Korg volca - 3 small analog groove boxes

[mztk]

ok yes: was a bit disappointed none of them seem to have
the parameter scene memory you get with electribes

nb: ER1 does have 'parameter memories': it stores
all the parameter positions with each pattern, effectively giving
you a preset per pattern. the ER1 is an odd machine..not sure
what to think of it. you can tone it down and try to make it
sound like a analog - it's just a shame there's no option on it for
more outputs - and the sound isn't as crisp as you'd like, maybe.
(so will be interesting to se how they run together)
really powerful thing though, some of the demos are... offputting?
they've done 'everything'..it is a bit depressing but you can overwrite
evrything and there's 4 banks of user pattern space, plus it is a chaselight
MIDI drum programmer.

[mztk]

can one expect Korg to come up with more volcas?
different flavours+sequencers, same format.
it could be a fun marketing thing, a whole series of
plug'n'sync machines.

>these days, small is beautiful, no-one has space.
will it be possible to have an authentic analog setup that fits in a
briefcase?

[KungKrille]

Have a listen at this (very minimalistic & portable setup, but damn that's relaxing & inspiring - at least for me):

Thanks for this link and I watched/listened to his other videos too. Like them a lot

[idfpower]

Thanks for this link and I watched/listened to his other videos too. Like them a lot

Yeah, they all have a field recording vibe to them with a cinematic dimension, you know; you get that artistic feel (as opposed to the usual knob tweaking/let's make some noise improvs you see on YouTube) Overall there's something very creative & inspiring about such a minimal yet well put together & cleverly used setup - makes you wanna grab one of these, find a nice outdoor place, power it up and just enjoy the moment

[KungKrille]

...makes you wanna grab one of these...

Yepp, so I should stop watching those videos But seriously, I envy his way of composing. Seems so relaxed and spontaneous

[idfpower]

Yup And he sure sounds like he knows what he's doing

[idfpower]

okaaay..i have here three volcas - which come to me via an
excellent Elvis impersonator and his bassplayer ...
? where have i heard that before? anyway, this one is for real.
and i'm delighted with these, as new, and 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.

First, congratz for the purchase Now...

1. (Sadly) yes... for some folks tiny footprint, cheap mats & limited features/sonic capabilities = toys. To me it's down to whatever works for you.

2. Ppl prolly expected a TB303 clone due to the unit's look - not identical, but it does make you instantly think "hey, this looks like a..." IMO it's a marketing gimmick On the other hand, expect a Korg to sound like a Korg Personally I consider drum machines & bass synths redundant, but many ppl love them so there is still market for them.

3. IMO: yes, you do (need presets & saving capabilities). Just because old analogue was built in a certain way doesn't mean we have to follow the same blueprints forever. These are modern units - technology evolved a lot - these should reflect that. Let's say you're afk, you're noodling on a Volca & come up with some cool sounds - but you don't have a recording device with you - what do you do? IMO the Volcas were tailored to be nice additions to a setup for live hands on performance and for that they prolly work as is, but I don't see why you wouldn't want to be able to save certain sounds as opposed to dialing them in everytime you need them.

[Uncle E]

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...

The best would be if they would simply replace the guts of the KingKorg with a polyphonic Volca engine. That's such a beautiful keyboard and I can't understand why they made it digital.

[Uncle E]

can one expect Korg to come up with more volcas?

The Volca's were the most successful hardware product launch I've ever seen. They'll definitely come out with more eventually.

[charleston]

can one expect Korg to come up with more volcas?

The Volca's were the most successful hardware product launch I've ever seen. They'll definitely come out with more eventually.

How many did they sell?

[mztk]

i've got ones in the 4000 and 2000s, re: serial numbers.
surprised.. so they might not be quite as 'new' as advertised..
hey but i love'em! - if in doubt, jump in here, folks, at least
one(!) - i couldn't point out any one as best, they are all good
in their own way.
i think you have to look at them as a whole, a system -
would like to see more; they carried on the electribe thing
for quite a while, so hopefully some interesting things will come.
but: could be the arp odyssey repro first ..
-----------------
>yeah: it's analog! not digi-log. what presets?<
the lack of pattern chaining, and small # of patterns and full
MIDI CC could be offputting for some - i still think you can set
these things up pretty quickly; maybe the one that would benefit
from memories most is the beats, and to have 'kits' you can switch;
----------------------------
it looks like muffwiggler has done full indiv outs mods + about
to do trigger outs-the existing snare can be ok, as long as
you don't pitch it up(?)to go ping ping,+the cr78 cap mod/fix is needed for
a crisp snare; it could probably receive accent CV if the VCA level pins
can be identified.

[idfpower]

Cool little switcharoo Ppl sure seem to enjoy tweakig these little units

[mztk]

1st run here not very conclusive..er, only had batteries for 2 of them,ok,
oh man, minijack audio, where have those gone...never mind, run off
a bit of the Bass...battery pack up, ugh..on to Keys..i'll try this another time,
gotta run..

another crit', of Keys: you can't tune/transpose it after note entry, i think.
octave shifting would be good. not had much luck getting chords out of it yet.
also need to figure out the note entry, just realtime?haha any quantization?
just slow it right down i suppose, and use an external keyboard for note entry
via MIDI, can you do that?

what it does do is leave nice random recordings with the organic sound of analog.
going to have to practice a bit before producing anything as accomplished as
that version of Mr Fingers!

[Uncle E]

How many did they sell?

We sold around 300 before they were even released.

[mztk]

i'm still curious how many mc-202s were made:
serial #s suggest only 4000. could that be true?