Korg Volca Drum

The Lounge Other Gear
#273

Got a Volca Drum recently. Not sure how some features are supposed to work with so little to go on, but the documentation is in multiple languages, ensuring puzzled owners internationally.

Set the Volca Drum to single MIDI channel and played around some in this first week, setting the program and modulating CC with Digitone.

There is a problem with it listening for notes on any channel. Per someone elsewhere, this can be fixed in future firmware, but that problem could be a deal breaker for someone not interested in working around that.

1 Like
#274

The 1-6 lights up all 6 just leave it like that and itā€™s in split mode. Means one THROUGH six. Took me like tooooo long to figure out too. No worries though. You probably already figured it out. I havenā€™t had enough time with this thing. Having to work so I can eat and have a house and buy gear. There is SUPPOSED to be this thing called ā€œwork / life balanceā€ but itā€™s total B.S.

2 Likes
#275

If anyone is interested Iā€™ve created an FLStudio template with most of the Midi controls represented. Its in split mode so all 6 parts are tweakable and the Wave Guide portion (which is the fun part to play with) has automation tracks. I grouped the tracks so use the channel display filter to go from part 1 through 6. Its way easier to dial in the sounds this way and once they are dialed in you can save your kit.

The idea was to be able to dial in the sweet spots and create the kit. Then later on I will create a template project on the Digitakt that maps the CCs I want and then be able to use the Lock Trigs / LFO / Parameter Locks / Conditional Locks / Other things I cant think of at the moment :grimacing: to get that wacky balls to the wall stuff. Its gonna be fun, and I like to share fun things. So if you have a Korg Volca Drum + FLStudio then give it a go! Iā€™m sure someone will eventually do something similar with Ableton Live if it hasnā€™t been done already.

KORG VOLCA DRUM TEMPLATE.flp (153.5 KB)

The fiddly part is the src, mod & env selection. I had a go at creating a Control Surface, but couldnā€™t easily figure out a way to create a control that could select envelope types. If anyone has ideas feel free to add to it. Cycling through, I think its 27 possible combinations of source, mod and envelope type with one knob is not super easy. It is what it is, but 3 button presses would be faster and more better :smiley:

KVD%20Sound%20Selection

KVD%20Midi%20Out
KVD Midi Out.PNG854Ɨ633 93.7 KB

KVD%20FLP
KVD FLP.png2560Ɨ1030 589 KB

3 Likes
#276

so, whatā€™s the verdict on this one? This thread, along with the volca modular seem quiet and I donā€™t see many jams popping around. Is it intuitive as a jamming box or itā€™s more sound design-y oriented?

Iā€™m kind of tempted but I wouldnā€™t bear hunching over this crappy screen and changing pages with parameters. Also this wave guide circuit sounds like a one-trick pony ā€œsignature soundā€ which is not very pleasant at least from what Iā€™ve heard so far. Does everything sound the same through it, no matter what sounds you have dialed in or itā€™s more responsive depending on the input?

Thanks!

#277

I havenā€™t had much time since I got it to spend with it (or on any music), but for me the tone is great. Wave guide is really just an oddball delay on a send, but the dual layers of the straight tones has a wide range. Randomizing the sound is a great to kick out all manner of noises. Great as start spots to tweak. Seq is like all volcas limited by nature. But I am pairing with Octatrack, so as a sound source to seq and sample, I am very pleased. Killed my urge to track down a Nord Drum2

Edit: I do want to setup a Beatstep program to be able to bang out beats and tweak on full size knobs.

4 Likes
#278

I think itā€™s a really great drum synth. The waveglide is a bit gimmicky but has enough tweakability to get useful settings out of it. The sounds are a bit samey for the size its the deepest drum machine u can get. I really wish the was a way to record automation while chaining patterns, but hey the are always limitations. Also wishing there was a lo pass filter for each sound (or global even), but extra gear can be used for that.

Iā€™m using it alongside a modded monotribe and po-33 for a battery powered drum rig

2 Likes
#279

Oh man, I often regret trading my Nord Drum 1 I bought when Sweetwater was unloading them for $99 to make room for the Mk2. I AM still longing for the Mk2 but I havenā€™t seen them listed for awhile.

To me, the Nord Drums are very different from the V.Drum. I think Nords sound/build quality are on another level comparatively, but of course with a heftier cost.

Does anyone think the Volcas need to get an upgrade on their preamps/outputs? Even with the the V.Drum it still sounds so boxy/thin/tinny. I think iā€™ll run mine through the Analog Heat soon.

#280

+1 for filters

#281

I really wish the Volca Drum had come with some nutube action! Tho I must admit, the Volca Sample had a master filter and I seriously considered bypassing it because of how it colored the sound :p.

1 Like
#282

Nord Drum 2 is on entirely different league than VD, itā€™s awesome. Volca Drum is fun too, but ND2 is a serious tool compared to fun device, imo. :slight_smile:

Iā€™d say those complement each other nicely, too.

#283

Guess it is a good for me I didnā€™t get my hands on a Nord Drum, because the Volca is working well for me. I tend run effects on everything. Mangle, sample, mangle, repeat.

#284

Haha yeah, thought about doing something similar; having an external input leading into the Sampleā€˜s preamp filter, exactly for applying the colouring.

#285

Iā€™m not sure I entirely agree that theyā€™re different league except when it comes to build quality and then the ND2 is much better due to the metal case. I recently sold my ND2 having had it for a few years as I just found it a bit cumbersome and slow to program as there was so much back and forth and changing rows on itā€™s matrix. And thereā€™s zero hands-on fun to be had. It does sound amazing and does things the VD canā€™t manage. Equally, the VD does things the ND2 canā€™t and sounds excellent also. It also has a pretty decent sequencer with probability which is completely foreign to the ND2.

Ultimately, I think itā€™s a personal preference and I definitely would agree that they can complement each other nicely!!!

#286

Does this one have a noisy output like the samples? Thatā€™s the main thing i didnt like about the samples.

Im kind of under the impression that i can get some machinedrum type vibes out of this thing. As good as i can do for cheap anyway

#287

Mine isnā€™t noisy at all.

#288

Iā€™m having fun convincing my Volca Drum to act as a ā€œquad oscillatorā€. It takes some finagling as the waves donā€™t have infinite decay, but I found a way to generate a fairly stable tone: turn the bpm to 600, set the attack to max and place a note on every step (I also found setting EG to ā€œmulti-peakā€ helped).

Its not ideal though, the ā€œModā€ is clicky at most settings (due to the retrigs), but still powerful/useful. Also the resolution of the settings is somewhat low so tweaking is steppy (especially via midi).

That being said, its makes a great noise source, especially with all the wave massaging abilities! Iā€™m controlling the params via a midi controller for some good olā€™ direct tweaking.

5 Likes
#289

Interesting. I always love a good repurposing of gear :smiley:

2 Likes
#290

purchased one, its like OP-1s dBox synth meets a nordrum at 20% of the price. and the sequencer is very fun - would be the t*$^s if a midi out mod came alongā€¦
but for quick jams it beats my pyramid nd2 combo - obvs not as versatile, but Iā€™m having lots of fun and thus am making music!
and I thought i was done with volcas

3 Likes
#291

is it?

#292

The midi in implementation is excellent. You can control everything (better than the volca sample where you couldnā€™t set the sample via midi).

1 Like