Volca FM and velocity

tsutek · Post by **tsutek** » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:39 pm

I am starting to think that this is a hardware limitation after all? As in "not enough cpu to dynamically modulate polyphonically via velocity" I've been getting my hands dirty programming DX synthesis on the volca fm the past few days, and the fact that the voice engine updates itself only when new voices are engaged is a lil frustrating. I don't recall my friends' DX behaving like this?

stephensword · Post by **stephensword** » Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:24 am

Hi guys. I'm planning to buy a Volca FM, but only with my velocity back as on the big one (DX7s).

Could anyone of you try this fix I made?
It's only for Mac, and it involves the use of MidiPipe
http://www.subtlesoft.square7.net/MidiPipe.html

yes, it makes the cc41 message pass BEFORE the Note On message. It should work, but I've only checked it on software.

I need some beta testers

cheers

https://mega.nz/#!V1IgkA7L!mnE4eKPNyXEV ... Vybfv2t0u4

SS

p.s: please check my sc!
p.p.s: special thanks to Nico from Subtlesoft

Zac Kyoti · Post by **Zac Kyoti** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 6:43 pm

This issue has an easy fix if you have max/m4l and don't mind using a computer. I built a little cc control device that takes velocity from an external controller and sends it to the velocity cc on the FM, along with the note. Works great.

hanzde · Post by **hanzde** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 10:23 pm

on korgs fm product page
there ist a text
The MIDI IN jack lets you use the volca as a sound module for DAW and MIDI controller.
so i can use it as an external synth as a soft saynth or that?

OpAmp · Post by **OpAmp** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 8:53 pm

@hanzde, that is another topic than the thread.

But here is the short answer. Yes you can control the FM with an external controller or a DAW using MIDI.
It is and stays a real synth. A soft synth is a program in your computer which acts as a real synth, meaning your PC renders the sound of the softsynth.
Though you can still set up a controller interface in your DAW and map buttons to MIDI messages towards the FM. But that is in se not a softsynth. If you don't have the real module, you will not hear any sound...

In practice it means that the sound of the FM will still come out the speaker of the FM or via the headphone jack. If you want to mix the sound with other sources, you'll need to record the sound back in your DAW.

Bye

effemm · Post by **effemm** » Mon Nov 21, 2016 9:58 am

This works perfectly!

It's just like stephensword said:
the cc41 passes before the note on and the Volca FM reacts to velocity.

Only thing which bothers me a bit that if you go into edit mode and press a key, the Volca takes the velocity that comes in as a value. So if you're editing you always have to leave the edit mode before you hit a key, otherwise you have some pretty random value in one of the parameters. :D

Besides this this is a very easy and good solution for the velocity problem which does not cost you any extra money.

[quote="stephensword"]Hi guys. I'm planning to buy a Volca FM, but only with my velocity back as on the big one (DX7s).

Could anyone of you try this fix I made?
It's only for Mac, and it involves the use of MidiPipe
http://www.subtlesoft.square7.net/MidiPipe.html

yes, it makes the cc41 message pass BEFORE the Note On message. It should work, but I've only checked it on software.

I need some beta testers :)

cheers

[url]https://mega.nz/#!V1IgkA7L!mnE4eKPNyXEV ... Vybfv2t0u4[/url]

SS

p.s: please check my sc!
p.p.s: special thanks to Nico from Subtlesoft[/quote]

Drummel · Post by **Drummel** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:22 am

I didnt want to start a new thread so I ask here:

Will there be any problems for the FM if you run the RK-002 in a midithru? Cant find any solid info.

Keys ---> midithru---> 2 volcas with standarmidi and 1 FM with RK-002?

Will it work as good as: keys ---> FM with RK-002?

So the midithru doesnt mess up the RK-002.

I got a http://www.esi-audio.com/products/mikrothru/

Thanx!

Koekepan · Post by **Koekepan** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 4:23 am

I have not tried your exact setup, but I see no reason that it should not work.

The point of a MIDI thru box is that it is transparent. It simply duplicates signals.

I use multiple Volcas, including Volca FMs, with MIDI thru devices, and it works just fine. So there's a data point for you. And I use the KORG Krome and Kross as sequencers to drive them, and automating the velocity with those sequencers works perfectly.

Drummel · Post by **Drummel** » Sat Dec 03, 2016 4:05 pm

Thanx Koekepan, will buy a RK-002 after xmas. Will post results here

.

demuxe · Post by **demuxe** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 3:23 pm

tl;dr:
it's by design.

This dialogue between Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) and Tatsuya Takahashi (ex Korg engineer) was enlightening to me. I found the whole interview to be incredibly interesting.

RDJ: with the volca fm, you also managed to turn the lack of velocity per note into a bonus [again], it puts a different slant on it, applying and recording motion velocity on the whole phrase, it works very well.

TT: So the volca keyboard is never going to do a great job of sensing velocity and we could have spent a lot more money to make it velocity-sensitive, but then you'd sit there going, "Well, it's too small to play. We need to make it bigger..." So trying to force it to be something it's not is a great way of creating more problems. Much rather turn the game around.

RDJ: That’s a great example of necessity and invention. I was absolutely amazed to find out that it IS actually possible to edit a DX7 voice with great speed from the interface you have designed. I never thought you could do that, but it is and is totally usable. I’ve come up with loads of things on it that I would never have done on a full size DX7. Hats off to Tats!

TT: Cheers! So everyone knows the typical DX7 sounds – well, the presets anyway – and by doing things a bit differently, you can open up so much stuff. Take an organ patch on the volca fm and sequence it normally, but then motion sequence the algorithm and it goes in a completely different dimension. It's a discovery, which is fun. I find a lot of artists are discovery junkies.

horisonten · Post by **horisonten** » Tue Jan 02, 2018 3:29 pm

Here is an easy fix for those of you who owns an Event Processor (plus).
Program setting file attached in the post! Just open it in the Midi Solutions Tool and transmit to the event processor.

https://www.elektronauts.com/t/fix-insi ... plus/49037

Not the cheapest way to do it. But the Event Processor from MIDI Solutions is a must have for any synth musician in my opinion. So look at it as an investment

zelea2 · Post by **zelea2** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:11 am

I've started a new project to add velocity to VolcaFM by inserting an AVR processor in the MIDI input path inside the Volca case:

MIDI Keys Velocity for Korg VolcaFM

playinmyblues · Post by **playinmyblues** » Wed Mar 14, 2018 2:17 am

The volca keys was my first volca, then the sample, and now the fm. From the beginning, I would have liked to have a simple and quick way to connect my USB MIDI keyboards to these synths. I can connect using Scarlett 6i6 and I just tested out an M-Audio Uno. The M-Audio Uno is an improvement but you still need to turn on the computer if you want to use it.

I finally got around to making a USB-to-MIDI DIN converter and it turned out to be much simpler than I thought. Thanks to Collin Cunningham's work and others, such as those who originally made the USB Host Shield, Circuits@Home, this is really easy.

Materials needed:
Arduino Uno or Mega (I have not tested others.)
USB Host Shield
MIDI DIN Jack, female
220 ohm resistor

Install the Arduino USB Host Shield USB 2.0 library in the Arduino IDE. Select the sketch: Example > USB Host Shield Library 2.0 > USBH_MIDI > USB_MIDI_Converter or choose the multi converter sketch if you want multiple USB MIDI devices connected to your synth or multiple synths.

There is no reading of MIDI spec or USB communications. They would very likely help but not needed. I had four USB MIDI devices that could trigger notes on my volca fm. It is a matter of copying and pasting code with editing a couple of characters to make it work.

Now that I have a device that will do this, I plan on making it do more such as connecting keyboards to synths with just one go-between - the Arduino device. It should be possible to take the data received from the USB MIDI keyboard and convert it to data that will make the volca fm react to velocity. I am very excited about this - having a a device that I can just plug into with about two seconds startup time. With the multi-device one, I can power the Arduino from the powered USB hub!

The plan is to post an article on my blog:
http://tinturesoftech.blogspot.ca/

Korg Forums

Volca FM and velocity

VOLCAFM VELOCITY "ISSUE">MAC>MIDIPIPE>SOL

Re: VOLCAFM VELOCITY "ISSUE">MAC>MIDIPIPE>

Velocity fix if you have an Event Processor (Plus)

MIDI Keys Velocity for Korg VolcaFM

On the Way to a volca fm Velocity Sensitive Fix?