Korg Volca nubass: TB-303 Acid sound now with software editor!
4,3 / 5,0 | 
[27 August 2024] Korg’s Volca nubass, due out in 2019, has (finally) received a software editor after 5 years. And of course it comes from the master of synthesiser software controllers, Momo Müller.
All about Korg Volca nubass
A software editor for the Volca nubass
With this software editor for the Korg Volca nubass, developer Momo Müller completes the editor series for the Volca series. The graphical user interface of the editor is modelled on the hardware. You can use the mouse to control all the knobs, making it easy to record or draw automation in your DAW and save your favourite sounds. There’s also a sound management system for the little synth, so you can access your presets more quickly in your music projects. And, of course, there’s the obligatory X/Y panel for moving multiple parameters at once.
The price of the editor is only €6.90 / $7 and you can buy it right here on the website of Momo Müller.
Superbooth 2019: Korg drop the Volca Nubass
[09 May 2019] The leak turned out to be true and regardless of how many people thought nub-ass was funny the Volca nubass Vacuum Tube synthesizer is a fabulous looking reality.
Volca nubass
This Volca is the first synthesizer to come equipped with Korg’s nutube vacuum tube technology. It’s built into the oscillator and is designed to bring warmth and saturation to fatten up this bassline synth. But that’s not all, they’ve also built in overdrive and distortion – this is going to be one warm bass.
So what does it sound like? Awesome! This intro video has me seeing this as Korg’s TB-303.
There are actually two tubes in this machine. One in the oscillator circuit and one providing saturation to the sub-oscillator. They then run into a classic ladder low pass filter and onto a stomp-box style analogue distortion. This is all good and solid analogue bass synth stuff.
The sequencer has 16 steps with realtime or step recording. You can store 16 patterns and chain them or swap between them on the fly. You can record knob movements and skip notes, put in slides and accents for a bit of spice complete with randomisation. You can also transpose your sequences up or down a couple of octaves.
If we’ve been waiting for a “nu” take on that classic acid bass sound then this is probably it. It also comes with an alarmingly good bundle of software – nice. Priced $157.00 / £146.00 / 169.00€ and available now from Thomann.
Korg Volca nubass vacuum tube synthesizer – is this for real?
[06 May 2019] An image of what might be the next Korg Volca has emerged on Facebook overnight and has made its way around every social media stream where synth enthusiasts hang out. It seems to be employing Korg’s own nutube technology which recently appeared on some modules from Plankton Electronics. Could this be real?
Korg Volca nubass
If it’s a fake then it’s very nicely done, like the leaks we had of the Volca Modular and Drum that appeared before NAMM that turned out to be true. The conversation online seems to agree that as a concept a vacuum tube based oscillator is certainly a thing. And Korg using their own nutube technology, particularly because it draws far less power than a regular vacuum tube making it more battery friendly makes the whole thing more plausible.
In a recent podcast Korg hinted at the imminent arrival of a new Volca at an event scheduled for the 10th May in New York. Korg VP John McCubbery said:
‘You’d think I would have learned my lesson but as you probably can imagine we’re still developing volcas, we’re still thinking of what we can do later this year, and probably the next Volca is going to have a feature and I bet no one can guess what it is. So there’s my next challenge: do you think anyone can guess? But none of you three [podcasters] are to give any hints, alright? I’m still paying off the last one. Ok. Greetings once again from KORG Japan, all the best lads.’
So this is looking more and more likely by the minute and who would have guessed the nutube feature?
Well, assuming this is real what do we know? It’s a two waveform Vacuum Tube Oscillator (VTO) with a sub-oscillator laden with saturation. There’s a nice big cutoff knob for the voltage controlled filter and a simple Attack/Decay envelope. The LFO has two waveforms and there’s a drive effect. It has the usual Volca motion sequencer and ins and outs.
Looks fabulous and we should know more by the end of the week.
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