En
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the Korg volca kick analogue kick generator.
This unit seeks to create the sound of a kick drum centered around the powerful
resonant filter of the original Korg MS-20.
By controlling the self oscillation of the VCF with the PITCH, BEND and TIME
knobs, not just a kick drum, but a pitched bass drum is created by adding a scale.
The analog drive produces a deeper and warmer sound.
As this is the first volca equipped with the TOUCH FX function, you can now add
changes in real time, in addition to the standard sequence effects (such as slide and
swing). This volca specializes in providing a more dynamic kick drum to live
performances.
DRIVE knob
Analog drive can be applied. This knob controls the amount of drive.
TONE knob
This knob controls the high frequency of a tone.
PULSE
This sets the pulse sound in order to add clickiness to the attack.
COLOUR: This knob adjusts the cutoff frequency and the tone of the pulse.
LEVEL: This sets the pulse volume.
AMP
The envelope of the oscillator level can be set.
ATTACK:
This knob sets the speed of the volume attack.
DECAY:
This knob sets the speed of the volume decay. The start time for the
decay of the sound is changed using the SUSTAIN setting (FUNC+Step 9).
Specifying global parameter settings
Setting the MIDI channel
1. While holding down the MEMORY button,turn the volca kick on.
2. Step buttons 1 to 16 correspond to the MIDI channels 1 to 16. Press the button that
corresponds to the desired channel, and the LED below the step button will light up.
Other parameters
1. While holding down FUNC button, turn on the volca kick.
2. Use the step buttons 1–8 to set your preferences for any or all of the global parameters.
(Refer to the table.)
3. When you have finished, press the
(REC) button. Your settings will be saved, and the
volca kick will restart. To cancel without making changes, press the
(PLAY) button.
Button
LED lit up
LED unlit
Parameter
Status
Display indication
Status
Display indication
1 Auto power-off function
*Enabled
AP.on
Disabled
AP.oF
2 Battery type selection
Nickel-metal hydride bt.nH
*Alkaline
bt.AL
3 Sync Out polarity
Fall
So.Lo
*Rise
So.HI
4 Sync In polarity
Fall
SI.Lo
*Rise
SI.HI
5 Tempo range settings
Full (10-600)
tP.FL
*Narrow (56-240)
tP.nr
6 MIDI Clock Src
*Auto
CL.At
Internal
CL.In
7 MIDI RX ShortMessage
*On
St.on
Off
St.oF
8 Sync input/output unit
Once a step
StP1
*Once every 2 steps StP2
*: Factory default setting
FUNC (function) button
To access various volca kick functions, hold down the FUNC button and press the
appropriate step button. The LED below the button will light to confirm your selection.
ROLL
This function produces a drum roll.
FNC+1/4, 1/2, 1/1,
4/3, 2/1, 3/1
This knob sets the hit timing interval from one of six combinations.
Octave
FUNC + 1OCT UP
This raises the pitch by one octave.
FUNC + 2OCT UP
This raises the pitch by two octaves.
SUSTAIN
FUNC + SUSTAIN
Changes the start timing for the AMP DECAY.
Note
on
Note
off
Note
on
Note
off
ATTACK
SUSTAIN: OFF
SUSTAIN: ON
ATTACK
Note
on
Note
off
Note
on
Note
off
ATTACK
SUSTAIN: OFF
SUSTAIN: ON
DECAY
ATTACK
DECAY
MOTION SEQUENCE
This function records adjustments made to knobs while a sequence is being recorded.
Once the sequence has made a full cycle from the step where an operation was performed,
record is automatically deactivated.
TIP
Motion sequencing will record adjustments to the knobs other than TEMPO, SWING
and VOLUME.
FUNC + ON/OFF
This turns motion sequencing on/off.
FUNC + CLEAR
All recorded knob adjustments will be erased.
CLEAR (erasing data)
The settings for various functions can be cleared. If the setting is not changed after it has
been cleared, perform the clear operation again to undo it.
FUNC + ACT.STEP
All values in the active step will be deleted
FUNC + ACCENT
The accent setting for all steps will be turned off.
FUNC + SLIDE
The slide setting for all steps will be turned off.
FUNC +
BEND REVERSE
The BEND REVERSE setting for all steps will be turned off.
FUNC + ALL
All sequence data will be erased
(Power) button
Press this button to turn the volca kick on. To turn the volca kick off, hold this button
for approximately one second.
Auto power-off
The power-off function will automatically turn the volca kick off after roughly four
hours have passed with no sound being produced. The auto power-off function can
be disabled using the global parameters. (See global parameters.)
DC 9V
Jack
Connect the plug end of the optional AC adapter to this jack.
Only use the specified AC adapter. Using any AC adapter other than the specified
model could damage the volca kick.
DISPLAY
The value of the selected knob, button, or function is shown in the screen.
(PLAY) button
Pressing this button will cause the current sequence to begin playing. The
(PLAY)
button will light up during playback. Press this button a second time to stop playback.
(REC) button
This records your performance on the step buttons as a sequence. If you press this
button while stopped, you’ll enter record-ready mode (the button will blink); when
you then press the
(PLAY) button, recording will start (the button will light). You
can also start recording by playing the keyboard when in record-ready mode. If you
press the
(REC) button during playback, recording will start from the point at
which you pressed the button.
Installing the batteries
On the back panel, locate the battery compartment and slide off the cover. Insert the
batteries—being sure to observe the correct polarity—and then replace the battery cover.
Turn the volca kick off before replacing the batteries.
Remove depleted batteries at once. Depleted batteries left in the battery compartment
may leak over time, and may cause malfunctions. Also, remove the batteries if you will
not be using the volca kick for an extended period of time.
Do not mix partially used batteries with new ones, and do not mix batteries of differing
types.
Battery level indicator
When the volca kick is turned on, the LEDs below the step buttons indicate the remaining
amount of battery power. If all LEDs are lit up, the batteries are completely full. Fewer lit
LEDs mean that the battery level is correspondingly lower.
When using the AC adapter, the remaining battery level will not be indicated correctly.
TIP
Either alkaline or nickel-metal hydride batteries can be used. In order for the remaining
battery level to be detected and indicated correctly, the type of batteries being used must
be specified in the global parameters of the volca kick.
TIP
If the batteries are running low during usage of the volca kick, the low battery warning
“bt.Lo” will appear in the display. If the batteries run down completely, the volca kick
automatically turns off.
TIP
It’s not possible to turn off the low battery warning; however, you will be able to
continue using the volca kick until the batteries have run down completely.
About the MIDI implementation chart
The volca kick can be controlled via MIDI; simply connect the MIDI output of an external
MIDI device to the MIDI IN jack of the volca kick. The MIDI messages that can be received
by the volca kick are listed in its MIDI implementation chart. You can download the MIDI
implementation chart for the volca kick from the Korg Web site.
MS-20 RESONATOR
The MS-20 filter oscillates to generate a waveform that recreates the “body
resonance” of a kick drum in a musical interval sense. The EG (BEND) can be
used to change the oscillator pitch over time.
PITCH:
This knob controls the pitch. When this knob is fully turned to the
left, the volca kick can be played using the step buttons 1 to 16 as a keyboard
in chromatic scale starting with A. While holding down the FUNC button,
turn the PITCH knob to change the pitch in steps of an octave.
If you feel the pitch has drifted, please stop the sound for about 10
seconds. volca’s auto-tuning function will correct itself automatically.
BEND:
This knob sets the depth of the EG applied to the pitch.
TIME:
This knob sets the speed of the pitch fall.
MIDI IN jack
By connecting a MIDI cable to this input, the volca kick can be played and controlled by the MIDI output
of an external device.
SYNC (IN, OUT) jacks
These jacks allow you to synchronize your volca kick to Korg volca, monotribe or other equipment—includ-
ing an analog sequencer or a DAW. The polarity of the SYNC jacks can be set using the global parameters.
•
SYNC OUT:
a 5 V pulse of 15 ms is sent at the beginning of each step.
•
SYNC IN:
If this jack is connected, the internal step-clock will be ignored, and the volca kick sequencer
will advance according to the pulses received here.
(Headphone) jack
Connecting your headphones to this 1/8”stereo mini jack will mute the volca kick’s internal speaker and
allow you to create music in private.
SWING knob
This knob moves even-numbered steps a maximum of 75% backward. Hold down the FUNC button
while turning this knob to move the steps in the opposite direction.
TEMPO
The Tempo knob controls the speed of the onboard sequencer and arpeggiator.
VOLUME
This is the master volume knob; use this to set the output level of volca kick.
Step buttons 1 to 16
These function as step buttons for the sequencer and the keyboard.
STEP MODE button
Press this button so that step buttons 1 to 16 will function as step buttons for the
sequence (STEP MODE button lights up). Pressing a step button between 1 and 16
turns the step on or off. Steps that have been turned on will be played. However,
steps with nothing recorded cannot be turned on. When a step with nothing
recorded is turned on, the pitch for step 1 on the keyboard (the lowest note) will
automatically be recorded.
TOUCH FX button
Press this button to turn on the touch effect function (TOUCH FX button lights up).
Pressing the step buttons 1 to 16 when TOUCH FX is set to ON will cause the
sequence being played back to temporarily act as follows.
ROLL:
The ROLL function will activate at the selected timing.
1 OCT UP, 2 OCT UP:
The OCT UP setting that is pressed will turn on.
SUSTAIN:
Turns the SUSTAIN settings on.
MOTION SEQUENCE ON/OFF:
This makes the PITCH, BEND and TIME move at random.
MOTION SEQUENCE CLEAR:
The motion sequence that is set will be disabled.
CLEAR ACT.STEP:
Makes the four steps following the step pushed replay in a loop.
CLEAR ACCENT:
Turns the ACCENT setting on.
CLEAR SLIDE:
Turns the SLIDE setting on.
CLEAR BEND REVERSE:
Turns the BEND REVERSE setting on.
CLEAR ALL:
Mutes the output.
ACCENT button, knob
Press this button to select whether or not to increase the sound in each step to
emphasize it. Use the ACCENT knob to specify the volume change of the accent
applied to the selected step.
SLIDE
While holding down the FUNC button, press the ACCENT button (SLIDE) to turn
on or off sliding for each step (ACCENT lights up). EG will not be triggered with
the step after the one where sliding has been turned on. This further achieves the
effect of connecting steps for a smooth change of the pitch.
on
on
on
on
on
off
on
on
off
on
off
off
PITCH
AMP EG
SLIDE
STEP
ACTIVE STEP button
Press this button to turn on or off each step of the current sequence (ACTIVE STEP
button lights up). Steps that are turned off are disabled and will be skipped during
playback and recording. The LEDs on each button for steps that have been turned on
will light up.
BEND REVERSE
While holding down the FUNC button, press the ACTIVE STEP button to enter BEND
REVERSE mode (ACTIVE STEP button blinks). The bend direction for each step can
be set to its opposite.
MEMORY button
The volca kick is equipped with 16 memory locations that are used to save sequences.
While holding down the MEMORY button, press a step button between 1 and 16 to
load the saved sequence and the parameters of each knob (except for the SWING,
TEMPO and VOLUME knobs).
CHAIN function
This function links multiple saved sequences.
While holding down the MEMORY button, press the step buttons between 1 and 16
(where sequences have been saved) to specify the range of sequences that you want to
play. The sequences in that range will play back consecutively.
WRITE (saving)
While holding down the FUNC button, press the MEMORY button to enter the
save-ready condition (MEMORY button blinks). In this condition, press a step button
between 1 and 16 to save the currently selected sequence and the setting of each knob
(except the SWING, TEMPO and VOLUME knobs) as sequence data with the step
button that was pressed.
Returning all sequence data to the factory defaults
1. While holding down the FUNC and MEMORY buttons, turn the volca kick on.
The
(REC) and
(PLAY) buttons will blink.
2. Press the
(REC) button to restore the factory defaults and start volca kick. Press
the
(PLAY) button to cancel the reset operation and simply start volca kick.
Restoring the factory defaults will erase any saved sequence data.
