Volca doesn't have MIDI out so I couldn't just sniff the contents of the SysEx package. It's simplicity in itself, a number of 7-bit bytes are bookended by $F0 and $F7 bytes.
#DX7 PATCHES IN SYSEX MANUALS#
With better hardware and better drivers, plus all manuals and information on the Internet you could hope for, it's much more easy to experiment. I used to think System Exclusive packets were something arcane, possibly because I didn't get them to work reliably with an Atari ST and a BASIC in the 1990s, having very little information at hand.
#DX7 PATCHES IN SYSEX UPDATE#
There's an unofficial firmware update that expands the Volca capabilities in these respects, but I wanted to avoid that route as yet. It's just all under the hood, as the parameters are not accessible with MIDI Control Change messages. This model also means the Volca can interpret all the original DX7 parameters, such as the meticulous editing of 6 separate operators, Feedback, Pitch envelope and LFO. As the Volca can receive a single-voice patch, I thought I could simply send the whole instrument data at once, and ignore the lack of Program Change messages.
One selling point of the Volca is that as it's a DX7 clone, it can load DX7 patches, i.e. (Edit: Actually there is a way to edit the parameters and it's not too bad.)
The knobs cleverly access multiple operators and the overall algorithm through a few knobs. The cheapness does come with some strange omissions, and the most astounding is that it doesn't understand the MIDI Program Change signal.Īlso, editing the sounds fully on the Volca is not really possible. The Korg Volca FM (2016) is a neat tiny remake of a Yamaha DX7 (1983) digital FM synthesizer.
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