Volca Keys Ambient Setup (Budget Friendly)

[@SimpleHold]

I like simplicity, and I never get tired of hearing the volca keys. I’m glad you’re not tired of sharing the sound of it.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah it's an absolute beast!

[@rayderrich]

This combo never gets old. The Volcas on their own are decent but pair them with a good effect and you've got a winner. I think all the people selling their Volcas did not take that extra step.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah, they all really shine with reverb!

[@user-cy3do4xc2c]

Volca should be topped up with an effect pedal or even two on eshop checkout 🙃

[@Krisisawake]

Cool sound. It is Vangelis like. Well done.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@zachariahpoltergeist4516]

If i didn't already own both of these, this would have been the video that sold me on them. Pete Namlook would be proud. Great job.

[@JeffIrok]

Dude, you were making some Blade Runner-worthy tones there! I had to run and try this and it was beautiful! Thanks so much!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@TrickmanTerry]

Beautiful! And that's just scratching the surface of what the NTS-1 can do. It's a synth on its own, plus amazing FX. I still think it's one of the best gear purchases I've ever made.

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely!

[@Decoy303]

If only it could save your settings.

[@returnofthegoth2220]

This combo never gets tired. Sounds lovely!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks as always!

[@dontcallmejon]

Haha, I literally have these two little guys hooked up on top of the mixing board this last few days, what a combo they are, $100 ambient or sfx setup on the used market.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah, such a powerful pairing!

[@tworoundrobins]

Nice! Another cool thing you can do is basically use the NTS-1 as a drone. Works best with Tim Shoebridge's oscillator drone and chords, but there are free user patches that work nicely as well. You can even send MIDI from Volca keys and use that to trigger the sequencer on NTS, choosing random pattern, long release and use the filter to manually pass notes through. This creates an unpredictable rhythmic scape that is perfect for ambient noodlin'. It's a great budget setup!

[@FreeBeat]

Great advice, thanks!

[@picklemaker6276]

How do you send midi out from the Keys?

[@user-cy3do4xc2c]

​@@picklemaker6276 with a mod I guess. There is on mod wiggler

[@innisneill7510]

Y‘know what‘s awesome about your channel? You always sprinkle in videos like these that are really easy for total beginners, real music noobs. It‘s how I found it. Through those beginner friendly PO videos. :-) Other channels‘ „beginner“ videos usually don‘t do this. They tell you the names of a few knobs and call it a day, but don‘t show in an easy way how to use them like this here. Or they‘ll add a jam that‘s a dozen times too complicated to „show the potential“. Or add five other gear items worth over 3000$, again making it impossible to follow for a (broke) noob. It‘s rare to have a genuine noob-friendly follow along tutorial. Hence, thanks for this!

[@jarickthom9767]

Good stuff - i am going to revisit my little Volca Keys - I didn't give it enough love when I originally bought it. I think you originally inspired me to buy both the Keys and the NTS-1. Keep up the great work.

[@tsibren]

Absolutely amazing sounds! Definitely going to get these two units to start my synth journey with.

[@FreeBeat]

Have fun!

[@patrickbodine1300]

Two of my favorite instruments.

[@patrickbodine1300]

You must get the Del-8 delay for the NTS-1.

[@FreeBeat]

I'll give the Del-8 a shot, thanks!

[@alexmousley7213]

Lovely, and, of course, it's possible to also play the NTS1 at the same time, or alternate between the NTS1 and the Volca Keys.

[@johnnyd.4879]

Simple and great! Thank you so much for your content and talks. You're doing it well and i wish you grow up to the top on KZbin!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much, I appreciate the kind words!

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

That sounds great! May I make one experimental suggestion though, to sync them and try timing both delays, I’ve been playing around with that quite a bit, most of my stuff does not have sync, some do but Enricky Tines pointed out they don’t need it many times, just headphone out into a pocket operator and IT WILL sync. My drum machines don’t have sync but they are all midi so that’s how I do it with them and lastly run through a high end effects like Avalanch Run or Astral Destiny or Eventide H9 or all three at once. I know not budget friendly yet worth every dime! Ironically since my stroke my guitar playing is limited, but it’s still there! The delay syncing is key to new soundscapes for me. Peace

[@FreeBeat]

That's great advice, thanks!

[@northriver8673]

Love this! Thanks for the informative video - great stuff!

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely, thanks for watching!

[@remka2000]

Nice, simple setup. 👍 Actually any reverb pedal could probably do the trick (If using the NTS-1 only for effects). A Zoom multistomp could probably be found used for under $100US and has a bunch of effects - great value, even if the build quality is soso.

[@ElementaryKnowledge3000]

Feck me! Such a powerful sound from such a small setup!

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely!

[@PalpamemesYT]

Thank you for this! Very helpful.

[@daviddetwiler3770]

Love it. I just got a reverb pedal to plug into my roland j6. Same idea. Not sure what the nts1 does to sound quality. Sometimes I like losing. Sometimes I don't.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@robertparenton7470]

Thank You!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@stixol]

Great video.

[@iosmusicman]

Ace! Less is more. Cheers. Lee

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks!

[@mojophonic]

I really need an NTS-1... I have a MicroBrute which has no effects and I would love to have a similar setup with it

[@FreeBeat]

The NTS-1 would sound incredible with a MicroBrute!

[@jaydeepalmer]

An awesome pair indeed! I'm glad i finally grabbed one 😅 Did you try the nts 1 with the model cycles? It's a MUST! (Oh yeah, and the midi out of the cycles is compatible with the midi in of the nts 1, which means you can use a simple trs 8 cable to connect both 😊)

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah I think I've done a couple videos with the two of them together, a lot of fun for sure!

[@alisonchristie7993]

Love this. Question: without the mixer, how would you output sound from the NTS-1? Or, if I just had the keys and the NTS-1, what’s a minimalist route to audible sound. (I’m very new to this, so apologies if this makes no sense.)

[@mack_solo]

As in the above setup. Plug "headphones out" on Volca to "audio in" on NTS, and "headphones out" from NTS to your ear cans. Obviously if you want more Volcas to be processed by NTS then you'll need some sort of mixer or PC interface in between.

[@annasimonagarofalo]

Wow… I thank my next purchase will be a Nts 1

[@FreeBeat]

That's awesome, it's a fantastic device!

[@bistrobmusic]

There's been a lot of sales on Volcas lately - even though I have most of them...

[@FreeBeat]

It's hard to pass up an on sale Volca!

[@aju1923]

Thank you for the informative video! I have a question Do you know if it is possible to connect the volca keys to a daw on a phone?

[@mrnieblas1]

Wow

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@ildarkinildarkin]

Hey Free Beat, if you have sound card with midi outputs you can do some vids on integration say your Volca keys with Ableton.

[@FreeBeat]

When I want to record the Keys into Ableton I just run the audio into my board, then the 5pin MIDI out of my Keylab into the Keys :) Thanks for watching!

[@user-cy3do4xc2c]

Oh, can you edit the typo in infobox? Because I spent tough times to figure out how to make nts-1 to become a 3 VCO synth last night 😂😅

[@FreeBeat]

Whoops hahah good catch, fixed!

[@terrybrown106]

I'm checking into getting the Hologram Microcosm for effects. . Is that what the NFT1 does?? And if so, which one do you think is better? I've been showing videos of the Microcosm to some of my friends and they all are just awestruck with its effects. So just wondering what's your opinion of the Microcosm in comparison to the NFT1?

[@FreeBeat]

Yes, the NTS-1 is also an effects unit, but it's also a synth as well. As to which sounds better, that's going to be up to the listener. I don't have a Microcosm (yet) so I can't really provide an opinion, sorry!

[@Betbettington54]

Is there a way to run another instrument thru the volca keys as an FX box?? I use my orba 2 with the monotron but would like to upgrade to the volca keys to loop the effects. Is this possible to do this without an AUX input on the volca keys?

[@242Gorch]

Top☝️

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@susmanfromamogs]

SWAAGGG

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@user-JM1967]

Stereo?

[@nigelreadon8381]

Ambrent music is boring, I like something with a beat and tune

[@iosmusicman]

It does have ambient in the title Nigel ;)

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah me too, but sometimes it can be fun to change up and try a new type of music :)

[@johnglennon6504]

Actually ambient as a run up to a beat is my thing . Just don't know how to use my equipment. Got keys being delivered today . See how I get on with it

[@olisho]

Thank you!!