What a gem!.. So glad I found this post, It's going into my library forever. Much appreciated. I wish more, were like you.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching, glad you liked the video.

This is great ! Thank you so much !

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

You're very welcome, glad you liked the video.

You're 100% right. The Volca Keys is a little powerhouse. I've been writing a bunch of small cues recently and the sounds l was able to pull out of it really surprised me. Definitely a little sleeper. Great video, digging your channel.

@craigwilliamsmusic

5 ай бұрын

I totally agree, a lot of people write off the synth because of it's size but I think it's really fast to get solid patches going.

Love the Sound of the Keys❤

@craigwilliamsmusic

6 ай бұрын

Same, it's really simple but it gets the job done.

Man that tape sound trick - incredible. Reminds me of Tboacco's Sweatbox Dynasty album's sound - the track Fantasy Trash Wave in particular. Nicely done!

@craigwilliamsmusic

Ай бұрын

Thank you, I'll have to check out the track.

I have had my Volca Keys for 10 years now and I still use it almost daily. Fantastic little groovebox.

@craigwilliamsmusic

9 ай бұрын

Nice!! It's one of my most used in my studio thats for sure.

@aorakis5795

8 ай бұрын

hi there, i was wondering, how long can be a melody with this little device ? I'm at 2 clics buynig a second hand volca, it looks nice and small. Might be cool to pair it with my polyend tracker... But I'm a complete newbie so... i'm not sure yet :D

@RoaringTitties

7 ай бұрын

​@@aorakis5795to be honest the keys is the best entry level synth for absolute beginners and it's a bonus that it's analog. You'll learn a lot about sound design that translates well with other gear.

Very helpful !! !! 👍👍Thank you !! !!

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

Nice one! I got one of these for Xmas awhile back but didn’t do much with it until recently. Like your house beat ✌️

@craigwilliamsmusic

3 ай бұрын

Awesome, I really like that it's pretty simple but you can get great sounds from it. Thanks for watching!

Underrated indeed. I know it's basic for this day and age, but if you like the raw sound of it it's well worth the money.

@craigwilliamsmusic

4 ай бұрын

100% agree with you. Sometimes you just want stuff to work without messing about to much.

I have the volca keys in my live rig since 2016. That's one of the few synth that never changed. I drive it with an external sequencer and some very useful midi CC's

@craigwilliamsmusic

4 ай бұрын

Oh nice! I'll be connecting it with the new sequencer I just purchased to see what I can get out of it.

@LouisSerieusement

4 ай бұрын

@@craigwilliamsmusicI can even do FX sound (like a plane sound over your head) using polyring mode, pitchbend and cutoff automation. all synth parameters have a midi CC except resonance

@craigwilliamsmusic

4 ай бұрын

Oh nice! I'm hyped to get it all conected.

What a great video, you helped me see my little machine with different eyes :)

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!!! I love the Volca Range and they have found there way onto a number of my releases.

its a great machine, in the right hands it shines :) Great things are simple.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

100% A huge sound from a small machine.

This is how gear video’s should be: hey kids here are three sounds you want to use on how to make them on a piece of gear you cam afford

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!! I do show expensive gear too but I love all instruments and I love to show how good cheaper instruments are.

Just got one of these beasts today. I hope it doesn't eat me while sleep. Nice video!

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

I'm a huge fan of these little boxes. I find I use the Keys, Sample and Beats the most. The others are cool but just don't find their way into my music to much.

@leftmono1016

Жыл бұрын

@@craigwilliamsmusic - I used to own most of the Volcas, the three you mentioned above were my favourites.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Nice!! I love using to get cool little song ideas. Also when i'm layering synths I'll use the Keys to thicken up a synth line.

@jevogroni4829

Жыл бұрын

how tf do you use the beats tho

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

I have used it in a few tracks. I normally just use one of two elements from it as additions to a drum groove I have 60% finished. I think it's a bit of a slog to use the one machine for everything with the noise and what not.

Wow, I'm kind of looking around at what the next addition to my dawless rig will be, and I think we have a winner.

@craigwilliamsmusic

5 ай бұрын

For the price and size it's pretty solid.

this is good. i like my volca bass, and it often can match what people are doing on the keys. not so with what you are doing. this vid shows some clear unique offerings of the keys.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

Great ideas. I have a volca keys as well as the mix, nubass and sample 2. This is the one I keep going back to for originality though and since I got the arturia keystep it is easier to use

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Trying to write patches on the Volca Keys keyboard is so so so hard. With a MIDI controller or your DAW it's a little weapon of a synth.

@keithbutler2222

Жыл бұрын

@@craigwilliamsmusic yeah I'm loving the keystep for adding sequences and arpeggios

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

I have the keystep controlling another synth. Might have to give it a run with the Volca Keys.

@keithbutler2222

Жыл бұрын

@@craigwilliamsmusic I'd like to see that if you do 🙂

Great video, great sounds. Do you know if the LFO is MIDI synchable on the Keys? I have 2 Volca Basses and would get the keys if this was the case. Thanks

@craigwilliamsmusic

10 ай бұрын

It looks like the LFO is quantised with the internal BPM but not sync’ed with external MIDI.

👍👍

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

thank you!

I like the fat sound of unison + detune, but I don't like the fiddly little knobs. What's a similar capability desktop synth module that's a step up from this in terms of usability? Presets would be a bonus, because I can never remember how I made a given sound.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

There isn't really anything in the same price point for an analog poly synth. You can get a used Korg Minilogue for $350 that ticks all the boxes.

@jevogroni4829

Жыл бұрын

is a keys redundant if i get one of those?

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

I think the Minilogue would be able to reproduce all of the sounds that the Keys can. I have only had limited time with the Minilogue so I can't be 100%.

@tommyk88888

Жыл бұрын

Bass Station 2 ?

@Hakucho64

Жыл бұрын

I'm starting to think the Behringer Crave (or Edge when available) would be a good next buy.

been trying to find one of these for ages and now have a beats, bass and monologue i've found in the process but still cant find a keys. if anyone can point me to where i can find one i'd appreciate it a lot!

@craigwilliamsmusic

10 ай бұрын

Reverb might be a good place to check to see if there are any being sold second hand.

I‘m searching for something to jam around Synthwave/Ambient Style (and learn about synthesis). Is this lil thing good for that?

@craigwilliamsmusic

6 ай бұрын

The Korg Volca will be able to make the styles of music you have mentioned. I think you might be better with saving a little more money and getting a second hand Korg Minilogue. This will give you a lot more flexibility with sound and it's also a great synth for learning about synthesis.

Great 3 sounds.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Quick question from a synth noob: Where does the kick sound in the first sound come from? Is it included in the midi that you're sending to the Korg as a short an low note or is that another track in the DAW mixed in?

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

The kick is just a kick sample I had playing under the synth stabs.

@hukl3945

Жыл бұрын

@@craigwilliamsmusic Ok makes sense - it just looked in the video as if you turned a knob on the Korg to "take out the kick and put it back in" but I guess you were doing that with the off-screen hand :)

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

For sure, just trying to show the sound in the context of a song (or with a kick) and on it's own.

Underrated abbreviated synth, yes maybe. I like the sound, but the limitation of sound design keeps me from buying it. I would rather save my money and buy a Minilogue...which I did. The Minilogue may be the highest value of any synth ever invented and mass produced in history. Fantastic: build quality, modulation options, oscillator options, sound quality, and a wide range of sound possibilities. It took me 5 years before I had the money for it, but I finally got it. Worth the wait.

@craigwilliamsmusic

6 ай бұрын

100% agree. The Volca keys does a few things really well, outside of that you're out of luck. I suggested to another persons comment that they should save up and get a Minilogue if they want to learn about synthesis.

Creo que ví esa película 😊

@tade64ry

7 ай бұрын

como se llama la peli?

Anywhere to see that film?

@craigwilliamsmusic

4 ай бұрын

Here is the trailer. With a nice little modular line that I wrote at the end of the video. kzread.info/dash/bejne/eWWWk6yde5PLptY.html&ab_channel=BoldSoulStudios

Can you play thru it w a guitar? Does it record?

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

You can't pass audio through it but you can record patterns to the sequencer.

@DuaneMARTIN-fj2oe

Жыл бұрын

@craigwilliamsmusic patterns as in triads, 5ths etc? It puts out some cool sounds.

@jevogroni4829

Жыл бұрын

it's a shame these volcas dont have an input like the ol monotrons. theyd be a lot cooler

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

I love the audio in on my Monotorn's and MS20

why use a hardware synth at this point when you can just use software synths of like Ableton Live and a midi controller?

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Because it's fun ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I like using whatever gets the job done. At the end of the day listeners don't care if you make a track with all software or all hardware they just want a good song.

@TCNØCOSM

3 ай бұрын

Why even start like that, it’s more of the feeling to it and creativity making it hand on the hardware or a analog eurorack

NICE ❤

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!!

the sequence has active steps to forgive some....

It's hardly underrated, it was a top seller for a long time and there are countless articles and videos about it.

@craigwilliamsmusic

Жыл бұрын

I hear what you're saying. Maybe I should have changed the title to "not just a toy"

@ramseydoon8277

8 ай бұрын

Maybe "overshadowed"? I don't think you're incorrect by calling it underrated, especially at this point in its lifespan.

Has anyone told you that you could be the long-lost twin brother of actor Matthew Perry rip 🙏

@craigwilliamsmusic

2 ай бұрын

Hahahahahha no, that is a first for me.

Don't hear anything that you could do with better results on any other synth, just compare to the roland s-1 that you can find for the same price.

@craigwilliamsmusic

27 күн бұрын

I hear that. I haven't played on the S-1 so I can't compare but I do hear good things about it.

The main problem in all volca range is velocitylessness, they are simple are can’t not use velocity information. Suck a shame

@RyanPeter

20 күн бұрын

On midi controller I’m getting velocity fine

@craigwilliamsmusic

12 күн бұрын

same, I don't use the built in keyboard

It's not underrated, it's rated for what it is, a toy with kid sized knobs. I returned it after playing 20 mins with it Add 100 Eur and get a used Monologue. That's a synth.

@craigwilliamsmusic

6 ай бұрын

Thats the great thing, what might not work or appeal to you will work for others. I really like the sound of it.

@user-hx9gu5nh9p

6 ай бұрын

​@@craigwilliamsmusic Who am I to judge your taste in hardware that has about 20 bucks of manufacturing cost.

@craigwilliamsmusic

6 ай бұрын

At the end of the day people will listen to a piece of music because they like the sound of it not because it was made on expensive equipment.

@barrycreed9886

6 ай бұрын

A bad workman always blames his tools.

@user-hx9gu5nh9p

6 ай бұрын

@@barrycreed9886 Nah. There are shitty tools and good tools. Even Behringer is doing much better than Korg and Roland