Volca Sample vs. the World

The Lounge Other Gear
#21

you guys have got me lusting for one, i knew it was an amazing little box
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coming from an OT owner perspective, besides the obvious - NO sampling !
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what are the areas that might niggle a bit, from an integration / flexibility point of view ? anything to cure the gas basically, though i fully understand for the money it is amazing despite any ‘issues’ - what are those ‘issues’ if you’re being overly critical (relative to unrealistic OT ‘expectations’)- i have all the monotrons and two monotribes, skipped the volcas - can’t beat the 'tribes for immediacy, but harder to sync up easily, will diy midi soon - could the volca be a neat bridge to the monotribe, are there nuances with swing that means it’s not passed on etc
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plus any aspects where it eclipses OT, like voice count e.g
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looks perfect for sofa jams, so … cons/pros ?

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EDIT: sonicstate to the rescue, don’t get me wrong it looks great, but i think i can live probably without it despite the many positives

#22

:slight_smile: Thanks! No windows here, I’m actually on the steps outside a museum. I’m going to try to make the most of Volca portability and film some of these vids around NYC.

1 Like
#23

@avantronica

I don’t actually mind the lack of sampling. Of course it would be nice to have, but I actually do my editing (even for the OT) on the iPad anyway, so it’s not a big deal to me.

Anyway, I will say that overall I don’t think of the Volca Sample as a piece of gear that I’ll really be integrating into the rest of my setup. At most I’d maybe have it handle transitions during a live show? I guess if I made a really great pattern I could sample it and build on it on my OT.

The main issue is the lack of space for patterns/samples, and AFAIK the inability to back things up. I can’t imagine being able to fit more than 3 tracks on here (I’m imaging a few patterns per song), which obviously limits things. So I’m treating this more as a make-a-track-and-move-on box, something to hone my live tweaking.

I do think that using the OT a lot has helped me grasp what is possible with samples on the Volca.

Anyway, regarding areas that it eclipses the OT, the main one for me is that it has a lofi, glued together sound. The analog isolator helps with this.

#24

Oh and one more very minor niggle. It has a (digital, I assume) LPF per voice, not for character so much as to tame high frequency artifacts. I would have loved some kind of resonant HPF to help make bass sounds from samples.

#25

^ thanks jamrod
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i think i’ll wait it out for a while, i amended my post above - still think it hits a sweet spot in the way you describe using it -i was envisaging a more textural sound palette which may have been an issue with the smallish ram - liked your jam too btw, contributed to the passing gas

#26

It packs character, though, and plenty of it. Which is why I’m keeping it around. Always something interesting coming out of that box.

#27

It packs character, though, and plenty of it. Which is why I’m keeping it around. Always something interesting coming out of that box.[/quote]
for sure - looks a real hoot - just acknowledging that my current priorities don’t allow me to get tempted when it’s not without issue

#28

It packs character, though, and plenty of it. Which is why I’m keeping it around. Always something interesting coming out of that box.[/quote]
for sure - looks a real hoot - just acknowledging that my current priorities don’t allow me to get tempted when it’s not without issue[/quote]
And that, my friend, gives you a whole lot more character that any kind of sampler. If I need some gear thrown into Mount Doom at some point, I know who to call now :slight_smile:

#29

@michalronin
Don’t, mate. I bet you would miss OT quickly.
Since I have the AR and don’t use the OT for drumming anymore, it just became the brain of everything I got so far, MIDI control and sampling whatever I run into it.
But it’s right that AR is so much fun.

@jamrod you rock this piece of gear ! Makes me want to record something with mine as well :slight_smile:

#30

@michalronin
Don’t, mate. I bet you would miss OT quickly.
[/quote]
I agree, they’re very different. For me, it’s just that AR works better for what I’m doing, not that it’s an analog version of the Octatrack - it’s not! I’ve just bent it to a certain way. So don’t get tempted by my delirious rants. I’m the musician’s equivalent of a soldier with jungle fever.

#31

@michalronin
Don’t, mate. I bet you would miss OT quickly.
Since I have the AR and don’t use the OT for drumming anymore, it just became the brain of everything I got so far, MIDI control and sampling whatever I run into it.
But it’s right that AR is so much fun.

@jamrod you rock this piece of gear ! Makes me want to record something with mine as well :slight_smile: [/quote]

Well, I bought the OT mainly to detach myself from the laptop, as probably many of us here did (since also as many of us here, my work involves a lot of staring at the monitor). And while OT + Blofeld is a magic combo, I got a feeling my workflow (and productivity right after) took a serious hit - as I can do everything the OT can and more using my mouse, much faster. This is probably because I’ve got several years of DAW background and I’d probably reach the same level of proficiency with the OT in time, but it keeps feeling both like reinventing the wheel and throwing logs under my own feet. Thus I’m considering a step back to the laptop-centric setup, and having the AR and Blofeld synced up into DAW with bonuses like the AR’s compressor appeals to me more and more every day. Then there’s Overbridge for AR round the corner etc., etc.

Volca Sample praise thread, you say? :smiley:

#32

And the “quote of the day” award goes to… :smiley:

#33

I LOVE my Volca Sample.
I would love it more if there was a way to save and load patterns+sounds outside the machine.
10 memories is a joke, there SHOULD be a SD card reader on this machine for recalling patterns and storing sounds : even if it had doubled the price, I think they would have sold as many with this. It’s year 2015, nom de dieu !!

OT takes time before mastering it, that’s for sure. It was my only Elektron machine for 6 months and I couldn’t do what I can now do with the AR in a few minutes.
Yet, it became really great as a second Elektron machine, I found. Like : you suddenly understand why it was conceived this way and how it should be used for a precise need.
The thing is that I cannot rely on it only to create : I still don’t have a workflow for OT only. but once I have something running on the AR, it’s so easy to get something done with the OT.

OB4AR cannot be introduced in a conversation, this subject is too explosive :wink:

#34

[quote="“andreasroman”"]

And that, my friend, gives you a whole lot more character that any kind of sampler. If I need some gear thrown into Mount Doom at some point, I know who to call now :)[/quote]
i think you misunderstand my point, albeit i can see you’re pulling my leg :slight_smile: but i am not looking at the negatives to diss the gear, i’m the last to whinge about gear not doing this or that, i was looking for negatives to simply stop me spending a not-so-small amount that i cannot justify on something that would take time away from the other gear - it’s tremendous as is and it’d be top of the list if i can sell something getting less love - i’m actively trying to downsize ! anyway, it’s a no-brainer if you have the spare cash - enjoy it

#35

Just played around with multitracking the Volca to cassette. It’s a little sloppy because I was syncing it manualy, but it’s a fun way to jam.

Also did this a couple days back

1 Like
#36

Nice. And I’ve never seen one of those Marantz 4-t racks before?!

#37

Yeah they’re great, and really cheap compared to the better known Tascams – snagged this on eBay recently for $35.

#38

[quote="“jamrod”"]

Yeah they’re great, and really cheap compared to the better known Tascams – snagged this on eBay recently for $35.[/quote]
Sweet :slight_smile: I have a tascam 488 mkii and 388 that I love, cost me a lot more than $35 tho! I’ll keep an eye out for the Marantz :wink:

#39

Whoa! Nice work Jamrod/Inkjet! Love that Congro tune. Reminds me of Muslim Gauze kind of, in a nice way, don’t mean as a rip-off or anything. You have just created another a Korg Volca Sample customer. Cheers.

#40

I was just thinking on getting one today after stumbling across a video earlier then i stumble upon this thread…you guys have me sold haha gonna get myself one! I guess limitation is a big plus for creativity on this little machine