Review: Korg Volca FM2 vs OG // DX-7 based synth gets better // Volca FM 2 synthesis tutorial

Read the full FM synthesis chapter in my ever-expanding book of electronic music ideas, tips and tricks here:

► Patreon:   / loopop  

Volca FM 2 Price check links (affiliate links help the channel):
► Sweetwater: https://imp.i114863.net/2rL9x0
► Thomann: https://www.thomann.de/intl/search_di...
► Perfect Circuit: https://link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/...
► Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Q32Fa5

Other gear in this video:
► Arturia KeyStep 37
► TRS A to MIDI DIN cables by Designacable
► Scopes by Melda
► Dexed - free DX7 editor in software and plugin form, includes a synth engine
► Synthmata by Oscillator Sink - free web-based editor (Chrome) - no downloads required

SETUP FAQ: Wait, why is there no MIDI cable connected from the Keystep to the Volca?!
► You could do that, but for this video, the Keystep is connected via USB to an off-camera computer - I needed to go through a computer because I wanted to send MIDI notes from my Keystep but also SYSEX from Dexed, so the computer was also acting as a "MIDI merge" box using Ableton Live, hosting both Dexed and another channel routing MIDI from Keystep to a USB MIDI interface (built in to my audio interface in this case) and from there to the Volca via a 5 pin MIDI to TRS A adapter cable to the Volca FM2.

TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
1:40 FM2 vs OG FM
4:15 Overview
7:05 Effects
8:20 Velocity
8:45 Transpose
9:15 Modulator attack decay
10:05 Carrier attack decay
10:50 LFO basics
11:35 Algorithms
12:55 Program random
13:45 Unison
14:20 Sequencer
15:50 Arpeggiator
16:40 Motion Seq
18:10 MIDI Seq
19:00 Act/Warp Step
20:30 Diving deeper
21:00 Dexed-Synthmata
21:50 FM Synthesis
25:20 Freq ratios
25:45 Modulators
27:45 Envelopes
31:15 Key velocity
31:55 LFO routing
33:30 Pitch env
33:50 Level scaling
34:05 Feedback
35:35 Pros & cons
38:45 Playing 16 patterns

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Submit review and video ideas here (sorry I don’t offer 1x1 sessions/setup/purchasing advice):

► Ziv (at) loopopmusic.com

NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links to stores like Amazon, Sweetwater, Thomann and others. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion, and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.