Introduction - Korg Volca Modular Manuel D'utilisation

Owner's Manual
En

Introduction

Thank you for purchasing the Korg volca modular MICRO MODULAR SYNTHESIZER.
This unit is an extremely compact analog modular synthesizer inspired by the "west coast" synthesis approach, paired with an elaborate sequencer that
provides rich tuning features, suitable for both tonal and atonal musical styles.
The modules provided include an complex sound source, two distinct function generators, two low pass gates, a random signal generator with sample and
hold capability, some mixing and scaling utilities, and a spatial effect.
1
2
1
(Power) button
Press this button to turn the volca modular on. To turn the
volca modular off, hold this button for approximately one second.
Auto power-off
The power-off function will automatically turn the volca modular 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 "Specifying global parameter settings".)
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 modular.
CLOCK
The CLOCK knob controls the speed of the onboard sequencer.
2
Modular
These are individual sound and control modules that can be
combined using pin cables. See the Modules section for details
about each module.
Main Specifications
 Keyboard: Multi-touch controller  Sound generators: 2VCO(triangle), 2EG, 2LPG, digital 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), CV IN jack (ø3.5mm TRS mini-phone jack)
 Power supply: AA/LR6 alkaline battery x6 or AA nickel-metal hydride battery x6, DC 9V AC adapter (
(when using alkaline batteries)  Current consumption: 300mA
 Dimensions (WxDxH): 193 x 115 x 39 mm / 7.60" x 4.53" x 1.54"
 Weight: 360g/12.70oz. (excluding batteries)
 Included items: Six AA alkaline batteries, Sync Cable x1, Patching Pin Cable (1set), Owner´s Manual, Module Reference
 Accessories (separately sold): AC adapter (DC 9V )
* Specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice for improvement.
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4
3
CV–IN jack
This jack allows you to connect two external control voltage
sources to the volca modular. The left channel (tip) of the input is
clipped to +/-5V and scaled down to +/-3.3V, whereas the right
channel (ring) of the input expects a 1V/octave signal (0–+6V) and
converts it to the volca modular's internal pitch offset voltage control
signal. Connecting a 3.5mm mono patch cable to this jack will result in
the same signal being applied to the CV and Pitch Offset inputs.
IN–SYNC–OUT (SYNC IN, SYNC OUT) jacks
These jacks allow you to synchronize your volca modular to Korg volca,
monotribe or other 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 modular 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 modular's internal speaker and allow you to create music in private.
VOLUME
This is the master volume knob; use this to set the output level of
volca modular.
)  Battery life: Approximately 5 hours
4
Step buttons 1 to 16
These function as step buttons for the sequencer and the
keyboard.
 (PLAY) button
Press this button to play the sequence. Playback always starts from the
beginning of the sequence. The  (PLAY) button will be lit up during
playback. Pressing this button again stops playback.
Active step mode
While holding down the FUNC button, press the  button (ACT. STEP) to
enter active step mode (the  button will blink). Each step of the current
sequence can be turned on/off. Steps that are turned off are disabled and
will be skipped during playback and recording. The button for steps that
have been turned on will light up. When you have finished specifying the
settings, press the FUNC button to exit active step mode.
 (REC) button
The performances in step buttons 1 to 16 are recorded as a sequence.
Press the  (REC) button while stopped to enter record-ready mode (the
button will blink), and then press the  (PLAY) button to start recording
(the button will light up). Pressing the  (REC) button during playback
will begin recording from the point where the button was pressed.
Pressing the  (REC) button while recording will stop recording.
Step recording
While holding down the FUNC button, press the  button (STEP REC.) to
enter step recording mode. You can sequentially input the notes for each
step of the sequence.
The LEDs below the step buttons indicate the current step.
Press step button 1 to 16 to specify the note. Removing your finger from
the keyboard stops the input and continues to the next step. The
following operations can be performed, except while playing the
keyboard.
 (PLAY) button: Pressing this button plays back the sequence being
recorded, then continues to the next step.
 (REC) button: Pressing this button deletes the current step being
recorded, then continues to the next step.
FUNC button: Pressing this button exits step recording mode.
TIP To add a silence to your note sequence, press the  (REC) button
once, and then enter the note for the next step.
MEMORY button
The volca modular is equipped with 16 memory locations that are used to
save sequences. While holding down the MEMORY button, press a step
button between 1 and 16 to load the saved sequence.
CHAIN function
This function links multiple saved sequences. While holding down the
MEMORY button, press the step buttons between 1 and 16 (where
sequences have been saved) to specify the range of sequences that you
want to play. The sequences in that range will play back consecutively.
WRITE (saving)
While holding down the FUNC button, press the MEMORY button to enter
the save-ready condition (MEMORY button blinks). In this condition, press
a step button between 1 and 16 to save the currently selected sequence as
sequence data with the step button that was pressed.
Returning all sequence data to the factory defaults
1. While holding down the FUNC and MEMORY buttons, turn the
volca modular on.
The  (REC) and  (PLAY) buttons will blink.
2. Press the  (REC) button to restore the factory defaults and start
volca modular. Press the  (PLAY) button to cancel the reset
operation and simply start volca modular.
Restoring the factory defaults will erase any saved sequence data.
— 3 —
FUNC (function) button
To access various volca modular functions, hold down the FUNC button
and press the appropriate step button. The LED below the button will light
to confirm your selection.
FUNC+STEP 1 (SCALE) Enter scale selection mode. Scale selection
mode allows you to select a base scale for the keyboard. By default, the
volca modular's keyboard is equally tempered. When a scale is selected,
the keyboard will be remapped to only include the notes of that scale,
with the tonic aligned to step 4. While in scale selection mode, tap the
step corresponding to the desired scale (see table). To return to the equal
tempered keyboard tap the currently selected scale one more time to
deselect it. To exit scale selection mode, press the FUNC button again.
STEP SCALE (intervals) STEP SCALE (intervals)
3 Chromatic (1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1) 10 Lydian (2-2-2-1-2-2-1)
4 Major (2-2-1-2-2-2-1) 11 Exitic1 (1-2-3-1-1-3-1)
5 12 Exitic2 (2-2-2-2-2-2)
minor (2-1-2-2-1-2-2)
6 Harmonic minor (2-1-2-2-1-2-2) 13 Japanese (1-4-2-1-4)
7 Melodic minor (2-1-2-2-2-2-1) 14 minor Penta (3-2-2-3-2)
8 15 Major Penta( 2-2-3-2-3)
Dorian (2-1-2-2-2-1-2)
9 Phrugian (1-2-2-2-1-2-2) 16 Chromatic Reverse (1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
FUNC+STEP 2 (TONIC) Enter the tonic selection mode. Tonic selection
mode allows you to select the tonic for the currently selected scale, the
note on which the scale will start. While in tonic selection mode, tap the
step button corresponding to the desired tonic (see table). To exit tonic
selection mode, press the FUNC button again.
STEP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A # / B  C # / D  D # / E  F # / G 
TONIC
A B C D E F
FUNC+STEP 3 (MICROTUNING EDIT) Enter microtuning edit mode.
Microtuning edit mode allows you to tune up or down each note of the
selected scale to create unusual variants. While in microtuning edit mode
press and hold the note you want to tune, and a tone will be played for
that note. While listening to the tone, use the MICROTUNE knob to tune it
up or down to your liking (+/- 100 cent). To exit microtuning mode press
the FUNC button again.
FUNC+STEP 4 (MICROTUNING CLEAR) Clear all microtuning
adjustments.
FUNC+STEP 5 (OCTAVE DOWN) Lowers the pitch by one octave.
FUNC+STEP 6 (OCTAVE UP) Raises the pitch by one octave.
FUNC+STEP 7 (RANDOMIZE NOTE) Randomizes the notes of the
sequence.
FUNC+STEP 8 (RANDOMIZE ACT.STEP) Randomizes the active steps
of the sequence.
FUNC+STEP 9 (RANDOMIZE MICRO TUNING) Randomizes microtun-
ing.
FUNC+STEP 10 (GATE) Makes the gate signal length shorter.
FUNC+STEP 11 (MODE BOUNCE) Enables/disables bounce sequencer
mode. In bounce mode, the sequencer will replay the sequence backwards
after playing the last active step.
FUNC+STEP 12 (MODE STOCH.) Enables/disables stochastic sequencer
mode. In stochastic mode, at each sequencer step the next step will be
decided randomly among four choices: one
forward, skip one forward, one backwards,
or repeat same step. Each time stochastic
?
backward
mode is enabled a different probability will
forward
repeat
be assigned to each choice.
FUNC+STEP 13 (MOTION ON/OFF) Turns motion sequencing on/off.
This function records adjustments made to knobs while a sequence is
being recorded. Once the sequence has made a full cycle from the step
where an operation was performed, record is automatically deactivated.
TIP Motion sequencing will record adjustments to the knobs other than
CLOCK, UTILITY and VOLUME.
FUNC+STEP 14 (MOTION CLEAR) All recorded knob adjustments will
be erased.
FUNC+STEP 15 (CLEAR ACT.STEP) All active step selections will be
erased.
FUNC+STEP 16 (CLEAR ALL) All sequence data will be erased.
11 12
G # / A 
G
skip