Korg's Volca Sample brought classic-style analogue sampling to the Volca range of portable music devices, but it only came with 100 onboard samples to throw into its sequencer. We were told to expect an app if we wanted to import our own - and here it is…
In addition to merely importing samples from your computer via iTunes, the free AudioPocket app has a built-in recorder - you can record something to sample as and when you need it, or you can record anything that crops up when you're out and about to put into your Volca Sample later, as long as you have your iPhone with you…
There's a basic editor to define your sample's start/end points within the whole recording, and you can reverse samples too.
Receiving blips
Awesome. Sampling for the Volca. But here's the debate: Is it right that the hardware requires an iOS device to import samples, effectively tying (at present) the Volca Sample to Apple devices?
The transfer protocol from the promotional AudioPocket video seems to be based around digital info being sent over audio - just like a dial-up internet connection from the "get off the internet, I need to use the phone" days.
If you skip the irony of digital audio information being sent over an audio jack for a second, the choice of this connection shows that Volca's ties to iOS may just be umbilical, to get the device off the ground; in fact, once someone figures out the transfer protocol (or it's made available by Korg), the Volca Sample could open up to many more devices equipped with 3.5mm audio out connections.
AudioPocket will be available on the App Store soon. Find out more about AudioPocket and the Volca Sample from the Korg website, and if you have no idea what the Volca Sample is, check out the video below!
