If you want to void the warranty on your Korg Volca Beats analog drum machine, there are probably worse ways to do it than by this snare drum mod.
This video, via Darren Glen, demos the finished Korg Volca Beats snare and hat mod, and follows the demo up with full instructions on how to do the mod.
“The mod makes for a much cleaner and useable snare than the distorted rubbish that the KVB is shipped with,” according to Glen, “and the addition of the triangle sound mod to the hats gives some nice variation to the unit.”
The mod “transforms the KVB into a more sophisticated beast,” adds Glen.
Additional details are available in the Gearslutz forum.
Is this mod worth voiding your Volca Beats’ warranty? Leave a comment and let us know what you think of it!
Interesting. Gotta say the snare is shit on the Korg Volca Beats lol.
Looks like a lot of effort to make the world’s worst analog snare drum slightly less shitty.
Yes it is, the snare it awful really awful white noise distortion just sounds terrible. Which is such a shame coz the rest of the unit is excellent. The problem I have is I honestly wouldn’t have a clue how to do this even with the video, total noob at mods……any suggestions?
Sorry I don’t have a clue. I’m sure Korg will improve the snare in the next incarnation though.
My solution is just to use the clap instead!
Yes! And also mixing it with the Clave or Agogo can make some nice sounding snare.
Yeh, but in ten years this snare sound will be all the rage, and your mod volca will be worth less.
you do realize that this doesn´t cost money?
this is just a physical finetune and a reversible one aswell.
dont let mere logic spoil your trolling though.
You could just put a switch on the mod .
When I hear it with the mod I think “Is this what it was supposed to sound like and somebody made a mistake?” The modified snare sound seems to fit in better with all of the other sounds and to me the snare is the only thing on the Beats that is an issue. The rest of it is great.
It took me 3-4 weeks to get tired if the snare sound. Good mod.
just layer it with the clap and/or a hihat, and don’t expose your lack of skills by dissing the volca snare.
13 people with no musical skills already. I’m waiting.
17 people so far with ears more like 😉
Volca snare might not be the best as a lead snare, but it’s quite excellent for snare rolls
Wise old troll is right in a way, improvise adapt and overcome I say! But I would pay anyone to put this mod into my beats, although I like tinkering I’m one of those people that always have a screw or two left over when I put shit back together 😐
I saw this post then did the mod, took about twenty minutes. Sounds great! I didn’t mind it before, it’s one of my favorite drum machines to program and I rarely use it entirely clean anyway, but now the snare stands out in the mix a lot more.
It is weird when you look at the board, these two empty solder pads labeled C78. Keep in mind they are surface mount though, so be very careful when you do it, they are small.