very interesting, just about where my recent pastime has taken me. became quite intrigued by the buchla easel and since i'm a poor boy and could never afford one, recently acquired the arturia software emulation. i was doubtful about the volca modular, especially its sound quality, but finally found one second-hand and decided to take the dive. certainly a fascinating beast and invaluable in exploring the buchla aesthetic and a decent lo-fi easel. the sweet spot on the volca modular seems kind of narrow but from what i've seen and heard - it's there! still plenty to explore for me and since i don't have a ton of money to throw at my sound limitations, a great way to discover additive synthesis. good presentation, i would have liked to see all the modular patches as you were comparing the 2. thanks for the effort!
Great video but it is still very hard to follow along if you are not actually pointing out each specific input or output. Thank you for explaining the LFO section. It doesn't say LFO!!! However I am having a most difficult time trying to understand what you are doing at 17:50 .... I got the connection from the "pitch" of the clock into the one of the Split output ... but what is the next connection? "The Carrier Output" .... what is that? Now I have to go back over the entire video to understand what you mean by Carrier Output because nothing on the Volca Modular says that. Again, thank you for putting this video together it has allowed me to have a few major breakthrus on this mysterious box. Why Korg leaves everything as a mystery will be a mystery ... but at least we now know why people sell their Modulars off out of frustration.
Yes I see now, thanks. :) Been spending all morning learning this thing! The output with the triangle wave is actually the modulator ... the carrier is other output (to the right).
A point of confusion: You said (at around the 5:35 mark) that you were demonstrating taking a signal directly from the sequencer pitch, we hear a tone but we can't see where that's coming from. The image at that point shows the clock module, but none of the points there send out an audio signal (at least not on my Volca Modular) - the rightmost socket puts out a control voltage (with voltage=frequency), the next four output gate signals and the leftmost is an input for varying the sequencer clock. So where was your sound coming from?
I think he is taking the Pitch CV output, as you say, and running it into the LPG1 CONTROL input, effectively bypassing the FG1 (as envelope). So, despite what Jeff says about producing a square wave, I think the sound is different because he is gating the LPG instead of using the envelope, thus changing the harmonics produced. (He did say he was running the Pitch out 'directly to the LPG...' or something like that. Did not specify WHERE on the LPG.)
All the knobheads that use the word workflow every other sentence, and bought one of these, will have sold it already. Too much like hard work for em. Easily the Best volca .
I've skipped a lot because it's very boring (sorry!). It seems that you've didn't told about the biggest moment: Volca Modular's wave folder isn't very "high stage". It has just three folds and it's pretty low for nowdays. But generally it's a no-brainer to buy. And I've bought a used one for my experiments and music tracks :)
Very clear, concise and well put together presentation and tutorial. Thank you very much!
very interesting, just about where my recent pastime has taken me. became quite intrigued by the buchla easel and since i'm a poor boy and could never afford one, recently acquired the arturia software emulation. i was doubtful about the volca modular, especially its sound quality, but finally found one second-hand and decided to take the dive. certainly a fascinating beast and invaluable in exploring the buchla aesthetic and a decent lo-fi easel. the sweet spot on the volca modular seems kind of narrow but from what i've seen and heard - it's there! still plenty to explore for me and since i don't have a ton of money to throw at my sound limitations, a great way to discover additive synthesis. good presentation, i would have liked to see all the modular patches as you were comparing the 2. thanks for the effort!
I think most people could not afford a Buchla! Never seen one for sale, either!
@@lundsweden You can buy DIY kits of them
Very informative, Thank you Jeff! Exactly what I was looking for.
A very good tutorial, thanks for this 👍
Thank you for the overview it was very helpful and material on the Buchla was really enjoyable
Thanks for this, really useful
Think I'll get a second Volca Modular. Had a play with the Buchla Music Easel at Synthfest last year, but can't justify the four thousand quid :)
I did recently, funnily enough I was planning on recording with them today, but putting them through a bunch of pedals and a looper.
Thanks! Sounds crazy with iOS Eventide/Crystals /UltraTap fe.
Good stuff Jeff..!
Great video but it is still very hard to follow along if you are not actually pointing out each specific input or output. Thank you for explaining the LFO section. It doesn't say LFO!!! However I am having a most difficult time trying to understand what you are doing at 17:50 .... I got the connection from the "pitch" of the clock into the one of the Split output ... but what is the next connection? "The Carrier Output" .... what is that? Now I have to go back over the entire video to understand what you mean by Carrier Output because nothing on the Volca Modular says that. Again, thank you for putting this video together it has allowed me to have a few major breakthrus on this mysterious box. Why Korg leaves everything as a mystery will be a mystery ... but at least we now know why people sell their Modulars off out of frustration.
The carrier output is on one of the outputs of the "source" module. I think the one marked with a triangle wave.
Yes I see now, thanks. :) Been spending all morning learning this thing! The output with the triangle wave is actually the modulator ... the carrier is other output (to the right).
great explanation though why wouldn’t you also show what you do while talking
Next time I'll use OBS and embed a cam :)
is there a way to prolong volca’s 16 step sequencer? with sq-1 sequencer or something more powerful, any recommendations?
@@J0Goproxy you can pattern chain or use an external sequencer that sends CV/Gate.
A point of confusion: You said (at around the 5:35 mark) that you were demonstrating taking a signal directly from the sequencer pitch, we hear a tone but we can't see where that's coming from. The image at that point shows the clock module, but none of the points there send out an audio signal (at least not on my Volca Modular) - the rightmost socket puts out a control voltage (with voltage=frequency), the next four output gate signals and the leftmost is an input for varying the sequencer clock. So where was your sound coming from?
I think he is taking the Pitch CV output, as you say, and running it into the LPG1 CONTROL input, effectively bypassing the FG1 (as envelope). So, despite what Jeff says about producing a square wave, I think the sound is different because he is gating the LPG instead of using the envelope, thus changing the harmonics produced. (He did say he was running the Pitch out 'directly to the LPG...' or something like that. Did not specify WHERE on the LPG.)
This thing is just very amusical unless you're a sound engineer.
It's certainly a challenging sound. Hooking it up to a looper and some FX produced something more listenable, but still in a weird experimental way.
i want to watch this but i keep falling asleep every time i try
All the knobheads that use the word workflow every other sentence, and bought one of these, will have sold it already. Too much like hard work for em. Easily the Best volca .
Not very musical.
I've skipped a lot because it's very boring (sorry!). It seems that you've didn't told about the biggest moment: Volca Modular's wave folder isn't very "high stage". It has just three folds and it's pretty low for nowdays. But generally it's a no-brainer to buy. And I've bought a used one for my experiments and music tracks :)