Korg Volca Kick Analogue Kick Generator

The Korg Volca Kick is an analogue kick drum generator that is designed primarily for sound design purposes but can also be used for live performances and makes use of an analogue circuit which is based on the extraordinary, resonant sound of the popular MS-20 filter. This allows you to create a broad range of kick drum sounds possible only through analogue circuitry; from solid kick drums to crispy kick basses you can have them all. This kick drum generator is perfect for music producers and live performers looking for solid kick drums every time you use it.

Thanks to the fully analogue circuitry the Volca Kick creates powerful, present kick drum sounds and doesn’t use a typical sine wave to generate the drum sounds, it uses the sound of an oscillating filter from the MS-20. The Rev.1 filter on the MS-20 works by self-oscillating when the resonance is set to maximum, this works to produce the powerful kick sounds that you need with complex overtones.

There is a wealth of highly-effective yet straightforward parameters for you to utilise and shape your kick to your desired taste, merely start the sound design process by using the MS-20 controls for pitch, bend, and time to design the body of the kick drum, the use the pulse colour/level controls to alter the clip components while using the amp attack/decay knobs to adjust the level and envelope of your kick drums.

There is also an analogue drive control that features multiple stages of distortion, level, and type of distortion can be controlled via a single control to increase the variety and power behind your kick sounds. By adjusting the tone control, you can alter the high-frequency range which completely transforms your kicks. Using the 16-key touch panel, you can perform dynamic kick basses which generate a powerful sub-bass sound which is perfect for urban music styles such as hip-hop and grime. Because the Volca Kick covers a broad pitch range you can also create a variety of other drum sounds like tom drums and sound effects.

An integrated 16-step sequencer offers improvisatory freedom and allows you to rapidly layout a kick drum pattern with real-time recording capabilities, perfect for on-the-fly kick bass phrases. A pattern chain function lets you connect multiple sequence patterns together for successive playback making it possible to create large-scale developments of 32, 64, 128, or even 256 steps by joining up to 16 sequences.

Of course, this machine comes with the popular motion sequence function that works to record your knob movements allowing you to automate your loops and generate highly-original live performances. These loops and track ideas can then be saved to the internal memory that has enough space to save up to 16 sequence patterns.

The active step function allows you to skip a step during the sequence during playback and lets you make effects similar to short loops or completely irregular rhythms so you can perform dynamic movements using the sequencer itself as a performance tool. A brand new touch FX function lets you trigger a sequence effect by merely touching a step key which transforms your performance while a roll function works by repeatedly playing a sound and an octave function lets you raise the pitch by one or two octaves. A sustain function allows you to immediately maximise the amp decay, perfect for creating punchy breaks.

The accent function gives you the ability to program attenuations per step for glitchy and groovy sequences depending on how the accent knob has been set. A slide function works as a portamento and produces a smooth, distinctive kick bass that slides between different notes while a bend reverse function allows you to play a pitch bend in reverse which completely reverses the original kick pitch, so the pitch ranges from low to high resulting in a completely unique sound.