DataBeat · Volca Studio XL

Volca Studio XL · WMC

WMC (Whole Mind Collective) is a locally installed edition of Volca Studio XL that opens in Google Chrome. This guide describes WMC 1.0.1. Use it to prepare sample kits, transpose samples, send kits, back up and restore LUMON pattern banks, apply grooves and update firmware. It runs on Windows x64, macOS on Apple silicon and Linux x86-64.

New to WMC? Start with the quick start (italiano). Use this reference for controls, storage and troubleshooting.

Opening the workspace

Download and extract the WMC package, then open Volca Studio WMC. The included helper opens the workspace in Google Chrome and keeps your files and device operations on your computer. No account, Python installation or terminal is needed. WMC works offline once it and Chrome are installed.

Install Google Chrome separately. The helper is included with WMC; you do not need to start or configure it yourself.

Install, update, uninstall

On a narrow screen, scroll tables sideways to read every column.

Replacing or deleting the application folder leaves the separate Studio data folders in place (see Storage, sharing and exchange). Keep exports of kits and banks you want to retain. The packages are unsigned: verify the download against the release’s SHA256SUMS. Use the first-opening exception above only for that copy, if you trust it; do not disable system protection globally.

Download the packages from the Volca Studio XL download page or the Studio 1.0.1 release. Each release has a SHA256SUMS list to verify its downloads.

The package includes the helper, Python, the Korg SYRO converter, FFmpeg and FFprobe, PortAudio and RtMidi. It does not include a browser: install Google Chrome.

Starting and closing

• One click: opening Volca Studio WMC starts the helper and opens Chrome as an app window. You do not type an address.
• Already running: opening it again does not start a second helper; it opens a new window of the running one.
• Close WMC (top right) stops the helper after asking. If an operation is running, cancel it first. Closing the Chrome window also ends the helper about a minute later (or after ten minutes without the window), unless an operation is still running.
• Chrome missing: WMC opens in your default browser with a notice. Install Chrome and open WMC again; other browsers are not a supported setup.
• Old window: a window from a closed session shows “This window belongs to a closed WMC session”. Open Volca Studio WMC again.

About the names

WMC’s names and paper-and-ink design are inspired by Severance. Innie and Outie use an office-terminal design. The screen names below identify the tasks; no knowledge of the series is needed. Motion controls brief visual celebrations and respects reduced-motion settings.

Find a task

Gathering: build a sample kit

1. Choose how to make samples available: Add samples… or Add a folder… copies WAVs into WMC's library folder; subfolders remain groups. JSON sidecars selected with the WAVs carry their varispeed history. To use an existing folder without copying it, choose Manage libraries…, enter its full path and an optional name, then Register folder. The registration is shared with Innie and Outie.
2. Select samples: click, Shift-click for a range, Ctrl/⌘-click to add or remove, Shift+↑/↓, Ctrl/⌘+A. Type in the filter to narrow the list. All samples searches all available libraries, kits and variants. WMC searches the folders before dividing results into pages; use Previous page and Next page to reach the rest. Refresh rereads registrations and files after another edition or application changes them.
3. Enter adds the selection to the workbench in order. Reorder with Alt+↑/↓, the ↑ ↓ buttons or drag and drop; Delete removes.
4. Space or Listen plays the selected sample. Choose the listening source and speed as described below; Stop ends playback.
5. The meter shows slots and seconds of the final audio. Over 100 samples or 65 seconds the meter turns red and saving is refused.

The workbench is saved automatically and survives closing WMC. It references files in your libraries; save a kit to keep independent sample copies.

Manage libraries… → Unregister removes a shared folder reference, including one on a disconnected drive. It leaves the folder's files in place. A draft that depends on that registration may need you to register the folder again.

Listen to samples

Choose Listening source:

• Source audio plays the file's channels and sample rate. At SPEED 0 it reads the original file; SPEED −12/−24 plays at half or quarter speed.
• Volca preview (mono, 31.25 kHz) uses the mono sample conversion used for a kit transfer, at SPEED 0, SPEED −12 or SPEED −24.

Enable Autoplay selection to listen as you select individual samples. WMC remembers autoplay and the listening source separately from other editions. The waveform and pitch estimate appear under Listening notes. A drum, chord or phrase may not have one reliable pitch.

Both listening modes use Chrome's sound output. Route Chrome to speakers or headphones in your computer's sound settings, away from SYNC IN. Choosing Transfer output in Connections does not change Chrome's listening output.

Transpose samples

Varispeed. Select one or several workbench rows, press J (lower) or K (raise) and type 0–99. Pitch and duration change together like tape speed (factor 2^(s/12)). Markers such as +12 or −7 add up across operations and are stored in a JSON sidecar that travels with the sample into saved kits. In the workbench, J/K replaces the selected entries with the rendered variants. In the library list, it replaces matching workbench entries if the source is already included; otherwise it adds the variant. The source files are not overwritten. Zero makes no change.

Make ×2 variant (Ctrl/⌘+D in either list) adds a version one octave higher and half as long. It keeps the existing workbench entries. A variant already in the workbench is selected rather than added twice. This is an additive action; raising a selected workbench entry by 12 semitones with K replaces that entry.

Key alignment

Align keys… opens Concord. Choose the reference sample in Master key, then select the other samples to transpose (the interface calls them slaves). WMC analyses the samples and proposes shifts to match the reference sample’s pitch class with the nearest transposition (−6…+5), counting earlier varispeed. When the filename note and the measured note disagree, you must pick Filename or Measured for that row; Accept stays disabled until you do. Unclear samples are excluded (unchanged) unless you shift them manually. Edit a shift in its row, or select rows (click, Ctrl/Shift) and use Set shift / Use automatic. The summary shows the kit duration before → after. Accept renders the proposal and then replaces the workbench; Cancel leaves it untouched. This matches a pitch class, not a major/minor key, chord progression or melody. Listen to the result before saving.

Save and send a kit

Save as new kit (Ctrl/⌘+S) writes independent copies with their metadata. A kit opened from Commons can be replaced; its previous version is archived. Check signals offline encodes and verifies every SYRO signal and discards them; it plays nothing.

Sending clears all 100 sample slots on the Volca before loading the kit. Keep the audio needed to reload anything you want to preserve; pattern backups cannot recover sample audio.

Choose Send saved kit to Volca… to prepare the signals and read the summary. Confirm with Clear & send only when ready. Cancel is selected by default. After Signals sent, check the samples on the Volca.

Download prepared kit signals

The clear and upload WAVs are data signals. Do not listen to them through speakers or headphones. Playing a kit's clear signals to SYNC IN erases all 100 sample slots. Keep any sample audio you need to reload.

Save the kit, then choose Download SYRO files… and Prepare download. WMC downloads a ZIP containing the clear/upload WAVs, normalized sample copies and a manifest. It uses the shared SYRO encoder and sends nothing to the Volca. This is separate from Export ZIP, which copies a kit for opening in Studio, and from Check signals offline, which does not keep the signals.

Commons: manage saved kits

Lists Studio kits and existing packs with slots, seconds and memory use. Export ZIP saves a kit's files byte for byte (WAVs, sidecars, notes) as name.volcakit.zip; Import kit ZIP creates a new kit from such a file, also from a ZIP of a kit folder made by hand. Move to archive is recoverable from the list below; restoring never overwrites a kit with the same name.

Memory: back up patterns

Backups contain ten pattern memories and a separate current-edit snapshot. They do not contain sample audio or all GLOBAL settings. LUMON OS XL is required.

1. Connect a computer USB-MIDI output to the Volca’s MIDI IN and the Volca’s headphone output to a computer audio input.
2. In Connections, choose Backup input and MIDI output. Disable input effects, noise suppression and automatic gain. Allow the local helper to record if the operating system asks.
3. In Memory, enter a name and choose Capture backup. The Volca stops playback for the export; leave its controls untouched for about two minutes.
4. Wait for the complete bank: ten memories and the current snapshot. An incomplete or corrupt recording does not produce a saved bank.

Decode a recording… reads a complete recording of a previous LUMON export; it does not request another export. Download copy saves an unchanged .vspatterns file for another computer. Each bank save needs a new name.

Memory: restore or create patterns

Restoring replaces the selected pattern memories. Later edits on the Volca that are absent from the bank will be lost. Sample audio and GLOBAL settings are untouched.

1. Open a saved bank or choose Open a file….
2. Tick the memories to replace and choose Restore selected memories….
3. Review the destinations and chosen SYNC IN output, then confirm. After Signals sent, select a restored memory on the Volca and check it.

The current snapshot stays in the file unless you choose Restore snapshot… and an explicit destination. Create neutral patterns prepares empty patterns offline; it sends nothing until you restore them. Also reset the current edit buffer through MIDI is optional and is available only for these neutral patterns. That option discards unsaved edits in the Volca's live edit buffer, after replacing the selected stored memories.

Do not audition pattern SYRO WAVs through speakers or headphones. Playing them to SYNC IN replaces the specified stored memories.

To keep prepared pattern signals, tick the stored memories and choose Download selected SYRO files…. For the separate current snapshot, choose Current snapshot to memory (1–10), then Download snapshot SYRO…. Both actions download a ZIP with the pattern data, SYRO WAVs and manifest, without playing anything. The downloaded files do not perform the optional MIDI reset of the live edit buffer.

Movement: apply grooves

1. Choose Pattern source → Stored memories, then tick memories or choose All 10 patterns. To use the bank's separate current snapshot instead, choose Current snapshot from the loaded bank and one Destination memory (1–10). This maps that snapshot to a stored memory; it does not load the Volca's live edit buffer.
2. Choose Preserve to change timing in an existing bank, or Reset + groove to begin with empty patterns. For stored memories, Preserve needs a loaded copy of each selection. For a current snapshot, it uses that snapshot's notes, Predictability, motion and other settings.
3. Choose a template per part. Review change plan shows destinations, assignments and whether the source contains their originals, without saving or sending. Enter a new bank name and choose Apply templates & save bank.
4. To replace those memories on the Volca, choose Send saved groove bank to Volca… and review the confirmation. Changing the plan disables Send until you save again.

Templates change microtiming: small advances or delays relative to the step grid. They do not add sample audio. Use SWING 0 as the reference when comparing templates; the instrument’s swing adds to them.

The new bank contains only the selected destinations. When a source bank was loaded, WMC also saves a complete .rollback.vspatterns copy, including its separate current snapshot. This is the source you opened, not a new backup of the instrument. If it lacked a destination memory, WMC says that memory has no original copy. Reset without a source creates no rollback file. Reopen the original or rollback bank to make another edit from its current snapshot. After saving, WMC opens the output bank and switches Pattern source back to Stored memories.

Inspect a groove

In Groove catalogue, choose a Category or search by profile/source name. Timing profile groups aliases that produce the same sixteen offsets. Choose Source / instrument / bar to inspect a particular alias; aliases can share timing while retaining different source measurements.

The table gives each step's exact integer microtiming and identifies it as measured, reconstructed or analytic. The provenance below includes the source, source checksums and unrounded timing fractions. The catalogue has 217 distinct profiles and 270 named templates. Choose Use for part (1–10), then Use this template to fill that part's assignment. Review the plan and save the bank to apply it; browsing the catalogue alone changes no pattern data.

Reintegration: update firmware

Studio contains no firmware. Download Korg's official volca sample System Updater 1.42 (volcasample_updater_1_42.zip) from Korg's volca sample download page, then choose Choose the Korg 1.42 updater… in Reintegration. WMC builds LUMON OS XL v1.0.2 on this computer and checks the result; the archive then lists LUMON OS XL v1.0.2 and Korg volca sample 1.42 (to restore Korg's firmware), the only firmware WMC offers. Other files are refused. Select an image, then Begin reintegration… to review the instructions. Installing Studio alone does not update the Volca. See the firmware guide.

Before sending, connect the chosen computer output directly to SYNC IN, disconnect speakers and headphones from that output, stop other computer audio and disable audio processing. Use reliable power. Follow the displayed FUNC + PLAY → UPdt procedure and confirm only when the Volca is ready. Do not interrupt the signal or switch off the instrument. Wait for End on the Volca, then restart and check its version by powering on while holding REC. Signals sent confirms computer playback, not successful installation.

For preparation, read the firmware guide. Firmware signals are sent unchanged and are never auditioned. If an update is interrupted, consult that guide rather than following a sample-transfer retry.

Connections, cables and MIDI

Choose devices by name in Connections. WMC remembers them in its own settings (Innie's and Outie's device choices are separate and unchanged). If a saved device is not connected, operations stop with a message; WMC never falls back to the system default. Press Refresh devices after plugging an interface in. While your computer's shared audio output is available (PipeWire or PulseAudio on Linux), outputs that would take the sound card for themselves are kept out of the list, so a transfer never leaves Chrome or your music software silent.

Check installation lists the installed tools and Studio folders without opening audio or MIDI devices. Use the displayed paths when locating libraries, kits, banks or settings; this check does not test the Volca or its connections.

Before sending, disconnect speakers and headphones from the transfer output: firmware and SYRO WAVs are data signals. Pause other audio and notifications. Turn off EQ, "enhancements" and spatial audio on that output. Avoid distortion. The SYNC IN connection carries no acknowledgement back to Studio; confirm receipt on the Volca.

What needs MIDI. Audio pattern backup uses a MIDI output connected to the Volca's MIDI IN to request the export. Resetting the current edit buffer through MIDI is optional. Kits, pattern restores, grooves, neutral stored-pattern resets and firmware updates use audio. Decode a recording… turns an existing complete recording of a LUMON export into a bank; it does not start a backup.

Storage, sharing and exchange

WMC shares registered libraries, saved kits, pattern banks and firmware with Innie and Outie on the same computer. WMC’s workbench draft, autoplay, listening source and device choices are separate. Replacing or deleting the application does not remove these separate folders.

Default locations are defined by Studio’s configuration; environment overrides and config.json can change them.

Saved kits are under kits/, banks under patterns/ and firmware under firmware/ in the data folder. WMC keeps imported sample copies in data wmc/libraries/ and copied firmware provenance in wmc/firmware-sources/. Its workbench (draft.json) and preferences (settings.json) are in state wmc/; listening previews are in cache wmc/preview/ and prepared download files in cache wmc/exports/. Keep the downloaded ZIP when you need those signals later; its helper download link belongs to the current session. Where the OS shares data, state and cache roots, these subfolders still serve different purposes. Do not delete the whole root as a way to clear previews.

• Kits saved in WMC also appear in Innie and Outie. Manage libraries… edits the same registrations used by those editions; registered audio is read in place.
• Remove copy deletes WMC’s imported copy of a folder. Keep anything you need before choosing it. It does not delete the original folder you imported or a registered library read in place.
• To move kits between computers, use Export ZIP / Import kit ZIP in Commons. Use Download copy and Open a file… for pattern banks. These exports contain independent copies; device choices and the unsaved workbench are not included. Register external libraries again on the new computer, where their paths may differ.

Chrome and platforms

• Chrome (current stable) is the supported browser. The page uses file pickers for imports; audio and MIDI devices are handled by the local helper, which may need operating-system permissions. The page does not request browser microphone, Web MIDI or persistent file-system access.
• Windows lists the same interface once per audio system (MME, DirectSound, WASAPI…). Prefer the WASAPI or MME entry of the interface wired to SYNC IN.
• macOS asks for microphone access the first time you capture a backup. If you refuse, the backup stops with instructions; allow Volca Studio WMC in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.
• Linux uses the desktop's ALSA/PipeWire. PipeWire may resample if the device runs at another rate, as with Outie.

Your files and transfers

• WMC’s helper listens on this computer’s loopback address and checks a session token and request origin. Keep the private session link to yourself.
• Only one transfer can run at a time across the three editions.

Troubleshooting

Credits and help

A DataBeat project by Michele Ibba. See the download page for all editions and the quick start for the first kit.

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