The New Volca FM 2 - New Features and Upgrades (+ updates to Synthmata - my free Volca FM editor!)
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- čas přidán 6. 07. 2024
- Volca lovers rejoice, for it is the second coming of the Volca FM! Korg have just released a new updated and upgraded version of the Volca FM with expanded polyphony, a bigger patch memory and more!
To celebrate, I have also updated my free, browser based editor for the Volca FM: Synthmata: synthmata.com/volca-fm/ with an updated, more compact design and new usability tweaks, including operator copy-paste!
One thing I forgot to mention in the video is that the new Volca FM has a built in randomizer - it's fine, but I find that the patches it generates were a bit "safe" and you can't really direct it to the type of sound that you want like you can with Synthmata, but it's fine in a pinch!
Transparency notice: Korg kindly provided me with this Volca FM, but haven't had (nor asked for) any editorial input on this video.
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How cool that Korg wanted Synthmata to work with the Volca FM 2! So pumped about this.
It's even on the official product page on their website! It's nice to know that Korg saw value in it 😊
I owned a DX9 for years, great sounds, sh*t menu. Just bought the Volca FM2, and can't wait to dive in, this editor is heaven sent, thanks!
Congrats on the call-out on the official Volca FM 2 announcement page!
Great to see Korg working with the community.
Holy SHIT, a new Volca Fm?! The FM was my first synth, and I can't say enough how hyped I am now.
It's all grown up now!
Mine too! Yeii
Tried Synthmata out on my Volca FM2, using Chrome web browser, on my Mac Mini.
Works great!
Thanks very much for sharing this, and best wishes for your continued success ❤
Hallelujah - velocity via MIDI In finally, excellent news, thanks for confirming.
If you apply the 1.09 unofficial firmware it enables velocity over midi on the original FM.
I never knew about Synthmata ... now I do this will make using my VFM even more fun. Amazing work, thank you for sharing with the VFM community ❤️ 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Synthmata is invaluable. These updates look great. Thanks for creating and sharing this tool. Your fm videos are also the best on yt.
Great overview! Thanks for making Synthmata available. I just ordered a Volca FM 2 and looking forward to using the program.
So awesome that you made that randomizer, thank you, and all of these updates are also awesome
brilliant! you've covered loads I didn't even know about, and the editor is amazing ,many thanks.
Congrats on the collaboration with KORG themselves, great job! =)
the way you did the random generator is impressive, looks to work very well.
It was a fun challenge trying to fit everything I knew about making patches into 10 sliders!
Thank You! A really helpful video and Synthmata saves a whole heap of menu diving. I’m looking forward to learning FM synthesis on my new Volca FM. You’re a legend. Cheers.
Cheers to you too, and enjoy your new synth!
Great video review! And the web app and sounds you created really take the cake. :-)
Not only did we learn the Volca FM thanks to your videos, but seeing your browser based soft pushed me to start programming
and opened a whole new world.
Thank you so so much for your work, long live synthmata
That's really exciting to hear! I hope the world of code is treating you well!
@@OscillatorSink Javascript is treating me well at work, but trying to make plug-ins in C++ is not quite nice with me yet hahaha
Maybe another video will unlock it someday, who knows
Have a great day, enjoy this release
@@luga1398 I can mostly read C++ but can't write it for toffee - good luck, I'm sure you'll get there!
First of all, thank you so much for all your midi editors - they work great and are super useful (i used drum the most). In short, this mk2 is just fenomenal update.
You lucky guy. You did a lot for the Volca Community. Congratz.
Should be noted that newer Arturia devices are using type A adapters. Reason being that the MIDI association have now made the TRS type A connector officially part of the MIDI specs.
I'm the 33rd like. thank you, oscillator sink!! we love you so much!! & six voice polyphony on the korg FM... very exciting!! I sure wish the sequencer would've gotten more steps.
Mega!!! really good work! 👌❤❤❤
Noice! Could be an interesting addition to my growing Volca family. Love to see you pair it with the NDLR and run it as the Pad part. I think it'd work quite well.
I can confirm it works well with a Roland UM-One MKII.
Well I purchased my vFM only a few month ago... this new version seems to be pretty advanced. and 6 voices!
MAybe one day i will upgrade but in the meantime i´ll have fun with my new old one with your fantastic editor.
that thing was the reason why i finally first time installed Chrome 5 minutes ago. :-D.
Damn...killer!! Works also great with my TX802. Thanks a lot for this great tool!
Great! It should work with anything based on the DX7, so it should work with the DX200 as well. I hope you're enjoying the TX802 - that's one of my "should have bought it cheap when I had the chance" synths. Oh well, I've still got my TX81Z - which is even less user friendly!
Really wish they would have gone with a Volca Drum style display on the Volca FM 2, to better visualize the patch creation process, but awesome with the added polyphony!!! The randomizer on Synthmata looks fantastic! I will have to check it out!
An algorithm display and easier to navigate parameters would be ace for sure. There's a part of me though which recognises that if they're designing new hardware, I'd rather it be for a NEW new synth, not an upgrade. Like, shove 6 cut-down opsix voices in a Volca, then we can talk about new hardware designs 😁
yay! dont think i have ever seen anything before that works for android before it works for ios, very FM
Great stuff!
Dang. I never thought I would have the urge to buy a volca again...
Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in.
No arp out smh 🤦 Thanks for the great info 🙏🙌 This is great news!
Sick AF!
Would love to see a video of you giving it the Elektron MIDI sequencing treatment.
Nice
I'm getting one just because the play button on my old one broke lol! Also, I love the thing!
love the addition of 6 voices but I wish it supported aftertouch or non-quantized sequencing.
You can easily make your own A - B converter cable by simply wiring tip to ring and ring to tip and that would cost you perhaps 4 bucks.
YESSSSSSSS!!!!!
Really helpful video and great news about the upgrades to the Volca FM (particularly 6 note polyphony). Sorry to be a bit dense on this, but can you explain again what adapter I would need to plug into an Arturia Keystep to use it with this new FM?
The Keystep has a proper full size midi DIN output right? So you just need a MIDI TRS Type A converter.
@@OscillatorSink Hi - sorry yes, misunderstood the video and thought it sounded more complicated than that... Thanks for all your work on this.
@@smallformstudio410 yeah, I maybe wasn't clear - the problem you might have is going from the Volca to the Arturia Beatstep Pro, which has type B mini jacks. In that case you'd need either a type A and type B adapter OR a mini jack cable which switches tip and ring at one end... Which isn't super complicated, but more faff than it should be!
Your content is so informative and explained in a way that is easy to understand. I just got a Volca FM2 and I’m wanting to check out the Synthmata site. I have an audio interface that has 5 pin midi in and out. Would I connect my Volca into my interface that way, using the ins and outs of either device? And would my usb midi controller be able to control my Volca, or would I just use the keyboard on the Volca itself? Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yes, midi out on your interface to midi in on the Volca. You'll probably need to use the built in keyboard unless you have a midi thru/splitter.
@@OscillatorSink awesome! Thank you so much and I look forward to diving into FM synthesis
Thank you for the editor. Great tutorial as always. But I feel Korg must come out with an os update hopefully soon.
And pls tell them to add one midi connector and an adaptor and charge 5$ more
yea boiiii
Kudos on your Synthmata!
I never was interested in the Volca FM, because of only 3 note polyphony. But now with 6 note poly, it's a very interesting product, if the price remains around the same price point. Nice small addition to my Opsix.
Thanks! I should really line up the 4 FM synths I have and do a comparison at some point...
This is awesome! Is it possible to load the new patches into the first Volca FM?
It should be, but you might need to do a bit of fiddling to get the formats to line up. I'll have to reclaim my Volca FM to try as it's on long term loan to someone!
cant wait to fuckin buy this thing
Finally got the editor working with my Volca FM2. Only issue left is how to save the edited patch to the Volca. The instructions mention a couple of Windows SysEx options, and a detailed procedure would be so much appreciated for this great program, thanks!
Hi, this is detailed in the Volca manual. Press the Save button on the Volca, choose the patch to overwrite with the Program knob, then press the Save button again.
Duh, I got sidetracked by the patch save instructions re using sysex, forgetting about the Volca save mode (dimwit), thanks again. I guess there's no way to edit an existing Volca patch (without initilize)? @@OscillatorSink
@@henrythaler4419 that's correct.
Thanks for the video! Do you know if sustain pedal from external kboard over midi will work?
It will not😢
Actually they released a firmware update about 3 days ago, which adds sustain pedal support.
Tight
The editor is fantastic. How can I load patch(es) from my Volca FM 2 to this (or any external editor)? I'd like to be able to save/share them without having to recreate them parameter-by-parameter on another editor.
I don't believe that you can dump from the Volca to a computer over midi as it stands.
Just hope the music outlets label it as the update people could end up buying the original by mistake. Price is higher I believe
now all we need is a volca drum 2 with more pattern storage (honestly the biggest limitation with it)
I don't see the github site mentioned for using off line. Is that available? Thanks!
I wonder if a 6-voice volca keys is next 🤔
I have a keystep which can change midi on the fly. With midi out can i now hook up both the Volca FM2 with midi out and another volca midi in and play both with my keystep if i change midi channel on the keystep?
No, it's a MIDI Out connection on the Volca, not a MIDI Thru. It sends out messages generated by the Volca, it won't echo what's happening at the input.
It looks really good, but I really want to know how it compares to an OG with the pajen 1.09 firmware before I drop the coin
Oh! You answered it with turning operators on and off in dexed. I'm now basically sold
Can you save individual patches mades on the Volca FM to your computer, with the new midi out ? Before, you could only export the whole memory and not individual patches in sysex mode
I need to confirm the actual state of this as I had a slightly early firmware on mine - I think it's still a full "cartridge" but don't take that as gospel by any means.
@@OscillatorSink okay, and at least ,could you send the bank / cartridge from the Volca to the Computer ?
So with the Volca sample you could use a 3.5 mm cable to transmit data. Can you use the same cable to transmit sysex patches say from a headphone output from your computer?
Not using my editor, no - the sysex is being encoded into an audio signal in the case you're describing. You'll need to actually use midi via a USB midi interface here.
@@OscillatorSink Ah ok thanks for the response, looking forward to trying your software out when my FM arrives. I did a lot of 3rd party importing with the Reface DX and sysex translation software. So I am happy to leave that behind, this process looks to be much more user friendly. :)
Nice video! My new FM but the signal from it is WAY quieter with its internal reverb turned off - have you had this experience?
The volume actually gets exponentially louder the more I increase the onboard reverb - very strange! The signal is so quiet with reverb turned off that it’s practically unusable. Going to return mine if I can’t figure it out :(
Do you, by any chance, have it plugged into an audio interface with a single TRS cable?
Because it's a stereo output, so if you're plugging that into a single, balanced mono input on an interface or mixer, it'll phase cancel the mono signal, which is why you don't hear the dry (mono) synth, but you can hear the (stereo) reverb.
You need to use a stereo splitting cable. It should also sound fine if you plug headphones in directly.
@@OscillatorSink Amazing answer, thank you soooo much! This must be it. Really really appreciate your time and expertise, thank you again!!
Has anyone heard when the FM2 will be available in Europe?
KRROGGGGGG !!!!!!!!!!
I know you’re also a huge fan of the Korg Monologue. Do you know if I could send patches from Synthmata (or Dexed) to the Volca FM2 via the Monologue? Thanks so much!
I don't think so, I don't think it will act as a pure midi interface. It's worth trying though - just set the monologue's midi channels to something other than 1 first so that it doesn't try to consume the sysex
@@OscillatorSink Fair enough! I’ll have to give it a try, thanks!!
korg provides a text document for midi implementation that seems to imply that a sysex message from the volca to the computer would allow midi mapping of all the operator / universal controls that exist in the edit menu ... any thoughts? I'm digging around trying to teach myself midi implementation but the info out there is opaque. I think it's possible to map every single control on the volca to other instruments. I've got 25 keys, a midi mixer and 16 drum pads just dying to have a go at my new volca and all those voices ...
I didn't know that they'd (finally) published that. A quick skim suggests that it's still only the program dump messages, not realtime parameter changes, but it's good to see that you can prompt it to dump a program now.
@@OscillatorSink Well, there goes my learning curve. I thought I'd found the secret documents that granted access but they are only "program dump" messages, aptly named I dare say. Still learning. That text doc does contain everything I need to program those parameters in my DAW though, yes?
Yes BUT you have to send the whole program at a time. It only excepts program dumps too. So you have to maintain the state of the whole patch, not just the parameter changed. That's what my editor is doing behind the scenes - every time you change a parameter it rebuilds the whole patch in memory and sends it. It's "non trivial".
If you had an actual DX7 you could do what you want though - that accepts individual parameters.
@OscillatorSink Thank you. I do like your program, but Korg's text doc got me all excited. I'll be using yours quite a bit then. I just picked up Korg's opsix vst and that I can program ;}
So does the FM2 cure all of the same problems that the Pajen firmware also fixed on the original FM, besides adding the new features?
I think so, except for the parameters sysex, that's still missing.
I am trying to connect my Korg fm 2 into my Behringer td-3 and through my MacBook. any tips on how?
For audio? The only audio input the TD-3 has is the filter input so you'd only hear the Volca when a note is being played on the Behringer (and you'd sacrifice any stereo effects on the Volca). You will ideally need a mixer or an audio interface.
damn I literally ordered the original Volca FM a week ago... dunno if i should cancel my order and wait for this one instead. 6 voices is pretty enticing
I have the original but always needed more than 3 voices. Just ordered the FM2
Your video is excellent. I need some help though. I am able to download and load your sample patches from your Synthmata Page into my Volca FM2. However I downloaded the Original DX7 Patches from the site yamahablackboxes and when I try to load them I get a message that File Is Not Valid Sysex Data. However they load and work perfectly when I use Dexed either standalone or in Ableton Live. I know your online Editor only loads individual patches and not entire Banks the way Dexed does. So I save the the patches from within Dexed to a folder with all of my other Sysex files. But when I try to Choose the file from within Synthmata I get the Not Valid File Message. The file name does appear next to the Choose File Button after I close the Invalid file popup window. But the Load Button is inactive. As I said they all load and work without a problem using Dexed but I really prefer your platform. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
The tool is designed to import data in the Volca's (the first one) format, which isn't actually compliant with the original dx7 format. I could probably have it detect the difference and convert it, but I'm really short on free time at the moment, so it wouldn't be a quick fix, sorry.
@@OscillatorSink Thank you for your fast reply. If you ever do get a chance to make this fix please let us all know, I really like your Editor and your sample patches are very well done. Thanks for all you do. You videos are always a big help. Cheers
Does the FM2 do portamento? If so, what's the CC to access it?
That's a 'no' I'm afraid.
Hello,
The online editor is really excellent but as the FM2 has a midi jack, is it possible to connect directly via the headphone port of a macbook pro for example? Anyone have a solution?
No, MIDI isn't audio - they're just happening to use the same connection in this case.
@@OscillatorSink thank you for that clarification. I know midi isn't audio but I was hoping there was an app to encode or transform the signal and make this a midi port.
does it receive program changes now? pretty sure the original did not
According to the midi implementation chart: no
All I get if I try to load DX7 ptaches is "File is not valid sysex data" on both SYX and SYSEX files.
Hi, this tool only works with single patch files, I suspect you have cartridge files (which contain 32 patches in one).
@@OscillatorSink You're right. Thanks for answering me and making the website :)
Can you send patches from the iphone? I have an audio interface with midi
Sadly not. Safari doesn't support WebMidi (and all browsers on iOS are Safari under the hood). Works great on Android though!
Can i export my patches and patterns from Volca fm2 to PC through this editor?
No, sorry.
@@OscillatorSink maybe you know is any other way to do that?
@@NatLifeSounds when I tested it, the dump feature didn't send the patches over the midi connection (only the Volca to Volca audio dump you can do) I think I mentioned it in the video. So sorry, no, I'm not aware of any way, but I haven't checked recently.
@@OscillatorSink I found the Patch base for Volca FM and FM 2 and they writing that you can import/export patches, presets, patters, anything wise versa. Did you tried it?
@@NatLifeSounds I haven't.
It is a shame it won’t work with safari ipad. Are there any alternatives ?
Patchbase have an editor for iOS.
When I try to upload .syx files to send over to my FM2, the site says "File is not valid sysex data". I have tried many different files from different sources but get the same message on all of them. Anything obvious that I am missing, perhaps?
Most sources of patches are in the cartridge format, not individual patches (which is what the Synthmata editor expects). If you just want to send patches to the VFM then a basic sysex utility will work. If you want to split up the cartridge and send individual patches then I believe you can do that in dexed or using this neat tool from retrokits: www.retrokits.com/rk002/settings/kfm/patches.html
@@OscillatorSink Thank you so much for the quick and thorough reply!
Or is there a way to extract one from the cartgage format?
Not from within synthmata, no, sorry. I think retrokits made a free utility to do that though.
Wait is this the comment you accused me of deleting? No I just didn't immediately reply to comments when I'm out with my family on my day off. Sorry to inconvenience you.
No, this is not the comment, the comment contained my public email address and a link to my tracks, some of which contain your volca fm patches, as far as I can remember.
Thanks for the retrokits tip.
@@user-ii2jm3tj2o OK, well, to my knowledge I haven't deleted them, but I have auto-moderation turned on and I suspect that comments with email addresses and a bunch of links in get automatically deleted by CZcams as spam comments. I don't see anything from you in the flagged comments queue, but if it was more than 30 days ago then it gets purged, sorry. I don't delete comments myself unless they're offensive.
This just makes me wish elektron would do an update for the digitone with a few more algorithms. All things considered, I’ve seen that the VFM2 is going to retail under $200USD so it wouldn’t hurt to have both now eh?
With all of the other stuff the Digitone can do, you can get a lot out of those 8 algorithms. The original 4 op Yamahas go hard too. I kinda slot the 4 op and and 6 op synths into different sound design buckets - nice to have both!
@@OscillatorSink yeah in all honesty I’m just getting greedy here, I consider the DN to be my favorite sound design synth it’s so easy to get a useful sound out of and of course the sequencer needs no introduction. I mostly use it as the main midi sequencing hub for everything else in my rig (SP404MK2/Norand Mono usually) but my “perfect” version of it would have just a couple more options (SMOOTH RANDOM FFS)
@@Screenshot1015 oh yeah, smooth random all day long - you can kinda emulate by random LFO to the speed of a triangle, but that's wasting an LFO really. They have been pretty good with the updates recently though it must be said.
@@OscillatorSink yeah I don’t know how they reconcile modulation Vs processing power but smooth random alone would be a massive upgrade in itself but if they were able to add a second LFO to the DT I’d love to see more modulation in the future
@@OscillatorSink last thing by the way, thank you for the monologue videos! I just ordered one after watching basically every video you made on it
Is it multitimbral?
Like the original - no, unfortunately not.
Shame the reverb doesnt go 100% wet only to around 50%
Midi TRS??? Why?? I hate that. It only gave me problems. As long as there is no standard for adapters, that's annoying and i will not accept it anywhere. Ok. it has midi out, but for what reason? i don't see myself using this as a clock source or to hit something externaly with it. They could update the old one to do same things i guess.
I would also probably prefer just an input on a full size DIN, honestly. One potential benefit is that you can record knob movements now, which might be useful if you were working with midi in the DAW?
@@OscillatorSink too situational. Interesting, but i dunno how many uses volcas like this. Usualy are used standalone.
Can't see this being worth it if you have the original. I would miss the full size midi input and the FM already has velocity over midi with the unofficial 1.09 firmware. The extra voices would be nice ofc but I think I will stick with what I have. The unofficial firmware also fixed a lot of the issues mentioned here such as the LFO and sysex implementation (for dexed users at least ). I'm sure for a lot of people the polyphony will be reason enough to upgrade but seriously....TRS midi ☹️ what's next? A micro usb !
Now I think I understand why they never implemented the same fixes to the official firmware .....🤔
Disclaimer: installing third party firmware is ofc at the users own risk and could invalidate warranty or brick the device etc. Thus please don't ask for the link, it's easy enough to find. My volca fm cost 75 quid from eBay so I took the risk.
0:04 Why do you say "Volcra" FM
I don't. You're mishearing that.
@@OscillatorSink Oh, got it
It does work on latest MacOS Safari and even on iPadOS Safari :)
Refuse to install any google apps on my computers and iPhones- crapware
Does it? I mean the page will load, but it can't communicate with the midi device. Safari 15 doesn't support WebMidi, and all browsers on iOS are actually Safari under the hood... If you have actually got it to control your Volca on Safari that's massive...
You don't have to use Chrome if you're allergic to Google either - Opera, Vivaldi or Brave should all work too.
Nice little FM synth, but honestly, 64 patches is pretty silly in 2022. My Korg Minilogue XD has something like 300 presets and I still feel that's a limitation. Since it's so tedious to program, you really rely on a plethora of good presets that you can use and tweak on the fly, and 64 patches will not take you very far.
Yeah, more would be better, but you then start to bash up against the interface - browsing through and managing them on that little LCD is already a bit bleh and will only get worse with more patches. You could do a lot more if the Volca wasn't a Volca I guess...
The OG Minilogue shows 1 patch at a time, and the only way to browse them is to dial thru each of the 200 programs, in order, forwards or backwards, via an encoder. However, you can really fly thru them. So, I think they could've tripled the program storage on this Volca, and kept the same interface, without issue. Not a huge deal though.
i happen to think you're too cool to be doing that soy face. unless of course, that is the joke here. in which case, i am the soy man
Videos with thumbnails with faces do better - I've tested this and the algorithm don't lie. Ultimately I do want people to watch my videos and my face happens to be the only face easily available to me; my perceived coolness and assumptions of soy intake notwithstanding.
@@OscillatorSink i just didnt know if that particular face was intentional or not. but yes i agree that its smart to make clickbait thumbnails. that is a meme of sorts though, if you're not aware. try googling it
@@christdolphin69 I am aware of it and what is implied by the association with soy, yes.
@@OscillatorSink ha. im sure you arent concerned with that. it seems like a critique disguised as a compliment but it was intended to be a compliment along with an observation. anyway keep up the good work
Korg removed velocity on original, and now this unit does not respond to SUSTAIN over midi. What a joke. Ill stick with Dexed. Its full featured...and free.
Is it me or British people say "volcar" instead of "volca"?? why?
Accents. South half of England "a"s at the end of words tend to be spoken with a soft a. More like Volcah than Volcar.
@@OscillatorSink I've been wondering for years and it sounds to me like the r when saying "Oscar plays a volca in his car". But I'll try to hear it better next time. Thx!