The Volca Beats was released in April 2013 at Musikmesse Frankfurt alongside the Volca Keys and Volca Bass.[1] It received mixed reviews. MusicRadar stated that "the balance between functionality, ease of use and playability is great".[2] However, some criticism was made of its snare circuit.[3]
The Roland TR-808, an inspiration for the Volca Beats
The Volca Beats has a black faceplate, with gold accents and keys; the enclosure is made of black plastic. Its design is partially inspired by the Roland TR-808 and TR-606.[2] It features a 16-step sequencer with motion sequencing for sequencing parameter changes. The sequencer also has "active step" and "step jump" functions for irregular time signatures and build-ups.[2] Connection points include 9V DC power, MIDI in, sync in/out and a single stereo output.[4] The Volca Beats can also be powered by batteries and has a built-in speaker.[2]
The Volca Beats' sound engine consists of two sections, the analogue drum section and the PCM sample section, along with a stutter effect. Stutter is a retrigger effect, with controls over time and depth. It behaves almost like a delay, retriggering either all voices or a single part.[4][5] Each section is split up into tracks, of which there are ten in total. Each track has a different sound, e.g. hi-hats, kick.[2]
The analogue section is made up of six tracks that Korg say are "common analogue vintage circuits":[2][6]
Kick – a circuit similar to the TR-808's kick drum, it has control over click (addition of a transient), pitch and decay.[3]
Snare – has control over include pitch, decay and "snappy", which controls the amount of white noise in the snare. Lower levels can stand in for a rimshot.[4]
Toms – both high and low toms. They have individual tuning but share a decay envelope.[4]
Hats – both closed and open hats on the Volca Beats. Each has an individual decay but shares a "grain" control, which controls pitch.[3]
PCM sample tracks have control over individual volume and playback speed. There are four different tracks: clave, agogo, clap and cymbal.[5]
