Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus
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!
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.
- 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
- Websites of Interest
- Resources & Credits
Images from yousenditworks eBay Store and Perfect Circuit Audio.
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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.