Bass Vs Keys

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:58 am

Spheric El wrote:Congrats .How much did you spend (if you don't mind me asking)?

£79 inc postage

Jamie Munro · Post by **Jamie Munro** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:39 am

@ £79 you simply can't complain - -bloody bargain

I had the keys then traded it against my odyssey. I was creating excellent fx across a couple of bars that I loved but was simply annoyed by the output being a stereo and the synth sound-I got so frustrated, couldn't get it in my head so got rid - maybe I didn't give it enough time.

what I did do with it though was record all the sequences from my microkorg xl keyboard over midi rather than using the built in keybed - that worked well and gave some great sounds but they were all mostly turning out as fx rather than lead lines etc. perhaps I will revisit one day, who knows.

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:03 am

Jamie Munro wrote:@ £79 you simply can't complain - -bloody bargain

I had the keys then traded it against my odyssey. I was creating excellent fx across a couple of bars that I loved but was simply annoyed by the output being a stereo and the synth sound-I got so frustrated, couldn't get it in my head so got rid - maybe I didn't give it enough time.

what I did do with it though was record all the sequences from my microkorg xl keyboard over midi rather than using the built in keybed - that worked well and gave some great sounds but they were all mostly turning out as fx rather than lead lines etc. perhaps I will revisit one day, who knows.

Yes I use a separate keyboard for entering notes on the volcas too, through a midi splitter. It does mean I'm dependent on the computer to use them but that's fine as they're all connected into that for audio anyway. I have found the keys to be very musical in nature though except for the unison ring mod which is nasty sounding (in a good way)

Jamie Munro · Post by **Jamie Munro** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 3:38 pm

I just went midi out from my korg - I assume you don't do it that way due to port limitations? or unplugging cables?

cool little box but it just didn't strike me as I was hoping it to - i've never taken a piece of kit back before and this felt weird to me but as I was getting cost back against my arp it didn't matter so much.

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:18 am

Volca Bass review

OK I've spent an evening playing with the Volca Bass and am really pleasantly surprised by the differences which it offers compared to the Keys, with the conclusion that they are more different than I had thought they would be.
The three VCOs on the Bass can be combined very differently than the three voices on the Keys, not better, not worse, just different.
I particularly like the way you can link the LFO rate to the tempo for some great choppy effects.
You have to admire Korgs perversity in reversing the key colours to make the design a little quirky even if it does require some extra thought to identify what your'e playing (thank goodness for Midi in)

Overall the sounds are fantastic, the learning curve for entering notes and enabling/disabling VCOs is a little steeper than the keys but I would say its definitely worth having both models as they are both fantastic in their own right.

Boom-Q · Post by **Boom-Q** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:08 am

carreg_cennen wrote: I particularly like the way you can link the LFO rate to the tempo for some great choppy effects.

how do you do this?

isn't there a tips n tricks thread for the volca's? that would be helpful for... everyone, i feel.

even minute tweaking is enough to produce some nice effects.

how do you get a nice low end bass out of this thing? i manage finally to get some acid sounds out of it by having peak and cutoff face each other

i am a noob on hardware and have even taken to photographing with my fone the knob positions that produce a nice sound

also i'm addicted to turning the amp on and messing with the EG decay/release. having the sample linked up, i need a bloody third hand! total recall style

Frenzies · Post by **Frenzies** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:06 am

Boom-Q wrote:
carreg_cennen wrote: I particularly like the way you can link the LFO rate to the tempo for some great choppy effects.
how do you do this?

isn't there a tips n tricks thread for the volca's? that would be helpful for... everyone, i feel.

even minute tweaking is enough to produce some nice effects.

how do you get a nice low end bass out of this thing? i manage finally to get some acid sounds out of it by having peak and cutoff face each other

i am a noob on hardware and have even taken to photographing with my fone the knob positions that produce a nice sound

also i'm addicted to turning the amp on and messing with the EG decay/release. having the sample linked up, i need a bloody third hand! total recall style

If you press function and turn the LFO rate knob it will run the LFO linked to the tempo.
Acid filters are usually made by turning up the peak, turning down the cutoff and turning up the cutoff e.g. intensity.

and taking photos is a perfectly good way to remember patches, i do it all the time, but not on my VB as those little see through pots are really hard to see in a photo. Ive invented my own Volca shorthand for writing my patches down!

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:11 am

Boom-Q wrote:
carreg_cennen wrote: I particularly like the way you can link the LFO rate to the tempo for some great choppy effects.
how do you do this?

isn't there a tips n tricks thread for the volca's? that would be helpful for... everyone, i feel.

even minute tweaking is enough to produce some nice effects.

how do you get a nice low end bass out of this thing? i manage finally to get some acid sounds out of it by having peak and cutoff face each other

i am a noob on hardware and have even taken to photographing with my fone the knob positions that produce a nice sound

also i'm addicted to turning the amp on and messing with the EG decay/release. having the sample linked up, i need a bloody third hand! total recall style

Holding Func and changing the Rate knob on the Bass brings up various tempo locked timings for the LFO. I think Korg likes giving us 'hidden' functions ....

I find the biggest bass sounds are achieved by turning the cut off down low, and the Resonance (peak) up pretty high. then play about with the 'cuttoff eg Int' and the LFO int knobs

Boom-Q · Post by **Boom-Q** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:26 am

great stuff. will try it out.

still would love to see a dedicated tips n tricks thread if you have more interesting techniques up your sleeves. the korg "manual" is rather lacking

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:53 am

Boom-Q wrote:great stuff. will try it out.

still would love to see a dedicated tips n tricks thread if you have more interesting techniques up your sleeves. the korg "manual" is rather lacking

apparently there already is one -

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... dd4b0a1d55

there's one in here I hadn't found - (LFO sync on keys)

Frenzies · Post by **Frenzies** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:59 am

carreg_cennen wrote:
Boom-Q wrote:great stuff. will try it out.

still would love to see a dedicated tips n tricks thread if you have more interesting techniques up your sleeves. the korg "manual" is rather lacking
apparently there already is one -

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... dd4b0a1d55

there's one in here I hadn't found - (LFO sync on keys)

I'm not sure that one works...

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 11:39 am

Frenzies wrote:
carreg_cennen wrote:
Boom-Q wrote:great stuff. will try it out.

still would love to see a dedicated tips n tricks thread if you have more interesting techniques up your sleeves. the korg "manual" is rather lacking
apparently there already is one -

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... dd4b0a1d55

there's one in here I hadn't found - (LFO sync on keys)
I'm not sure that one works...

will try this evening as I haven't yet - not sure how usable it would be wiithout a display anyway!

carreg_cennen · Post by **carreg_cennen** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 7:57 am

Frenzies wrote:
carreg_cennen wrote:
Boom-Q wrote:great stuff. will try it out.

still would love to see a dedicated tips n tricks thread if you have more interesting techniques up your sleeves. the korg "manual" is rather lacking
apparently there already is one -

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... dd4b0a1d55

there's one in here I hadn't found - (LFO sync on keys)
I'm not sure that one works...

quite right! most of these are incorrect!

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zobbo · Post by **zobbo** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 4:09 pm

carreg_cennen wrote:Volca Bass review

OK I've spent an evening playing with the Volca Bass and am really pleasantly surprised by the differences which it offers compared to the Keys, with the conclusion that they are more different than I had thought they would be.

I got the bass first and loved it. Loved it so much that I found the keys to be a bit of a disappointment for quite a while. I've begun to warm to it a little more now and it has been joined by the beats and sample. the step sequence method described here for the keys could be a major game changer, going to give it a go soon.