KORG volca kick bass Percussion Synthesizer

The volca kick is an analog kick generator based on the powerful resonant sound of the original MS-20 filter. The MS-20 filter lets you create a wide range of kick sounds only possible through analog circuitry, ranging from solid kick drums to crisp kick basses. The 16-step sequencer, a distinctive feature of the volca, now has a new Touch FX feature that lets you control an effect instantly, giving you even more live performance potential. Experience the stunning power of an analog kick that cannot be obtained from a plug-in or a sample.

MS-20 Filter Oscillation
The volca kick generates its kick sounds using a completely analog circuit. To create those sounds, it uses the sound of an oscillating filter from the original MS-20. The powerful filter of the MS-20 self-oscillates when resonance is increased to the maximum, which is what has always leant the MS-20 its ability to produce powerful kick sounds with complex overtones.

Simple and effective parameters are provided, allowing you to freely design a wide range of kick sounds to your taste. Start the sound design process by using MS-20 RESONATOR (PITCH/BEND/SPEED) to control the sense of pitch that generates the “body resonance” of the kick sound. Then use PULSE TYPE/LEVEL to adjust the clip components to control the sense of attack, and AMP ATTACK/DECAY to intuitively control the decay of the sound. From tight kicks to fat, slow-decaying kicks and pitched kick bass, it’s possible to create kick sounds that are appropriate for every type of dance music.

Control the Sound Using DRIVE and TONE
In addition to the analog kick generator circuit based on the MS-20 filter, there’s an analog drive that includes multiple stages of distortion. The distortion level and type can be varied by a single knob, increasing the variety and power of the kick sounds. You can use the tone control to transform the character of the sound by adjusting the high-frequency range.

Powerful Kick Bass
The volca kick is not just a kick drum machine. You can use the 16-key touch-panel keyboard to perform dynamic kick bass, and take advantage of the volca kick’s powerful analog circuitry to generate the sub bass sound that’s indispensable to dance music styles such as grime or trap. Since the volca kick covers a wide pitch range from low- to mid-frequencies, your sequences can include a variety of sounds including low tom, high tom and sound effects.

16-Step Sequencer
The volca kick features a 16-step sequencer that gives you plenty of improvisatory freedom. You can use it to quickly lay out a kick drum pattern, and it also supports realtime recording, which is an ideal way to perform kick bass phrases. And the pattern chain function lets you connect multiple sequence patterns for successive playback, making it possible to construct large-scale developments of 32, 64 or even 256 steps by joining up to 16 sequences.

The volca kick’s motion sequence function records your knob movements, letting you add time-varying change to the sound. This is great way to polish your loops, and also lets you generate highly original live performances. Up to 16 sequence patterns and sounds can be stored in internal memory.

TOUCH FX
The Touch FX function further strengthens the performance potential of the volca kick. You can instantly trigger a sequence effect simply by touching a step key, transforming your realtime performance in kaleidoscopic ways. Sequence effects include the roll function that plays a sound repeatedly, the octave function that raises the pitch by one or two octaves, and the sustain function that immediately maximizes the amp decay. These are great ways to create punchy and powerful breaks.

Enjoy Anywhere
With its compact size, battery operation, and built-in speaker, it’s easy to take the volca kick anywhere and perform any time.