Korg unveils Volca FM

The new device takes its cue from Yamaha’s iconic DX7 synth.

January is the season for tech announcements thanks to the Californian conference NAMM being in full swing and Korg have been at the top of their game following the unveiling of the new Minilogue polysynth in addition to nanoKEY and nanoKONTROL Studio MIDI controllers. The Japanese manufacture now add another product to their Volca range, the Volca FM, which so far includes Volca Beats, Bass and Keys products plus the Korg Volca Sample. As Create Digital Music report, Korg are unveiling a series of synths focused on FM synthesis, a style of sound production where the output of one oscillator is used to modulate the pitch or frequency of another, resulting in frequency modulation, aka FM.

Like the Volca Beats, Bass and Keys, FM come fixed with a sequencer, inclusive of new Warp, Active Step and Pattern Chain settings, plus MIDI capabilities, and functions like LFO, Velocity and Transpose. The Volca FM includes six frequency modulation operators and a three-voice polyphony which makes this addition to the Volca range the most advanced yet, and while the synth comes with its own presets you can also upload your own Yamaha DX7 sound files via SysEx. Furthermore, the Volca FM allows you to get creative with dedicated attack/decay controls for the Modulator and Carrier parameters in addition to the a new Algorithm function which can be automated on the fly.

Korg are yet to disclose a release date or rrp.