Bad Gear - Korg Volca Keys - Low Key Synth???

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro tune
01:23 Overview
04:37 Hate
05:02 Jam 1
06:05 Jam 2
07:17 Finale
07:44 Verdict

Welcome to Bad Gear, the show about the world's most hated audio tools. Today we are going to talk about the Korg Volca Keys. Is this classic staple of dawless setups all around the globe and Marvel Universe interrogation device the OG low key synth? Where did all the dank memes about it come from?

[wellurban]

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.

[donaldpriola]

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.

[rookmaster]

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!

[djlocodoc]

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!

[adwarfsittingonagiantsshoulder]

In my opinion, the Volca keys is frustratingly limited... but on the other hand, it has a gorgeous soud !
Nice episode, thanls !

[heavysystemsinc.]

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.

[tommy.countach]

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!

[Andor.]

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)

[danieladdled]

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?

[johnsmodularjams]

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

[drstupid]

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

[SarahMaywalt]

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.

[katiegrey]

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!

[BenColemanUK]

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

[hysterique_dominus]

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.

[uamee]

Very brave of you to tempt Uli like that, once he's done with Roland and Moog he's gonna go after Korg haha

[johnchongsing]

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.

[matthehat]

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.

[lundsweden]

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!

[-VCO-]

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.