Are you in a warranty-voiding mood? Have you got a soldering iron?

The KORG volca bass is already a nice enough little synth. But mix in a modification that adds frequency modulation to the filter, and you get some delicious, acid good times.

Skip ahead to the end of the video above to hear what we mean.

And if you are feeling handy and don’t mind the risk of destruction, an ambling, easy-to-follow extended video will walk you through the process.

Prefer not to get your hands dirty? This is all the work of Surreal Machines, who make a really wonderful collection of Max for Live effects called Dub Machines. That’s an unparalleled set of precision tools for dub effects, as the name implies.

Here’s a review from last year:

And the trailer:

13 responses to “Hacking filter FM makes the volca bass sound amazing”

  1. Dopamine Addict says:

    That sounds pretty awesome. I can’t wait to hear a direct-from-source recording! Thanks for reminding me to buy a Volca Bass.

  2. Dopamine Addict says:

    That sounds pretty awesome. I can’t wait to hear a direct-from-source recording! Thanks for reminding me to buy a Volca Bass.

  3. Dopamine Addict says:

    That sounds pretty awesome. I can’t wait to hear a direct-from-source recording! Thanks for reminding me to buy a Volca Bass.

  4. Kaltès Nfriends says:

    Soldering and whiskey. Sounds like a plan.

  5. Kaltès Nfriends says:

    Soldering and whiskey. Sounds like a plan.

  6. Kaltès Nfriends says:

    Soldering and whiskey. Sounds like a plan.

  7. Matt Jackson says:

    Thanks for the post, Peter.

  8. Matt Jackson says:

    Thanks for the post, Peter.

  9. Matt Jackson says:

    Thanks for the post, Peter.

  10. wingo shackleford says:

    Man, I love Dub Machines so much.

  11. wingo shackleford says:

    Man, I love Dub Machines so much.

  12. wingo shackleford says:

    Man, I love Dub Machines so much.

  13. death2 disko says:

    seen that mod. it isn’t the most musical, and hardly ‘acid’. but pleased that someone else
    has had a go at the VolcaBass, even if it is simplistic. there is more than one waveform
    available to do this, and the source could be switchable. what is needed is for someone to
    find Osc Sync, if that is possible on this unit, and have switching sync options between
    the oscillators, that would be more subtle. is there a phase pin anywhere for the oscillators?
    add osc./vca level, audio in to VCF, some sort of pulldown tap with resonance/peak, etc. etc.

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