I think the Volcas have always fit well into a niche that’s neither “toy” nor “professional audio gear”. I’ve been to lots of gigs where people have a table top full of Volcas, fx pedals, circuit-bent stuff, DIY noisemakers, Pocket Operators, Monotrons and the like, and they fit in well. No-one really cares about noise levels, perfect sync, long sequences etc: they just want to have fun experimenting with weird sounds and improvised music.
They can run a small repertoire ok as a standard opening set is 20-30 minutes. Would be quite a challenge to keep peoples attention longer then 1/2 an hour with nothing but volcas :D
I love my Volca Keys! Obviously not the most versatile synthesizer, but so compact and portable. Load it with batteries, throw it in a backpack with headphones, and take it anywhere for a solo jam. So much fun!
honestly I feel the same way about using DAWs, like- its so much power and openness. I need to often compose and do synth sound design on hardware to build a foundation out of limitation before then finishing a track in a DAW most of the time now
One of your best episodes yet. I have a ton of vintage synths and I still find that I have fun and get a great sound out of my Volca Bass. It’s the fun factor I keep coming back to. Keep up the great work. It’s why I look forward to Fridays!
@@AudioPilz nevermind and keep it simple Uli takes all your disposable income 😄😄 haha. I knew we had to be circulating around in similar places within the TH-cam algorithm
As if the cheaper ARP and MS-20 equivalents by Behringer weren't picking enough of a fight... And an 8-voice Polysix (Poly Eight) is in development, too.
@@Jason75913 I probably won't buy the BolyEight or whatever it's called, I just hope it forces Korg into making a new version of the Polysix with left over Prologue parts
korg really do deserve more credit than they get. People always go on about how Behringer made synthesizer more accable but Korg was the ones who really made synths and especially analog synths available to the mass markets! still love my korg volca fm and korg monotribe (possible bad gear contender, love that bad boy but it's quite disliked i think hah)
@@explodingmonad4535 If we are talking about who originally made synthesizers accessible then no because korg did it before behringer by like 5 years or so, behringer would've never gone the way they did if it wasn't for korg with Tatsuya Takahashi as they pioneered accessible synthesizers.
@@AudioPilz and they're still pushing the limits of budget stuff, the amount of versatility under the hood of the NTS-1 when you start adding user oscillators and effects is insane... everyone seems to love those for cheap (and very good) effects but they're excellent synths even though the interface gets klunky for custom oscillators with tons of features. But the stuff people add is so cool - sequencers, loopers and all sorts of things that you'd never think it was capable of.
some of the most fun Ive ever had is just syncing the Keys, Beats and Bass together and having a jam. Maybe the end product isnt going to get pressed on vinyl or anything, but that isnt always a bad thing
Took me months of cursing that thing till i read the manual and realised you have to wait a bit for it to auto tune! Patience has paid off and now i love that little synth and it's janky quirks.. after it autotunes. Mine even survived a studio fire so they're pretty indestructible
Thank you so much for giving the Korg Volca keys the Bad Gear treatment! I have one for sale at the moment, so this episode should give this little guy a nice value bump!
There's something about the Volcas that's appealing, but then you start thinking about it and unless you absolutely are missing a sound one of them makes, then all you can think about is, 'Why would I want to make a track with a bunch of volcas in the first place?' which leads you to the answer, Neo. The answer is...you like gimmicky hardware. So I resisted all temptations, though I really did want the FM Volca cause I'm an FM junkie. I still don't have any actual analog gear, but then again, I don't feel like I'm that much of an audio purist in the first place to warrant putting money on one. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, Korg is still cool, though.
You are not "missing out" if you are happy with what you have. Believe me, you are blessed! Don't get lost in synth limbo like the most of us... Make music, enjoy!
Mostly agreed, but the FM and Kick were great additions to my collection. The Kick I genuinely love, and it cost me less than a couple pizzas; my only complaint is I wish they'd have omitted the sequencer entirely and made up for it with more sound design options. It's not the only analog kick I need, but it covers a lot of ground. The FM because 90% of the time when I'm making my own sounds in FM, I would just as soon twiddle knobs adjusting arcane settings whose interactions I hardly can predict while laying on the sofa, than open up a software editor, perch at my desk, and so on. And it cost the same as... three pizzas.
Every time you release a new video I just can't help but click. You have a power to make the unholiest of creations sound like the most blessed creations known to mankind. I wonder what gets made into gold next time!
This was my first learning synth and I enjoyed every minute of it - I'd recommend it to beginners in a heartbeat. It's limited, but full of warm classic sounds that can fit in lots of styles. This thing is a huge success for it's price and the design choices they made with such tight limitations. Now where's the Volca Keys 2, since they Sample got to fix some of its flaws? Maybe some LFO options and more waveforms?
The trio of Volca Keys, Bass and Beats are what got me into making music with hardware again, many fond memories. Found my Keys in the back of cupboard just the other day, so perhaps it's time to dust it off and see what it can still do. That unison is far fatter than I remember it sounding
I will say this. I love Korg. They make so many quality, affordable tools and instruments. My synth journey started with the Korg Gadget 2, and has continued with microKEY and other Korg soft synths. I don't know where it will go from here but I'm very thankful for them. Maybe do the Gadget 2 on a video. I suspect that there are a lot of people who put it down, but for an absolute beginner, it was a decent starting point.
Excellent Show. The second jam you did with the Digitakt gimped up in the midi set up was pure fire my friend. I was cutin' a few shapes. Blessings from Berlin.
My god that genre description was just getting more & more hilarious & then you ended it with "uniting drunk people around the globe" I lost it 🤣🤣🤣 Great episode - I love my keys but I did get it 2nd hand & cheap, so as a dirty little accessible noisebox, it's great.
I gotta chime in on this one as this is one of my all time favorite synths. You're absolutely right that the tone is unmistakably Korg! That is why this thing is extremely iconic. As you mentioned about this thing's much older brother the Univox k1 and k2, the character comes from just how quirky this thing is. Those synths until not very long ago were going for pennies because they were too quirky to be usable. Now people understand that their unique filters and oscillators are AWESOME. The same line of thought goes on here, and I have to give credit to Korg with ALL of the Volcas. They're not trying to make a budget synth that does it all(they already did that with the Microkorg). They're trying to make something weird, and to me this is the best example. Tons of features under the hood that don't operate as they should, just like the Univoxs Korg started with.
Good to see so much love for the Keys. It’s hard not to forgive the little rascal for its foibles. Ultimately, it has some lovely sounds, and you can always find a place for it in a track, if only in a supporting role
Apart from the great sound, the simplicity makes the Keys a great choice for live shows/improvisations. I just know the sweet spots, I can move among them easily, and it is predictable and reliable. Kind of like the Moog Siri, but 10x cheaper. Anyway, great episode, one of your snappiest and funniest ones.
For the money, this is a great synthesizer with great sound. I will soon be using it for live as a bass synthesizer, during rehearsals it does not make noise at all It is also the most beautiful synthesizer in the series.
Glad seeing you using the Blofeld and Digitakt more often since you reviewed em ;) lovely stuff, as usual. Thanks for bringing some extra happines to the end of the week :)
Besides just 2 PPQ (2 steps per pulse), all the original Volcas (Bass, Beats. Keys) have since been updated to also support 4 PPQ (1 step per pulse), via Global setting #8. Flux mode allows you to record up to 8 "1/8 sub-steps" per actual step, which combined with 1/4 tempo allows for up to 128 steps per pattern.
@@lo-firobotboy7112 Yes, the update is distributed as a wave file you play into the sync input. Search for "volca firmware update", it should be the top result.
Not only can all the volcas sync at 4ppq (once per step), they can all borrow swing from the clock sync as long as the first volca in your chain has swing.
It always takes me about 30 minutes to watch these as I have to pause each of the awesome flash memes to take it all in. Love the few towards the end.. there's far too much modular wankery going round nowadays.
I had one - we used it a lot in minimal techno with fast attack and release, to make short "clicke-ty"-percussion sounds whilst playing with the sequencer. Superb for this purpose.
Thnx for putting Pluto in your planet list 😀. I'm a big fan of Pluto for more then 30 years) And I have a lot of the similar titles in my bookshelves(mostly in Russian). Have a nice day!
Your video editing skills are on point. The Volca Keys was my first analog synth. It was fun to learn some things on. Then I moved to the Monologue. Love your vids.
One of the things that turned me on was the feeling of so much power in such a little package that ran on AA batteries. Forget the speaker. I listened with headphones but I could take this thing ANYWHERE! By the way, no mention should be made of Volcas without paying tribute to that coolest of geniuses Tats Takahashi (creator also of the Minilogue) who’s now heading up Korg Berlin.
I must admit that I was worried to see you retread old ground when I saw that you were dealing with another « wolca », but as usual this is justified and so well done I can’t complain! Amazing work, and for once that’s not a synth that will change prices thanks to you featuring it! I’m renewing my plea for you to take swig at the OP-1!
3:49 This is pure speculation on my part, but Korg probably used the same ring mod circuit that they used in the MS-20 - a XOR logic gate with a comparator on each input to turn the sawtooth into a square wave. It's a super cheap way of getting a ring mod type sound and it's incredibly easy to implement. They could have introduced a square wave without the ring mod quite easily by tapping the signal before it enters the logic chip.
The Volca Keys 1.03 update adds selectable sync ppq modes, so it can sync with other gear that doesn't use the Volca standard. Just FYI. Even with a studio full of gear, I still have fun with the Keys being sequenced by my Digitakt. It has a unique sound that nothing else really has, even if it can't do everything.
Top notch as always! Meme-heavy so had to rewind a million times and try to pause to see/read them memes. I just wonder if Volca or Roland has the most memes out there in the wild. xD
The "limitations" of Keys and also the Bass was the reason why I real quick after gettin them when they was released, to mod mine making them to the next level....Long time before people figured out the easy to get Midi Mod... And that erased most of the "limitations" of both of them.... I write "limitations" with " cause for me they never existed in an blocking or not doable way, its always what you want to get and figure out to do what wasnt really thought when created.... I love mine and the Sound of the Keys connected to an mooer ocean machine makes it bigger than most 10times more expensive synths.... Same was with the Monotribe, got 3 of them, 2Modded and one Original and they where a King Korg in "Uncle of someone that knows a prince" case...🤷🏼♂️😬😘 Love your Stuff and mach weiter so!!!!
@@AudioPilz its definitly a good sounding reverb and it makes everything sound so much bigger...sure not the shimmer like the strymon, but for its costs you would get 2 Ocean Machines😬 And everything you get with it thats not on the strymon, it is a dealbreaker anyways... I really love it and that its more used by Synth Nerds than by Guitarrists says nearly everything...😂🤗
@@KiR_3d I actually dont know tbh, but will make my way to the circuit thats causes that and see what is possible there... If its possible it is sure that it means to break it out the original circuit and the Case for sure... Mine is completly outbroken, means everything is controlable and patchable outside the original volca.... I try to send you a pic of my self-made Breakout Box...
I've had the same problem with noise and solved with the power supply from another Volca (it's always the KA-350). The problematic power supply doesn't cause any problem on my Volca Bass. Anyway the Keys is the more noisest of all Volcas for my experience (i've had Beats, Sample, Bass and Keys). Also: Great Episode
yeh i have all three of those to, early volca adopter..but never added any more volcas after that.. volca fm could have been cool but korg f'd up the design with no velocity via keys.... so dumb.
Starting out I had a Volca binge. I still have four.. I sold the Sample as it just felt too limited to do much beyond… play samples. I was going to sell a couple more but they’re so easy to get nice sound out of. The whole unit is a sweet spot! I swore off them, but sequencing them from an Elektron piece of gear, they’re so much fun. I’m tempted to get an FM.. and this makes me wants a Keys!
I just got one of these a couple of months ago, and I love it. I'm actually using it in a performance tomorrow night as part of my live rig. I guess it comes down to whether or not the sound fits the music you're making.
As soon as I saw it was Volca time, I was waiting for the "insertion" meme to get a mention. You didn't disappoint. Unfortunately, I didn't hear much more after that. I was too busy laughing.
You CAN use it as a step sequencer but it takes extra steps. For my peeps in the comments I'll explain. Assuming you've selected a sequence and have cleared it, first hold FUNC and press ACTIVE STEP. Remove all steps except the first one. Press the record button once and then press the note you want. Press the play button to make it stop repeating. Then press FUNC, ACTIVE STEP and select the next step in the sequence and remove the previous. Repeat until you have a sequence. Disclaimer time: if you make a mistake, you have to start ALL over again. You can't erase single steps so make sure you've made sure you know what note/chord you want. If you try to record over a previous step, some weird compression happens which I need to experiment with and see if I can get some strange sounds out of that limitation. But it is frustrating when you just want to redo the previous step.
Ah yes, finally! I have waited long for this episode. :-) I told you it was bad when you did some other Volca and asked if it was the worst. Nope, they Keys is the worst.
I love my Volca Keys. And I also instantly loved your jams and recognized that special tone. Its that lofi saw with the sloppy detune and the 70s filter, which is similar to the CAT. In analog territory, it complements my Rev2 beautifully! And of course its a ridiculously lot bang for the buck!
Orange County DAW Choppers. "Look, you can't make a synth polyphonic by Marc Dotying, I mean Automatically Gainsaying that it is, when it isn't!" Just making sure I meet my quota for meme-appreciation comments each week. Florian, I owe you a beer when I finally get to meet you. You are the only channel that wears out my frame-by-frame keys while watching TH-cam. Holy cow this one was packed. 🙏🏻
I have the Keys, Sample, Kick, Bass, FM, Beats and modular. Although it's not my most used, the Keys is really good for bass or wobbly synthwave melodies in unison mode. I'll admit I don't mess about with ringmod too much so thanks for the inspiration there - I'll dig it out! I think with the Volca stuff you kinda *have* to look at them as toys, and I don't mean that in a bad way. They're supposed to be played with. They're supposed to be fun. If you start looking at them through the lens of what they can't do, you'll seen be disenchanted.
VolcaKeys is by far the cheapest unison-capable analog 'polysynth' ever made - the Poly-800 is a CS-80 in comparison😁 so I cut it some considerable slack
Me hearing you say "Harsh Noise" is like dogs hearing their owner say "walk" on the phone. I'm excited and confused, and mostly just praying you will do it again.
this was my first analog synth and i must say, it was a great way to learn subtractive synthesis. it cost me like $120, and once my skills improved and I got a few proper synths, I sold it for the same price. honestly wish I would have kept it, it's a pretty capable tool. plus it doesn't sound half bad and is perfect for travelling. you really demonstrated the range of sounds it has to offer, that last song honestly makes it sound like a much more expensive synth!
I think these are great for people who are very limited with space and budget, or people who are absolutely clueless about synth and other similar gear. If you really wanna dig in on a budget, take a full hit, and get yourself a used microkorg. Still probably the most professional “budget” synth, that keeps up with most “pro-level” gear.
@@AudioPilz you think so? The matrix is what helped me when that was my first synth, cuz I could use it to read like a small child using their finger to guide them along the page 😂
I do own a set of keys from the microkorg range, i have always been in the school of "save more money and you can get something better" and hence why i dont have a volca. I do believe no other company can produce gear at the price point that Korg caters for, making them a very important manufacturer for beginners and professionals alike.
The Keys can store 128 presets and have additional, any-shape LFOs. It's all about combining the motion sequence and the active step functions. 128 Presets: Think of a preset as a photography of the state of your knobs. Load an empty sequence. Create your lovely sound. Activate motion sequence, and one single step of your 16 steps sequence. That will be the photography of your preset. Push Rec and move every knob just a bit so its position gets registered. Don't record notes. Save. To access the preset later on, just go back to that single step and press play. 16 steps x 8 sequences = 128 presests. You can freely play it with the device keyboard itself or a nice, big MIDI controller. One LFO per Knob: Think of an LFO as a tiny robot repeatedly moving a knob for you. Instead of an actual LFO, that could be the motion sequencer. The result is the same. Load an empty sequence. Create your lovely sound. Activate motion sequence. Record knob movements according to how you would modulate them with an LFO. You don't need to record notes but you can put something just to hear what's happening and erase it once you're done. If you want to do LFO shapes that require a lot of speed or abrupt changes, you can take advantage of either lowering the tempo or editing step by step with the Active Step funtion as in the previous operation. For the rest of the knobs, the ones you want to remain still, record moving them just a tiny bit so their position gets recorded, and allow the bar to end so their stillness is also recorded. To access the preset later on, just go back to that sequence and press play. 8 sequences = 8 presets but with complex LFOs. Save. You can freely play it with the device keyboard itself or a nice, big MIDI controller. Interesting stuff: You can use these LFOs to modulate the actual LFO, by moving the Rate, Pitch and Cutoff Ints!
Well, with this one you finally did it, all the synths i have are featured on your show ^^ I actually use it quite a lot in combination with my pyramid for sequencing. Almost never as a lead, but always useful for detailing. And like you suggest, i can do wonders as a unison bass in DnB! You know, stuff i'm not going to buy another synth for if this little guy can handle it. Thanks, and keep pointing out to us it's us, the complainers who're bad, not the gear ;)
I got mine and got a usb to midi adapter and had a field day using it with a DAW. I treated it like an analog plugin. Years later I think I prefer the Volca Bass but the sounds these things put out for the price is still unmatched. Being like 19 and being able to afford 2 analog synths and a drum machine was unreal to me.
Volca Keys, Loki, Indy, I feel today's episode was tailored for me XD. What an awesome machine is the vKeys and how versatile experimental machine can become when you push it to it's limits, I love the vBass' step rec but nothing can match the vKeys' flux function, with that and the tempo options you can extend its note imput to the hundreds.
Nice to see the RX15 again! The sound of the volca is soooo incredible. Small box, but big sound. I think for people who just want to have a good and cheap polyphonic synth without any special functions, just for playing with MIDI, this is the right option!
I uh, I don't play anything and I'm a DAWdler with no credibility to say this, but I've pretty much got this thing's sound and functionality out of my trusty old ES P (plus a few fx chains) in Logic. I use it a lot, almost in every track I produce because it's versatile that way. I get where Korg was going with this; obviously making the old analog polysynths of yesteryear accessible and affordable to a new generation of synth nerds (and to stick it to Uli, obvs), but for me? I wouldn't even have anywhere to put it (except, you know where...), it's not something I'd personally go out of my way to own. This video was really good and informative, so thanks for that! :)
Man these are the most entertaining reviews ever,,,great work sir,,,,,lol love the fact that some of bad gear is some of my favourite gear namely the tb3 nether the less you're editing is spot on 👏
If you don't have that much money to spend in instruments, the volca Keys is a gift from heaven. I bought a Volca Key like 6 years ago and I always find myself using it in some way or the other. It makes beautiful keys and pads, it's gritty and makes classical analogue 70's tones like is nothing.
The Volca Keys makes such amazing old-school space/Sci-Fi sounds! I actually found that out by accident when twiddling with the dials for fun and couldn't believe how classic and strange some of the "laser" and "martian" noises were! However, as for recording serious synth lines, I find that it would be better to connect it to an actual hardware sequencer and an effects pedal, given that the delay on the machine is noisy and I would like to layer longer ambient patterns without connecting everything to a PC all the time. Other than that, there's lots of room for creativity when it comes to the sounds one can make on it, which are organic and strong.
LOL!!! Grand Keyano! And talking about the Volca being inserted into bodily orifices then showing the Volca Keys with Uranus! Seriously, I don't think that thing sounds bad at all, maybe a bit limited but what do you expect for price? As always, a very entertaining review!
great episode! almost bought a Volca a while ago... Drum is tempting. side note: i'm going to buy a bunch of Behringer stickers & start slapping them on random stuff now.
The volca keys was one of the first synths that got me interested in the synth market after many year. I still really enjoy using it from time to time when I need a synth on the go and I don't want to pack another AC adaptor. It sounds great and is very performance friendly. Yes the synth is limited and a bit noisy but if you already have a sequencer (digitakt) that can take care of that side of things, it really opens up. The crust and simplicity of the keys are it's charm.
I think the Volcas have always fit well into a niche that’s neither “toy” nor “professional audio gear”. I’ve been to lots of gigs where people have a table top full of Volcas, fx pedals, circuit-bent stuff, DIY noisemakers, Pocket Operators, Monotrons and the like, and they fit in well. No-one really cares about noise levels, perfect sync, long sequences etc: they just want to have fun experimenting with weird sounds and improvised music.
indeed, if you just want to have fun and make music, get volcas. if you want to play with them, get a midi keyboard and you have a nice setup ;-)
They can run a small repertoire ok as a standard opening set is 20-30 minutes.
Would be quite a challenge to keep peoples attention longer then 1/2 an hour with nothing but volcas :D
The short sequences are great when you use them as an additional synth
@@shaft9000 That's why you abuse the delay effect. Lol
I freakin love the Volca Drum. It's definitely niche, but it can make some beautiful, crazy sounds.
Bad Gear Friday!!!! This series has so many gems. The jams, the genre naming, and most of all a great host! Have a great weekend Audiopilz!
Thank you so much!
Facts!!! 🔥🔥🔥❤️
I love my Volca Keys! Obviously not the most versatile synthesizer, but so compact and portable. Load it with batteries, throw it in a backpack with headphones, and take it anywhere for a solo jam. So much fun!
Yeah, they really changed the game with these!
I bust out my Volca Keys every now and again when I feel overwhelmed by the complexity of other synths. Its limits are sometimes liberating.
So true!
honestly I feel the same way about using DAWs, like- its so much power and openness. I need to often compose and do synth sound design on hardware to build a foundation out of limitation before then finishing a track in a DAW most of the time now
this is one of the only youtube shows, i sit down and watch actively. thanks man, i love the work and detail you put in each episode!
So happy to hear that, thanks!!!
Samesies
In my opinion, the Volca keys is frustratingly limited... but on the other hand, it has a gorgeous soud !
Nice episode, thanls !
Thanks for watching!
Do you prefer the keys or bass ?
@@mmaforever594 ... both
One of your best episodes yet. I have a ton of vintage synths and I still find that I have fun and get a great sound out of my Volca Bass. It’s the fun factor I keep coming back to. Keep up the great work. It’s why I look forward to Fridays!
Thank you!!!
Very brave of you to tempt Uli like that, once he's done with Roland and Moog he's gonna go after Korg haha
Volca's plastic but it's tough;)
@@AudioPilz nevermind and keep it simple Uli takes all your disposable income 😄😄 haha. I knew we had to be circulating around in similar places within the TH-cam algorithm
As if the cheaper ARP and MS-20 equivalents by Behringer weren't picking enough of a fight...
And an 8-voice Polysix (Poly Eight) is in development, too.
@@Jason75913 I probably won't buy the BolyEight or whatever it's called, I just hope it forces Korg into making a new version of the Polysix with left over Prologue parts
Well there's already Bono/poly..
this actually nearly made me buy one. great stuff. your jams always make me switch my gear on
So happy to hear that, thanks!
korg really do deserve more credit than they get. People always go on about how Behringer made synthesizer more accable but Korg was the ones who really made synths and especially analog synths available to the mass markets! still love my korg volca fm and korg monotribe (possible bad gear contender, love that bad boy but it's quite disliked i think hah)
Could it not be both?
True that, they started the whole thing!
@@explodingmonad4535 If we are talking about who originally made synthesizers accessible then no because korg did it before behringer by like 5 years or so, behringer would've never gone the way they did if it wasn't for korg with Tatsuya Takahashi as they pioneered accessible synthesizers.
@@AudioPilz and they're still pushing the limits of budget stuff, the amount of versatility under the hood of the NTS-1 when you start adding user oscillators and effects is insane... everyone seems to love those for cheap (and very good) effects but they're excellent synths even though the interface gets klunky for custom oscillators with tons of features. But the stuff people add is so cool - sequencers, loopers and all sorts of things that you'd never think it was capable of.
@@stvnhhh This christmas i'm buying a NTS-1 for my friend actually hah!
some of the most fun Ive ever had is just syncing the Keys, Beats and Bass together and having a jam. Maybe the end product isnt going to get pressed on vinyl or anything, but that isnt always a bad thing
Great for some relaxed jam!
Took me months of cursing that thing till i read the manual and realised you have to wait a bit for it to auto tune! Patience has paid off and now i love that little synth and it's janky quirks.. after it autotunes. Mine even survived a studio fire so they're pretty indestructible
Yeah, the tuning process works surprisingly well on the Keys
Thank you so much for giving the Korg Volca keys the Bad Gear treatment! I have one for sale at the moment, so this episode should give this little guy a nice value bump!
Thanks! There a quite a lot of Volcas around though
Haha denand must be outstripping supply, my ebay price is going through the roof!
I found some on Reverb, Sweetwater, and other markets for around $100 so around the price of a Pocket Operator basically
There's something about the Volcas that's appealing, but then you start thinking about it and unless you absolutely are missing a sound one of them makes, then all you can think about is, 'Why would I want to make a track with a bunch of volcas in the first place?' which leads you to the answer, Neo. The answer is...you like gimmicky hardware.
So I resisted all temptations, though I really did want the FM Volca cause I'm an FM junkie. I still don't have any actual analog gear, but then again, I don't feel like I'm that much of an audio purist in the first place to warrant putting money on one. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, Korg is still cool, though.
Let's just get more Volcas;)
You are not "missing out" if you are happy with what you have. Believe me, you are blessed! Don't get lost in synth limbo like the most of us... Make music, enjoy!
i'd look into the Liven XFM!
What’s most appealing is the price. And then after that, the second most appealing thing is that they don’t take up a lot of desk space
Mostly agreed, but the FM and Kick were great additions to my collection. The Kick I genuinely love, and it cost me less than a couple pizzas; my only complaint is I wish they'd have omitted the sequencer entirely and made up for it with more sound design options. It's not the only analog kick I need, but it covers a lot of ground. The FM because 90% of the time when I'm making my own sounds in FM, I would just as soon twiddle knobs adjusting arcane settings whose interactions I hardly can predict while laying on the sofa, than open up a software editor, perch at my desk, and so on. And it cost the same as... three pizzas.
Every time you release a new video I just can't help but click. You have a power to make the unholiest of creations sound like the most blessed creations known to mankind. I wonder what gets made into gold next time!
Thank you so much!!!
What I really like is the size.
It's exactly one volcawidth wide, *and* one volcalength long.
Amazing.
Is that an official Japanese measure?
This was my first learning synth and I enjoyed every minute of it - I'd recommend it to beginners in a heartbeat. It's limited, but full of warm classic sounds that can fit in lots of styles. This thing is a huge success for it's price and the design choices they made with such tight limitations.
Now where's the Volca Keys 2, since they Sample got to fix some of its flaws? Maybe some LFO options and more waveforms?
I'd buy an updated Volca Keys in a heartbeat!
I just won a Volca Keys and i've only been learning music production for like 10 months, this will be my first analog synth im really hyped for it 👀👀👀
The trio of Volca Keys, Bass and Beats are what got me into making music with hardware again, many fond memories. Found my Keys in the back of cupboard just the other day, so perhaps it's time to dust it off and see what it can still do. That unison is far fatter than I remember it sounding
Yeah, play it!💪
Superb episode, bro. Plus…now I really want the non-existent Volca Key Star RK 100S 🎹💫
Thanks! I'd kill for that;)
@@AudioPilz no doubt! By the way is that a Yamaha RX-11 I spotted during the first jam
This series is amazing. Is super entertaining. It's the most fun I've had with any synth reviews on youtube. Keep it up!!
Thank you so much!
after months and months of being a subscriber, I still have to pause the videos to read the dank memes. always the best
Sometimes you have to watch twice;) Thank you!!!
I will say this. I love Korg. They make so many quality, affordable tools and instruments. My synth journey started with the Korg Gadget 2, and has continued with microKEY and other Korg soft synths. I don't know where it will go from here but I'm very thankful for them.
Maybe do the Gadget 2 on a video. I suspect that there are a lot of people who put it down, but for an absolute beginner, it was a decent starting point.
Great suggestion, the Gadget came up a few times in the comments on the DS-10 episode!
@@AudioPilz I want to get a korg volca bass or key but I carnt help but think it would sound to much like my minilogue
Excellent Show. The second jam you did with the Digitakt gimped up in the midi set up was pure fire my friend. I was cutin' a few shapes. Blessings from Berlin.
Thanks! I have to go to the Big B again asap!
My god that genre description was just getting more & more hilarious & then you ended it with "uniting drunk people around the globe" I lost it 🤣🤣🤣
Great episode - I love my keys but I did get it 2nd hand & cheap, so as a dirty little accessible noisebox, it's great.
Thanks! Ideal noisebox!
I gotta chime in on this one as this is one of my all time favorite synths. You're absolutely right that the tone is unmistakably Korg! That is why this thing is extremely iconic. As you mentioned about this thing's much older brother the Univox k1 and k2, the character comes from just how quirky this thing is. Those synths until not very long ago were going for pennies because they were too quirky to be usable. Now people understand that their unique filters and oscillators are AWESOME.
The same line of thought goes on here, and I have to give credit to Korg with ALL of the Volcas. They're not trying to make a budget synth that does it all(they already did that with the Microkorg). They're trying to make something weird, and to me this is the best example. Tons of features under the hood that don't operate as they should, just like the Univoxs Korg started with.
Yeah, Korg doesn't get enough credit for that!
"Best and worst Volca at the same time"
This describes every Volca
Yeah, so close but...
*Wolca
Good to see so much love for the Keys. It’s hard not to forgive the little rascal for its foibles. Ultimately, it has some lovely sounds, and you can always find a place for it in a track, if only in a supporting role
True that. That thing certainly triggers some strong emotions
Apart from the great sound, the simplicity makes the Keys a great choice for live shows/improvisations. I just know the sweet spots, I can move among them easily, and it is predictable and reliable. Kind of like the Moog Siri, but 10x cheaper.
Anyway, great episode, one of your snappiest and funniest ones.
Thank you so much!
For the money, this is a great synthesizer with great sound.
I will soon be using it for live as a bass synthesizer, during rehearsals it does not make noise at all
It is also the most beautiful synthesizer in the series.
Agreed! I really like the Sample too!
@@AudioPilz sample is my favorite! it makes crazy herbie hancock grooves!
@@hysterique_dominus - I’d love to see a 12 bit Volca SampleR with a line input 🤞
Glad seeing you using the Blofeld and Digitakt more often since you reviewed em ;) lovely stuff, as usual. Thanks for bringing some extra happines to the end of the week :)
Thanks! These two are incredibly fat sounding!
Besides just 2 PPQ (2 steps per pulse), all the original Volcas (Bass, Beats. Keys) have since been updated to also support 4 PPQ (1 step per pulse), via Global setting #8.
Flux mode allows you to record up to 8 "1/8 sub-steps" per actual step, which combined with 1/4 tempo allows for up to 128 steps per pattern.
Can the firmware be upgraded on first gen volcas?
Thanks for the clarification!
@@lo-firobotboy7112 Yes, the update is distributed as a wave file you play into the sync input. Search for "volca firmware update", it should be the top result.
Not only can all the volcas sync at 4ppq (once per step), they can all borrow swing from the clock sync as long as the first volca in your chain has swing.
Details n this video… th-cam.com/video/ob1cUaLu4ag/w-d-xo.html
I honestly like them, if only to place them in the background of a soft synth, they are so dirty and warm to me - adds a lot.
It always takes me about 30 minutes to watch these as I have to pause each of the awesome flash memes to take it all in. Love the few towards the end.. there's far too much modular wankery going round nowadays.
Thanks for going all the way!
I had one - we used it a lot in minimal techno with fast attack and release, to make short "clicke-ty"-percussion sounds whilst playing with the sequencer. Superb for this purpose.
Agreed, the plucky sounds work really well. Especially with the built-in delay
Ooh I always look forward to these. Thanks for uploading so regularly
Always a pleasure, thanks for watching!
Thnx for putting Pluto in your planet list 😀. I'm a big fan of Pluto for more then 30 years) And I have a lot of the similar titles in my bookshelves(mostly in Russian). Have a nice day!
The korg volca keys. One of the best synthesizers ever made. A future classic to match the tb303. Yes I really mean it.
Agreed!!! Great synth!
Your video editing skills are on point. The Volca Keys was my first analog synth. It was fun to learn some things on. Then I moved to the Monologue. Love your vids.
Thank you!!!
One of the things that turned me on was the feeling of so much power in such a little package that ran on AA batteries. Forget the speaker. I listened with headphones but I could take this thing ANYWHERE! By the way, no mention should be made of Volcas without paying tribute to that coolest of
geniuses Tats Takahashi (creator also of the Minilogue) who’s now heading up Korg Berlin.
Yeah, that guy really has some charisma!
Love how much effort you put into these videos 🙂
Thank you so much!
That Loki/Lowkey thumbnail visual pun may be the best TH-cam thumbnail ever!...
Thanks!
I must admit that I was worried to see you retread old ground when I saw that you were dealing with another « wolca », but as usual this is justified and so well done I can’t complain! Amazing work, and for once that’s not a synth that will change prices thanks to you featuring it!
I’m renewing my plea for you to take swig at the OP-1!
3:49 This is pure speculation on my part, but Korg probably used the same ring mod circuit that they used in the MS-20 - a XOR logic gate with a comparator on each input to turn the sawtooth into a square wave. It's a super cheap way of getting a ring mod type sound and it's incredibly easy to implement.
They could have introduced a square wave without the ring mod quite easily by tapping the signal before it enters the logic chip.
Thanks for the clarification. Very interesting!
I try, but i can´t remember one episode without Spongebob content. You´re simply the best.
Thanks! SpongeBob is a universal language!
The Volca Keys 1.03 update adds selectable sync ppq modes, so it can sync with other gear that doesn't use the Volca standard. Just FYI. Even with a studio full of gear, I still have fun with the Keys being sequenced by my Digitakt. It has a unique sound that nothing else really has, even if it can't do everything.
Thanks for the heads-up!
I really want to buy another Keys to replace the one I had that died. You're so right. It is full of character!
Top notch as always! Meme-heavy so had to rewind a million times and try to pause to see/read them memes. I just wonder if Volca or Roland has the most memes out there in the wild. xD
Thanks! Volca memes are unparalleled in quantity AND quality;)
Another masterpiece. I know we all love the memes but those demo jams were really tight!
Thank you!!!
The "limitations" of Keys and also the Bass was the reason why I real quick after gettin them when they was released, to mod mine making them to the next level....Long time before people figured out the easy to get Midi Mod...
And that erased most of the "limitations" of both of them....
I write "limitations" with " cause for me they never existed in an blocking or not doable way, its always what you want to get and figure out to do what wasnt really thought when created....
I love mine and the Sound of the Keys connected to an mooer ocean machine makes it bigger than most 10times more expensive synths....
Same was with the Monotribe, got 3 of them, 2Modded and one Original and they where a King Korg in "Uncle of someone that knows a prince" case...🤷🏼♂️😬😘
Love your Stuff and mach weiter so!!!!
Danke! That Ocean Machine looks really nice!
Is it possible to mod Keys so that it will be able to work with more waves in RingMod and maybe something more?
@@AudioPilz its definitly a good sounding reverb and it makes everything sound so much bigger...sure not the shimmer like the strymon, but for its costs you would get 2 Ocean Machines😬
And everything you get with it thats not on the strymon, it is a dealbreaker anyways...
I really love it and that its more used by Synth Nerds than by Guitarrists says nearly everything...😂🤗
@@KiR_3d I actually dont know tbh, but will make my way to the circuit thats causes that and see what is possible there...
If its possible it is sure that it means to break it out the original circuit and the Case for sure...
Mine is completly outbroken, means everything is controlable and patchable outside the original volca....
I try to send you a pic of my self-made Breakout Box...
@@massive.begleiterscheinungen Great! Thanks for your time! Maybe you'll make a video on your channel?
Audiopils, You never fail to inspire me to dust off my own old gear. Time for a Volca Keys sound design session it is!
So happy to hear that, thanks!
I've had the same problem with noise and solved with the power supply from another Volca (it's always the KA-350). The problematic power supply doesn't cause any problem on my Volca Bass. Anyway the Keys is the more noisest of all Volcas for my experience (i've had Beats, Sample, Bass and Keys).
Also: Great Episode
yeh i have all three of those to, early volca adopter..but never added any more volcas after that.. volca fm could have been cool but korg f'd up the design with no velocity via keys.... so dumb.
Thanks! It even was there when powered using batteries, so weird!!!
@@AudioPilz bass, beats and keys (i have all 3) all have a bit of a high noise floor- keys esp if you use the delay...
My favorite series on TH-cam!
Thank you❤️❤️❤️
this is the best thing i ever saw and I am signing up for your Patreon right now
Thanks Edward!!!
Starting out I had a Volca binge. I still have four.. I sold the Sample as it just felt too limited to do much beyond… play samples. I was going to sell a couple more but they’re so easy to get nice sound out of. The whole unit is a sweet spot! I swore off them, but sequencing them from an Elektron piece of gear, they’re so much fun. I’m tempted to get an FM.. and this makes me wants a Keys!
Yeah, paired with the Digitakt it is really powerful!
Bro your closing jam genre descriptions are too on point.
08:00 Is it due to the 'orifices' topic that you put the Volca on URANUS?
Not on...;)
I just got one of these a couple of months ago, and I love it. I'm actually using it in a performance tomorrow night as part of my live rig. I guess it comes down to whether or not the sound fits the music you're making.
...and whether your fingers fit between the knobs;) (how did the performance go?)
@@AudioPilz Ironically, the Volca Keys batteries died about 5 minutes into my set, so I didn't use it much. Lol
"the detuned unison tones would certainly be fun in genres like DnB" *Doesnt make DnB for the third jam* My disappointment is immeasurable
More DnB to come, no worries;)
As soon as I saw it was Volca time, I was waiting for the "insertion" meme to get a mention. You didn't disappoint. Unfortunately, I didn't hear much more after that. I was too busy laughing.
Did you see where that Volca ended up in his solar system model? Simply brutal.
Lol, thanks!
You CAN use it as a step sequencer but it takes extra steps. For my peeps in the comments I'll explain.
Assuming you've selected a sequence and have cleared it, first hold FUNC and press ACTIVE STEP. Remove all steps except the first one. Press the record button once and then press the note you want. Press the play button to make it stop repeating. Then press FUNC, ACTIVE STEP and select the next step in the sequence and remove the previous. Repeat until you have a sequence.
Disclaimer time: if you make a mistake, you have to start ALL over again. You can't erase single steps so make sure you've made sure you know what note/chord you want. If you try to record over a previous step, some weird compression happens which I need to experiment with and see if I can get some strange sounds out of that limitation. But it is frustrating when you just want to redo the previous step.
Wow, didn't know that. Thanks for posting!
One of the few channels where I like before watching!.
I appreciate alot your content, thank you very plenty
Thanks for liking!❤️❤️❤️
Ah yes, finally! I have waited long for this episode. :-)
I told you it was bad when you did some other Volca and asked if it was the worst. Nope, they Keys is the worst.
Thanks for your patience, I hope it was worth the wait!
I love my Volca Keys. And I also instantly loved your jams and recognized that special tone. Its that lofi saw with the sloppy detune and the 70s filter, which is similar to the CAT. In analog territory, it complements my Rev2 beautifully! And of course its a ridiculously lot bang for the buck!
Nice, didn't think of it to be similar to the CAT
Orange County DAW Choppers.
"Look, you can't make a synth polyphonic by Marc Dotying, I mean Automatically Gainsaying that it is, when it isn't!"
Just making sure I meet my quota for meme-appreciation comments each week. Florian, I owe you a beer when I finally get to meet you. You are the only channel that wears out my frame-by-frame keys while watching TH-cam. Holy cow this one was packed. 🙏🏻
Thanks! Yeah, that one escalated a bit;)
I have the Keys, Sample, Kick, Bass, FM, Beats and modular. Although it's not my most used, the Keys is really good for bass or wobbly synthwave melodies in unison mode. I'll admit I don't mess about with ringmod too much so thanks for the inspiration there - I'll dig it out! I think with the Volca stuff you kinda *have* to look at them as toys, and I don't mean that in a bad way. They're supposed to be played with. They're supposed to be fun. If you start looking at them through the lens of what they can't do, you'll seen be disenchanted.
VolcaKeys is by far the cheapest unison-capable analog 'polysynth' ever made - the Poly-800 is a CS-80 in comparison😁
so I cut it some considerable slack
It reminded me of the Poly800 too!
Ozzylators. That made me spit my whisky on my laptop screen. Worth it though, brilliant! Jams awesome as usual, great stuff my good sir!
Thank you!!!
I totally love mine.. it sounds good on extra high and extra low notes
👍
Thanks for the video, always good vibes. Much love!
Thanks for watching!
Me hearing you say "Harsh Noise" is like dogs hearing their owner say "walk" on the phone. I'm excited and confused, and mostly just praying you will do it again.
Who doesn't like some harsh noise;)
this was my first analog synth and i must say, it was a great way to learn subtractive synthesis. it cost me like $120, and once my skills improved and I got a few proper synths, I sold it for the same price. honestly wish I would have kept it, it's a pretty capable tool. plus it doesn't sound half bad and is perfect for travelling.
you really demonstrated the range of sounds it has to offer, that last song honestly makes it sound like a much more expensive synth!
Yeah, that one punches above its weight when you tickle it the right way
Best part of day
Many good
Such thanks!
I think these are great for people who are very limited with space and budget, or people who are absolutely clueless about synth and other similar gear. If you really wanna dig in on a budget, take a full hit, and get yourself a used microkorg. Still probably the most professional “budget” synth, that keeps up with most “pro-level” gear.
Love the MK, not ideal as a beginner's synth with the matrix though
@@AudioPilz you think so? The matrix is what helped me when that was my first synth, cuz I could use it to read like a small child using their finger to guide them along the page 😂
I do own a set of keys from the microkorg range, i have always been in the school of "save more money and you can get something better" and hence why i dont have a volca. I do believe no other company can produce gear at the price point that Korg caters for, making them a very important manufacturer for beginners and professionals alike.
@@lancepage1914 I totally agree
the blofeld combo was really nice, very complimentary up front vs spaced out arrangement.
Thank you!!!
The Keys can store 128 presets and have additional, any-shape LFOs. It's all about combining the motion sequence and the active step functions.
128 Presets:
Think of a preset as a photography of the state of your knobs. Load an empty sequence. Create your lovely sound. Activate motion sequence, and one single step of your 16 steps sequence. That will be the photography of your preset. Push Rec and move every knob just a bit so its position gets registered. Don't record notes. Save.
To access the preset later on, just go back to that single step and press play. 16 steps x 8 sequences = 128 presests. You can freely play it with the device keyboard itself or a nice, big MIDI controller.
One LFO per Knob:
Think of an LFO as a tiny robot repeatedly moving a knob for you. Instead of an actual LFO, that could be the motion sequencer. The result is the same. Load an empty sequence. Create your lovely sound. Activate motion sequence. Record knob movements according to how you would modulate them with an LFO. You don't need to record notes but you can put something just to hear what's happening and erase it once you're done. If you want to do LFO shapes that require a lot of speed or abrupt changes, you can take advantage of either lowering the tempo or editing step by step with the Active Step funtion as in the previous operation. For the rest of the knobs, the ones you want to remain still, record moving them just a tiny bit so their position gets recorded, and allow the bar to end so their stillness is also recorded. To access the preset later on, just go back to that sequence and press play. 8 sequences = 8 presets but with complex LFOs. Save. You can freely play it with the device keyboard itself or a nice, big MIDI controller.
Interesting stuff: You can use these LFOs to modulate the actual LFO, by moving the Rate, Pitch and Cutoff Ints!
😳😳🤔🤔🤔😮😮😀😀😁😁😁😁👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Well, with this one you finally did it, all the synths i have are featured on your show ^^
I actually use it quite a lot in combination with my pyramid for sequencing. Almost never as a lead, but always useful for detailing. And like you suggest, i can do wonders as a unison bass in DnB! You know, stuff i'm not going to buy another synth for if this little guy can handle it.
Thanks, and keep pointing out to us it's us, the complainers who're bad, not the gear ;)
Thanks! Nothing personal but the Reese Bass on the Keys is phenomenal!
Bad gear? Volca keys is a masterpiece!
If you like the one sound it's able to produce, sure.
I'd say it's both!
@@RegebroRepairs yes! My all time favorite piece of gear is the monitribe, so I might be a particular user.
There's no better add for the Volca Keys than your into track....HOLY SH!T IT SOUNDS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!
1st.
❤️❤️❤️
I got mine and got a usb to midi adapter and had a field day using it with a DAW. I treated it like an analog plugin. Years later I think I prefer the Volca Bass but the sounds these things put out for the price is still unmatched. Being like 19 and being able to afford 2 analog synths and a drum machine was unreal to me.
Yeah, total game changer back then
I really love your vids, man. truly, I do. thanks for, both, the fine work you're doing & the good laughs too. bravo!!
Thank you so much!!!
Haha these reviews are not only useful but sublimely entertaining. Charles Bukowski as your visual metaphor for "dirty"? Hats off.
Thank you!!!
Volca Keys, Loki, Indy, I feel today's episode was tailored for me XD.
What an awesome machine is the vKeys and how versatile experimental machine can become when you push it to it's limits, I love the vBass' step rec but nothing can match the vKeys' flux function, with that and the tempo options you can extend its note imput to the hundreds.
Yeah, Flux is totally underrepresented in this episode!
Nice to see the RX15 again! The sound of the volca is soooo incredible. Small box, but big sound. I think for people who just want to have a good and cheap polyphonic synth without any special functions, just for playing with MIDI, this is the right option!
Agreed, really worked well with everything I threw at it
Thinking about getting one at some point to control with my digitone.
Another great episode sir
Thanks! Works great with Elektron gear!
I uh, I don't play anything and I'm a DAWdler with no credibility to say this, but I've pretty much got this thing's sound and functionality out of my trusty old ES P (plus a few fx chains) in Logic. I use it a lot, almost in every track I produce because it's versatile that way. I get where Korg was going with this; obviously making the old analog polysynths of yesteryear accessible and affordable to a new generation of synth nerds (and to stick it to Uli, obvs), but for me? I wouldn't even have anywhere to put it (except, you know where...), it's not something I'd personally go out of my way to own.
This video was really good and informative, so thanks for that! :)
Thank you so much!
@@AudioPilz keep up the 💩posting! Haha!
" I can't tell anymore if this is good” 😂
😂😂😂
Man these are the most entertaining reviews ever,,,great work sir,,,,,lol love the fact that some of bad gear is some of my favourite gear namely the tb3 nether the less you're editing is spot on 👏
Thank you!!!
The thumbnail is the best of the channel lmao
Thank you!!!
Wow, the memes are coming fast and dense on this one! Love the drunk animals jam at the end this time.
Yup, it is, after all, a meme synth;)
If you don't have that much money to spend in instruments, the volca Keys is a gift from heaven. I bought a Volca Key like 6 years ago and I always find myself using it in some way or the other. It makes beautiful keys and pads, it's gritty and makes classical analogue 70's tones like is nothing.
Agreed! Much more versatile than expected!
The Volca Keys makes such amazing old-school space/Sci-Fi sounds! I actually found that out by accident when twiddling with the dials for fun and couldn't believe how classic and strange some of the "laser" and "martian" noises were! However, as for recording serious synth lines, I find that it would be better to connect it to an actual hardware sequencer and an effects pedal, given that the delay on the machine is noisy and I would like to layer longer ambient patterns without connecting everything to a PC all the time. Other than that, there's lots of room for creativity when it comes to the sounds one can make on it, which are organic and strong.
The delay is super retro on these
LOL!!! Grand Keyano! And talking about the Volca being inserted into bodily orifices then showing the Volca Keys with Uranus!
Seriously, I don't think that thing sounds bad at all, maybe a bit limited but what do you expect for price? As always, a very entertaining review!
Thank you!!!
The "Tropical Post-Moombahton Forgotten Song" made my day! hahahaha! "uniting people all around the globe" hahahaha so legit😂
Thank you!!!
Yo posted and for rest of the day I hear your songs in my head.🎹
I feel you (Thanks;)
great episode! almost bought a Volca a while ago... Drum is tempting. side note: i'm going to buy a bunch of Behringer stickers & start slapping them on random stuff now.
Thanks! I had a big Behringer sticker on my fridge for years;)
Keys is my favourite Volca along with the Sample. I had months of fun with it. Worth every penny.
holy crap, an animals are beautiful people reference? nice :3 great video!
Classic! Thanks!
Man, what a work of art. Each time better!
Thank you so much!!!
The volca keys was one of the first synths that got me interested in the synth market after many year. I still really enjoy using it from time to time when I need a synth on the go and I don't want to pack another AC adaptor. It sounds great and is very performance friendly. Yes the synth is limited and a bit noisy but if you already have a sequencer (digitakt) that can take care of that side of things, it really opens up. The crust and simplicity of the keys are it's charm.
Agreed!
I wore out my pause button checking out all of the memes. Nice jams as well. (drink responsibly)