The Volca Bass is an analogue bass synthesizer manufactured by the Japanese music technology company Korg. It was released in April 2013 alongside the Volca Keys and Volca Beats.
| Volca Bass | |
|---|---|
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| Manufacturer | Korg |
| Technical specifications | |
| Polyphony | monophonic |
| Oscillator | 3 voltage-controlled oscillators |
| LFO | single LFO (triangle and square wave) |
| Synthesis type | analog subtractive |
| Filter | voltage-controlled filter |
| Input/output | |
| Keyboard | one octave touchplate |
| External control | MIDI and sync |
Release
editThe Volca Bass was released in April 2013 at Musikmesse Frankfurt alongside the Volca Keys and Volca Beats.[1] The Volca Bass was received well by critics, with MusicTech calling it "the best sounding of the three [original Volcas]".[2]
Design
edit
The design of the Volca bass has drawn comparisons not only to Korg's Electribe series[3] but also to Roland's TB-303 bass synthesiser.[4][5][6][7] As with other Volcas, The Volca Bass has MIDI connectivity, a 16-step sequencer and can run off batteries.[7] The Volca Bass follows the standard architecture of a subtractive synthesiser: it produces sound using three voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO),[8] a resonant low-pass voltage-controlled filter (VCF)[3] and a voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA). The VCOs can be individually switched between sawtooth or square waveforms.[6] Oscillators can be detuned up to an octave away from a given pitch and have a range of over six octaves.[3][6] The Volca Bass' 12 db/octave diode ring filter is a recreation of the filter of the MiniKorg 700s.[2][4][9][5] Modulation is supplied by an ADR envelope generator (EG) with switchable sustain[3] and a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) with square and triangle waveforms capable of reaching audio-rate modulation.[4][2][10] Using the sequencer, the Bass' VCOs can be sequenced paraphonically, sharing the same filter but playing in harmony.[6][9]
References
edit- ^ Rogerson, Ben (2013-04-11). "Musikmesse 2013: Korg Volca analogue grooveboxes unveiled". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
- ^ a b c "Korg Volcas Review – The Power Of Three". MusicTech. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ a b c d "Korg Volca Bass | Vintage Synth Explorer". www.vintagesynth.com. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ a b c "Sonic LAB: Korg Volca Bass Review". Sonicstate. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ a b Goldman, Dan 'JD73' (2013-10-23). "Korg Volca Bass review". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d Scarth, Greg (2013-09-25). "Korg Volca Beats, Bass & Keys". Attack Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ a b "Korg announces Volca analog synth series, we go eyes-on". Engadget. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ Childs IV, G. W. "Review: Volca Bass". ask.audio. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ a b "Korg Volca Beats, Bass & Keys". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ "Musikmesse 2013: Korg Volca". MusicTech. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
External links
edit- https://www.korg-volca.com/en/ - Korg Volca official website
- https://www.korg.com/uk/products/dj/volca_beats/ - Official product page