How to make polyphonic melodies with a Korg Volca Bass

Not just a mono synth, turns out you can create polyphonic melodies on a Volca Bass by independently sequencing each oscillator. In this vid I quickly show how to do it with a little performance of it in action!

[@Decoy303]

What you made makes me feel so good inside my head. It's so warm and peaceful and so alive. Who said Volcas we're toys?

[@flrn84791]

That jam at the end though

[@FredF78]

At 6:00 I get instant Eric Prydz vibes!

[@c.augustin]

Love it! The trick and the result.

[@Supernautiloid]

Excellent video, very helpful. Thanks!

[@rayderrich]

Wow I picked up a Volca Bass a few days ago and in my first try video I literally used the 3 voices seperately as I thought that was the way to go. Weird that you had to show this in this video and lots did not use it already. But thanks anyways because now I found your channel and subscribed for more!

[@Ipsissimus]

Exactly what I was looking for. thx!

[@MrJonBertsch]

Solid tutorial! This was one of those features I’ve always had a hard time wrapping my head around and this vid got me squared right up.

[@KeytarKris]

Thanks so much. The Korg Volca Bass is my favorite of all the Volcas, next to the keys and Sample. Awesome instructional video bro.💻🎹🤟

[@sirm00]

Dang … great Jam

[@Dt3kno]

What tha hell, thats crazy!!!! Thanks I learn something new today.

[@webweasel4401]

Stunning.

[@BananaJuice1984]

Soo cool sound. Great. I love the bass and the fm2 plus sample as drumsampleplayer.

[@hovermotion]

Superb set up

[@glitch314]

this is the coolest use of 3 vcos on v bass I've ever seen... taking mine out of closet this weekendddd!!!! :)

[@Zdroyevski]

Its sound awesome ! 😮

[@KaBoOpFrequency]

This is how a candy store looks like ❤

[@SSSUPREME_OVERLORD]

Bro sooooo good

[@Haymenameisbill]

Very nice and helpful.

[@robertparenton7470]

Thank You!

[@saucymoon7134]

nice stuff

[@toushevtsurpe8568]

Hey you just encouraged me to get a Volca Bass :P Very cool video!

[@Mr.Tubster]

Good morning :-) I like the sounds, very inspiring

[@InkyDaCaT]

😉🙌

[@dykodesigns]

Excellent! I got a volca Keys and and two volca Fm's (the first model and the new one). The Volca Bass sounds like a good thing to pair With a Volca Keys. I use an Emu X-board 49 with a midi thru box to control them.

[@Malibooyahhh]

Sick, I hope you have more of these types of vids

[@Smogmopster]

That was nice 👍🏻

[@Hal-hq8fx]

Very good.

[@goji9000]

Bravo 👏🏽

[@espnxza]

Nice

[@CB19087]

All this video does is make me want to buy more synths! 👌 the volcas are cool as. Fm, bass and sample with a few effects pedals, good to go!

[@InkyDaCaT]

Cool!!

[@wandermund8724]

Thank u! 👍🏿😎👍🏿

[@abitofcraic]

Amazing video! Super quick (and probably very silly) question: yet will the rhythmic articulation of VCOs 1, 2 and 3 always be tied to each another, or could you have sustained notes on say, VCO3, and dyad stabs on VCOs 1 and 2? I have tried to do this, yet my sustained notes always take on the rhythm that I input in the other VCOs ! (sorry if this isn't clear)

[@popsinger1956]

I am shopping for something like this. I love the sounds of the 80's so I was looking at the korg volca FM (DX7) or the bass like you are playing. Can you play for instance "I Ran" or a jam like "take on me," "maneater," "Jump"?

[@mattchang3266]

I had a similar Volca setup butI ended up selling most of the Volcas to upgrade to other synths. But I kept the Volca Bass which is my favourite for its filter.

[@nikolaiyogi]

Thanks for the tutorial! I need to figure out midi!

[@pinz105]

Wicked

[@TheC0G]

Outstanding channel, you are a wizard with the Volca's. Pure magic! May I ask how you use you effects pedals, in line with a specific Volca or via a mixer send / return? Keep those excellent performances and tutorials coming! ♥️👏👏👏😎👍🎹🎵🎶

[@flipspark]

Sure! All the volcas go into a Mackie mixer, and I use the send on that for the Strymon Reverb. And then I can patch in a Strymon delay as in insert (mono only sadly) onto the first two channels on the mixer. Does the job!

[@TheC0G]

@@flipspark thank you. I love your setup! 😎👍

[@CelticStone]

far north posse lovin this :P

[@big-smoke-rc]

Mixing the waveforms is so much fun, too. I wish it would pattern sequence though.

[@rharris0820rh]

I love my volca bass, and I haven't even discovered its total capabilities. Try controlling via midi through a DAW and a soft arpeggiator. Prettttteee...pretteee...pretty good. (Don't steal my ideas!)

[@divisiona3974]

Not to be THAT guy, but that’s exactly what he demoed in the vid. The DAW here is just the keystep.

[@lownrgy]

@@divisiona3974 I Don't wanna be THAT guy, but he recorded with Volca Bass internal sequencer not with DAW or or keystep..

[@Ullish1989]

Yo that was actually sick. Been tossing up whether to get a second hand Behringer 303 clone or Volca Bass (I've already got the Keys) and this is kinda swaying my opinion

[@markparker4362]

Nice!...quite Camel Phatty!

[@riccardotorri8648]

I have a big headache: how do you connect 10 volcas to 2 volca mixers? and what about external effects?

[@THEREALDATALORD]

lovely progressive house example btw

[@zo1dberg]

"Sounds average" he says. Lol, no, sounds great!

[@edwardferry8247]

Great video, thank you. May I ask could you explain the mixers you use and which ones you might recommend perhaps in a forthcoming video. Best wishes

[@flipspark]

No worries. I do have a 'setup' video I put up recently, but they are Mackie mixers. Recommendations? Get one with 2 send FX and enough mono and stereo inputs for you gear basically!

[@edwardferry8247]

@@flipspark Ah Mackie I couldn’t quite understand when I watched the video. I can do a search now, many thanks 🙏🏽

[@MrScarabey]

@@edwardferry8247 I would definitely recommend Mackie, their mixers have very clean sound through, very good preamps. They don't color the sound much, if at all, but that's good anyway, 'cause you can do it later in the DAW. And with Gain close to the max with channel level low, you can have a very nice overdrive/distortion effect

[@edwardferry8247]

@@MrScarabey thank you very much I ordered the Mackie 12 v3 after reading both your comments. I am a beginner so greatly appreciate you guys taking time out of your day to reply. I saw the new Onyx Mackie ones but they were far too expensive for me. £500 😳

[@MrScarabey]

@@edwardferry8247 I've got the same model for 150$ roughly second hand. A bit too much, but it's worth it. 8 inputs, 2 individual sends, alternative routing, solo/mutes (very convenient tool), a lot of possibilities for self patching - this mixer is an adventure on its own! I started with Behringer mixers, and comparing to Mackie, they're shit)) This one is big, heavy and sturdy like tank. You'll love it :)

[@AKDanMusicMan]

What power supplies are you using for your Volcas? I like the 90 degree bend.

[@TheInterGalacticFederation]

great demo and tune. how do u keep them looking so clean and free from dust?

[@flipspark]

ha I assure you they are quite dusty!

[@TheInterGalacticFederation]

@@flipspark CAN'T TELL FROM THE VIDEO

[@erikmeylemans]

I'm new to sync music production and completely new to Korg Volca, so excuse my basic question, but how do you 'save'/'remember' all those sounds you create? Is there a way to crate projects as in working with Ableton? Where you save your midi tracks and presets? How does that work with Volca? Or is it only used for live sessions and do you just have to remember it by heart/head?

[@jeremywild9542]

is there a way to do this using an external sequencer eg circuit tracks? i imagine not so i will be limited to the 8 spots on the volca 🫠 life is hard🤣 thank for the inspiration 😎

[@4matcollectiva847]

You just need a midi keyboard bro and if its the keystep pro then better for you , cause of the arp function byt again if you just have a midi keyboard you can create your own arp without the need of keysteps function.

[@ashleyemery9679]

Minus the effects you are just running volca bass beats and keys?

[@flipspark]

Yep! Good effects bring it all together

[@TheRoundBARNES]

Sick. Ass. Arp run.

[@enso3460]

so if i sequence it through my digitakt or a midi controller or even a daw to get more steps, i will only be able to play monophonic ? ill have to always use the volca sequencer?

[@flipspark]

Yep, if you are controlling it via externa MIDl, its monophonic only.

[@mcgrandroyal]

You are always limited to 16 steps. Maybe Retrokits comes up with a fixing midi cable 😂

[@THEREALDATALORD]

What case/stand are you using for the volcas?

[@THEREALDATALORD]

I found it. It's the sequenz volca rack 4x3

[@yanickborg3118]

Can each other oscs be triggered from different midi channels ?

[@eightcoins4401]

Not to be that guy, but its paraphony since all vcos use the same filter. I dont get why Korg doesnt mention the fact it can do chords in advertisments and product listings though.

[@JoshuaFricke]

Any of your volcas modded?

[@Jhizzle473]

Can you make a neurobass tutorial?

[@flipspark]

Neurobass sounds cool haha! You mean a nubass though yeah? What in particular would you want see?

[@Jhizzle473]

@@flipspark nah o kinda figured you can do neuro bass or thinks like dubstep type stuff but look up neuro bass or sine wave I can do a little but you’re much better and this than me

[@Jhizzle473]

I have the keys and the bass volca but I feel like there’s so much untapped potential

[@flipspark]

@@Jhizzle473 Oh right! I did a quick bit of research. Lol a pivot to dubstep is quite the departure from melodic techno! I do know you can get some pretty gnarly bass sounds out of the Volca Keys, especially with poly ring and the right notes. I could something that shows some darker baselines but still more techno based

[@Jhizzle473]

@@flipspark yea that’s a lot of what bassnectar was using was ring mod Melodie’s and stuff check out a guy named mersiv

[@wardrich]

I really wish the Bass would let you chain patterns like seemingly every other Volca lets you do.

[@The_Penniless_Wanderer]

you can with the keys??

[@TheInterGalacticFederation]

the Beats & Keys don't chain

[@wardrich]

@@TheInterGalacticFederation whaaaaaaaat dang. I'm especially surprised about the Beats not chaining.

[@TheInterGalacticFederation]

@@wardrich THEY WERE THE FIRST 3 OF THE SERIES

[@THEREALDATALORD]

Volca bass is really close to a mini moog

[@jorgmuller3110]

the arp really pushes it

[@bobbythompson4268]

Volca bass is the shizzit for making horror music