The Volca Keys includes a metronome, which is a real boon given that the sequencer isn’t a step sequencer and only records in real time. Notes are automatically quantised, but free recording can be achieved in Flux mode. I like the fact that the volca keys is a one-knob-per-function synth without any hidden menus or settings. That way you can get really hands-on with it and makes it a great synth to learn synthesis as well. The volca keys is a nice little box of character. It has plenty of different flavours to choose from and can sound very lo-fi if you play around with its onboard delay and aggressive filter.

The oscillators produce both square and sawtooth waveforms, but the available waveform is governed by the oscillator voicing. The oscillators can be ring-modulated. The Voice knob selects between: polyphonic mode (sawtooth waveform; up to three pitches can sound); unison (sawtooth; all three oscillators play the same note); octave (sawtooth; two oscillators play the triggered note, the third sounds one octave higher); fifth (sawtooth; two oscillators play the triggered note, the third sounds a fifth higher). At the time of its release it filled in the niche of an affordable analogue synthesizer, which contributed to its success. It received high praises from reviewers for its inexpensive price and quality of sounds. On the topic, MusicTech stated, "Korg has listened to its customers and managed to hit the perfect balance of price and features" and Future Music seemed to agree, saying that "The Volcas are revolutionary at this price point". [3] Its reach was far enough to appear as a prop in a trailer for Marvel's Disney+ series Loki. [4] Design [ edit ] Closeup of Volca Keys controls This means that if you simultaneously play live on a keyboard and record your automations on the Volca itself, the notes you played get recorded on every loop, over and over again. You have to record the automation separately. loop or unexpectedly irregular rhythms, allowing dynamic performances just as though you were performing Creating new sounds that don’t exist in the outside world is an unending dream which has continued since the birth of electronic musical instruments. This dream has evolved and expanded throughout the development of new and unique music production devices.All Korg products come with a 2-year warranty. When buying direct from Korg UK, we extend your standard warranty to 3 years, free of charge! The built-in keys actually work a lot better than you might imagine. They are sensitive in the exact way that they should be. Not too much, not too less. They are just right. I found it very easy to program some very nice sequences within the built-in step sequencer, which we'll talk more about in a minute. a b Oct 14, G. W. Childs IV on; comments, 2013 in Review 1. "Review: Korg Volca Keys". ask.audio . Retrieved 2022-11-15. It's not polyphonic, it's paraphonic. There are 3 VCO's but they share the same VCA. In practice it sounds like the held notes would be triggered again when you play a new note.

The glide time between note pitches is controlled by the Portamento knob. In Poly mode, a second note will glide up to pitch from the root and a third note will glide up to pitch from the second note. Portamento also works when a note is sustained and the Pitch knob is turned. The ideal introductory synthesizer, with a simple – yet powerful – polyphonic analog sound engine and loop sequencer. Until now, the problem with analog synthesizers has been that the pitch would drift over time, or because of changes in temperature. Volca solves this by providing a Self-tuning function that constantly tunes the oscillators. You'll never need to tune during a performance, or wait for the pitch to stabilize after turning the power on. Control via a MIDI keyboard is really a must as the touchpad on the Keys is not terribly easy to use polyphonically, despite being larger than on the other two Volcas. With an external controller the Keys responds to pitchbend and modulation. Also, many of the controls respond to MIDI control change (CC) messages, so they can be sequenced. Whilst there is not the degree of control over oscillator tuning that exists with the Volca Bass, the Unison, Octave and Fifth modes are useful for monophonic lead parts or basslines. The Keys is capable of making many pleasing sounds, although there is not quite the timbral variety that can be achieved with the Bass, due to the different modulation capabilities and the fact that a square wave can only be achieved by careful monophonic playing whilst in Poly Ring mode. Nevertheless, the ring modulation modes expand the sonic variety in a direction that is unique to the Volca Keys. The way that portamento and envelope control of oscillator pitch are implemented also add to the uniqueness of the Keys.The touchpad on the Keys is larger than the one found on the other two Volcas, being laid out like a traditional keyboard and spanning 27 notes, from F to G. Unlike the other two machines, the Keys does not have lights within each ‘key’ of the touchpad to indicate which note is being played. The oscillators are self-tuning: if the tuning drifts, ceasing to play for at least 10 seconds will allow the auto-tuning function to correct the pitches. The EG does not control the amplifier level, which is a simple gate on/off. (On the Volca Bass the EG can also control the amplifier level.) With its structure of 3VCO, 1VCF, 1VCA, 1LFO, and 1EG, the Volca Keys has a recognisable, versatile structure. The ability to generate diverse and powerful sounds with just a few carefully selected parameters is a distinctive characteristic of analogue synthesizers. The possibilities are endless; you can use the three oscillators to play chords, use them in unison with detune to produce solid lead lines, or apply ring modulation to create far-out metallic sounds. This is also an ideal beginner's instrument for learning the enjoyment of creating your own sounds. Voicing function lets anyone create sounds easily Volca Keys is a long-awaited synthesizer that adds a new chapter to the long and storied history of Korg's analog synthesizers. This 27-key analog lead synth delivers unbelievably powerful sound in a compact body. Starting with a filter section that uses the circuitry of the legendary miniKORG700S (1974), it delivers astonishing sound that takes full advantage of Korg's half-century of know-how in circuit design.

The Korg Volca Keys is an extremely compact synthesizer and sequencer from the Korg Volca collection of portable professional instruments. With the ability to run on either a 9V power supply or 6 AA batteries (provided), the Korg Volca Keys is the perfect tool to get down those all important ideas when you're out of the studio and also doubles-up as a very impressive live instrument thanks to it's easy-to-use step-sequencer and triggering functions.AC adapter “KA-350” (optional) Others Accessories AA alkaline battery ×6 (for verifying operation) Options AC adapter (KA-350) Dimensions The filter of the Volca Keys is a digitally controlled analogue low-pass filter, a recreation of the filter from Korg's MiniKorg-700S, released in the 1970s. [9] [7] The filter section has three control knobs: Cutoff, Peak and EG Int. Cutoff controls the cutoff point of the filter, which is also able to be controlled by the envelope generator by the EG Int control. Peak is Korg's name for filter resonance, and the Peak knob controls the amount of resonance on the filter cutoff point. The filter can be pushed into self-oscillation. [6] Modulation [ edit ] characteristic of analog synthesizers. The possibilities are endless; you can use the three oscillators to play A semi-modular analog synthesizer that makes modular synthesis more accessible and understandable than ever before.

The Volca keys is, in fact, a very good lead synth with up to 3 part polyphony, unison mode, ring modulator mode, and more." What is Volca Keys? The Keys is part of Korg's Volca line of compact hardware synthesizers and drum machines; like other models it features a 16- step sequencer and can be powered off of batteries. When you get into Unison Ring and Poly Ring... Well, this is where the sound can get quite interesting. In these modes, the sound is much more aggressive. If you apply a distortion plug-in, or two from your DAW, you'll be in heaven. Well, if you like noisy, aggressive synths. Anatomy, Synth (2021-04-05). "Marvel Studios' Loki Face To Face With A Korg Volca Keys In The New Trailer". SYNTH ANATOMY . Retrieved 2022-11-15.It also uses the MiniKORG700s filter, which is a great filter. The LFO has 3 waveforms: sawtooth, square and triangle which make for some great modulation variety. The volca modular comes with a diverse variety of music software from Izotope including “Ozone Elements” which lets you not only create songs but also master them using AI, “Skoove” which will help you improve your keyboard playing skills, “Reason Lite” DAW software, as well as software synths from KORG and other brands. The sequencer is a loop sequencer, recording quantised or unquantised loops of notes from real-time performance. Unlike the sequencer in the Volca Bass or Beats, notes cannot be entered step-by-step. In ‘Active step’ mode, individual sequence steps can be muted, either in real time for interesting polyrhythmic effects, or to allow sequences in time signatures other than 4/4.