Korg Volca Beats
Lesson 6: Saving and managing patterns
Goal: never lose a beat you like. The Volca Beats does not auto-save, so anything not saved is gone when you load another slot or switch off.
Save
- Hold FUNC and press MEMORY.
- Press step 1 to 8 to choose the slot. The current pattern overwrites whatever was in that slot.
Load
Press MEMORY, then step 1 to 8. This works while playing, which is how you switch between beats live.
What is and isn’t saved
| Saved with the pattern | Not saved (physical knob position only) |
|---|---|
| Which steps each part plays | Kick, snare, tom and hat knob settings |
| Motion-recorded stutter and PCM speed moves (Lesson 7) | Tempo, volume |
| Active step settings (Lesson 7) |
Because the analogue knobs aren’t stored, photograph the panel or jot down knob positions for any kit you want to recreate.
Restore the factory patterns
Hold FUNC and MEMORY while switching on. The display shows “LdPr”. Press REC to restore all 8 factory patterns (this overwrites every slot), or PLAY to cancel.
Plan your eight slots
Eight slots fill fast. A layout that works for a live set: slots 1 to 4 are variations of one groove (main, busier, breakdown, fill), and slots 5 to 8 are a second groove.
Exercise 6
Save your Lesson 4 beat in slot 1. Copy it to slot 2 by loading slot 1 and saving to slot 2, then change slot 2 into a breakdown version with no kick. Switch between them while playing.