VP-70

Voice Processor

Courtesy/Thanks to: Roland

Description: Full MIDI musical control is now available for wind players and vocalists. The world of electronic music composition and performance has grown tremendously in a very short time. MIDI has opened up powerful new venues of expression for the keyboardist, guitarist, and percussionist. Now, vocalists and wind players can finally enjoy the same advantages of control and expression. The VP-70 Voice/Instrument Processor, packaged in a slim 1U size rack-mount module, contains four pitch shifters as well as pitch-to-MIDI conversion circuitry. The VP-70 creates five note polyphony from a monophonic input, and permits control of MIDI sequencers and sound modules from a single microphone. A vocalist can sing lead and back-up, a wind player can play two parts, and a synthesizer can be controlled- all simultaneously.

The Harmonize mode adds the musical expression of chords to a melody The VP-70 features a Harmonize mode as well as a Pitch Follow mode. Both modes allow the pitch shifters to be controlled in real time by the internal memory (128 patch memory), external MIDI keyboard, or a MIDI sequencer. The optional FC-100 Foot Controller can also be used to instantly switch the patch memory In Harmonize mode, operation of each of the four pitch shifters is determined by the amount of pitch shift designated by the user. The pitch shift can be set within a range of +1 octave. As shown in figure 1, C4 E4, and G4 are played on the keyboard when an F4 sound is input. In this mode however the keyboard functions on the amount of pitch shift in semitones based on C4. As shown in the figure, the designated pitch shift is +0, +3 degrees (third), and +5 degrees (perfect tifth). If a different sound input for these settings, a major chord will be output with the input sound as the root. Although a keyboard is used to illustrate this feature, the situation in the internal memory is identical for other inputs. Various harmonies such as minor and major7fh chords as well as octave effects can be programmed, and the settings can be changed in real-time.