Korg Volca Keys

[TheBro]

It's weird that it's only out of tune in poly mode though?

Yeah it is. Also triggering the 3 notes at the same time is glitching/stuttering in Poly Mode. I'm gonna have a play with it when I get home tonight maybe put some fresh batteries in it and then see how I feel. The thing is I see some folks doing some quite reasonable things with it (admittedly with better reverb/delay) so I believe its capable.

[sheatheman]

I only use poly for when I want mono with no unison. For me it’s the volca key

[TheBro]

I only use poly for when I want mono with no unison. For me it’s the volca key

Hard to tell Sheath. As I say I've seen some awesome demos on Youtube of it so someone must have that works lol!!

[sheatheman]

It works bro, you just need some new batteries and maybe look up the commands for a reset. Unless yours is faulty :(

[modey]

The glitching/stuttering may be because the envelope resets at every new note, even if you have a key held down already. There's no way to change this, unfortunately.

[sweepstakes]

I've picked up all of them when they were originally released and have used them extensively. Here are my quick reviews:

 

Volca Keys: Limited and only a couple of steps above a Korg Monotron delay. The sequencer kind of sucks but you can turn it into a 64 step sequencer by using the flux option. It has a smoky, dirty brass sound throughout the entire timbre of the machine that you can't escape from no matter what. When you hook it up to a midi keyboard though it has some nice capabilities. The delay effect is very gritty but it makes for some nice textures. Ironically I found it better at doing bass than the Volca bass. The poly isn't a real poly unless you want to buy a standalone max/msp application or code your own. 6.5 out of 10

 

Volca Bass: The filter and resonator on this is amazing. You can really make the machine squelch or moan loudly. However, I found that the range of things you can do with the bass is even more constricted than the keys. I found it to be pretty weak as a bass instrument, however, and found it more enjoyable to play like the keys. Bass and keys should have had their names swapped! You can't control the envelopes or amplitudes of the oscillators individually, so often the machine sounded boring after a while unless you program each of the oscillator steps seperately and switch them on and off during performance. Also the parts that you really want to be midi-controllable are not midi-controllable. Only 16 steps. 4.5 out of 10.

 

Volca Beats: Crap. Even after modded it is limited to kraftwerk-esque sounds. With the bass and keys it kind of works, but by itself or with anything not toy-like its kind of shit. The levels are all wonky on it too so level checks are always necessary when recording. The Volca Kick blows the beats out of the water. 2.5 out of 10.

 

Volca FM: Best Volca. It's a full DX-7 synthesizer, 1/8th the size. Only 3 polyphony but has an arpeggiator to make up for it. You can even scroll through the algorithms and automate that scrolling to make some wicked sounding textures. The velocity is independent from the keys but that was easily fixed with a software MIDI toggle. I've gotten so much use out of this that I consider it a professional instrument. The onboard sounds are alright but you can either download more off the internet, use an external editor (like i do) or use the knobs to change the carrier and modulator oscillators. I find that I need precision when working with FM though, so I don't use the onboard versions much. 9/10

 

Volca Sample: Drum Machine with interchangeable samples that can be uploaded. Not a sampler, per se. With some trickery, you can turn it into a granular synthesizer as well. It's pretty straight forward and is great for making 16-64 step patterns and loops. If you are looking for something portable then I recommend it. I use this still to make drum loops and patterns for later use if I'm on the go. 8/10

 

Volca Kick: The Volca Beats v2.0 Way better and the noise generator is actually useful. It does what it advertises and has enough bells and whistles on it to make it a versatile monosynth and drum creator. I find that is better to do one-hit sounds and record them onto the computer than it is to do full performances with it, which is sad because the entire machine seems built and designed to have hands-on performance in mind. 7/10

 

Volca Mixer: There are better mixers out there and Korg marketed this in that you should buy two, since there are only 3 mixer inputs and six devices. There is a fourth auxillary mixer input for effects or a fourth instrument, but you don't have the same level of control compared to the other 3. There is compression, sidechaining, muting and stereo expand options but NO PANNING WTF. 5/10

 

 

I still think the best setup for the volcas would be 2 samples and an fm, or 2 fm's and a sample. I get some very analogy sounds out of the fm that aren't awashed in dirty brass, even though it is not as intuitive or easily editable as the volca keys. Also of note is that none of the volcas really like amplitude options, whether that be eg's, panning, or accent programming. I find that the lack of amplitude options is what neuters a lot of the volcas more than anything. It's a whole dimension missing that I've only gotten around chunks of by programming software to control the EG levels or volume to act as custom EG's, but it really should not be a problem with these hardware devices as amplitude is a fundamental part of music.

Thanks, this is pretty much the best/pithiest Volca review out there.

 

Also my Volca Kick lust is back now :P

[sheatheman]

Why would anyone buy a volca mixer when you can get a behringer with fx for less than $100? Super dumb

[Entorwellian]

I use both :D The real question is why would anyone buy TWO? It's really not that bad as a bus unit for percussion. Plus it it powers 3 of the volcas as well. The lack of panning is a huge kick in the dick, though, and I would recommend kvgear's mixer over it any day. Same goes for the behringer. It uses a really weird crossover between the channels too. the eq's really change the colour of the sounds in a way that sounds like it was for the noisy volcas. It's really only useful for a narrow focus.

[Leon Sumbitches]

Ha, the 'smoky dirty brass sound' is the best description of the Keys' timbre I've ever heard.

 

Also a mixer without panning is just ridiculous, lol

[sweepstakes]

Also a mixer without panning is just ridiculous, lol

Incorrect.

[Entorwellian]

 

Also a mixer without panning is just ridiculous, lol

Incorrect.

 

Holy shit! I've never seen that before. That's awesome and I stand corrected.

"because each channel has enough gain it can be turned into a tone generator by feeding the output back to an input thru a passive eq and other simple circuits."

 

That thing is definitely volca worthy.

[TheBro]

 

 

Also a mixer without panning is just ridiculous, lol

Incorrect.

 

Holy shit! I've never seen that before. That's awesome and I stand corrected.

"because each channel has enough gain it can be turned into a tone generator by feeding the output back to an input thru a passive eq and other simple circuits."

 

That thing is definitely volca worthy.

 

Cool but that is one ugly mixer lol.

[Entorwellian]

Fuck yeah.

 

I'm the juice knob

[Braintree]

 

I've picked up all of them when they were originally released and have used them extensively. Here are my quick reviews:

 

Volca Keys: Limited and only a couple of steps above a Korg Monotron delay. The sequencer kind of sucks but you can turn it into a 64 step sequencer by using the flux option. It has a smoky, dirty brass sound throughout the entire timbre of the machine that you can't escape from no matter what. When you hook it up to a midi keyboard though it has some nice capabilities. The delay effect is very gritty but it makes for some nice textures. Ironically I found it better at doing bass than the Volca bass. The poly isn't a real poly unless you want to buy a standalone max/msp application or code your own. 6.5 out of 10

 

Volca Bass: The filter and resonator on this is amazing. You can really make the machine squelch or moan loudly. However, I found that the range of things you can do with the bass is even more constricted than the keys. I found it to be pretty weak as a bass instrument, however, and found it more enjoyable to play like the keys. Bass and keys should have had their names swapped! You can't control the envelopes or amplitudes of the oscillators individually, so often the machine sounded boring after a while unless you program each of the oscillator steps seperately and switch them on and off during performance. Also the parts that you really want to be midi-controllable are not midi-controllable. Only 16 steps. 4.5 out of 10.

 

Volca Beats: Crap. Even after modded it is limited to kraftwerk-esque sounds. With the bass and keys it kind of works, but by itself or with anything not toy-like its kind of shit. The levels are all wonky on it too so level checks are always necessary when recording. The Volca Kick blows the beats out of the water. 2.5 out of 10.

 

Volca FM: Best Volca. It's a full DX-7 synthesizer, 1/8th the size. Only 3 polyphony but has an arpeggiator to make up for it. You can even scroll through the algorithms and automate that scrolling to make some wicked sounding textures. The velocity is independent from the keys but that was easily fixed with a software MIDI toggle. I've gotten so much use out of this that I consider it a professional instrument. The onboard sounds are alright but you can either download more off the internet, use an external editor (like i do) or use the knobs to change the carrier and modulator oscillators. I find that I need precision when working with FM though, so I don't use the onboard versions much. 9/10

 

Volca Sample: Drum Machine with interchangeable samples that can be uploaded. Not a sampler, per se. With some trickery, you can turn it into a granular synthesizer as well. It's pretty straight forward and is great for making 16-64 step patterns and loops. If you are looking for something portable then I recommend it. I use this still to make drum loops and patterns for later use if I'm on the go. 8/10

 

Volca Kick: The Volca Beats v2.0 Way better and the noise generator is actually useful. It does what it advertises and has enough bells and whistles on it to make it a versatile monosynth and drum creator. I find that is better to do one-hit sounds and record them onto the computer than it is to do full performances with it, which is sad because the entire machine seems built and designed to have hands-on performance in mind. 7/10

 

Volca Mixer: There are better mixers out there and Korg marketed this in that you should buy two, since there are only 3 mixer inputs and six devices. There is a fourth auxillary mixer input for effects or a fourth instrument, but you don't have the same level of control compared to the other 3. There is compression, sidechaining, muting and stereo expand options but NO PANNING WTF. 5/10

 

 

I still think the best setup for the volcas would be 2 samples and an fm, or 2 fm's and a sample. I get some very analogy sounds out of the fm that aren't awashed in dirty brass, even though it is not as intuitive or easily editable as the volca keys. Also of note is that none of the volcas really like amplitude options, whether that be eg's, panning, or accent programming. I find that the lack of amplitude options is what neuters a lot of the volcas more than anything. It's a whole dimension missing that I've only gotten around chunks of by programming software to control the EG levels or volume to act as custom EG's, but it really should not be a problem with these hardware devices as amplitude is a fundamental part of music.

Thanks, this is pretty much the best/pithiest Volca review out there.

 

Also my Volca Kick lust is back now :P

 

 

 

While I like the Sample for the sounds that come out of it, it's nearly useless to me. You need a special MIDI cable in order to sequence with a computer. Otherwise, every sample is on a different MIDI channel 

[worms]

[Entorwellian]

 

 

I've picked up all of them when they were originally released and have used them extensively. Here are my quick reviews:

 

Volca Keys: Limited and only a couple of steps above a Korg Monotron delay. The sequencer kind of sucks but you can turn it into a 64 step sequencer by using the flux option. It has a smoky, dirty brass sound throughout the entire timbre of the machine that you can't escape from no matter what. When you hook it up to a midi keyboard though it has some nice capabilities. The delay effect is very gritty but it makes for some nice textures. Ironically I found it better at doing bass than the Volca bass. The poly isn't a real poly unless you want to buy a standalone max/msp application or code your own. 6.5 out of 10

 

Volca Bass: The filter and resonator on this is amazing. You can really make the machine squelch or moan loudly. However, I found that the range of things you can do with the bass is even more constricted than the keys. I found it to be pretty weak as a bass instrument, however, and found it more enjoyable to play like the keys. Bass and keys should have had their names swapped! You can't control the envelopes or amplitudes of the oscillators individually, so often the machine sounded boring after a while unless you program each of the oscillator steps seperately and switch them on and off during performance. Also the parts that you really want to be midi-controllable are not midi-controllable. Only 16 steps. 4.5 out of 10.

 

Volca Beats: Crap. Even after modded it is limited to kraftwerk-esque sounds. With the bass and keys it kind of works, but by itself or with anything not toy-like its kind of shit. The levels are all wonky on it too so level checks are always necessary when recording. The Volca Kick blows the beats out of the water. 2.5 out of 10.

 

Volca FM: Best Volca. It's a full DX-7 synthesizer, 1/8th the size. Only 3 polyphony but has an arpeggiator to make up for it. You can even scroll through the algorithms and automate that scrolling to make some wicked sounding textures. The velocity is independent from the keys but that was easily fixed with a software MIDI toggle. I've gotten so much use out of this that I consider it a professional instrument. The onboard sounds are alright but you can either download more off the internet, use an external editor (like i do) or use the knobs to change the carrier and modulator oscillators. I find that I need precision when working with FM though, so I don't use the onboard versions much. 9/10

 

Volca Sample: Drum Machine with interchangeable samples that can be uploaded. Not a sampler, per se. With some trickery, you can turn it into a granular synthesizer as well. It's pretty straight forward and is great for making 16-64 step patterns and loops. If you are looking for something portable then I recommend it. I use this still to make drum loops and patterns for later use if I'm on the go. 8/10

 

Volca Kick: The Volca Beats v2.0 Way better and the noise generator is actually useful. It does what it advertises and has enough bells and whistles on it to make it a versatile monosynth and drum creator. I find that is better to do one-hit sounds and record them onto the computer than it is to do full performances with it, which is sad because the entire machine seems built and designed to have hands-on performance in mind. 7/10

 

Volca Mixer: There are better mixers out there and Korg marketed this in that you should buy two, since there are only 3 mixer inputs and six devices. There is a fourth auxillary mixer input for effects or a fourth instrument, but you don't have the same level of control compared to the other 3. There is compression, sidechaining, muting and stereo expand options but NO PANNING WTF. 5/10

 

 

I still think the best setup for the volcas would be 2 samples and an fm, or 2 fm's and a sample. I get some very analogy sounds out of the fm that aren't awashed in dirty brass, even though it is not as intuitive or easily editable as the volca keys. Also of note is that none of the volcas really like amplitude options, whether that be eg's, panning, or accent programming. I find that the lack of amplitude options is what neuters a lot of the volcas more than anything. It's a whole dimension missing that I've only gotten around chunks of by programming software to control the EG levels or volume to act as custom EG's, but it really should not be a problem with these hardware devices as amplitude is a fundamental part of music.

Thanks, this is pretty much the best/pithiest Volca review out there.

 

Also my Volca Kick lust is back now :P

 

 

 

While I like the Sample for the sounds that come out of it, it's nearly useless to me. You need a special MIDI cable in order to sequence with a computer. Otherwise, every sample is on a different MIDI channel 

 

I know. There are lots of quesitonable midi choices along the whole lineup. I sincerely don't understand why they didn't make every parameter midi controllable, or at the very least make the pads mapped to control changes instead.The Volca kick is the only one that I have not had to write custom software for.

[sheatheman]

How long would it take me to learn how to write software from nothing?

[modey]

Get Max or PD and do the tutorials imo

[Entorwellian]

Loadbang tutorial for puredata will get you through the pragmatic parts very quickly and you can have something up and running probably within a week if you are starting from scratch? and you can skip the dsp part (over half of it is dsp) if its just for MIDI. If you have max i can send you some circuits i made for the volcas. If you give me a few days I can probably even whip up some rudimentary user interfaces for 'em too.

[sheatheman]

I guess I have max, I have max for live. What do the volca things you wrote do?

[Entorwellian]

I used other parameters to emulate various tricks. Like building envelope generators for the volume and cutoff filter to give it proper ADSR capabilities, true poly with gate routing (its still a bit janky. can't play it fast because it keeps track of the individual oscillators), arpeggiators, chords other than the fifth and octave settings, stutter effects with midi cc data, custom lfos, and also outputs list data so that other volcas know what the others are doing for automation circuit patchers. Its mostly hacking what you can in there to trick it into doing more than its capable of.

[Silent Member]

Cool.

[sweepstakes]

The Dude is a simple, weird, awesome little mixer. It saturates and feeds back beautifully. I made my own 1/4" to 1/8" cables so I could more easily plug my monosynths and effects into it.

 

If it looks ugly that might be because it's not obvious that it literally fits in the palm of your hand. I love it and I think it's adorable. I like clicking the little mute buttons when it's not plugged in because they feel nice and the LEDs below the frosted acrylic have a soothing snowy glow.

 

I used other parameters to emulate various tricks. Like building envelope generators for the volume and cutoff filter to give it proper ADSR capabilities, true poly with gate routing (its still a bit janky. can't play it fast because it keeps track of the individual oscillators), arpeggiators, chords other than the fifth and octave settings, stutter effects with midi cc data, custom lfos, and also outputs list data so that other volcas know what the others are doing for automation circuit patchers. Its mostly hacking what you can in there to trick it into doing more than its capable of.

Badass! I'm grinning reading this. I'd love to play with this patch if you're up for sharing.

[sweepstakes]

Also, while the sample's MIDI implementation earned all the derision it gets, it does sound very good. It has a lovely dry sound with just the right amount of mid-fi crunch for my tastes. The envelopes, while primitive, add just enough variety to the sound to make it interesting and alive. The looping on short samples make it easy to get into weird granular territory. And the tuning can dip nice and low into that subterranean crunch zone.

 

The analog EQ is a bit vulgar and phases wildly, but more often than not, it does just enough to bring it into the zone. And those phasing effects can actually be nice.

 

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Guest]

This Smart-MIDI cable resolves the Volca Sample issue: https://www.retrokits.com/rk-002/

 

However, I was not able to make it work with my midi-thru box. It worked when the Sample was directly plugged to my sequencer.