Korg Volca Drum

[estragon]

No chromatic playing, but you can quantise the pitch parameter to semitones and plock the cc.

[veeceeoh]

Looks like you might also be able to play it chromatically per channel, since each sound doesn’t correspond to a note number.

Would love to get confirmation on this! Not a dealbreaker but definitely would be a massive bonus…

Actually you can do chromatic / melodic play on the Volca Drum - you just need something that converts notes played on a keyboard to pitch parameter MIDI CC values. The RetroKits RK-002 will do the trick. I posted about this way back in September last year:

Korg Volca Drum

So it turns out the motion smoothing / slide effect only occurs when sequencing pitch changes on the Volca Drum itself, even if a new pitch is set per step in Step Edit Mode. So the motion sequencer seems to be adding interpolated pitch movement between steps. @OscillatorSink describes this in the comments thread for his Using the Korg Drum Melodically - Part 1 YouTube video. However, as demonstrated by Retrokits (on Instagram here & here, or Twitter here & here, or Facebook here & here), if y…

[AdamJay]

The RetroKits RK-006 will do the trick. I posted about this way back in September last year:

RK-006 or RK-002?

[veeceeoh]

RK-006 or RK-002?

Whoops! I meant the RK-002. I’ve had the RK-006 (their newly released mini-MIDI hub) on my mind a lot lately as I can’t wait for my pre-order to arrive!

I have an RK-002 cable and have used the melodic play “sketch” firmware with my Volca Drum with great success. The pitches aren’t 100% perfect (MIDI CC only supports 127 values of course, versus the native interface’s 255 pitch value choices) but it’s fine if you’re not trying to use it as a lead over other gear.

[josker]

Thanks for the info, everyone! It’s very tempting, at any rate.

[AdamJay]

I have an RK-002 cable and have used the melodic play “sketch” firmware with my Volca Drum with great success. The pitches aren’t 100% perfect (MIDI CC only supports 127 values of course, versus the native interface’s 255 pitch value choices) but it’s fine if you’re not trying to use it as a lead over other gear.

Thanks again, this is very valuable information, and not immediately obvious from the RK-002 product page.

I see that there is a Volca Drum MIDI expander firmware on the exchange pages.

Thinking I’ll give it a shot after my next paycheck. It’d be good to do with the OT+VolcaDrum what I used to do with MM+ND2.
ARPing digital drums chromatically is a lot of fun!

And re: pitches not being totally perfect…
Techno…

[MixedSignals]

Had some buggy behavior last time playing w VD… all step lights that flash when trigged go dark sometimes, random patt does not work, set not saving exactly (w/ plocks) when switching and return to pattern. Running on batteries.
Still fun to mess with, although I have yet to use it on a mix.

[MarkPigott]

I finally got my Volca Drum mid February 2020.
I use the TT-78 as a sequencer, so I get 64 steps + 16 step fill.
I redirect the midi notes on the TT-78 to C3,D3,E3,F3,G3, and A3
via Midi Solutions Event Processor Plus on Channel 10.

I run the Drum on single channel mode on Channel 10.

This means there are no note steps set on the Drum itself,
which frees up the tracks for Parameter locking to make changes
to the drum sounds as they go along.

Early days but I did this experiment:

[jayhosking]

Before I forget: I did run into some unfortunate bugs with the Volca Drum.

The first was that there was no way to turn off MIDI notes in, and luckily Korg had solved this by a firmware update. (Also, aside, it’s hilarious to do a firmware update via an audio recording to the clock input! What is this, a datassette from the 80s?)

The second bug, which basically made the Volca Drum unusable, was that in pattern chaining, it would occasionally fail to progress to the next pattern, staying on the same pattern and throwing the whole thing out of alignment. There was no rhyme or reason to when it happened. Maybe something to do with using MIDI clock in? In any case, it meant I had to choose a different drum machine, which was a bummer. Let’s hope this bug gets addressed in the future, because sticking to sixteen steps or fewer is too limiting for me.

[MarkPigott]

I use an external sequencer for the Drum, so I can get 64+ fill, and even more if I chain the sequences on the TT_78.

I actually like the audio in firmware, as it reminds me of computer class with the TRS_80s back in highschool.

I have noticed some odd behaviour with the Drum with midi clock as well.
I am only a week into ownership,so my forensic discovery will continue!

[jayhosking]

Yeah, I use plenty of external sequencers, but one thing I enjoy about the Volca Drum is its “step jump” performance effect, for creating fills and all sorts of strangeness. Thanks for letting me know you’re having some MIDI weirdness too, though!

[MarkPigott]

Because I run an external sequencer to the Drum I need to make sure there
are no EDIT Steps on any of the layers.
It also means no probability, or slice, which seems to be available only if you are
sequencing from the drum.

I still get access to all the motion sequencing and Layer/Random though.

I like to sequence from MIDI from the TT-78, but I also run a SYNC IN from CV OCD at 1 bar or 1/16th rate. This slows down the Resonator effect, whilst keeping the note tempo at the normal MIDI rate.

[JL]

What do you Volca Drum users think of the new Model:Cycles?
As much as I like my VD I’m seriously thinking of selling it to buy a M:C, mainly for the memory and performance features.
Besides choking groups and the “step jump” feature, is there anything else I would lose?
I know all the advantages of the Cycles over the Drum but not sure about flexibility in terms of sound, as the VD can produce a lot of unexpected sounds with the randomize function.

[Uija]

Because I didn’t believe in a new rhythm machine, I just bought a VD. Just packing it to send it back while waiting for my M:C arrive.

[Seta]

I own the volca drum and bought the cycles, 12 part digital drum machine synth for less than 500€…who needs a TR?

[Synj00]

I own both now and although I am still learning and very happy with the model cycles I still feel that a Korg Volca Drum in a bigger size/ endless rotaries / proper midi in & out would be amazing.

The simplicity of the Drum and the massive amount of sound setting combinations are amazing. I kind of thought / hoped during the teaser that it was Elektron’s answer to the Nord Drum in Digi-Format. No worries though the M:C implementation is amazing ima different kinds of way.

I have yet to play with both of them together but I think that they might make a great pair. I’ve already paired the Drum with the Digitakt and it is more than the sum of its parts. Custom crafted kits sequenced with the DT sequencer and running LFOs to everything is such a crazy experience. It just goes wild and very far out. I’m not ever selling it. Just too much fun for what it is. Definitely the best Volca in the line IMO.

[estragon]

I sold my VD a few weeks ago. I loved the sound and the architecture but it was too fiddly in practice and I kept bumping up against the memory limitations - if they put it in an electribe enclosure with proper project/preset management it’d absolutely kill.

[Automageddon]

I’m struggling with mine too because of the lack of pick up mode. I know it’s never been a Volca thing, but if I’m fiddling around with a kick, then I move on to a snare then come back and as soon as I move a knob it starts from that position I just go mental.

It would be fine for a one voice thing, but with six voices it’s unnerving.

If they fix that then it would be as cool as the Nord Drum…

[jaybee6244]

Sold my Volca Drum for precisely this reason. Pre-ordered a M:C with the proceeds. Seems like a no-brainer to me as I love my M:Samples and the Cycles will play much more nicely with it than the Korg could.

[tasmansea]

My main issue with it, I’m guessing though that at that price they don’t factor in many updates…