rather than expecting ppl to really dig deep into them and editing every parameter Ppl seem to hate their software "editors" and by now some might also have some issues with OS compatibility and all

While I don't like the sounds of the first Electribes (what do ppl call them - "tin cans"?), I would love to own a DX200 or AN200 And that's why I also like the Volcas - they sound beefy and true for such little cheap units... too bad Korg continues to skimp precisely on the things that count ...

[Uncle E]

I would love to own a DX200 or AN200

The DX200 is extremely cool in concept and did a good job of making FM sounds more accessible. It didn't sound as good as the FS1R for some reason (and I'm only referring to the FM aspect of the FS1R).

[idfpower]

The DX200 is extremely cool in concept and did a good job of making FM sounds more accessible. It didn't sound as good as the FS1R for some reason (and I'm only referring to the FM aspect of the FS1R).

FS1R...that's hard to find these days But then again so is becoming DX200 (in good working condition without the board ripped off). I don't know, there's something about these AN/DX that makes them so desirable Sexy screaming boxes - unlike the Electribes (the design puts me off...it feels like something is missing and overall the older ones look too bland, while the newer ones too flashy and distracting). Yamaha did some really cool stuff back in those days - I've recently picked up a RM1x (I wanted one for so long) and I'm prolly one of the (very) few ppl that bought the unit for onboard sounds, not for the sequencer And I love it - there are some really cool sounds in it (don't know why ppl complain about - sure, it may not be on par with today's standards, but has that '90s sound so well captured and the fx/world/percussion/atmospheric presets are still solid and surprisingly inspiring - IMO, of course). And the layout is genius: you can get the hang of it very fast

Anyway, back on topic Seeing how Korg operates these days I wouldn't be surprised to see a Pro version of the Volcas in the near future. Thing is, when they take that route, the products tend to lose their appeal (like Kaossilator - overpriced and not radically different enough to justify that ammount of money). While jacking the price up will put them in head to head competition with Arturia & Novation and tbh I love Mininova (if I had the money, it would be my next purchase) & Microbrute - probably over a Pro Volca. On the other hand, they're like Ibanez: they don't keep their products in production for too long (like my MicroX)... sometimes I feel like all they're interested in (besides their flagship lines) is scoring popularity points & bragging rights Once the wave of interest fades out they kill the product and come up with another gadget, and so on...

[Uncle E]

Seeing how Korg operates these days I wouldn't be surprised to see a Pro version of the Volcas in the near future. Thing is, when they take that route, the products tend to lose their appeal (like Kaossilator - overpriced and not radically different enough to justify that ammount of money).

How about a fully polyphonic Volca Keyboard?

[idfpower]

As opposed to paraphonic? I actually prefer monosynths, but I guess it would make no sense to have a mono unit called "Keys", heh, so yeah, a full fledged polyphonic synth sounds like the logical next step Korg proved they have the resources to maintain very low production costs, but they do tend to use cheap mats in compensation... I liked that they decided to go for that stylophone-type keyboard as opposed to using the flimsy keybead you normally see on their lower end models. Not to keen on the transparent knobs - they look cool and help keeping the unit's footprint very small, but I doubt they're sturdy (although Volcas seem tailored for live usage).

[mztk]

okaaay..i have here three volcas - 2nd hand, as new boxed,
really pleased with these ...*!cool things!* not had much of a
chance to try them out yet..had a quick go with bass and beats
this morning.
why do people sell these on? because they think they are toys?
the lack of on-paper 'spec'? there should be a thread speculating
on all the possible reasons for selling volcas

why would you want the Bass to be a TB303? this is something else,
with the 3 osc, you get really phatt chorus-ey detune sounds, and
it's pretty easy to use, still figuring things out. you can drop in and
out of record/play without stopping, and toggle the three osc assign
modes. you press the func(tion) button a lot - it's*fun* anyway, and
really useful if you like those sorts of sounds.

you don't really need sound presets with a thing like this: you don't
expect it on old monosynths, which, in a sense, these could take the
place of: don't forget it is also a MIDI'ed analog synth you can fit in
your pocket and run on batteries, and the sound is away from the
ubiquitous Roland sound, or digital stuff, really in-your-face, lively
sound. it's sort of repro vintage analog in a convenient modernised
package, could replace a vintage mono with a cv+gate converter, and
save space, for example.