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
www.korg.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-wo...

[@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.

[@undulations]

Fantastic😀! I still use mine and really enjoy it; that much power in such a small form factor ages well! Let me know how it goes! ps I have a few "Jamuary Redux" videos on here, detailing some clips I posted on Instagram (or as a Short). I think a couple have Volca Drum content - some stuff, particularly in one of the 2020 redux videos, was pretty cool, not included in the earlier tutorials. Thanks for checking out the channel🙏🏼!

[@jeredalmeida1880]

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

[@undulations]

Thank you! It means a lot to hear that. I'm planning on coming back to the Volca Drum in a few videos, focus more on fundamental drum sounds, percussion sounds, etc. Thanks for watching!

[@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!

[@undulations]

Hey, thanks very much for the feedback🙏🏼!

[@MrBadboomer73]

@@undulations same here - I’ve watched a number of videos but your methodical approach and sound examples have really opened my mind to this machine. Before your series I made a lot bleeps and simple beats but now I want to explore this instrument as a sound tool. It’s very inspiring.

[@snorrevonflake]

Yep great. But should come with a manual showing all that stuff, doesnt make sense to sell like this since its so deep and not self explanatory.

[@lumm71]

Got my Volca Drum this week and never thought how deep you can go in to it. This video and your other Volca Drum videos are exceptional work. Thanks so much for it!

[@zorbanongreco]

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

[@MsMuffinns]

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

[@undulations]

Thank you very much🙏🏼 Truly appreciated!

[@zo1dberg]

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

[@undulations]

😂😂😂

[@SuperRingoffire1]

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

[@undulations]

Thanks a lot for checking it out!

[@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! :)

[@undulations]

Thank you much! It means a lot to hear this :) Enjoy your Volca Drum - I think it's a really amazing device!

[@petrpazyna]

super great and clever tutorial as always! thank you so much!

[@undulations]

petr pazyna You bet! Happy New Year and thanks for watching👍🏻!

[@SouthShoreSonics]

Awesome stuff! Science and art combined!

[@undulations]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@ChrisMHall]

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

[@rebeccatheuma6554]

Thank you so much! Great explanation :) really made everything clearer

[@undulations]

Rebecca Theuma You bet👍🏻! Thanks for checking it out!

[@lisabock220]

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

[@undulations]

You're welcome! Thanks very much for checking it out🙏🏼! I still really love the Volca Drum😀!

[@pk3776]

Brilliant video.... thanks for your clear concise explanations, always good! 🔊🎶🇬🇧👍

[@undulations]

pk3776 Thank you so much😀!

[@anthonymccollim3769]

Thank you for these awesome Videos!!!! I just got the Volca Drum and your videos are so much help!!

[@undulations]

Anthony McCollim I’m glad to hear that! Thank you for the feedback👍🏻

[@ShakaCthulu]

Incredible channel. Thorough, organized tutorials with a focused, calming narration. Volca Drum looks like the perfect marriage of depth & ease-of-use.

[@undulations]

Thanks a lot for the feedback! (sorry this took me such a long time to reply to)

[@PrimitiveInTheExtreme]

These tutorials are really great 🔝🎹🔝

[@undulations]

I appreciate the feedback🙏🏼!

[@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!

[@undulations]

Smacksalad Productions You are welcome😀!

[@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.

[@undulations]

Glad to hear that! Yes, having probability on steps is so handy. Looking forward to more of your posts with the Drum!

[@otraperspectiva]

Great! very nice in depth tutorial, suscribed. Excited to learn how I can use my volca to its fullest potential

[@undulations]

Fantasic! Thanks for checking out this series👍🏻

[@theoneandonlybunman]

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

[@undulations]

Agreed, it's an amazing device! Thanks for checking out the video🙏🏼!

[@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.

[@undulations]

Thanks very much for this thoughtful comment🙏🏼! I still see the Drum as a truly interesting device for musical exploration and a great value! I have posted some other Drum content on Instagram during January 2020 and January 2021, might be of interest (dr_nim2014), and I did some corresponding "Jamuary Redux" videos here on YT that discuss/show some of the posts. I particularly recommend the January 10, 2020 post that shows using step jump on the Drum for chord progressions. Thanks again🙏🏼!

[@Hemigoblin]

@@undulations thanks for the tip! Your series on the Drum is what convinced me to get one as a companion for the Subharmonicon, which had been gathering dust because i didn’t have anything to tame its wilder tendencies by syncing it with a more grounded rhythm. Drum can also go feral, but it comes from the opposite perspective: you can coax it out into the wilderness without too much effort, but it likes to stay close to home without explicit guidance. It seems like a pretty perfect pairing to explore the boundary between forest and field.

[@undulations]

@@Hemigoblin I bet that is a great combo! Best wishes in your explorations!

[@YGRAVITY]

Awesome🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@undulations]

YGRAVITY I appreciate the feedback😀!

[@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!

[@undulations]

You're welcome! Thanks for checking them out👍! I feel like the Drum is such an amazing device!!!

[@chrisliddiard725]

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

[@undulations]

Thanks for checking it out🙏🏼!

[@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

[@undulations]

bentropy Thank you! I appreciate that. I was committed to only doing that ending the one time - more about the concept than the result - but there was definitely a “how about best of 3?” moment, which I resisted 🤔.

[@smacksalad]

@@undulations End random put my jaw on the floor. I've been looking at some strange devices lately to find something that makes just those kind of all totally random bizarreness! :)

[@undulations]

Smacksalad Productions Haha, glad to hear that! If hardware is how you want to go then the Drum is a really solid choice, but I should also mention a nice software route for similar sounds - the MicroTonic plug-in/app from Sonic Charge. I think you could do 30 days of random soundmaking on that for free👍🏻! Thanks again for checking it out!

[@smacksalad]

@@undulations Thats probably why I like Drum, I already have both Microtonic and the pocket operators it appears on :)

[@undulations]

Smacksalad Productions Ahh, awesome! The PO-32 Tonic is such a great device!

[@PhilanderingBastard]

Fascinating reference to / implementation of a Cageian approach in the intro. You will be familiar with the 639 year performance of ASAP in Halberstad. Was a cool visit a few years ago, even though the piece was at the time performing a pause of three days 🤣

[@undulations]

Lol a pause😂. yes, have heard about that performance - I'm sure it was still nice to visit. It's funny to think about growing up in the mountains of western NC, seemed like such a backwater at the time, but Moog was there and Cage himself had been nearby some years before. I guess I wasn't explicitly thinking of Cage at the time I made the clock clip on this video, but I certainly get the reference. Have always enjoyed phased patterns as a way to get a lot out of a little (either in music or coding visuals or such), and the Volca Drum has really got that capability. Thanks a lot for watching and for the comment🙏🏼!

[@oldasrocks9121]

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!

[@undulations]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@sierragold]

Excellent-- thank you!

[@undulations]

Sonya Ziegler You’re welcome👍🏻!

[@janwilda8852]

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!! :)

[@undulations]

Hey, thanks very much for letting me know! If any questions come up with the Volca feel free to lmk and I'll do my best to try to answer👍🏻!

[@guiom77]

great a good video !!!!!

[@undulations]

guillaume le bayon Thank you very much!

[@matthewstein1110]

I absolutely love your approach and knowledge of this thing! Super in depth and out of the box. This entire series really shows the power of it. You use features and parameters in ways I’d never think of. Really inspiring stuff, honestly!

[@undulations]

Thank you very much! It means a lot to hear all of this!

[@matthewstein1110]

Undulations Absolutely! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! :)

[@oliveribasta5929]

Gangster. You are gangster my man🙌

[@undulations]

Many thanks; I appreciate you watching🙏🏼 - the Drum is an amazing little powerhouse!

[@sebastianshuster5229]

Wow! That is super impressive. Thanks for the deep dive on this. It’s a good reminder that you can always dig deeper. P.s. thanks for splitting my timeline 😉 I didn’t get rich but the world did become a tad bit more strange. Just the way I like it.

[@undulations]

Well, I guess just give it more time :) Thanks a lot for watching!

[@bernardogui3933]

great video Mr!

[@undulations]

Rafa Baldoviani Thank you very much! I’m hoping to upload the next Volca Dum video in a day or two👍🏻.

[@MYGAS21]

Thank you sooo much!

[@undulations]

You are very welcome! Thanks a lot for checking it out🙏🏼!

[@SimpleTrax]

You can chain programs if you select multiple programs. There is also undo function when you press "clear" again. Lots of hidden features.

[@omarbonifacino3381]

Hai a Great tutorial friend

[@undulations]

Thank you very much🙏🏼!

[@geraldclark5812]

IMO these videos are the most complete explorations of the Volca Drum, very helpful. I have owned one for several months and had a lot of difficulty early on as a newbie to the synth world. I had the misconception that this would be a nice-to-have drum machine to put down simple rhythms as an accompaniment for my Minilogue XD and Circuit. I quickly discovered that while other devices such as the earlier Volca Beats keep you "on the road" as far as modifying aspects of a percussive sound while maintaining recognizable drum/etc qualities, Volca Drum lets you go pretty much anywhere in synth-land. You can (too) easily get your smooth, boring pattern sounding like a roomful of broken washing machines, which was very frustrating at first, quite often you couldn't dial back to the nice sound you had a few seconds ago, arghh. Having spent time learning about synths in general I am not as intimidated by the Drum as I used to be. Understanding how 2 the layers work is very important, and it's a good idea to keep the Waveguide Resonator turned off until your basic sound is where you want it. I still don't really know what the term "Waveguide Resonator" is supposed to mean (everyone says "it's basically a delay", I would say it's a lot more than that), but I have a general understanding of what it can do and how to control it so that's fine. With all of that said, Volca Drum is so nice in terms of its sound and sequencing it's really disappointing as far as going beyond the 16 program/16 kit limitation. Synthmata has developed a web-based app that you can use to create and save your own kits which is a great idea but takes away the tactile part of using the device. It would be awesome if there was some way of interactively maintaining a library of Drum content like other synths have, but since this only has midi-in I see no way for you to grab your settings and store or share them. The synth education part of the Volca Drum experience has been the most valuable, don't know if I would recommend it to someone else or not.

[@undulations]

Gerald Clark Thank you🙏🏼! I appreciate the feedback. I totally agree that the Drum is an easy thing to kind of go down a “1-way street” of sound design on. I’ve started saving kits along the way a lot more often, as I’m working on them,. More storage would be nice: I’ll look into making something like that in Processing or possibly Ableton. Thanks again! ps I hope to be uploading a short-ish video about the waveguide resonator within the next day.

[@fluorophoremusic3679]

I just got a Volca Drum. I'm curious, if you think it's feasible to use this as someones main drum machine for several genres? I have a few hard and soft synths I can pair with, as well as traditional instruments. Majority of the Volca Drum vids I see, though, are pretty clearly in the EDM world...primarily techno and minimal-ish drum sounds that can very quickly go out there and weird (which I like). I've not seen really any videos showing the ability to use this for more traditional musical electronic drum sounds...thinking more along the lines of synth pop or new wave type stuff.

[@undulations]

Well, hard to say. It's a very general systhesis engine, has a lot of potential, but in terms of emulating traditional instruments or classic electronic percussion sounds, I think it may come up short in a lot of cases. Maybe for some you can get close? The dual layer feature adds a lot of possibilities, but a lot of it comes down to what you are after. Sorry if this isn't much help. One thing might be to try some #volcadrum searches on here, and particularly on Instagram, just to see if there are some things close to your needs. Thanks much for watching🙏🏼!

[@AllaMortify]

For the parameter locking bit at 12:40 how does that relate to the release value of the sound? Apologies if I'm being thick here. I assume that if I create a melodic sound with a maxed out or long release value, put it on a single step then alter the pitch at empty steps where the sound has not tailed off yet, I could make it rise and fall in pitch over the life of the release time?

[@undulations]

AllaMortify You are right on point👍🏻 The parameter locking is just a precise way to set a parameter for a step, and then some sort of method is used by the Drum to smoothly connect to the neighboring steps - I don’t know if it’s linear or some curve. So you could give a vibrato like you are suggesting. I think that any unlocked steps assume the value of the knob, which could maybe be a plus or a minus, hard to say. Let me know if this is clear. (kind of groggy from working on next video😴.)

[@ewollenbergc]

Very very helpful video. Thanks a lot. It’s just a bummer that the mute function doesn’t work when you chain programs.

[@undulations]

Yeah, that is an issue🤔. I've been trying to think of workarounds but it's probably never going to be as flexible as the real thing. If it was really specific I guess you could make duplicate programs with the muted parts missing. Or something with chokes? Some sort of ghost part with silent hits on every beat, able to "mute" stuff by changing the choke settings, save kit on the fly? Sounds kinda wacky. Using motion sequencing to mute parts with Level, turn motion-sequencing on/off? Not sure how that could work with chaining? Anyway, thanks very much for the feedback🙏🏼!

[@MYGAS21]

You just blew my mind mate! ( I sound Australian, but I live on a Greek Island on the seashore, did I just leap into an ulternate Australian timeline?) I used the random layer function and got the sound of sea waves crashing on the beach in two versions!...One version simulated the sounds of the crumbling sea pebbles as the wave reseads.....it's a bit weird listening to what I see when I go outside ..... I'm new to this ..I couldn't construct a sound like that even if I knew it was possible!

[@undulations]

Hah, it sounds like you are lucky at it😀! Now's your chance: save a sound to your Kit and then inspect all the parameters (a little dot shows on the display when you are at the saved value). Write them down! And then the secrets of your beach sounds will be revealed! I feel like randomized results can be so helpful to inspire and free us from preconceptions (the end of my latest video has a result along these lines). Thank you very much for watching🙏🏼 and enjoy your Drum!

[@MYGAS21]

@@undulations Beach wave with pebbles #1 Factory prog #1 Part 1, Only Layer 1 (I silenced layer 2...) SRC C, MOD C, EG B, ATTACK 189-203, RELEASE 248-175, AMOUNT 98 (This value introduced the pebbles) RATE 176 but I found 113 made it more "rocky" DECAY 217 BODY 75, TUNE 253, SEND 198 (BUT the WAVE GUIDE had little impact on the sound, especially after I changed it from STRING to TUBE) .....I was keeping an eye for that dash but never actually found it, I just tweeked the values to make the sound better. .....BIT CRUSH 0-30, FOLD 1-20, DRIVE 228, PAN 0, GANE -68 (I reduced it considerably to calm it down to a more lethargic level) QPI ON, and PITCHED it at D3.

[@undulations]

@@MYGAS21 Alright! I'll give it a try👍🏻

[@MYGAS21]

@@undulations Beach wave without pebbles #2: Factory prog #1 Part 4, Only Layer 1. SRC C, MOD A, EG B. Slow ATTACK AND RELEASE to taste, AMOUNT -100, RATE whatever 119-255? doesn't matter much, TUNE 252-253 introduces a dash of "wind", BODY & DECAY whatever, SEND full. The Part parameters are similar to sound #1 only difference I chose QPI OFF. This is what I found for anyone interested...Thanks for everything!

[@MYGAS21]

@@undulations Oh that was fast! I would love to see your improvements!

[@Taka_Takata]

Excellent, thanks a lot, especially for showing me I have to get better at thinking outside the box. Also, I'm wondering: doesn't the fact that you only got 16 slots and no possibility to backup bother you? I already lost two good progs/kits due to operator error, and frankly I'm kinda paralyzed by the transience of what I do on the Volca Drum. You might say that's like life, but aren't creation and art a way to beat that transience? Do some people here painfully recreate their settings in Synthmata in order to have a backup, for safety or maybe as some base library to go back to and build upon? Or should I hope to become such an expert as to be able to immediately do what I want with this wonderful instrument?

[@undulations]

Taka Takata Thank you for checking out the video🙏🏼! There’s a lot of irony in synth gear: something bigger like the Elektron Model:Cycles lets you transfer sounds and sequences to a pc but the internal storage is so big that you might not even need to. I think what bothers me the most on the Drum is that you can’t (as I understood at the last update I did) easily transfer sounds between kits. I would like to be able to just have 4 or 5 “storage” kits and be able to mix-and-match the sounds. It’s kind of labor intensive, but I pretty much solve all of this by taking notes. I highly recommend working out some rules like: kit 16 is always just a sort of “scratchpad” for testing stuff, kits 9-15 are works in progress, and kits 1-8 are kits I’m really trying to keep. However, I feel like learning how to quickly find the little “.” indicator of a saved setting, having maybe a spreadsheet or printout of all of the parameters, is a really good way to understand how sounds are made and differ, as well as keep them safely “stored”. It’s just not fast. Thanks again for watching!

[@nagrzybydolasu]

Hello hi ! I have a question - about part 2. When i change a pitch of a part - i go thru numbers .why and how You go thru chromatic scale (notes)? Thanxxx

[@nagrzybydolasu]

ok. it;s an update.simply as that. thanks to myslef. peace !

[@undulations]

Good work! Having the chromatic setting is really helpful! If you ever want to control the pitch by MIDI remember that you can't send MIDI notes (at least with the update I have), but you *can* send MIDI CC values to the pitch as a workaround. Have fun! Thanks for watching!

[@guitdafunkadelik]

Great video & ultimate serie on the Volca Drum How do you edit the pitch value with the note name? As far of now i only get numbers.. thanks!

[@undulations]

guitdafunkadelik Hey, well it’s two things: 1) to get pitch quantization (i.e. C, D#, etc.) as an option you need to make sure the Volca Drum firmware is up to date, and then 2) to set pitch quantization you need to go into Edit mode, select Quantization, and turn it on. This last part can be different for each track (you set it the same way as setting something like BitCrush). The first video in this series shows/describes how to do these steps. Thanks for watching!

[@zerobeat2020]

I would also suggest another correction. You said that the choke group did not clear when you cleared the program. That is because the choke group belongs to the kit and you can't clear a kit.

[@undulations]

Totally makes sense. Thanks! (sorry it took me so long to reply)

[@bad_russian]

Hi, thanks for tutorial! Can I save more than 16 programs on that device? For example, I have saved 6 bars/programs for some track/song ... and i have only 10 for other songs?

[@undulations]

Максим Аксенов Hey, well unfortunately that’s the situation without adding something else. There is some software called Synthmata that is supposed to help (have not used). I tend to use randomization and polyrhythms to make sequences _seem_ longer. BUT, one thing to seriously consider is a MIDI 2x2 box + a 5 pin MIDI cable (or a usb-to-MIDI cable) - either way should be less than $50 and will allow you to control the Volca from a laptop running a DAW (even a free/lite version of a DAW would probably be fine) Then you would be able to make as many sequences of any length that you want. If you go this route you can even use MIDI CC automation to send the kit settings too. This process basically turns the Volca Drum into a hardware voice for the DAW. I hope this helps some👍🏻!

[@bad_russian]

@@undulations Well, I'm used to doing everything in the DAW, so it's not a problem. Its my first analog gear and I am trying to find out the limits of this device. I realized that the main limitation for me is 16 banks for kits, but in other ways this box blow my mind (in a good way). I heard something about the patch for Ableton, where you can control volcas's params by plugin and save presets, but haven't used it yet.

[@antoniocarrasco3056]

I'm a totally beginner. If you would have to elect Korg Volca, what would you choose. Volca Drum or FM?

[@undulations]

I feel like it depends a lot on your intentions for using it. For explorations of sound design and music in general they are both very deep and hard (maybe impossible) to beat for the price. The Drum leans more towards beats (of course) and making more of a multi-instrumental song all by itself (see Jan 10, 2020 post on my Instagram, dr_nim2014), but it is really all about sequencing. It takes extra effort (a special sequence and the step-jump feature) to just play a tune on the keybed. You can't hook a midi controller up to it and play a melody (but you can certainly sequence beats on the Drum with a midi controller). Now, the FM has got a deeper fm-synthesis engine, you can make a ton of sounds with it, it's polyphonic (3 note as i recall), great feature like arpeggio, and super playable from the keybed. You can use an external midi keyboard (probably Arturia Keystep) to upgrade the playability easily. The FM is just one sound at a time, but a single knob to change presets makes it very plausible to try to do a multi-instrument song. So, some of this comes down to other gear you might already have or if you are familiar with a DAW (in that case, a cheap midi 2x2 box would let you play either Volca from the computer). Anyway, short answer: I'd say if you are thinking beats, sequencing, tracks then the Drum, and if you are thinking keys and ambient then the FM. The Drum has very deep and powerful sequencing. The FM has just about unlimited sounds when you dig into the FM methods. Each is easy to just start out with and play the presets, mess around with, and each allows you to go much deeper and learn a lot about music and synthesis.

[@neonblack211]

I love your videos so much... have you ever looked at the behringer neutron?

[@undulations]

Hey, thank you very much🙏🏼! I've seen the Neutron quite a bit on some Instagram accounts that I follow (also the Crave). Looks super powerful and sounds great too :) But alas, not currently in the stable of synths. I do have the Roland SE-08 synth, need to use it more, possibly do a video about it (this summer has turned into a YT hiatus - planning on more frequent uploads in the Fall) Thanks again for watching!

[@neonblack211]

@@undulations I'll check that Out! I love the idea of a synth with a massive patch bay at that price point

[@calito.el.buda.]

Cool 20:00

[@undulations]

Thank you🙏🏼!

[@ArturTadevosyan]

Such great videos and such great a channel!!! Thanks you a lot!!! Is there a way to save the volca drum patches on a computer?

[@undulations]

You're welcome! Thanks for the feedback! I think there is a tool called Synthmata - maybe it has a plug-in for the Drum? I have not tried it (I just sort of pencil and paper it, a lot of time spent looking for the dot indicating the saved value if I don't take notes along the way). Another option is with a DAW. You can basically just have DAW clips that blast out MIDI values to the Drum - so you build the patch in the DAW and then update the Drum - not a very hands-on approach though. Thanks for checking out the channel👍🏻!

[@kevhar35]

Volca drum editor. There are two. The cheap one does it as well as the pricier one from isotonik. But the one from isotonik is great as can draw automations on all the parameters as well as record. They are for Ableton though.

[@undulations]

@@kevhar35 Thanks for this info!

[@kevhar35]

That's ok. Isotonik have 25% off black friday at the moment. Code FRIDAY. I'm not affiliated! I've just bought it.

[@undefinedtheory4231]

14:50 commenting for future reference of the bassline sequence

[@undulations]

Thanks for checking it out👍🏻!

[@undefinedtheory4231]

@@undulations Thank you very much for the instructions! Best one out there so far

[@undulations]

@@undefinedtheory4231 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 ps I should mention that my "Jamuary" video from February 2020 had some Volca Drum content in it that I worked out too late to put in any of the main videos (relates to using step jump to do a chord progression. also, some more details in the original post on Instagram 1/10/20).

[@flootymcdootymanooty9145]

Are a character Tom Hanks is working on if he was doing a George Bush/Bill Clinton type act?

[@undulations]

I need to see the Mr. Rogers movie :)

[@garrygalkin2026]

So there is no pattern chain or so? Song doesn’t exist but pattern chain? Cool review and turtorial though!!!!

[@undulations]

Thanks for checking it out🙏🏼! Yeah, I guess they went with the program "group" play mode because it's very easy to do on the fly? So, for something like "now I want to play programs 7 through 11" it's nice. But if you want 7, 8, 10, 11 or 7, 7, 7, 9, 4? That would take a fair amount of copy/paste work. Duplications cut into the overall program storage, etc. Makes me appreciate something like a Pocket Operator's chaining scheme🤔.

[@briancannon3050]

What speaker is used in the beginning of the video?

[@undulations]

Brian Cannon It’s a Sony XB-30, bluetooth, aux in, usb port to use as power bank, bass boost (only use occasionally), and signal-triggered lighting. I don’t know if they still make it, but there is probably a newer model (and also similar ones that are bigger, maybe smaller too?).

[@briancannon3050]

Undulations Thank you! I grabbed the XB-32 and it’s perfect for the Volca Drum! I was trying to use an OutdoorTech Turtle Shell 3.0 and for some reason it had horrible latency issues. Thanks again! I just discovered your channel, but I really dig your videos!

[@undulations]

Brian Cannon Awesome, thanks for watching. Yeah, latency just makes everything tougher - glad you got a speaker that you like!

[@oldasrocks9121]

I am still trying to fully parse how you're cheating the sequencer length, oy!

[@undulations]

Sorry I missed this last week. If I recall correctly, it was almost entirely done using the Choke feature. Along the lines of polyrhythm (polybeat?) drumming. If left hand is on a pattern of a hit on every 3rd metronome tick, and right hand is on a pattern of a hit on every 7th metronome tick. Then if both hands hit on the first tick, follow their patterns, then you don't have both hands hit together again for 21 ticks. So the Choke feature sort of allows this to be exclusive. Like the right hand will ONLY hit if the tick is part of the pattern (7th tick) AND the left hand is hitting too. But then if the left hand is doing a very soft/silent hit? You just hear the right hand hit every 21 ticks, which is outside of the range of either original pattern (length of 3 or 7). So, with 6 tracks this can be amplified a lot, ticks every second but a bell roughly on the hour. It took some sitting down with a pen and paper to see if it was even roughly possible. Thanks much for watching and commenting! Nim

[@oldasrocks9121]

@@undulations I got an SQ-64. I *think* both the Sample and the Drum can be assigned to the 16 subtracks of the drum track similarly to the way they can be on the Beatstep Pro, I'll eventually find out. I hope so! Retrokits started to support Drum with the same enthusiasm as they do Sample & Sample2 w/their RK002 midi cable but then dropped it mid way thru, sadly. Still the sequencer on Drum is the best of all the Volcas imo. I think it's the best Volca actually, it's a lot of fun.

[@undulations]

@@oldasrocks9121 Agreed, it is such a versatile and powerful piece of gear! I just used it in an IG clip yesterday - so easy to make a 16 step sequence more interesting with probabilities, slices, and motion sequencing!

[@noisetv1863]

CAT 32:40

[@undulations]

Hah, she was not having any of it :)

[@NatLifeSounds]

Good tutorial but no one talking about how really add more than 16 steps in Step Sequencer? 32 or 64 or 256, how to do that? Can't find this in tutorials, but it's most important thing for a longer sequences

[@undulations]

Well, it's not possible to _directly_ increase the sequence beyond 16 steps on the Volca Drum. BUT, longer sequences can be made by going into the Load Program mode (func + play) and using 2 fingers to select a _range_ of the Drum's 16 Programs. The entire range will flash in this case. So, for example, a range of 1-2 gives 32 steps, a range of 1-4 gives 64 steps, and a range of 1-16 gives 256 steps. The device can only hold a _single_ 256 step sequence. You can remove active steps in a sequence to get other sequence lengths, like say 40 steps (16+16+8). It''s also important to point out that if you are planning out a range of sequences (programs) - say 1-8 for 128 steps - then you can have all of those programs use the same Kit - say Kit 1 (which is easier if the same sounds are required across all 128 steps) - OR you could use up to 8 different Kits for this example (more to keep track of but allowing more sounds across the sequence). I hope this helps. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@NatLifeSounds]

​@@undulations i hope will helps, will try to check it..why i'm asking, because i see how already pre-programmed patterns have something like 64 steps for some of sounds, thats why i'm trying to find how is can be realized. Thnk You!

[@undulations]

Well, it's not exactly a longer sequence, but using the Volca Drum's per-step probability feature _can_ give sequences a lot of variety and make them seem longer. Do those preset patterns repeat exactly?

[@IWOKEAGIANT]

Ever wondered what sound aliens make when they have sex? Start of this vid.

[@cd78]

too much talking

[@undulations]

dully noted.