Roland E4 Vocoder

[Jacqualine Henington]

Oneof the coolest instruments out there. The vocoder shapes itsenvelope and filters by any sound source fed into it, your voice or evena 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-likesound.

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 excellentthemselves. Its 3 sound sections offer a few different presets that canbe slightly edited with de-tuning and vibrato. The VP-330 is one of thebest Vocoder synths ever and although there are many other types ofVocoders, none sound as good as this!

The Roland VP-330 is a paraphonic ten-band[2] vocoder and string machine manufactured by Roland Corporation from 1979 to 1980.[1] While there are several string machines and vocoders, a single device combining the two is rare, despite the advantage of paraphonic vocoding, and the VP-330's synthetic choir sounds are unique. Despite the VP-330's electronic string and choir sounds being less realistic than those of the tape-based Mellotron, touring musicians used it as a lighter and more robust alternative.[3]

In addition to vocoding and generating string sounds, the VP-330 can also play four different choir sounds, each of which uses four bandpass filters, shared from the same pool of seven total.[2] Like Roland's other string machines of the era, such as the RS-202, it features a BBD-based ensemble effect that thickens the strings, and optionally the choirs and vocoder.

This was obviously originally about the Cylon Vocoder aka the EMS Vocoder 5000. Now it's about the correct set-up parameters for the Roland SVC-350 Vocoder. Also if you also have this vocoder the best set-up for the eleven white rubber knobs eq section is this:

This gives it its best sounding (fat,phat) warm sound. Reversing this makes it more clangy metallic(electrical)sound. But whatever works best for you and your carrier input, I'm just letting you know after over 20 years with this machine what works best for me.

Envelope: Set ATTACK=0; SUSTAIN=10 (I usually use 7, but with some programs you need 9 or 10 sometimes 11 so that the note can be sustained, yes I have the foot pedal but that only holds one note indifintely and some programs can't sustain their note unless you set like I do. I also use the guitar input as well as the insrument input to take advantage of the harmonics control, the more harmonics the longer the notes can be sustained especially on the weaker programs, that's one of the reasons why some companies make harmonizer/vocoder combos); RELEASE=2 or 3 (I use 3), (DECAY is not used).

If the input instrument (such as the Korg Poly-800 Synthesizer) has a wide dynamic range, it may prove better (also) use the GUITAR INPUT jack to take advantage of the compressor used in this circuit.

My guess is that the silver centurions speak in the key of either E (more likely)or F in the octave range one and two below the middle C range, and the gold centurions whose voices are deeper speak in the key of C two and three below Middle C. It sounds better to speak when using a vocoder in at least two voices one octave apart.

The Cylon Vocoder from the original series is not the Sennheiser VSM-201 Vocoder as erroneously reported on the internet by guys such as Ben Liebrand (only because that's what he has and he wants to impress by saying that), although a great vocoder(second best), but the EMS Vocoder 5000 which is the best of all-time!!! Listen to a demontration here and you will hear the similarities between the Cylon Vocoder and the EMS Vocoder 5000.

As the name suggests, the Vocoder Plus combined a vocoder with chorused strings and a synthetic choir sound. Its recent resurgence in popularity has seen an official Roland Boutique recreation, an unofficial Behringer clone, and software emulations try to recreate its classic tones.

The VP-330 was the last and most famous of the Roland string synthesizers, a line that started in 1975 with the release of the Roland RS-101. This early string machine keyboard utilised divide-down technology, meaning that a single oscillator could have its pitch divided down to play any note on the keyboard, allowing polyphony at a much cheaper price point than traditional polyphonic synthesizers. These kinds of synths were named paraphonic.

However, all the notes had to share a single volume envelope, making string machines less expressive than truly polyphonic synths. The RS-101 featured an analogue ensemble chorus that transformed the thin, uninspiring single-oscillator sound into a lush, thick and swirling sound that gained popularity among musicians of the era.

Roland released the RS-202 in 1976 and the RS-505 in 1978, which combined the RS string sound with a monophonic bass sound and a polyphonic synthesizer. The RS-09 Organ/Strings 09, also released in 1978, was a more affordable string synthesizer combining string and organ sounds.

The VP-330 was released in 1979, and offered RS-style strings with the addition of a synthesized human voice sound, available in two registers, and an onboard ten-band vocoder. Before the VP-330, vocoders were often only found in expensive studio rack units, or they suffered from poor sound quality.

The VP-330 was relatively affordable, it retained the lush chorus sound of the RS synths, and featured a convenient built-in keyboard with XLR inputs for an easy vocoder setup. There were two versions: the Mk1 version which featured rocker switches, and the Mk2 version with updated Jupiter-8-style push-buttons.

As far as software emulations go, XILS V+ by Xils Lab is an excellent take on the original, bolstering VP-330 with additional capabilities not possible on the original hardware, such as fully polyphonic envelopes and extra sound tweaking. All the audio examples in this article were created with XILS V+.

The VP-330 was a hugely popular instrument that's been utilized by a variety of influential musicians and producers. Let's run through five songs that highlight the abilities of this beloved vocoder and string machine, and take a look at how to recreate their sounds.

Vocoding in the software world is a little tricker. To use the vocoder in XILS V+, you need to create two tracks, an audio track with a microphone input and a MIDI track with the XILS V+ plugin loaded. You then need to route the microphone signal from the audio track to the XILS V+ plugin using the plugin sidechain menu. This will differ in various DAWs, be sure to consult your DAW manual if you are unsure.

Whereas he used the CS-80 for brass, leads, basses and special effects, he relied on the VP-330 for the swirling, rich strings sound. It can be heard prominently in his song "Tears in Rain", where he plays the chords on VP-330 strings, the melody on a Fender Rhodes and the brassy swells and slides on the CS-80.

In the recreation below, I used the XILS V+ Simple Strings preset with the attack fader increased to 620ms. I also manually adjusted the tone fader as I played to simulate the dynamics of a real string section. Finally, I ran the patch through Valhalla VintageVerb to recreate Vangelis' huge Lexicon reverb effect.

Airey also revealed in a 1984 interview with Electronics & Music Maker that his synth setup consisted of a Yamaha CS-80, which was his main keyboard, the Roland Vocoder Plus, a Minimoog, a Yamaha CF70, an Oberheim OBXa, and a MemoryMoog. Quite a setup!

Although it's low in the mix, it sounds like Airey was using both the Male and Female voice switches with the ensemble effect. The recreation below uses the XILS V+ plugin accompanied by Arturia CS-80 V and Mini V for chords and bass.

The song's producer, Koz, revealed on the Song Exploder podcast that the "Levitating" chords were the first thing he played when he bought his VP-330, and praised its simplicity, saying "you don't want a keyboard that does a hundred things. You want one that does just a couple of things really well, and it just has a vibe and a sound".

Dan Carr is a Glasgow-based musician, sound designer and writer, and the man behind the website Reverb Machine, where he shares synth programming guides, painstaking recreations of songs and custom synthesizer presets. He started as a guitarist and bass player before discovering synthesizers and electronic production around 2015."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Dan CarrSocial Links NavigationDan Carr is a Glasgow-based musician, sound designer and writer, and the man behind the website Reverb Machine, where he shares synth programming guides, painstaking recreations of songs and custom synthesizer presets. He started as a guitarist and bass player before discovering synthesizers and electronic production around 2015.

The E-4 also includes a powerful vocoder, which can produce a wide range of timbres based on variable synthesizer waveforms. These range from sawtooth to square to pulse to noise. To try out these different waveforms, turn on and hold the VOCODER button and move the FORMANT slider to scroll through them.

Taking these concepts and adding them together, you can select vocoder harmonies to add to your voice by pressing the HARMONY button. Then follow the same steps as shown above in the HARMONY section. Create full chords out of vocoded versions of your voice for wild-sounding alien choruses or abstract sound design.

This method is an excellent way of precisely controlling the notes for AUTO PITCH and HARMONY. The E-4 sounds fantastic when you add the vocoder to the mix. The Roland J-6 Chord Synth makes a great controller for the E-4. It simplifies chord entry, and its chord and phrase sequencing can create melodic progressions.

To overdub, press PLAY/RECORD once for playback (green) and press it a second time to record a new layer. Any audio input during loop playback is not recorded. This allows users to perform additional vocals over existing loops. Hold PLAY/RECORD to UNDO or REDO or hold STOP to clear the recording.

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