How I Use VOLCA KEYS // A Tutorial with Demo Sounds

My demo / tutorial / how to about the Korg Volca Keys. This cheap little synth can do a few things very well, in this video I show you how I use it and why I love it. After that there are a few examples. Since I know people are going to ask, in the example with the NTS1 the Volca is playing the bass part.
As mentioned in the video, I got the big knobs from www.thonk.co.uk/
Also mentioned, Before You Were • BlankFor.ms - Before Y...
As always let me know your thoughts, feelings, corrections, grievances, inner desires. Let's talk.
If you like what you hear and see, please consider following and supporting:
⭆ Patreon / blankforms
⭆ Instagram / blankfor.ms
⭆ Albums and Merch www.blankfor.ms/
And, check out my sample packs at gumroad.com/bl...

[@anthonyayers9405]

This guy knows how to compose a shot.

[@RTD553]

Heh!

[@SlavicSon]

💯 Polaroid touch is sweet

[@NashSpaceRocket]

The Octave knob only controls what's played on the volca keyboard, same as the vbass.

[@matej4699]

Sounds like something Boards of Canada would include in their music. I like it. Good job!

[@Tfrne]

can't speak for others, but yours is one of the only channels i watch where i consider listening with headphones completely obligatory. LOVE your sounds

[@BlankFor_ms]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate it. I do take a lot of time to make sure the mixes are good and interesting

[@LouisSerieusement]

2:50 : "EG INT" means "Envelop Generator Intensity" ; this one is in the VCF section, so it's the intensity of the envelop on the filter ; there is also an EG INT in the VCO section, wich is the same envelop, affecting the pitch of oscillators ; Do not hesitate if you have further questions regarding labels :) Great tutorial ! The volca keys is an awesome versatile synth, I still have it in my live setups :)

[@sureleyyy]

I've followed you on Instgram for a while now, and finally hearing your voice is wild lol, you sound like Roman Mars from 99% invisible Podcast lol

[@w0rthless6]

came to say this

[@oaffmusic]

Love how you interact with and use your instruments! Thank you for explaining your thought process behind these beautiful sounds.

[@BlankFor_ms]

OAFF music much thanks!

[@thepcgamer2169]

@@BlankFor_ms Which knobs did you use?? Micro T18 Plastic Knobs??

[@TomViolence89]

That part at 11:23... Instant goose bumps. Love it!

[@liamg6328]

Lovely sounds! Just one thing, when you're pairing the Keys to the Modular, shouldn't the sync cable be going from sync out to sync in depending on which one is controlling the other? 😉

[@expandingknowledge8269]

I think the Volca synthesizers sound like some of the first analogs that were first commercially available years ago, I know I have been in this game since the early seventies! Great video! 🎹 🎶 😎

[@BlankFor_ms]

Much appreciated!

[@sanakassara]

It does actually sound something like for example the Wasp or the Cat. I recently got a severe case of Wasp fever and started to play around with the sawtooth sound on the Keys to medicate the fever. It seems to lack the robust depth of the Wasp sound, but I could get pretty close to the Wasp demos which I have watched.

[@macoustic370]

This vid just keeps on getting sicker. The end segment with the Collider is out of control!! So good!!

[@BlankFor_ms]

Thanks, really appreciate it! The collider is a champ

[@trevord9811]

Love this...I've been experimenting with my Volca Keys (with the Volca Beats synced too) and this really helps. BTW I have tried Thonk but cannot find the clear plastic knobs - can you let us know which model & type/ size you used?

[@EthrealSlumber-fr9xi]

cool but not verry helpful because you cant see your knobs clear enough not even on 1080 almost tho

[@codypower4298]

y'all ever play hyper light drifter ? very reminiscenct of the soundtrack

[@horiyosi3309]

True!

[@sebp400]

you're my new producer discovery of the week. Love the part at 9:53: sick. I never really hear sounds that I like coming out of the modular. all the demos at the end are amazing. Do you even shoegaze, bro?

[@Apeexp]

Heey! Great video showcasing this beautiful little synth! I totally love it and use it all the time! You only have to pay close attention to the small twists on the knobs and booom you realize how big full and lush this guy can be! I was wondering what type are the knobs you have there? Are they T18 shaft or 6.3mm round shaft? I assume that you haven’t removed the original ones from the unit right? Kind regards!✌🏻☺️✨

[@lazyButAlive]

I like your eye for decent visual decor or how I ever I’d call that Thanks for the video, I’ll getting started soon. I am jamming on my volca drum for some weeks, and it made me want more, so i ordered the volca keys & fm I can’t wait to jam

[@thefishermenandthepriestess]

So good! The Volca Keys was my first synth and it has a special place in my heart... I love its sound and this video is the perfect homage to it.

[@RosssRoyce]

Why is there 1, 2,4,8,16,32 written on the octave dial?? And thanks for the sound vid!

[@girlinagale]

They are the lengths of the sound waves. The shorter the higher.

[@SandauxBeats]

Awesome tuturial, man! By the way, what DC9V (center positive) PSU you have? I have the Korg. But the jack plug seems to be a nuance due to its form. It's a straight one rather than a right-angled one just like yours.

[@lee3144]

what are you settings on tje delay rhey are the most important

[@LudovicMac]

This video is perfect, I just had my Volca Keys today!

[@BlankFor_ms]

Ludovic Macioszczyk nice! How do you like the Volca?

[@LudovicMac]

​@@BlankFor_ms I have a Volca Modular too and the combination of both is perfect! Do you use the full tempo range on your Volcas?

[@onealpha710]

Thank you for sharing this with us all here on YT. Iam planning on getting into these neat Volcas, as a guitar player. I guess now that I hit over 55 I savor synth a bit more 😀 Did play a Roland D10, and a Korg M1 back in the days. You mentioned the knobs and I like the Idea, my eyesight is already bad enough! The question is, are these the Davies 1900h Clones T18 shafts? While at it, which would you recomend first, keys or FM? Iam on the fence with these two. Again, thanks for your help and guidence. Cheers.

[@BenAngMusic]

Hi I'm also interested in the knobs for my Volcas, and I notice that at least one set of knobs from Thonk specifically say they won't fit on the Volcas. Which ones are the correct ones?

[@hrivefiryasessrumnir8451]

I think it might be the : Davies Transparent _NO-LINE_ (T18 Shaft) - 1900h Plastic Knob

[@onealpha710]

@@hrivefiryasessrumnir8451 Thanks! I got some from Aliexpress and quite cheap.

[@dfxmonkeyhead]

You had the sync outs connected to each other - how does that work??

[@timhinkle1847]

Great demo of the Volca Keys, thank you! And I want to say the lighting and composition on your video is really nicely done, too!

[@Maleza224]

Loved your video, i'm just hanging around with my volca keys trying to figure it out, and this is really enlightening for me. I just wonder, what kind of keyboard are you using through midi with the volca! Can you recomend me one??

[@chikoavena3407]

4:02 sounds like a plastic 06

[@d1360q]

Gracias!. Muy buen vídeo!!!

[@ShivaaRamani]

Hi, thanks for the video. 2:21 is that an Harmonium sound? Does volca keys allow to patch/sample sounds and provide option to play chromatically (connecting a midi keyboard with midi in)? Also does patching sounds. Require any other hardware/software requirements?

[@robertsteinberger5667]

you say you go up an octave and I see you turn the wheel but I dont hear it.

[@Hakucho64]

Yes, in my short experience of using this synth, the octave knob only affects the built-in keyboard. To get a different octave on an external midi controller, you have to switch its own octave button.

[@user-JM1967]

Has it stereo outputs?

[@maladon5422]

Reminds me of the hyper light drifter ost, very nice

[@andrewaronson3364]

there's a lot more you can do with the volca with complete midi cc control. such as an extra adsr for filter envelope or filter keytracking. even modulating the detune with a slow lfo, or my favorite: modulating the voice setting, between ring mod and poly, with an additional square wave lfo

[@HotStrange]

You can also do that with the parameter locking on the Volca itself, for live situations this is awesome.

[@andrewaronson3364]

@@HotStrange yeah, plus with sequencer, volka keys is a bad little synth honestly. its not a replacement for a full featured polyphonic analogue, but as its own little thing there's maybe nothing quite like it

[@AlmostHomeSounds]

looking to get my first hardware synth and of course am planning on the minilogue xd. this thing is surprising me with tons of character though… is this something the minilogue can do or is it a good tool to have in addition?

[@mickodonnell890]

@BlankFor_ms - great video, thank you for this it is much appreciated. I just bought my first Volca 2 days ago, the Volca Keys and I really like those button caps as you can see the position of the pots. However, I'm unable to find them in the link you shared. Is it possible you can provide a link to the exact items please? :-)

[@electrosonicnebula]

Great video. Does anyone know from owning/assembling it if the NTS-1 can be modded to have MIDI out? THat would make it the nicest mini arp to tag along the many synths that don't have one.

[@dimensionstomorrow]

Great video. I just got a Volca Keys for the second time, and I really dig it. One question for you. Do you have any issues using the Keystep with the VK? I could get the arpeggiator to work, and while I could play notes on the Volca, there were a handful of dead keys (just didn’t trigger any sound, even though the ones next to them worked). Any suggestions for settings to change? I heard somewhere that you should change midi transport from cc to MMC and I did that, but it didn’t fix these particular problems. I also went into the Volca and made sure I was on the right midi channel (1) and made sure the dip switches on the Keystep were set to midi and not USB.

[@AlmostHomeSounds]

looking to get my first hardware synth and of course am planning on the minilogue xd. this thing is surprising me with tons of character though… is this something the minilogue can do or is it a good tool to have in addition?

[@egonwombat8234]

Superdupernice! Would you mind sharing the settings for the other inputs other than those you're mainly adjusting? The knobs settings are not that well visible.

[@RTD553]

EG stands for Envelope generator. A slightly cut down ADSR.

[@troyfranklin6191]

EG INT / Envelope Generator Intensity, the amount of mix from your envelope settings.

[@finchoplays6626]

I wasn’t convinced that I needed one until this video. This is sick!

[@greenprpl3996]

Hi! thank you for this! If I just want to play around with chords and melodies on top, is this a good toy? i dont think it gives you different timbres at the same time, does it?

[@HotStrange]

I like to use mine with the Mangledverb from Eventide. Really makes it shine.

[@jeanceballos9113]

is that a midi controller? does every midi works? thanks for the vid

[@zbsfm]

lovely video. What’s your microphone setup? thanks!

[@zoned7609]

What NTS thingy is that? Download link?

[@SkyscanX1]

Great tutorial - it has put me on a different path! I put some old knobs from my Behringer Mixer - it really helps alot with this synth and it's terribly small knobs

[@musicbymarcian]

someone please tell me. is the volca keys velocity sensitive when using an external midi keyboard controller?

[@guilessa]

Yes.

[@thebmxband1t]

woah!!! what was that you were doing with the NTS1? just fx or also running the arpeggiator? such a great bit of kit that. 😜

[@TriviaChallenge]

Looks like random arp

[@burado1974]

Sounds great, nice vid. Looking forward to getting one.

[@bengreene4777]

What cord do you use to connect it to your keyboard

[@evil_in_your_closet]

Some of the sounds in your video remind me of the kind of brass and strings in Vangelis' soundtrack to the original BladeRunner... which makes me even more interested in the Volca Keys. Thanks for the video :)

[@BlankFor_ms]

It’s a crazy value for what it is. Thanks for the comment 🙏🏻

[@adamwhite1934]

I bought one, played around with it for a little bit and then it sat on my shelf for years. I had no idea it could make noises like that!

[@BenKrogh]

Great video, thank you! I also use the keys as a module and love it. What 90° power adapter are you using, and do you recommend it? Looking at power supply options for my Volcas and it’s hard to wade through all the info online.

[@BlankFor_ms]

Ben Krogh thanks! To be honest I’m not sure what the brand of the power supply is. I found it online by searching volca multiple power adapters. It’s nothing special but gets the job done.

[@lee3144]

best tutorial yet thks

[@MichaalHell]

This is really THE Lo-Fi synth. It does one thing and it does it really well. Record that to tape and your good to go.

[@JustPassingByBaby]

This was really cool video!

[@ianhouck9668]

well done man!

[@Supernautiloid]

I keep seeing this Arturia midi key board in all these Volca demo videos. Is that the go-to controller for these units?

[@BlankFor_ms]

It’s definitely one of the best options

[@Supernautiloid]

@@BlankFor_ms OK thanks for responding. I will be picking up a Volca Keys tomorrow and I was wondering what kind of controller I should get. :)

[@johnglennon5623]

2 questions , 1 , can any synth or keyboard be used as controller . 2 , does that Arturia record everything you play from the volca , keyboard or synth if connected

[@Supernautiloid]

@@johnglennon5623 1) Depends. If it has midi connections, then it can probably be used as a midi controller. But the Arturia is a dedicated controller as that's what it was designed for. 2) No, it is only a controller. It does not record sounds. But it does have a built in arpeggiator and sequencer. You can store up to 8 patterns on the unit itself, and more if you hook it up to a PC.

[@Putaplasteronitohmeleghurts]

Thanks for taking the time to share this incredibly helpful information. Saving me too much time I’m very grateful

[@jimvandersteege]

Ayeeee

[@gerryk9]

Thanks for all the info. You got a lot out of this synth. I still feel it is very limited in sound design, as is my volca bass. I am a long time Korg user but I think there are better mini synths out there at this price

[@J.M.Stigner]

what would you recommend Gerry?

[@jimvandersteege]

Been looking into Volcas lately, do you have others as well?

[@BlankFor_ms]

Yeah, I've owned the FM, Kick, Bass, Drums, and Modular. The FM is my fav out of those. Keys is my fav overall.

[@jimvandersteege]

@@BlankFor_ms Nice man, FM can do some great sounds as well. Sample could be cool to have as well for me, but in combo with FM or Keys I think.

[@jimvandersteege]

I've refound the Spuckfunkel Volca jams one of these days, cool to see what he does with them. You might've seen these

[@darrenjensen1933]

Great video - what is that fuzz pedal at the end of the video? Cheers

[@BlankFor_ms]

Darren Jensen it’s from pecan audio

[@michelluit]

wow ! That last sound. What does the black box do ?

[@do-beebrothers2550]

Great sound