Korg Volca Beats Tutorial

A quick tutorial of Korg's Volca Beats, a mini portable drum machine.
I quickly cover how to adjust the sound of the various drum parts.
Look at the stutter functionality.
And take a look at how the sequencer works.

[@warrenwillmusic]

helped me a lot to get started. I was trying to learn it all by myself but then I thought...nah just watch a quick tutorial and have it nailed after. thanks man!

[@trevord9811]

Same for me....:-)

[@trevord9811]

Really needed this as my Beats came secondhand (which is fine as it is in great condition), but without the manual. This really helps so thank you and please keep adding more videos.

[@NickCapron]

You are very welcome, glad to hear it helped you out!

[@OneManTheBand]

Just ordered mine today! Can’t wait to get it! Awesome video!

[@NickCapron]

Thanks Logan, appreciate it! After I finished making this I realized I forgot to demo the active step functionality, so be sure to check that out too as it is a quick way to change up the sequenced loop. It works the same as the sample, you can check out my sample tutorial at 21:42, google it, or the paper manual quickly covers how it works too.

[@JonNewquist]

Thank you. I'm an analog guitar player, not programer or a jet fuel genius. I was hoping this machine was easy to make quick demos. All the tutorials I watched before finding yours made it seem so complicated. Now I know I won't need to flip this after a week of frustration.

[@NickCapron]

Awesome, glad it helped! All the Volca Sequencers are very similar, so if you get the beats down, you can easily convert that knowledge to the rest of them.

[@robcoulter1390]

Thanks, I simply needed to watch someone clear the meter. Thanks man.

[@NickCapron]

No problem, glad to hear it helped =)

[@crookedrain771]

This is the video I needed to really see what’s up with the volca beats. I decided to buy one on Amazon this morning. This video makes me have no regrets. 👍

[@NickCapron]

Glad I could help, hope you enjoy it!

[@dianemckimmy5701]

@@NickCapron do 19 minutes of 130 BPM kick drum

[@dianemckimmy5701]

Korg volca beats style

[@dmkrugermusic]

Thank you Nick! 10/10

[@turfoid7899]

the kicks so phat!

[@bodyminusMe]

Thank you for this

[@DavidBagshaw]

I just happen to have a Beats around here I'm trying to get my head around: thanks for posting!

[@zc8673]

This was so helpful, I've been slightly frustrated trying to figure it out on my own.

[@NickCapron]

NP, glad you found it useful!

[@fletcherdelay1259]

Thanks Nick. Great video. Two questions: 1. Is the process to store recordings the same whether you record in live mode or step mode? 2. Can you record and store say 16 or 32 bars?

[@NickCapron]

Thanks Fletcher, ya saving the sequence is the same procedure, doesn't matter if you use live or step modes. You can only record 16 steps currently on the Beats. If you are looking for more at the same price point, check out the OG volca sample (the one without usb) with Pajen's custom firmware.

[@fletcherdelay1259]

@@NickCapron thanks Nick

[@ryanblackmore8033]

When using "Step Record," are you only able to input a SINGLE sound per step?

[@NickCapron]

Yeah, so when you push step record, whatever the last sound you pushed or selected, is what you are laying down onto the sequencer. If you want to step record another sound just use the part buttons to shift to another sound and you can lay it down too

[@weevil6969]

How do I get it to store the sample I just made into a memory slot? That's what's really hanging me up and every time I turn off the machine I lose what I made. Thanks.

[@weevil6969]

OK, I saved my sample to M8 but now how do I get it to play back? They really don't give you much to go on with this unit in the box.

[@NickCapron]

@@weevil6969 ok, to save what you have recorded on the sequencer hold down function, and push memory, m 1-8 will light up and pick one to save the sequencer against. To load from a memory slot, hold down memory and select m1-8.

[@weevil6969]

@@NickCapron Thanks! I finally figured it out. I was daunted by how many presets were already on it but I figured out how to wipe/edit them too. Great tutorial.

[@ryanblackmore8033]

@@NickCapron when you save a sequence, can you play over it when you reload it? Can you edit it or would you be writing over it to try to record again with it loaded?

[@NickCapron]

@@ryanblackmore8033 Yeah once you hit save, it writes it to the memory of the device. From there, you can load it, and freestyle over top of it (outside of recording mode), and your recorded sequence will keep playing as a backing track. If you want to record over a previously saved sequence, you can do that too, either save over the old one if you want to update it, save your new sequence to another save slot, or don't save at all if its garbage, and just re-load your original sequence to start again.

[@pierorodrigodiazalvarado4894]

thanks for the video, can i connect the vocal beats tospeakers?

[@NickCapron]

Yeah, but be aware, the only audio out is the headphone jack. To hook mine up to a mixer or audio interface, I use a 3.5mm to stereo 1/4 inch cable. To hook it up to a portable speaker I have a couple of 3.5mm cables to hook it up to the aux input on them

[@pierorodrigodiazalvarado4894]

@@NickCapron thanks!!😋

[@reazallykhan8614]

It is a drum machine with its own sounding sounds...quality for what you get

[@NickCapron]

Yeah cheapest anolog drum machine I think you can get! I think the volca sample is the way to go if you don't care about using samples for your drum sounds, but if you want analog drum sounds on the cheap, Volca beats is hard to top.

[@billjohnroe2962]

Ready to kick drum at 130 BPM?

[@turfoid7899]

can you record more than 1 4 bar loop?

[@NickCapron]

Hey Turfoid, yes, well sort of.... There are a number of slots you can save single 16 step sequences to. Then you can MANUALLY switch between these patterns to build more complex paterns. Check out the OG volca sample if you need longer automated loops, you can load the drum samples on it that you like, and use it's song mode, to create long automated loops. The new one with USB slot I don't think has song mode!

[@dianemckimmy471]

If you can do 130 BPM Kick Drum

[@askejrgensen6006]

I don't get why you would get a Korg Volca Beats Machine when a Korg Volca sample doesn't limit the amount of different sounds you can have on it? For instance the disliked snare?

[@NickCapron]

I got it used as a package deal with the Keys for 90 CAD each, so at that price point it was worth it for me, just to try it out. At the time, I thought I could pair it up with my sample, and use it for drum parts, freeing up sample parts on the Volca Sample. In reality, I much prefer the Sample, and only use the beats when I'm feeling lazy and want to create a quick beat. With Pajen's custom firmware the sample is even better now than when I filmed this. I think as of today, the only reasons to go with the beats vs sample are... *You can pick up a beats super cheap used *You don't want to go through the hassle of loading samples to the Volca Sample *You are a guitarist, performer, etc, and just want a cheap, portable, and easy to usedrum machine

[@askejrgensen6006]

@@NickCapron Thanks, awesome answer! As of right now, I'm only a teenager that's beginning to get a hand of electronic music, and the money doesn't reach a long way. I own a Gaia-SH-01, Pocket Operater P-33 sample and was looking for a cheap drum machine. I stumbled across the Korg Volca Beats, and immediately figured it would be the one-I do play a little guitar and bass, but never does live performances. Now after a bit of research, I discovered it wasn't nearly as powerful as the RD-8, Cyclone TT606 and so on, should I save up, or at least get the Volca Sample? Greeting from Denmark:)!

[@NickCapron]

Hello across the ocean from Canada! If you want to save cash and can run a line out of your phone/pc check out drumbit.app/ If you want hardware, I don't think the beats is going to get you much more than what your PO currently offers. I love the sample, but take a look at the PITA process around loading samples, as this can be a hard no for some people. The beauty of the sample to me is how fun/versatile it is, and for fairly cheap too. Otherwise you might want to save up for a dedicated drum machine. I see Arturia Drumbrutes on sale often, and that would be a step up over the beats. You might want to look into the Circuit, it's a great little sequencer that you can load up with drum samples and use as a drum machine, you also get an onboard synth, or can use the synth tracks to control other hardware with it's sequencer. Digitakt looks great too, but expensive compared to other options, but very powerful.

[@askejrgensen6006]

@@NickCapron Wow, a lot of great tips and recommendations, thank you! I think I'm going to refund the Volca Beat, and wait for I have the money to buy a more powerful drum machine-the Arturia Drumbrutes is a very good option. I just had a blast using my pocket operator as drums, so that will do the job for now:)

[@NickCapron]

Here's a cool demo from a gent who subbed to me the other day, kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYiZco2PhdqqbNk

[@jammingpositivevibration]

Nice, cheap my patterns ❤💛💚

[@NickCapron]

Good bang for your buck on this one. Pretty straightforward to use as well =)