I've been a Volca early-adopter for all of the Volcas, I love the concept and I think they represent great value for money. The Volca FM is probably my favourite Volca now.
It sounds great to my ears and of course it's a joy to have such a diverse sound palette in the Volca paradigm - the Sampler doesn't quite offer the same diversity since it can't actually Sample and loading it with samples is a bit of a pain in the hole, but is surely the runner up in the 'diversity' factor.
Editing/Creating the sounds is much more immediate than I was expecting. A third of the parameters you will learn almost immediately, the second third after an hour of usage, and the final third after a couple hours. And navigating amongst the different operators and their specific params is pretty quick and like I said more immediate than I was expecting.
The only thing that will take time to wrap your head around is the Algorithms - but this is not a problem unique to the Volca FM, this is related to FM Synthesis generally... there's 32 algos and learning how certain patch settings will effect the sound using a particular Algo will take, you know, years of practise for the average joe. BUT - you don't really need to know explicitly, as far as I'm concerned... it's enough to choose an Algo, and start editing the params to see what you get. And of course, simply switching Algos once you've created a patch to see how other Algos sound. A bit aleatoric, or serendipitous, but at least the complexity of FM Synthesis won't hold you back from making cool sounds. of course, YMMV.
The Volca FM comes with a card (which is the same size as a Volca footprint) with the parameter list on one side, and the Algorithm designs on the other. Like I said, you will, relatively quicky and through use, end up not needing the card for the parameters but you will probably want to have the card around for the Algorithm designs... you will need not only a very good (if not excellent) memory but also a very solid understanding of FM to be able to tell what Algorithm 17 (for example) looks like, without the card. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from sound designing without knowing what the Algo looks like. But if you want to know, you'll probably want to have the card around or a picture of it on a smartphone or something. Of course if you are determined, learning the Algo designs is not a super-human feat or anything.
The Chorus effect was a nice edition, definitely worth adding and more useful than a delay or other generic FX they might have added in lieu.
Tempo goes quite slow, offering 1/1 - 1/2 - 1/4 timing divisions.
The arp is basic, but a great addition. Not much more to say on that. Pity there is no 'latch' or 'hold' function, though you can essentially achieve the same thing if you record the notes into a pattern. I still would have liked a latch. If you're in to it, the fact you can sequence its (basic) params can lead to some 'far out' results. Would also have been kool if you could commit the notes of the arp's output to the pattern as 'raw' note data. Maybe I need to RTFM, but from first uses this seems not to be on offer.
A pattern is tied to whatever sound program you are using, and if you switch from one pattern to another it does so seamlessly without starting at the beginning of the next pattern but rather continuing from the same position. This is kool, particularly if each pattern is tied to different sound programs - the switch is immediate, with no gap that I could detect. You can chain patterns by leaving your finger on a pattern number and selecting another one... but it appears the patterns chain consecutively... so if you're holding pattern 9, and select pattern 12, it will chain 9 - 10 - 11 - 12. I need to RTFM on this, since I'd prefer to have the option to simply chain 9 - 12 in this scenario, and not the patterns in between. I'm doubtful this default behaviour can be changed, but like I said - I need to RTFM ( it's a small manual btw - a sheet of paper really, I just haven't read it yet
)The sequencer is as you'd expect from a volca, though I haven't played with the warp step function.
I've uploaded a demo...
https://soundcloud.com/daags_does_demos ... m-demo-001Daags Does Demos wrote:A demonstration of a single pattern on the Korg Volca FM. The pattern features recorded note data plus 'motion data' i.e the parameter knob tweaks. the demo starts off with a couple of keys to show the sound of the current program (which is one of the factory programs) that is saved with the pattern. then i start the sequencer. you can hear quite profound changes to timbre owing to the fact i have sequenced the algorithm selector knob. after a couple of bars of the original pattern, i change the program (patch/preset) to the 1st program in the program bank that comes included with the Korg Volca FM. I cycle through the entire factory bank, with the same pattern sequencing each new program - lingering on those programs that sound the most pleasing to my ears in combination with the current pattern. The audio levels have been set so that the loudest program + pattern combo doesn't clip, with no compression or any other fx - just a straight line-out recording. As a result some programs can be lower in volume than others owing in part to the nature of the pattern that is sequencing them - sequenced in a different way they would produce a louder volume. It's a long demo, and some programs can sound quite similar to others when driven by this particular pattern - so the demo may be grating after some time. I advise to skim through it if this occurs : )
and maybe some a/b tests if I'm feeling particularly curious about the sonic differences. Can only speculate it has something to do with the fact the dx200 uses a plg dx 150 card ... ? 