Free Alt Firmware For The Korg Volca Drum Adds Trig Conditions & More

This video, via Waiting For Zyo, demonstrates the capabilities of hj Firmware, an unofficial firmware for the Korg volca drum, that adds performance features and fixes a handful of bugs.

The free alt firmware gives the volca drum new powers, including Elektron-style trig conditions, new editing features, enhanced sequencing options and more.

Features:

  • FUNC + knob shows the current parameter value without changing it
  • SWING extended to negative values
  • FUNC + SELECT cycles SRC only
  • ACCENT extended to negative values (for ghost notes)
  • SLICE extended — sub-step patterns
  • PROBABILITY gains Elektron-style trigger conditions — A-B, first bar, FILL
  • MUTE + STEP 7–16 clears motion sequences per knob
  • TOUCH FX on STEP 9–16
  • MIDI IN velocity finally works properly

Check out the video and share your thoughts in the comments!

Availability:

The alt firmware is available via Github.

Note: This firmware is an unofficial project, created independently of KORG.

8 thoughts on “Free Alt Firmware For The Korg Volca Drum Adds Trig Conditions & More”

  1. I tried it and it failed install. trying to play the wav file from two different computers one mac w itunes the other win8 w vlc playing the file. Multiple tried many different volume levels on the computers no positive result.

    1. I’m yet to try installing. Have you succeeded in updating Volca Drum before with the official firmware? I remember it was tricky and only worked with my studio computer headphone output. Modern laptops seem to always have some sound mangling going on in their internal interfaces.

      I’ll have a go at this asap and report back.

  2. Couldn’t recently find my sync box for TR-606 and ended up taking Volca Drum on stage, it turned out to be great fun and this firmware, especially the trig conditions, sound sweet! Will give it a shot.

  3. I wish more people would create alternative firmware for devices that have already been abandoned [No firmware dev.] by their manufacturers.

  4. Korg should hire these guys to help incorporate this into the official firmware.

    This turns the volca drum into a serious box, at least from the sequencing end.

  6. Had to use android phone to install it. Still took 4 tries to match audio levels after all the other lap/desktop fails. More picky than most of these audio OS installs which were already pretty nail biting. .

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