Korg Volca Beats

Lesson 9: Classic beat recipes

Goal: build a vocabulary of grooves. Program each one in step mode, save it, then tweak the sounds to suit. Tempos are typical starting points.

Boom bap hip hop (about 90 BPM)

Long, low kick (PITCH down, DECAY up) and a fat clap with PCM SPEED slowed slightly.

Hear it in 90s New York hip hop, such as Nas’s Illmatic (1994) and A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders (1993).

Electro (about 120 BPM)

Syncopated kick, clap on 2 and 4, busy hats. Bring in the toms for fills.

Hear it in early 80s electro, such as Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force’s “Planet Rock” (1982) and Cybotron’s “Clear” (1983).

Techno (about 130 BPM)

Short, punchy kick (CLICK up), open hat on the offbeat, claves for a percussive accent.

Hear it in 90s Detroit techno, such as Jeff Mills’s “The Bells” and releases from Underground Resistance.

Rock or pop backing (about 110 BPM)

Useful for jamming along on guitar or keys.

This is the straight-ahead feel of Aussie pub rock from bands like AC/DC and Cold Chisel. Put on “Back in Black” (1980), match the tempo, and play along.

Making your own

• Start with kick and snare or clap only. If it grooves with two parts, it will groove with ten.
• Leave space. Most good patterns use far fewer than 16 hits per part.
• Move a single kick or hat one step earlier or later and listen to how the feel changes.
• The Volca Beats has no swing or per-step accent, so create movement with hat DECAY, stutter and PCM SPEED motion instead.

Exercise 9

Program all four recipes into slots 1 to 4, then write one original pattern of your own into slot 5.