Volca Sample vs. the World

From time to time, when I sit down with my Volca Sample, I get shit down with that instrument in less than five minutes, that sounds better than stuff I’ve done on an Octatrack or a Rytm for more than five hours.

Not always, but frequently enough for me to wonder about the magic in that little box. There’s something just right about all the choice made there.

Anyone else here have experience with the Volca Sample in studio or live? What’s your take on it? Why is it so goddam awesome?

Or why is it not, if you’re along those lines instead?

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Sure, I love mine. If I didn’t I could write reams of stuff telling everyone why. :slight_smile:

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Hands down most bang for the buck of all the Volca range. And the whole Volca range is quite awesome when it comes to bang for the buck. The reverb is surprisingly decent, and presence of swing, absent in the Beats (although to some extent possible to emulate with stutter or iPhone app) is the reason why I swapped the Beats for it, with no regrets. All in all, my favourite travel companion, occupying the small pocket of my backpack each time I hit the road.

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Yeah, very much enjoy mine for out and about jamming and fun. Certainly the most complete, ‘all in one’ of the Volcas. Keep thinking I should also get the Beats but apart from it being (mostly) analog, it just doesn’t seem to offer much that the Sample can’t easily do and more.

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Super fun for sure. It helps that there’s always a 100 samples loaded and ready to go. No prep, just fun.

Also, it’s nice that each pattern saves the sounds, parameter settings and most importantly the mutes. All of this is reloaded when you load or refresh the pattern. Fun stuff to tweak away, then hit function memory - boom. You obviously need to function write first.

These little time savers and features make using all the Volcas hella fun. The sample and bass are by far my favorite. The Keys is by far my least favorite.

Put them all through the OT and you’ve got some heat!

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Volca samplers rule, I too always end up with a slammer every time I turn the thing on!
Proper bang boxes that spit out all sorts, sometimes I just load a two bar loop in and see what I can get, astounding…
Definitely makes you think about the elegance of simplicity.
Add in the OT and OP-1 and it’s a black hole of discovery!

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Seriously, battery-powered gear seems to have their own mojo in them.

I used to own all the Volcas and the Monotribe. Though I loved the Volca Beats more than the Keys and the Bass, I felt that eventually, you exhausted their sound options. Even the most creative stuff down with the Keys, Bass and Beats still don’t offer anything beyond your own imagination, if in many cases beyond my skills.

That’s the thing with Elektron’s boxes. Sometimes, you hear and see stuff and you go wow, I really had no idea they could do that. At all.

Same goes for the Volca Sample. People keep spitting out stuff from that machine that makes me go whoa, I really couldn’t see that one coming.

The Monotribe kind of has this as well. It has more depth than the Bass and Keys, I feel. Something about the flexibility of the oscillator itself, perhaps. It just seems to find new ways to new sounds all the time.

It’s just got the goods for what you like… mojo. It’s my favorite Korg sampler.

If that little bastard could respond to midi program change, I would be so damn happy. Love sequencing it from my Monomachine, but this one feature is the thing that keeps it in the studio only and out of the gig bag.

I hope to see this in an update some day. Treating pattern/kits as a program, to be changed externally. Also, having each sound on a note rather than its own midi channel would be a bonus, but not a deal breaker.

I know, right? It runs circles around the new Tribe sampler, even though they don’t compare in features.
A Volca Sample redux, like don’t change anything, just add a few things - sampling and resampling, an extra effect or two (don’t mind the low quality reverb, it adds further to character), a more elaborate song mode and stuff - and you’ve got a killer groove box.

Throw in an MKII of the Monotribe, and I wonder, maybe that’s all we need.

OMG this

there is something great about the volca sampler. not sure what.
i have an Analog rytm, Eletribe 2 sampler. mpc1000… just damn… the V.sampler just always comes through with something interesting.
its SO much more intuitive then the Elecrtibe 2 sampler. and, sorta even the Rytm (for samples)… i keep almost buying a 2nd one just to have “more” sample space.

Yeah punches way above its weight, the analog isolator is brilliant, I like the reverb too.

Can’t fault it for the price, I got 2, the little bugger is made of awesome.

Some guy on the Korg forum posted a great looking editor for it just recently:
http://www.frederikson-labs.com/

Thanks! I was just thinking it was time to replace the factory samples. I was actually getting on with them just fine. They’re pretty good, IMO

That editor is da shit. It’s like Overbridge but for Volca Sample.

Ok, so maybe not, but it’s PRETTY DAMN CLOSE, PARDON MY CAPS.

At least it has the looks to match.

Just grabbed a Volca Sample – really enjoying it! Here’s my first jam

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Bleedin’ amazing first jam (legendary epic laser).
Makes me wonder what the f**k I’m doing with all my boxes.

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Lurking the forums and overthinking gear choices a tad bit too much, maybe? :wink:

[quote="“michalronin”"]

Lurking the forums and overthinking gear choices a tad bit too much, maybe? ;)[/quote]
Ya think? :slight_smile:

Lurking the forums and overthinking gear choices a tad bit too much, maybe? ;)[/quote]
Ya think? :)[/quote]
A loose thought :wink: I know I’ve done the same thing, and I know how hard it hit my productivity.

With that in mind, I have to admit that reading your thoughts / rants / dilemmas made me want to exchange my OT for an AR.

And to avoid derailing: props for that piece jamrod!

Nice jam Jamrod - like the traffic activity outside the window too, goes well with the music :wink: