Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus

Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus Image

VP-330

One of the coolest instruments out there. The vocoder shapes its envelope and filters by any sound source fed into it, your voice or even a drum loop can be used which is then applied to another sound source, typically a synth pad. This creates a very unique and famous robot-like sound.

Aside from the 10-band vocoder, the VP-330 added a string synth section, choir and a human-voice sound, both of which are quite excellent themselves. Its 3 sound sections offer a few different presets that can be slightly edited with de-tuning and vibrato. The VP-330 is one of the best Vocoder synths ever and although there are many other types of Vocoders, none sound as good as this!

Roland SVC-350 Image

SVC-350

The Roland SVC-350 (pictured just above) is a similar rackmount version of the VP-330 with a modernized look and graphic EQ section. These vocoders have been used by William Ørbit, BT, Styx, Kitaro, Underworld, Meat Beat Manifesto, Überzone, Air, Royksopp, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, and many more.

23 Visitor comments
ets
April 17, 2009 @ 6:12 pm
this machine should be "THE FINAL END OF SEARCHING THE BEST VOCODER-STRING-HUMAN VOICE EVER"...I HAVE ONES....LUCKY ME..
Computron
March 17, 2009 @ 2:00 am
Ah I upgraded from a ms-2000b.I was not happy with it`s vocoder..Although I got close to imitating it..It sounds exactly like a vocoder should sound.Nice grungy nasty sound.The sound I fell in love with back in the day.I recomend it, love it, use it, n freak it!!!
wahee
March 3, 2009 @ 3:15 pm
Awesome machine. Mine had a bad 4000 series chip in the vocoder section which I have now fixed. It just does three things this synth, but they are awesom,e. The best vocoder, super strings and the classic Kraftwerk human voice. I love mine 5/5
RetroSound
January 28, 2009 @ 9:08 am
Vangelis secret weapon...
For me the best analog strings ever. Sorry Solina. Very lush and dark.
The strings in combination with the human voice sounds are great to emulate the Mellotron.
planetplayer
January 11, 2009 @ 12:34 am
Played this in 1980's. Very nice. String sounds are very Roland SH type. I wish I had one.
 
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  • Demos & Media
  • YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 1
    - ROLAND VP-330 "Vocoder Plus" Mk2

    YouTube Thumbnail
    Video 2
    - Roland SVC-350 11 Band Analog Vocoder Demo

    Manual - Roland has made manuals for most of their products available as free PDF downloads.

  • Specifications
  • Oscillators - 3 VCO's
  • Effects - Ensemble (chorus)
  • LFO - Vibrato w/ depth, delay and rate
  • VCA - separate Mix Levels for Vocoder, String and Voice sections; 20 envelope followers
  • Filter - 18 VCFs: 54db/oct bandpass; 1 VCF: 54db/oct lowpass and highpass filters; 20 VCFs: 18db/oct lowpass filters w/ dynamic range of 60db
  • Memory - None
  • Keyboard - 49 Keys
  • Control - CV/Gate
  • Date Produced - 1979

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