Basic Overview // Korg Volca Keys Synth Tutorial

*Note - An error on my part, there are only 3 "paraphonic" voices, not 4 poly.
Intro 0:00
VCO 0:07
EG INT 3:24
VCF 4:27
LFO 5:34
EG 7:57
Delay 9:20
Sequencer 10:23

[@RonCavagnaro]

Sorry 3 note poly not 4! Please note this! Feel free to check out my other videos, I have TONS of content! Whoa! Did you check out the Korg volca bass tutorial? Check it out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYDCp3eCq86Bq80

[@GOICOBA]

The EG Int part made that thing go "WEEE, WOOO!" :D

[@dccasey1]

Finally, someone that knows how to use the portamento nob

[@mickypoo4622]

A really excellent tutorial and a great intro to all of the features. Very informative and practical. I've just got mine and watching this has been very useful to get me started in playing with it. Many thanks and please keep up the good work.

[@davidsobel3303]

Best demo I've seen! thanks. I actually took notes:)

[@RobertSimon]

I just bought my volca keys, and this tutorial is a must have! Thank you!

[@kimdiez2681]

@@StevieZero Yes of course.

[@therealrussellsmyth]

This cheap little synth here is a future classic. What a sound

[@analogskies7063]

What a great video. Well done!!! My Keys and Bass are coming tomorrow to move in with my Minilogue and Sample.

[@loathe4116]

this was such a great introduction to this, thank you

[@CarinaNitsche]

Thank you so much for this! It helps A LOT.

[@MarshmallowMadnesss]

Great video! I learned a lot about my new synth.

[@f.f.6323]

Great, practical information! Thanks!

[@akissparaskevopoulos]

Another very helpful video. Thank you Ron.

[@RonCavagnaro]

Thanks

[@glenesis]

Thanks very much for the perfect walk-through. Cheers!

[@christophebrenta3064]

Very instructive video ! Thanks !!!!

[@garyleaver3714]

Thank You for the informative Video!

[@kingdwan6486]

Great intro tutorial. Thanks.

[@alicito7047]

Thanks a lot for this instruction... I needed it 😄

[@MultiDooder]

Nice work bud, great vijayo

[@geddykrugerthealt-leftover2237]

I love the sounds you make throughout this vid!!! especially the detune it sounds like the main theme from *There Will Be Blood*!! ❤

[@RonCavagnaro]

Ah a great movie

[@ashekalley]

Brilliant explaination!!! Thanks for sharing!

[@zamphzibaha]

Thanks for the video, really nice

[@stoatystoat174]

Good step through step by step :)

[@emilanesa8428]

Thanks for the video, really helped

[@RonCavagnaro]

Very glad to help! Enjoy exploring!

[@RTD553]

Excellent.

[@alanc6752]

Good demo.

[@HomeStudioBasics]

OMG THAT SOUNDS F'ING AMAZING LOL

[@WilderGonzalesAgredaoncedreamt]

thanks a lot Sir!!!!!!

[@greenaum]

OK now ring mod sounds like Daleks approaching in '70s Doctor Who. And the VCF... that's 1970s science educational programmes! Oh I should stop now. Hi, Ron!

[@klaudio64]

Congratulations! The explanations she gave on the Korg Volca Keys are the clearest and most detailed of all the other tutorials I've seen on this amazing machine, thank you! But what is the "memory" function for and how is it used?

[@88Spint]

So fking useful! Thank you!

[@joeyrossiter3763]

The differences between the wave forms are so subtle, unless the lfo is cranked up, I thought mine was busted

[@iggypopshot]

Very very good video. Subd

[@matthewtunnicliffe201]

Great tutorial that, Ron. Do you think it would accompany a Monologue well? I'm on the brink of getting the Keys but have been struggling to decide between this and the Modular. I think the polyphony and midi of the Keys will be more use to me at this moment in time though. Also there's something about the sound of the Keys that I really like. I know a lot of people don't like it - in fact a friend who used to own one told me not to get one - but I always think they sound great. Quite a unique sound really.

[@RonCavagnaro]

Get what you want, I'm not going to say how to spend your money especially since I don't own one :)

[@walrtbstudios5430]

I’ve always spurned the Keys’ LFO section as a mere annoyance. How wrong I was... This is a great little synth through a decent reverb with a MIDI keyboard though.

[@nickymurray6753]

Great tutorial! How do you save your sequences? Everytime I turn it off my new ones are gone and the factory ones are there. I'd like to delete them and only have my own.

[@RonCavagnaro]

Function+write, m1-m8 on the keys

[@iwilltubeyouall]

@@RonCavagnaro but that's lost as soon as you remove power supply. Is there a way to save and restore externally?

[@iwilltubeyouall]

Okay, tested it: It stores it even without power supply - just not for a longer period of time.

[@Blueguitar007]

It's 3 note poly, not 4.

[@RonCavagnaro]

Yes the correction was in the description

[@wayfaerer320]

Would it be possible to play the sequence in Tangerine Dream's "Love on a Real Train" and on top of that sequence, also record the bass lines that go along with it?

[@RonCavagnaro]

wayfaerer320 unsure but if you wait to sequence I'd recommend an external sequencer such as novation circuit

[@wayfaerer320]

I see. Forgive me if this is a dumb question (I'm new to synths), but if I were to buy say the Korg SQ-1 sequencer and use it with say the Deepmind 12, is it possible to layer sequences on top of each other, each one using different effects (different motion sequences)? And then while those sequences are looping, use the Deepmind 12 to play chords over top of it?

[@RonCavagnaro]

wayfaerer320 I'm sure the deep mind is capable of it, if it has that many polyphony. I'm not sure the extent of sq1 as a sequencer, be sure you research as many as possible before considering purchase

[@HazeAnderson]

The SQ-1 can only provide 1 sequence, that's why it's only $100. The BeatStep Pro provides 3 sequences, 2 that behave melodically (however, monophonic!) and 1 that behaves rhythmically. Many groovebox gear provide sequencing as well as sounds, with a bit of research you should be able to determine how many sequenced "tracks" you need and which piece of gear best provides what you need. Cheers! :)

[@leonardocaceres1071]

Hey man awesome video ! I have a little question for you ! . How do i connect my volca to my pc and then be able to send midi information from my daw to the volca and be able to record that ? Thanks !

[@RonCavagnaro]

Sorry about the delay for some reason youtube flagged this as "possible spam" so I didn't see it! You would need an audio interface that has audio in and midi out. You would wire the volca's audio out to the audio in on the audio interface, and then the midi out to be plugged into that big midi in on the front of the volca. It should be that easy.

[@leonardocaceres1071]

@@RonCavagnaro thanks mate ! Saludos desde argentina

[@RosssRoyce]

I can’t figure out if this is 4 note polyphony like you say, or 3 notes 😝 Very fine instructions on vid, thanks!

[@RonCavagnaro]

Sorry yeah it's 3, as mentioned in the pinned comment sorry about that

[@RosssRoyce]

@@RonCavagnaro thanks😀!

[@hollowmenrule]

I need one asap

[@LukeWatts85]

I had no fucking idea how the VCO EG INT worked until now. It made no sense to me why I'd tweak it one minute and get one sound for a while and then with everything identical end up getting a different sound later in the day. I though it was haunted! I've had these Volcas for 8 months...

[@simoncarlsson1567]

I can't get my notes to trigger evenly. Some notes I play come out muted, some with no sound at all, and some kinda distorted. So my problem is I can't seem to play an evenly triggered and smooth line of notes. It only really happens when I have the record button active. Without recording I can play it just fine. I'm completely new to the keys and synths in general. Can anyone tell me what I might be doing wrong?

[@simoncarlsson1567]

I found help it was probably bc the motion sequencing and trigger sync was on. Sorry I'm new with volcas.

[@estebandroz]

Hola! Hablas español? Queria preguntarte si sabes como lograr controlar el volca desde otro sintetizador, en este caso el tb3 roland, para que al cambiar de tonalidad en el tb3, cambie tambien en el volca keys

[@RonCavagnaro]

I only speak English sorry can anyone else help them? Thanks!

[@MicaelAzevedo]

Midi out desde tb3 hasta el midi in en tu volca keys. Tienes que poner lo mismo canal midi en las máquinas. Despues si quieres el sonido de las duas máquinas connectas o áudio aut a un mixer.

[@rolandknaap4537]

when I let it loop and play on top of it, the sound isnt as good as normal, anyone knows how to fix this? Also I wonde if you can play with a different setting on top of a loop (only tweaking the lead and letting the loop play as it is)

[@MicaelAzevedo]

Maybe your sequence is quantized . Or in sync with tempo. Try turminha flux mode since it works like a looper and you can play unquantized.

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

@@MicaelAzevedo turminha Flux mode?

[@MicaelAzevedo]

@@LoVeAmBiEnT ahahaha automatic correction/Dictionary is priceless sometimes

[@EcoCentrist]

I'm eyeing one of these, but I'm not sure if I can justify it with access to a full midi keyboard and a daw with lots of plugins....

[@RonCavagnaro]

I used to be 100% DAW but found that hardware has a lot of character you can't match with VST! Now I am dawless, and results are so much faster! In regards to volca, it is a fun cheap little box! I use other more expensive synths however.

[@EcoCentrist]

@@RonCavagnaro makes sense, I'm only just starting to dabble in recording and production. Someone has a used one for $100, perhaps it's worth it just to see if I'm into the analog life

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@EcoCentrist couldn't hurt. But you can grow out of it pretty quickly to see what you're into!

[@johnrobinson5672]

Do it. You’ll virtually get what you’ve paid back in resale if you find it’s not for you. Going dawless will completely change the music you make and you’ll either love that or hate it but you really need to know. I’m from a guitar background and really get turned off by screens and computers. I’m 100% hardware and love the hands on, limitation’s included. Give it a try.

[@modulblok-e3168]

🤚🙂👍🏼

[@sumghai777]

When I turn the temp knob the metronome BPM does not change! Is it broken?

[@RonCavagnaro]

It should change, sounds like it might be broken :(

[@MarshmallowMadnesss]

You've got two things plugged into this device. One is power. What's the other?

[@RonCavagnaro]

Hehe that cord is the audio out so you can hear it!!

[@robertsteinberger5667]

great video, question: when i have a sequence too long for 1/2 and too short for 1/4 what do I do? I don't want to have silence at the end of a sequence I want to loop it.

[@RonCavagnaro]

Hmm not sure maybe get a better sequencer than the on board Sequencer

[@robertsteinberger5667]

@@RonCavagnaro i have the keystep but i like flux more than step sequencers

[@minyanism]

Very helpful. My only question is at 11:25 - how do you remove these settings? I got a used Volca Keys and don't want to factory reset it, I just want to remove the recorded knob adjustments. I have tried using Memory+# to select the saved recording, then I hold Func+Clear *or* simply hold Func+Record. However sadly neither of these remove the changes made to the knob during the recording? Am I missing something? Thanks! Can't find this info anywhere online

[@demtzen1662]

ITS SURE EASY TO GET A FOUL SOUND, SKILL NEEDED

[@RonCavagnaro]

I usually would say turn that filter down to give it a softer tone :)

[@greenaum]

"HERE IN MY CAR....!" Sorry, that unison mode, just set me off.

[@ILLRICARDO]

do you have more tutorials on the volca keys??

[@RonCavagnaro]

Hey there! I don't, I'm not sure what more to do a tutorial on about it! Maybe if you have some ideas I could look into !

[@ILLRICARDO]

@@RonCavagnaro hi, thanks so much!!! My idea would be be make a simple song while teaching the basics of the volca keys..

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@ILLRICARDO hmm that might be tough. I am planning on doing synth basics videos maybe this would be nice to use

[@Guitaroverkill]

I find this box difficult to get a good sound out of it.

[@RonCavagnaro]

Add effects, and more subtle settings and you can find some nice spots. Try reverb and delay :)

[@MrPaulomilco]

can you record live vocal loops with this machine?

[@RonCavagnaro]

No this is a synthesizer that generates tones, not a sampler or looper. Look up loopers.

[@MrPaulomilco]

@@RonCavagnaro Thank you. Since you know more than I do, I use the opportunity to ask you something else. ¿Is there any entry-level device that can do both?

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@MrPaulomilco both? Hmmmm I can't think of an entry level that has both recording samples and synth. But novation circuit tracks can play back samples but very limited. Novation circuit rhythm can record samples but that doesn't have a synth built in. Sorry if that doesn't help much. Keep looking around though!

[@MrPaulomilco]

@@RonCavagnaro What about korg volca sample 2?

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@MrPaulomilco well you asked for a sampler that can record and has a synth built in. I don't see in the specs a synth engine in the volca sample 2.

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Lowpass filter 😉

[@kamalmanzukie]

four notes?

[@RonCavagnaro]

Please read the pinned comment, it was a mistake. Thanks!

[@kamalmanzukie]

@@RonCavagnaro hm.. not seeing a pinned comment

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@kamalmanzukie whoa thanks I guess it wasn't! Sorry about all that! 3 notes.

[@kamalmanzukie]

@@RonCavagnaro 🙌

[@RonCavagnaro]

@@kamalmanzukie p.s. I love twin peaks!

[@jsebastiengelinas]

Why my volca keys sounds like shit to compare with?

[@RonCavagnaro]

JS G ha uh unsure what to say maybe you have a faulty one or a broken cable or headphones

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Nice lofi delay

[@WalterGiroldi]

Muy buen video, aquí un tutorial en español: kzbin.info/www/bejne/inTXnmt_g6ull7M