This video, via Doctor Mix, takes a look at the classic Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus.
The video offers great demos of the VP-330 Vocoder Plus. The VP-330 is a vintage synth (1979) that offers great great string synth and vocal choir sounds, and is one of the best vocoders ever made.
The Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus is known to some as Vangelis’s secret weapon, because he used it prominently in many well-known 80’s works.
What a fantastic sounding instrument and the demo as brilliant. Awesome.
I was grinning at all of the 70s/80s pieces I could recall that featured this thing. Its a real beauty that cries out for a quality reverb. Roland should use this as part of the demo for their Boutique version. Well done!
“VP” 330, come on get it right!
The VP-330 is used for Druid-esque chants all over the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s score to Doctor Who’s “Meglos” episode. And for that alone I love it.
I have one one these and there are some other neat features not mentioned in the video. It has an input where you can run a different keyboard or even guitar thru it and turn it into a Vocoder. It’s more articulate than a “talk box”. You can also run a different signal into the mic input, like a pre-recorded vocal track, for instance. Another cool feature is a hold switch which basically holds the vowel sound you’re making on the mic. I find I can use it to make some cool guitar tones by “sampling” the sound I do on the mic. Also I’m pretty sure the Pitch Shift feature was used on the Beastie Boys “Intergalactic” to bend the pitch.