Volca FM2 Review, DX7 synthesis tutorial + 6 minute audio download
Added 2022-04-14 06:49:39 +0000 UTCHi!
In my last video, I looked at what two 4000-euro sine wave operators can do, now we've got 6 sine waves literally for the price of a Volca! (and one LFO on top of that too!)
Obviously, the C15 has other merits beyond two sine waves and goes way beyond FM, but if you're in to hardware synths, it's hard to ignore the value of Korg's newly released "MK2" version of their DX-7 compatible Volca FM, with double the voices (6 instead of 3), official support for velocity over MIDI, a new reverb and effect controls, an interesting patch randomizer, double the patch memory and MIDI out.
In my opinion, the brilliance of this instrument (aside from how it sounds) is how it simplifies FM synthesis. The onboard controls give you meaningful ways to impact your sound without asking you to understand what algorithms or operators mean. You can "play" velocity, the modulator and carrier envelopes without really needing to understand what's going on.
... and if you really want to geek out, I go over the behind-the-scenes parameters in detail...
That's it for now - 6 minutes of patches and a little outro jam are attached, I have quite a few more interesting unannounced instruments coming up before I head out to Superbooth - stay tuned!
All my best,
Ziv (always happy to geek out on FM synthesis on a youtube channel called "Loopop"...)
Comments
No, it has hundreds of sounds and 32 factory patterns. Thanks for your ongoing support BTW :)
2022-04-25 08:12:12 +0000 UTCDoes the +Drive on the Syntakt really come empty??
2022-04-23 21:49:46 +0000 UTCThanks for your ongoing support! I'm not aware of anything generic but you may find a programmer in the synth's community forum (facebook, etc) or in patch base: https://coffeeshopped.com/
2022-04-21 19:14:19 +0000 UTCI’m looking forward to a 4-operator unit, with multiple waveforms, like my Yamaha TX81z (and a couple other 4-OPs that I’ve collected). The addition of modern folded, crushed and digital wave shapes could lead to some new voices ( or, just noise). Are you aware of an editor like DEXED that could act as a programmer for 4-OP synths? The one I have (somewhere) only worked with Windows XP. An aside, I prefer more “human” interfaces (like the 0-CTRL and my Blue Marvin). My favorite, with the TX81z was a Casio MIDI saxophone, for fingering and breath control. Of course, I’ve dreamed of the Yamaha WX-11 (4-OP), WX-7 (6-OP) and Akai “Saxes”. Some have reed control and a thumb mod-control; like having 4 or 5 hands!
Timothy-Douglas Alvey
2022-04-21 17:19:05 +0000 UTC
