I’m thinking of buying a beats if I can find one cheap enough.
2 Likes
Yeah, the original three are really underrated, IMO. I don’t see the Beats as often on the used market here. Maybe everyone is holding on to them. I have no idea why there are so many Volca Basses for sale used. They are everywhere.
This guy’s videos make me think the Volca Modular might be worth checking out as well.
3 Likes
I’ve got keys and bass but rarely use them but like the sound especially the keys.
1 Like
This track really makes me want the Modular. Wow! Sounds like classical music.
7 Likes
lovely
Which used gear sites in Japan do you recommend? Anything other than mercar yahoo auctions and jmty?
I had a bunch of Volcas a few years back but never really got into them.
Sold them all back then but i’ve just bought another Volca FM & a Sample 2 (Arriving today)
Since i basically got rid of my “traditional” studio setup, ie Desk/Room filled with gear, i’ve gone for smaller gear and portable workstation stuff. I currently have an Mpc Live II & a couple of Op-1’s, and recently i’ve been drawn back to the Volca’s. Probably won’t buy them all, but maybe 1 or 2 more.
2 Likes
I mostly just buy through Digimart or directly on Ishibashi Ubox as sometimes they don’t list stuff on Digimart.
I also buy on Yahoo Auction on occasion, but not recently.
alright, thanks!
1 Like
I sold the FM, because I bumped into the endless encoder so many time while building sounds. The encoder changes to the next patch which ofc means the current work is lost. I tried to save as often as possible, but with fm small changes can have huge effects and I don’t wanted to save everything, all the time…
Except for my problem with the encoder, I really liked it and could get some really cool sounds out of it. Knobs for attack and decay for carrier and modulator are pretty cool and the arp is cool, too!
Doesn’t help much when you’re constantly destroying your work by accidentially hitting that damnnencoder (yes, that damnnencoder!!) tho…
Still have the Volca Bass which I bought around the time it came out. The slides sound so lovely, especially with a little delay and/or reverb.
I’m thinking about getting the Nubass for christmas…
1 Like
nubass is great. limited sound palette but it’s sweet spot sounds great & the sequencer’s random accent & slide functions are * chef’s kiss *
4 Likes
Currently have the Drum & Nubass…have had the Keys, Sample Mk1 and Modular too.
Honestly, fantastic wee tools, all with qualities I’ve enjoyed as well as the obvious but often welcome limitations that come from being tiny and affordable.
The Drum is bonkers, excellent-sounding and fun - comes to life with some nice MIDI control over the deeper parameter editing that’s hard to get to quickly. Nubass is a simple, excellent-sounding acid-oriented box with lovely sequencer randomisation features. I’ve enjoyed those that I’ve moved on too and have spent a bunch of time with the Kick since my brother owns it - not to be overlooked as simply a synthesiser for bass drums, it can produce some lovely weird, bubbling basslines.
I think they all have a place and can be sort of ‘tagged in’ to fill a niche within most setups.
2 Likes
I love all my Volcas, even played live with them on small gigs, but eventually sold many to fund the other purchases. All become very repetitive and it’s not very easy to integrate it in the more complex workflow (multiple patterns, modulation).
Have:
Sample - awesome for grooves, textures and rough granular stuff, but I don’t have enough time and desire for keyhole surgery of transferring samples. You need to experiment with samples to understand which ones are working for you - and this is just slow and painful.
The 12bit/33khz sound is awesome, I wish they did a pro-version with exactly this engine.
It gathers dust atm. Maybe need to upgrade to v2, but it only improves on sample import.
FM - while not a 100% emulation of DX7, it still sounds very nice on many DX patches. Diffucult to program anything from scratch, no, thanks. Arp and LFO are very cool performance additions.
Drum - as I said in the other topic, very cool tone and possibilities, difficult to handle. I sample it for further processing in the DAW.
Sold:
Beats - it was ok and PCM waves with stutter were fun. But it becomes boring very quickly and the kick and snare are just… dull.
Keys - had it twice. It’s nice, useful and has semi-vintage sound. I like the synth tone and the color of the lo-fi delay. Probably the most useful of the “tribe”.
But in the end you start to desire more possibilities. One shared envelope for everything, come on, Korg.
Kick - it was fun too, cool addition to the line, but not the sounds I needed for my music (Kick sounds were cool).
Bass - sold it quickly. It was ok for 2013, I think. 3 oscillator synth bass with sequencer.
But I don’t know, it just did not gel with me. It resembles TB-303 on some settings, but not a direct emulation. Too bright and thin sound, was not any remarkable in the mix, especially piercing resonance.
Curious:
Modular - lots of possibilities and cool idea ever (portable Buchla clone), but the sound is not there. And no easy euro connection.
Not interested:
NuBass - it’s basically like the Bass, but with very saturated sound. It’s too overdone to be useful, in my opinion. Glad to see other people like it’s sound.
1 Like
I got the Keys and had such a blast playing with it last night that I ordered a used Modular, as I’ve always been interested in Buchlas.
I realized that this line really is perfect for someone like me. I don’t have a lot of space, I’ve never bonded with an expensive synth, and my ideal tone is something you’d hear on PBS in the late 1970s.
Where the Volcas fell down for me in the past is that I was trying to make tunes by midi’ing them up into what became a bit of a cumbersome setup. I’m just not that kind of performer. This time around I’m planning to record/layer them into the SP404mkii, which makes a lot more sense for the way I create music.
I’m glad to have rediscovered the line.
7 Likes
The Volca Modular showed up today, and I absolutely love it. It really suits my taste!
I’ve been messing around in Dorian as I saw online that that is what a lot of Suzanne Ciani’s Buchla stuff was composed in and it sounds great. Even the basic tone sounds great to me. The reverb is also really fantastic. Super swampy 1970s vibe. I’m looking forward to trying out all the basic patches from Korg and some of the others I’ve found online to really start to learn it!
Highly recommended to anyone on the fence.
6 Likes
I had the Keys, Beats, Sample, and FM for a while, but sold them a couple years back. I’d say they’re all super solid instruments since the Volca sequencer is really made for live experimentation, but they were too difficult to integrate into my setup when it came to creating actual pieces of music. Of those four, the Sample and Keys were my favorites, and I consider from time to time getting another Keys. Tweaking the synthesis type while running a sequence is a really unique sound which I gratuitously used on this track:
Drums on it are from the Beats, but I can’t remember if I layered them with anything else.
6 Likes
Volca FM, Kick, Keys, and Beats.
1 Like
I had a Keys and an FM for a while. Keys I never really got into so I let it go, but i thought FM was a really cool small synth. Especially when i hooked it up to my El Capistan and Flint, suuuper lush. Sold it when I got a Digitone tho.
yea sp404 mk2 sounds like a nice pairing for the volca’s. rewind-record or whatever its called to capture those magic moments. lovely.
1 Like
Dude, tell me about it. I’m super stoked for the SP404/Volca combo. I’ve kind of gone off the deep end. I found a cheapish used Volca drum that I’m trying to get (if they still have it in stock). I keep thinking about all the possibilities for sampling and resampling/layering with effects. Almost like a Boards of Canada-inspired workflow.
As I mentioned, I can never work with multiple Volcas, but love how they sound together, and love how they sound with effects, so the SP404 sort of solves that for me. It’s a really compact setup as well, which is important to me as there is not much setup and cleanup time involved and it can all be done with minimal cabling and battery power.
I was thinking the Volca Drum could also pull double duties as a master clock for the other Volcas, since it has the BPM readout. I figured that might speed up the sampling workflow.
2 Likes