Korg - volca Keys - Analogue Loop Synthesizer

Product Information

Since you can also specify the tonic key from which these scales start, you can play these scales in any key. All new products are sold with a 2-year manufacturer warranty which is upgraded to 3 years when bought direct from Korg UK. In other words, the moment you get your hands on this synthesizer you'll have a variety of tools to help you take your music to the next level.

Multiple Volcas can be used in tandem via the vintage-style sync in/out, and with your favorite DAW software or MIDI keyboard via MIDI In. The sequencer is a loop sequencer, recording quantised or unquantised loops of notes from real-time performance. With its compact size, battery operation, and built-in speaker, it's easy to take the Volca anywhere and perform any time.

The complex overtones generated by FM modulation are sent through a wave folder circuit to add additional overtones, producing a distinctive sound. At high resonance settings the filter has quite an aggressive sound, but perhaps not quite as aggressive as that of the Bass.

While in unison modes, the Detune control detunes the notes from the unison pitch up to a semitone, making the sound feel thicker. Analog synthesizers in which a simple oscillator such as a saw wave or square wave is modified by a filter are referred to as "East Coast style" because of their origin from well-known American manufacturers.Built with the iconic miniKORG700S circuitry, the Keys' three-voice design lets you craft three-note chords which can be stacked or placed in unison for even bigger presence. There's some filtering going on, and you never can bring it up in the mix quite enough, while in Unison mode.

Unlike the Volca Bass, variation of many of the parameters on the Volca Keys can be recorded with a sequence – dubbed ‘Motion sequencing’ – including changes to the filter cutoff, detune, portamento, EG control of the oscillators, LFO rate and intensity controls and the EG controls. The Volca Keys has analogue circuitry but all control signals are digital, allowing parameter control over MIDI. 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). The way that portamento and envelope control of oscillator pitch are implemented also add to the uniqueness of the Keys.This effect also reproduces the pitch change that occurs when you change the delay time on an analogue tape echo unit. In Poly and Unison modes, the maximum Detune setting puts the pitch of VCO2 a semitone lower and VCO3 a semitone higher, in Unison mode this will result in the sound of two adjacent minor seconds.

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. Nevertheless, the ring modulation modes expand the sonic variety in a direction that is unique to the Volca Keys. With so much band for so little buck, the Keys should be a serious contender looking for an authentic analog synth experience in a modern package.

Andertons Music Company is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm registration number 716155. The easy to use onboard Loop and Motion Sequencers pin down not only what you're playing in real time, but also your knob edits for even more precise control over texture. You can skip the latter half to produce a short loop, use an alternate time signature to create polyrhythms, and evolve sequence patterns in real time to create a dynamic performance. Playing back a recorded sequence in a different form can add dramatic changes to your song or performance. There's even a SyncKontrol iOS app to punch in parameters like tap tempo and swing so you can turn all your attention to making music.