Korg Volca FM

General

The Korg Volca FM is a compact comprehensive synthesizer. FM synthesis is something that has been missing from this series, until now. FM synthesis is a way to make thousands of sounds by modulating the frequency of an oscillator (vibrato) with the output of another oscillator. With an analogue synthesizer this process would be done with an LFO, but with FM synthesis a regular oscillator is used. Because the rate of oscillation is so high, the vibrato can no longer be heard, but a change in sound will be heard instead. FM synthesis revolutionised music in the '80s and FM sounds are still found on synthesizers today. Whether you're aware of it or not, you've almost certainly heard an FM sound.

Possibilities of the Korg Volca FM synthesizer

With a polyphony of three, the Volca FM won't be your only synthesizer. But amongst other synthesizers it will give you that typical, rich FM sound that cuts through any mix with ease. The real beauty of the Korg Volca FM though is that fact that you can create nearly everything with FM synthesis, whether that's lead, bass and metal sounds or sound effects. While it doesn't have the same complexity and extensive controls of the Yamaha DX7 (the device that made FM synsthesis popular in the '80s), that's no bad thing. Here you get a handful of parameters so that you can get started quickly and easily. The Volca FM is compatible with the DX7 and can load its files, so all of its sounds are possible. You can even find its sounds on the internet!

What's more

An arpeggiator is included for making familiar riffs straight out of the '80s. For warm pad and string sounds, there's also a chorus effect, something the DX7 didn't have. The real power of this machine though perhaps lies in the sync connectors that allow you to connect two Volca FM's together for a polyphony of six. Connecting other Volca's is no problem either, of course. Finally, the Korg Volca FM is highly portable thanks to it compact size, and it works up to 10 hours on 6 AA batteries (included). In short, the Volca FM is versatile, adventurous and fun.