Volca Drum: Episode 2 (Sequencer)

This is the second video in my series about the Korg Volca Drum. I mainly focus on the sequencer in this one and demonstrate some ways to use things like: probabilities, slices, choke groups, and motion sequencing. I also look at some ways to put together a longer Volca Drum piece using the LOAD PRG "screen".
Thanks for watching!

TIMELINE

00:00 STARTER - Volca Drum Clock. This uses five tracks (parts) with a different Active Step setting on each of the tracks. Tracks 1-4 are the "ticking", and track 5 is the "chime". The Active Step patterns look like this:
track 1 = XXX (i.e. just the first 3 steps on)
track 2 = XXXXX (first 5 steps on)
track 3 = XXXXXXX (first 7 steps on)
track 4 = XXXXXXXXXXX (first 11 steps on)
track 5 = XXXXXXXXXXXXX (first 13 steps on)

then the actual drum hits (ticks and bell) look like this:
track 1 = -XX (so, no hit on first step, hits on 2 and 3)
track 2 = -XXXX
track 3 = -XXXXXX
track 4 = -XXXXXXXXXX
track 5 = X------------ (a hit on first step, the rest blank) [the chime]

The last ingredient is to put everything into a choke group. This causes ANY ticking to take priority over the chime. So, the only way for the chime to be heard is right at the very start of the phased sequence where there are no tick hits but there IS a chime hit. EVERY other time the chime would hit it is choked by the ticking.

This whole thing is sort of like 5 gears that are meshed together, but each one has a different number of teeth. If the gears have an orientation mark on them then it can take some spinning to get things back to where they started. In this case, by using prime numbers, it takes 3*5*7*11*13 = 15,015 steps. Now, based on the number of steps I came up with a good BPM value of 62.5 to run the sequence. But the ideal number would be 15,015/(4*60) [where the 4 comes from 4 steps in a beat], which is 62.5625. So this is about 0.1% off, 3 seconds per hour - which sounds good for a drum machine, but you wouldn't want a clock that bad! NOTE: to be clear the Volca Drum isn't 0.1% off - my whole scheme here just has that error. Now, could you make it perfect? The answer is yes in theory. You can add another ticking track with 8 active steps. This is based on 2 (which is also prime) so it just multiplies in, 8 times more steps, needs to be 8 times faster. And that would be a number you could theoretically set in the Volca Drum extended tempo range: 500.5 - BUT, it turns out that the knob isn't accurate enough for that. So, the above sequence is probably the most reasonable. The whole idea came when I was thinking about long sequences and wondering if you could just go sort of John Cage and have a single drum hit every 10,000 seconds or something.

00:54 INTRO

01:47 CORRECTION - just a couple of things that I felt like I got wrong in Episode 1. Stuff about changing parameters in Layer 1+2 (maybe just don't), and also stuff about choke groups.

04:16 PART 1 Groove Analysis - taking a look at a sequence in detail.

08:57 PART 2 Motion Sequencing - looking at 2 different types of motion sequencing (per step "parameter locking" style and recording-the-knob-movement style).

17:50 PART 3A Sequence Setup - this is a sequence based on a West African rhythym called Tiriba (Guinea). My source on this was "How To Play Djembe" by Alan Dworsky and Betsy Sansby. They have a lot of books, and I really find them interesting and useful. I also explain a useful "empty sequence" in this part.

22:48 PART 3B Variation 1 - changing up the sequence of 3A. Here I show how probabilities can be used with the choke feature to "screen" a different element of the sequence. It's the equivalent of saying something like "on this beat I want drum A 75% of the time and then drum B %25 of the time". It takes another track, but it is useful.

27:46 PART 3C Variation 2 - in this one I keep the kit the same but completely change the sequence. I show how to make a "1-step sequence" that gets its dynamics from probabilities instead of a fixed pattern.

31:08 PART 3D Playing From LOAD PRG - how to use the Volca Drum to kinda/sorta "DJ" your sequences.

32:40 OUTRO - I talk about the next video: doing demos of the Volca Drum hooked to other gear. Other Volcas, Pocket Operators, SQ-1 sequencer, BeatStep or BeatStep Pro, and Ableton Live - less talking and more sounds.

33:40 ENDER - I dip into quantum mechanics here. Well, I like the randomize features on the Volca Drum but in my experience most (but NOT all!) of the results are kind of unusable - especially the layer generation. So, it just takes patience. With that in mind, I decided to just do this shot one time. Not happy with it in this world/timeline, but I'm sure it turned out better in another one (see link below).

LINKS

[biztosdotcom]

Great tutorial, thank you! And excellent grooves. I am probably buying a Volca Drum next, yes even in 2024, and you and @oscillatorsink are my go-to resources.

[jeredalmeida]

With this instrument, ...
Dude, Nobody on YouTube can touch you! You are the best teacher.

[howlround]

I feel like I'd have gone my whole life only using 25% of the volca drums capabilities had I not found these videos. Thanks!

[MsMuffinns]

I’ve never found someone who explains synths more in depth than you. You do us a great service

[zodberg]

I went into a worm hole and checked the other variations. This one's the best.

[ChrisMHall]

Another great video. Lots of creative possibilities to think about in this one. Nice cat too 🙂

[jsogman]

This is really inspiring. I can't handle how awesome it is when people ACTUALLY do that thing classified as "thinking outside of the box", doing and experimenting in ways which open your eyes to possibilities that are rarely presented and then executes the ideas in a wonderful way, which in your case includes teaching and sharing. Which only makes this essentially, wayyy more wonderful ;) thx so much cant wait to get mine so I can get started learning from you 👐 on! :)

[SuperRingoffire]

Top drawer tutorial really helped me to discover a whole new side to the Volca I knew existed but could never quite fathom out! 👌☮😁

[Hemigoblin]

Your guide, and this video in particular, is the best into to using the Drum musically that I have ever seen. It’s much more focused and exhaustive than the vids from the big channels.

In particular, this video shows quite clearly how to do step-level automation and probability. You just have to hold the step button down and turn some knobs! It’s easy once you know how! You put both of them into labeled sections, and I thank you for it.

[bentropy]

Really liked the tutorial, the west African rhythm, the probabilistic choke group, but the randomized patch at the end was also absurdly entertaining too

[theoneandonlybunman]

I love how this tiny compact machine is SO advanced! I could watch tutorials for hours XD

[TheMainSilverSultan]

Really a tramendous machine. Got it 2 days ago and spent entire days on it. Sound possibilities and individual editing of each stem is what really impresses me. As well as 2 layers per each part! As well as the save guide! As well as the.... The whole dam thing lol. Thank you for your videos!

[chrisliddiard]

Wow!! Really loving that last throw-away performance. For those with a sweet tooth. Random with everything. ;0)

[zorbanongreco]

Came for Drum
got mathematics.
Some clever folks out there 🙃
🐂💨 💨 💨 💨 💨

[oldasrocks]

Drum E2: Sequencer Episode 2 would be lovely. It's deep. Love to see what you'd come up with syncing Drum and Kick. Thanks for all 5 parts of this!

[janwilda]

Your tutorials are really in-depth-being-with this instrument. I like how you are explaining it on sonically interesting modulations. Thanks to you I am looking at my volca drum differently and I need to make my own personal connection with it. Volca drum, behringer neutron are my first synth gear, I was a drummer before, but i started to be interested in different ways of making percussions and sounds than just to smash things :D So I am complete beginner, but this helped a lot!! :)

[lisabock]

Love this series of tutorials! So helpful! Thank you! And I enjoy your beats

[ShakaCthulu]

Incredible channel. Thorough, organized tutorials with a focused, calming narration.

Volca Drum looks like the perfect marriage of depth & ease-of-use.

[smacksalad]

All great and full of learning. Brain hurty but I get it all. And then you blow my mind with the random everything and hitting play. HOLY SHIT. Stunning. THANKS!

[exitritual]

Super helpful, thanks for posting. I hadn't gotten into the probability feature until now and I love it. Randomizing is definitely fun, depending on what you're going for.