KORG volca drum Digital Percussion Synthesizer Owner’s Manual

: June 9, 2024
: KORG

Table of Contents

Precautions
Introduction
Sound Controls
Sequencer and functions
Installing the batteries
Battery level indicator
Global Parameters
Specifications
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volca drum Digital Percussion Synthesizer
Owner’s Manual

Precautions

Location
Using the unit in the following locations can result in a malfunction.

In direct sunlight
Locations of extreme temperature or humidity
Excessively dusty or dirty locations
Locations of excessive vibration
Close to magnetic fields

Power supply
Please connect the designated AC adapter to an AC outlet of the correct voltage. Do not connect it to an AC outlet of voltage other than that for which your unit is intended.
Interference with other electrical devices
Radios and televisions placed nearby may experience reception interference.
Operate this unit at a suitable distance from radios and televisions.
Handling
To avoid breakage, do not apply excessive force to the switches or controls.
Care
If the exterior becomes dirty, wipe it with a clean, dry cloth. Do not use liquid cleaners such as benzene or thinner, or cleaning compounds or flammable polishes.
Keep this manual
After reading this manual, please keep it for later reference.
Keeping foreign matter out of your equipment
Never set any container with liquid in it near this equipment. If liquid gets into the equipment, it could cause a breakdown, fire, or electrical shock. Be careful not to let metal objects get into the equipment. If something does slip into the equipment, unplug the AC adapter from the wall outlet. Then contact your nearest Korg dealer or the store where the equipment was purchased.
SUPPLIER’S DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY (for USA)
Responsible Party : KORG USA INC.
Address : 316 SOUTH SERVICE ROAD, MELVILLE, NY
Telephone : 1-631-390-6500
Equipment Type : DIGITAL PERCUSSION SYNTHESIZER
Model : volca drum
This device complies with Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
THE FCC REGULATION WARNING (for USA)
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

If items such as cables are included with this equipment, you must use those included items.
Unauthorized changes or modification to this system can void the user’s authority to operate this equipment.
Notice regarding disposal (EU only)
** If this symbol is shown on the product, manual, battery, or package, you must dispose of it in the correct manner to avoid harm to human health or damage to the environment. Contact your local administrative body for details on the correct disposal method. If the battery contains heavy metals in excess of the regulated amount, a chemical symbol is displayed below the symbol on the battery or battery package.
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CONSUMERS
This product has been manufactured according to strict specifications and voltage requirements that are applicable in the country in which it is intended that this product should be used. If you have purchased this product via the internet, through mail order, and/or via a telephone sale, you must verify that this product is intended to be used in the country in which you reside.
WARNING:** Use of this product in any country other than that for which it is intended could be dangerous and could invalidate the manufacturer’s or distributor’s warranty. Please also retain your receipt as proof of purchase otherwise your product may be disqualified from the manufacturer’s or distributor’s warranty.

All product names and company names are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing the Korg volca drum digital percussion synthesizer. The volca drum is a rhythm sequencer built around a digital synthesis engine focused on percussive sounds. Six drum parts can be tweaked at will to create original drum kits. From pure tone impulses to gritty distorted crunches, a wide array of sounds can be created, and further enhanced with a waveguide- based resonator effect to create other-worldly rhythms.

Sound Controls

These knobs and buttons control the sound of the currently selected drum part and waveguide resonator effect. As illustrated below, each part has two identical layers and the
waveguide resonator is shared for all parts. KORG volca drum Digital
Percussion Synthesizer - Sound Controls LAYER 1/2 button
Toggle the selected layer. The button will light up when both layers are selected at once.
LEVEL [VALUE] knob
Set the gain level of the selected layer. When EDIT/STEP is lit, this knob sets the value of the part parameter selected via the SELECT [PARAM] knob.
PITCH knob
Set the pitch for the selected layer.
MOD AMOUNT knob
Set the amount of pitch modulation for the selected layer.
MOD RATE knob
Set the pitch modulation rate for the selected layer.
EG ATTACK knob
Set the attack time of the amplitude envelope generator for the selected layer.
EG RELEASE knob
Set the release time of the amplitude envelope generator for the selected layer.
SELECT [PARAM] knob
Cycle through permutations of sound sources, pitch modulators, and amplitude envelopes for the selected layer. Sound sources (SRC): sine wave , sawtooth wave , high pass filtered noise , low pass filtered noise and band pass filtered noise . Pitch modulators (MOD): rise-fall , oscillate , and random . Amplitude envelope generators (EG): linear attack-release , exponential attack-release , multi-peak attack-release . When EDIT/STEP is lit, this encoder functions as the PARAM knob, cycling through the following additional part parameters:
BIT: bit reduction amount
FLD: wave folder amount
DRV: overdrive gain
PAN: left-right pan
GAN: pre-mix gain adjustment
WAVEGUIDE
SEND knob
Set the waveguide resonator send amount for the selected part.
DECAY knob
Set the decay time of the waveguide resonator.
BODY knob
Set the timbral character of the waveguide resonator.
TUNE knob
Set the pitch tuning of the waveguide resonator. For low values, the tuning goes below audible frequencies and effectively turns the waveguide resonator into a delay-like effect.
DISPLAY KORG volca drum Digital Percussion Synthesizer -
DISPLAY. (POWER) button
Press this button to turn the volca drum on. To turn the volca drum off, hold this button for approximately one second.
Auto power-off
The auto power-off function will automatically turn the volca drum off after roughly four hours have passed with no sound being produced. The auto power- off function can be disabled using the global parameters. (See Global parameters.)
DC 9V Jack
Connect the plug end of the optional AC adapter to this jack.
Only use the specified AC adapter. Using any AC adapter other than the specified model could damage the volca drum.
MIDI IN connector
By connecting a MIDI cable to this input, the volca drum can be played and controlled by the MIDI output of an external device.
TIP: The MIDI implementation chart can be downloaded from the Korg website.
Setting the MIDI channel

While holding down the REC button, turn the volca drum on.
Step buttons 1 to 16 correspond to the MIDI channels 1 to 16. Press the button that corresponds to the desired channel, and the LED below the step button will light up.

TIP: Tapping the step for the selected channel (LED lit up) cancels the selection and reverts to part 1–6 assigned to channels 1–6. (factory default)
SYNC (IN, OUT) jacks
These jacks allow you to synchronize your volca drum to another Korg volca, or other compatible equipment—including an analog sequencer or a DAW. The polarity of the SYNC jacks can be set using the global parameters.

SYNC OUT: A 5 V pulse of 15 ms is sent at the beginning of each step.
SYNC IN: If this jack is connected, the internal step-clock will be ignored, and the volca drum sequencer will advance according to the pulses received here.

(Headphone) jack
Connecting your headphones to this 3.5mm stereo mini jack will mute the volca drum’s internal speaker and allow you to create music in private.
VOLUME knob
Set the output level of the volca drum. KORG volca drum Digital Percussion
Synthesizer - Sound Controls 1

Sequencer and functions

TEMPO knob
Set the speed of the sequencer.
SWING knob
This knob moves even-numbered steps a maximum of 75% backward. Hold down the FUNC button while turning this knob to move the steps in the opposite direction.
Step buttons 1 to 16
By default, step buttons 1 to 6 are used to trigger and select parts. These buttons also represent the 16 steps of the internal sequencer, and provide access to various functions.
EDIT/STEP button
Enter step edit mode and enable access to the SLICE and ACCENT buttons. Press a step button (1—16) to toggle that step on/off for the selected part. Also, while holding a step button, the LEVEL [VALUE] knob sets the probability for that step to be played. Press this button again to exit.
SLICE button: Enter slice edit mode. Press step buttons (1—16) to toggle slicing of that step on/off for the selected part. Also, while holding a step button, the LEVEL [VALUE] knob sets the number of slices for that step. Press this button again to exit.
ACCENT button: Enter accent edit mode. Press step buttons (1—16) to toggle accents on/off for the selected part. Also, while holding a step button, the LEVEL [VALUE] knob sets the amount of accent for that step. Press this button again to exit.
ACT. STEP button
Enter active step edit mode. Press step buttons (1—16) to set steps as active/inactive for the selected part. Inactive steps will be skipped during playback. Press this button again to exit.
TIP: Use different active step settings on each part to create phasing polyrhythms.
STEP JUMP button
Enter step jump mode. Pressing a step button (1—16) will jump to that step. Press again to exit.
MUTE button
While holding this button, press a step button (1—6) to mute/unmute the corresponding part.
(PLAY) button
Start/stop sequencer playback. This button will light up during playback.
(REC) button
Record your performance on step buttons 1—6, and on the transparent sound control knobs if motion sequencing is enabled. Pressing this button while playback is stopped will enter record-ready mode; recording will start when the PLAY button, or a step button (1—6) is pressed. Pressing this button during playback will start recording from the point at which you pressed the button.
TIP: During playback, knobs with recorded motion will light up.
TIP: When motion sequencing is enabled, record will be automatically deactivated one cycle after the first knob motion is recorded.
FUNC (FUNCTION) button
When held down, this button enables access to various volca drum functions. See below for possible combinations. To exit any of these modes, press the FUNC button one more time.
FUNC + LOAD KIT: Enter load kit mode. Press a step button (1—16) to load the corresponding kit. Locations 1 to 10 come preloaded with preset kits.
TIP: A kit consists of the sound controls for each part, and the waveguide resonator.
FUNC + SAVE KIT: Enter save kit mode. Press a step button (1—16) to save the current kit to the corresponding memory location.
FUNC + LOAD PRG.: Enter load program mode. Press a step button (1—16) to load the corresponding program, and its associated kit. Locations 1—10 come preloaded with preset programs. Also, while holding a step button, pressing a second step button will load the corresponding sequence of programs in chain- mode; each program will be played consequently.
TIP: A program consists of the sequencer pattern for each part, motion sequencing data, and a kit number.
FUNC + SAVE PRG.: Enter save program mode. Press a step button (1—16) to save the current program to the corresponding memory location.
TIP: The value of the SWING, TEMPO and VOLUME knobs will not be saved.
FUNC + PARTS (1—6): Select one of the six drum parts without triggering it.
FUNC + COPY (7): Enter part copy mode. Press a step button (1—6), to copy the current part’s sound controls, sequencer pattern and motion data to the corresponding part.
FUNC + CHOKE (8): Enter choke select mode. Press step buttons (1—6) to enable/disable choke for the corresponding part. Only one of the parts with choke enabled will play at any given time, prioritizing the lowest part number.
FUNC + RANDOMIZE LAYER (9): Randomize the sound controls for the selected layer(s).
FUNC + RANDOMIZE PATTERN (10): Randomize the steps, slices, accents and active steps for the selected part.
FUNC + MODEL (11): Toggle between the two waveguide resonator models.
FUNC + MOTION ON/OFF (12): Enable/disable knob motion sequencing. (See also REC button)
FUNC + MOTION CLR PART (13): Clear knob motion sequencing data for the selected part.
FUNC + MOTION CLR ALL (14): Clear all knob motion sequencing data.
FUNC + CLEAR PART (15): Clear the current part’s steps, slices, accents, motion and resets active steps to the default value.
FUNC + CLEAR ALL (16): Clear steps, slices, accents, motion and resets active steps to the default value. Returning all data to the factory defaults

While holding down the FUNC and PLAY buttons, turn on the volca drum.
“Fct rESt” will appear on the display, and the REC and PLAY buttons will blink.
Press the REC button to return to the factory defaults and start volca drum.
Press the PLAY button to cancel the reset operation and simply start volca drum.

Installing the batteries

On the back panel, locate the battery compartment and slide off the cover. Insert the batteries—being sure to observe the correct polarity—and then replace the battery cover.
Turn the volca drum off before replacing the batteries.
Remove depleted batteries at once. Depleted batteries left in the battery compartment may leak over time, and may cause malfunctions. Also, remove the batteries if you will not be using the volca drum for an extended period of time.
Do not mix partially used batteries with new ones, and do not mix batteries of differing types.

Battery level indicator

When the volca drum is turned on, the LEDs below the step buttons indicate the remaining amount of battery power. If all LEDs are lit up, the batteries are completely full. Fewer lit LEDs mean that the battery level is correspondingly lower.
When using the AC adapter, the remaining battery level will not be indicated correctly.
TIP: Either alkaline or nickel-metal hydride batteries can be used.
In order for the remaining battery level to be detected and indicated correctly, the type of batteries being used must be specified in the global parameters of the volca drum.
TIP: If the batteries are running low during usage of the volca drum, the low battery warning “bt.Lo” will appear in the display. If the batteries run down completely, the volca drum automatically turns off.

Global Parameters

While holding down FUNC button, turn on the volca drum.
Use the step buttons 1—8 to set your preferences for any or all of the global parameters. (Refer to the table.)
When you have finished, press the (REC) button. Your settings will be saved, and the volca drum will restart. To cancel without making changes, press the (PLAY) button.

Button	LED lit	LED unlit
Parameter	Status	Display indication

*: Factory default setting

Specifications

Keyboard: Multi-touch controller
Sound generators: 6 digital parts (each with 2 osc. with pitch mod. and amp. e.g.), and a waveguide-based resonator effect.
Connectors: (Headphone) jack (ø3.5mm stereo mini-phone jack), SYNC IN jack (ø3.5mm monaural mini-phone jack, 20V maximum input level), SYNC OUT jack (ø3.5mm monaural mini-phone jack, 5V output level), MIDI IN connector
Power supply: AA/LR6 alkaline battery ×6 or AA nickel-metal hydride battery ×6, DC 9V AC adapter ( )
Battery life: Approximately 8 hours (when using alkaline batteries)
Current consumption: 344 mA
Dimensions (W×D×H): 193 × 115 × 39 mm / 7.60” × 4.53” × 1.54”
Weight: 370g/13.05oz. (excluding batteries)
Included items: Six AA alkaline batteries, Sync Cable, Owner’s Manual
Accessories (sold separately): AC adapter (DC 9V )
Specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice for improvement.