BOSS Introduces Vocoder VO-1 Guitar Pedal

BOSS VO-1 Vocoder featuring Kai Smith

Published on Jan 19, 2016 BOSSchannel

"When you plug into the VO-1, you can literally talk, sing, and cry with your axe, taking your playing to places you never dreamed of before."

"The VO-1 Vocoder is a unique and innovative stompbox that puts the massive expressive range of the human voice in the hands of every guitarist and bassist. By vocalizing into a connected mic as you play, it’s easy to transform your tone with electronic voices, classic talk box sounds, and tons of all-new colors that are perfect for modern music styles. It’s even possible to create impressive ensemble vocal sounds without the need to connect an external mic. When you plug into the VO-1, you can literally talk, sing, and cry with your axe, taking your playing to places you never dreamed of before.

- Innovative, easy-to-use vocoder pedal powered by BOSS’ famous guitar synth technology
- Use your voice to dramatically extend the expressive range of your instrument in countless ways
- Vintage mode for classic electronic synth-voice sounds and Advanced mode for all-new vocoder tones with enhanced clarity
- Talk Box mode enables “talking lead guitar” tones without the hassles of a traditional talk box setup
- Choir mode for achieving rich vocal sounds with no mic connected
- Effect loop for sound enhancement and easy integration with existing pedals
- Works with guitar, bass, or any instrument with a 1/4-inch output
- BOSS five-year warranty

Powerful Vocal Expression for Guitar and Bass

Without a doubt, the human voice is the most expressive instrument there is, capable of producing a massive range of sounds. Vocoder technology lets you harness this power and control the tone of your instrument in endless ways via real-time vocal manipulation, achieving speech-like sounds, infinitely controllable wah, and much more. For decades, keyboardists have used vocoders to create electronic vocal tones and other voice-like textures with synthesizers. Now, the VO-1 makes it simple for guitarists and bassists to use this inspiring creative tool with their music.

Cutting-Edge Vocoder Technology in a Compact Stompbox

Driven by BOSS’ famous guitar synth technology, the VO-1 delivers power and versatility that goes well beyond other vocoders. Vintage mode produces the familiar synthesized voice sounds heard on numerous pop and electronic music records through the years, while Advanced mode utilizes new BOSS tech to translate speech and other vocalizations to your axe with unprecedented definition and clarity. Talk Box mode recreates classic 'talking lead guitar' tones without having to use a traditional talk box rig and mouth tube, making these cool sounds much more accessible and convenient. Finally, Choir mode produces rich, impressive vocal textures from a direct input, with no mic needed.

Infinite Possibilities Made Easy

With the VO-1, BOSS has made the vocoder straightforward and incredibly simple to use. First off, it connects to your rig like any other pedal. The only additional connection needed is a microphone, which you’ll use to drive the VO-1’s vocoder engine when using the first three modes. After that, just turn on the effect, tweak the knobs, and vocalize into the mic as you play. Don’t worry—you don’t even need to be able to sing in tune. You handle all the pitch control with your hands as normal, while the VO-1 applies the complex formant characteristics of your voice to the tone in real time. The VO-1 also features an effect loop for patching in external effects, plus a Blend knob for mixing vocoder and straight tones together."

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Myagi - Making of Ape and Essence - Home Made Talk Box Demo

YouTube Uploaded by myagi303 on Mar 30, 2012

"Myagi - The Making Of Ape And Essence - Home Made Talk Box P2 2 - Talkbox Test

How to build a talkbox for about 50 bucks - as used in the track "Viper" taken from the Myagi album "Ape and Essence." Tested using Roland SH-7 and Korg Monotron Duo.

Parts list:
Plumbing Cap
Hose Nozzle
Vinyl Tubing
Compression Driver

Ape and Essence is available as a remixable edition for the iOS through Soundtrends - http://www.soundtrends.com

CD Available at
http://www.myagimusic.com
http://www.facebook.com/myagimusic"

Myagi - Making of Ape and Essence - Home Made Talk Box

Uploaded by myagi303 on Mar 27, 2012

"Myagi - The Making Of Ape And Essence - Home Made Talk Box

How to build a talkbox for about 50 bucks - as used in the track "Viper" taken from the Myagi album "Ape and Essence."

Parts list:
Plumbing Cap
Hose Nozzle
Vinyl Tubing
Compression Driver"

via Myagi on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

Korg Vocoder Owned by Ben Folds

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

Ben Folds's Reverb Shop.

"This Korg Vocoder is from the private collection of Ben Folds, used in 'Ben's Studio' which was the former RCA Studio A in Nashville, TN

SN: 160631. Vintage Korg vocoder. In dusty but well maintained shape. Killer piece.

"The vocoder. Yeah. The vocoder I used for an album called Fear of Pop, which actually had William Shatner on it. I use that for everything. I use that and the talk box. In fact, I got addicted to the talk box. This is where I'm not an addictive personality, but I almost had to go to some kind of halfway home or something to get off of the talk box because when you blow that much sound, a distorted guitar into your skull for a long time, you start to want to, it's addictive." - BF

All items in The Official Ben Folds Reverb Shop ship fully insured with delivery confirmation and include a signed and embossed Certificate Of Authenticity from Ben Folds"

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Moody Electronics Baby Box Boutique Ambient Drone Synthesizer

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Moody Electronics Baby Box
Boutique, handbuilt ambient drone synthesizer

The Moody Sounds Baby Box is a fun toy for those looking for mad sounds in the jungle of noise! Make a bizarre distortion of reality with this machine! Use it with guitar or let it make sounds on its own!

Baby Box has three modes of action: Auto, Constant and Trig. In the Auto and Constant modes, it generates noise. And you control parameters like noise pitch and tempo, delay interval and length, with its 10 control knobs.

The noise originates from oscillators in the Baby Box circuit. The signals from them are superimposed and a "noise" is produced. One of the oscillators has much lower frequency of oscillation than the others. It gives a "beat" to the noise and the tempo is controlled with the Sun-knob, up to the left - set it near max for rave-floor like sound, and near minimum position for bomb raid alarm kind of noise!

In the Trig mode it is possible for other sound generating devices, such as a guitar, to "talk" to the Baby Box - a line in signal sets off the sounds of the box. The big knob, Pluto, adjusts the mix between clean and noise. Turned all the way to the left, a clean unaffected signal comes out on the line out. As it is turned up, a classic guitar fuzz blends in. The trigging of the noise oscillators begins when Pluto is near maximum.

The noise oscillators are connected to a delay circuit, which puts some "depth" to the sound. The delay has two controls: number of repeats and time between repeats (Neptune and Uranus).

Baby Box is furnished with stereo output. The signal is split up in two in the delay circuit, and different sounds are produced in the two output channels. Plug in stereo headphones directly to the output and have great fun!

This is a very moody pedal. If you want a decently behaving effect, maybe something else is better?! We have added a true bypass foot switch to it. This is if you quickly want to bypass the odd sounds and get back to normal again!"

Propellerhead Record + Reason: How to Make Talk Box and Auto-Wah Effects

YouTube via line6movies — April 22, 2010 — "From Matt's blog at http://line6.com/blog

Line 6's Propellerhead Product Specialist Matt Piper demonstrates how to simulate a Talk Box effect for guitar using the formant filter in Reason's Thor synthesizer, and also creates a classic auto-wah effect for guitar using Reason's Envelope Controlled Filter."

Roger Linn Adrenalinn III

via this auction

"Manufacturer Description:
AdrenaLinn III is not just another stomp box but rather an innovative professional tool for those who want to express their musical creativity through new and unique sounds. Although it accurately provides the classic amp and effects sounds you've grown to love over the years, AdrenaLinn III journeys much farther afield into new and uncharted territory, providing a wide palette of unique and creative tools to transform ordinary guitar parts into something truly extraordinary.

Beat-Synched Modulation/Filter Effects, plus Filter Sequencer & Random Filters

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Hataken Interview

Back on March 31, I put up a post on Hataken, a Japanese DJ artist who primarily uses analog synths. At the time, Shane Chisolm, the manager of Don Juan Dracula mentioned Hataken was working on a remix version of DJD's "Take Me Home". Shane asked me if I'd be interested in doing an interview with Hataken, and I thought why not. It would be interesting to hear his perspective on the world of synths as a live DJ artist. The following is the result of that interview. Note, this is a long one. You will want to use page down to scroll through. If it is too long for you, I recommend reading one or two questions each time you visit the site. Each DIY item below would typically have been a separate post. There is a lot of interesting stuff here. That said, I start with an introduction followed by asking Hataken how it all started for him. Note the focus is primarily on synths as this site is about everything synth, and Hataken delivers. The gear he has both worked with and designed to meet his specific needs is overwhelming. There's also an interesting interlude on experimenting with frequency counters to produce specific frequencies of sound known to have healing properties, and of course there is a bit of the age old discussion of digital and analog.

Before we start the interview, I want to thank Hataken for taking the time out for this, and I want to thank Shane for suggesting it. It's a fascinating history of a DJ synth artist with interesting perspectives that I'm sure I will come back to over time. Be sure to check out the video and link to more at the end. And of course be sure to check out Hataken's website.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

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George Mattson and The Syntar

I recently engaged in an email discussian with George Mattson, creator of the Syntar. That's him next to Bob Moog who's trying out his Syntar at the 1980 Chicago Summer NAMM Show. The discussion we had was fascinating and private, and I thank him for sharing his story with me. As it was part of synth history I asked George if it would be ok to put up a post here, as I'm sure other synth enthusiasts would enjoy this bit of synth history as well. He gave me the go ahead, so here it is. Note that this was originally private and not meant to be a post - this was just me and George going back and forth. The references to Starship are to Jefferson Starship. Many thanks to George for taking the time to share this with me, and for letting me put this up.

"I was born as a non-Mormon in Salt Lake City, Moved to Anchorage, Alaska in Sept '64 3 weeks before my 10th birthday. Graduated from High School there in 1973. That Fall I moved to Moscow, Idaho where I enrolled in the School of Mines studying Mining and Metallurgy. Bought my first synths at that time-the 101 and 200 when there were only 3 manufacturers. ARP, Moog and EML. I liked the versatility of the EML line and went that route. That was the days that you had to send a certified cashiers check for the full purchase amount and they were made to order. Went to College 5 semesters and stayed a freshman with a 1.18 GPA. My older brother moved down and had a bunch of recording gear so we started a recording studio trying to break into commercials. I had picked up a Poly-box by then and my Yamaha YC-45D. Then bought the EML sequencer and a 300. Couldn't stand the clutter and built the box for the sequencer, Told EML what I was doing. They bought the original cases back from me and credited that against another 416 panel and another 300 just to fill 2 big gaping holes in the box. I had most of the synth panels on one side of my bedroom and all of the keyboards (including a Baldwin upright, a Rhodes and a friends EML 500) including the 101 keyboard on the other side of the room. We'd hire musicians to play the tunes and I ran/programmed the synths. Oct. 04 1978 I was alone in the room running back and forth between the consoles and the keyboards when I said to myself: "what I need is...." and the concept of the Syntar hit me. Then I said "somebody should make one of these" Then I said: "Hey, I could do this!" (I talked to myself a lot.) Jan '79 I moved to Bend, OR. Moved in with my folks and tried to find investors. I built a hand-made prototype using EML circuit modules and went to the 1979 Atlanta NAMM lugging this thing around trying to get a manufacturer to go for it and hire me as a team leader on the project. The only person that had any emotion about it while talking to me was Herb Deutsch from Norlin. He said he'd talk to his Board of Directors and call me. In Jan '80 I went to the NAMM winter market in Anaheim with Michael Garrison (He landed his distribution agreement with Ariola on the way down) and Mike asked if I saw the Moog booth. He took me over and we saw the prototype of the Liberation strapped onto a mannequin. I went home devastated and my folks put up the investment money to get started. They're no slouches; both my Mom and step Dad have electronics degrees. I advertised the Syntar in the mags a month before Moog advertised the Liberation. The thought was if I could beat them to it, at least people couldn't say I copied them. That never worked. They had a little bigger budget than I did. But, anybody researching it will find that I had it first. No big deal now. I had to close shop because we were broke and were facing a takeover. So, I closed it down, called Starship, told them I needed a job and got hired. A year and a half later They wanted me to move to San Francisco rather than flying me back and forth from home. I didn't want my 4.5 and 3 year olds growing up in the California rock and roll scene and moved here in July of 1983. Went out one more time with Starship in Aug/Sept 1983 and told them I was leaving. Been here since doing different things."

"Well, that's the way it went down. Can't change the facts. Of course, I would loved to have made money from all of the work I put into it. The sad part is that I still can't play keyboards. I'm a guitar player since I was 10. Hey, right after I moved to Anchorage."

"That picture was taken in June of 1980 at the Chicago NAMM. That's me next to him- I was 26 YO. Notice that he's playing prototype #3.( The first was the one I hand built from EML circuit modules, the second used forked plasic keys over fluted shafts-that one was later modified and used as a LASER controller by the guy doing the LASER shows for Blue Oyster Cult and Tangerine Dream)) The Syntar hanging in the background is just a panel and cardboard simulated left hand keys. The prototype Bob is playing has curved aluminum keys that dragged a resined string over a pulley. The final (and production)version was much more aesthetic and worked like a charm."

Thanks again George. Fascinating story. I really can't play either. : )
BTW, George also provided the EML Poly-Box Samples in this post.

Update: George later made up the 1.18 GPA with a 3.8 GPA with his AA in Electronics. : )

NAMM: Official Virus TI OS 4 Press Release

"Recklinghausen Germany, 13-Jan 2010
For Immediate Release

Access Music, the company behind the award winning Virus TI series of hardware synthesizers presents OS4 for the entire Virus TI series on the NAMM Show 2010 in Anaheim, California. The new update adds exiting and innovative new sound design features and will be available free of charge to all Virus TI users.


Stomp Box Effects

OS4 for the entire Virus TI line of synthesizers brings 6 more distortion flavors to the table, modeled on vintage guitar distortion pedals. Every one of these classic pedals is famous for its distinctive character and has been exploited by some of the greatest guitar heroes of all time. The virtual stomp boxes feature carefully modeled distortion curves and tonal characteristics and include tone controls where appropriate.

Mint Overdrive
The sound of this one just screams tubes - a very special kind of overdrive which results in a wonderful smokey tone. Good for achieving a subtle distortion effect whilst still retaining headroom for dynamics.

Curry Overdrive
A more extreme distortion - like in the original, this does not feature a Tone control.

Saffron Overdrive
The ʻorangeʼ one. A very harsh distortion, popular with the grunge movement.

Onion Overdrive
A big distortion effect famous for its fuzzy character.

Pepper Overdrive
A clear, powerful distortion thatʼs perfect for making leads cut right through the mix. Tone control to soften sound with a lowpass filter.

Chili Overdrive
A classic “fuzzbox” overdrive. No tone control, just in-your-face fuzz.


Speaker Cabinet

To compliment the new vintage distortions, a speaker cabinet simulation was added to the effect section. The new effect type greatly helps to fine tune the frequency response of any sound and to give it more focus in the mix.

Vowel Filter Effect

This effect is a simple and effective way to vocalize any sound similar to the way a talk box or vocoder would do.

Comb Filter Effect

The new comb filter creates everything from subtle, pitched overtones to extreme time-warped deconstruction of any given patch.

Arp To Matrix

OS4 for the Virus TI series introduces a powerful new feature that allows you use the arpeggiator pattern to modulate any of the parameters available to the modulation matrix. You can use this to create dynamic, rhythmical patterns within a sound, similar to what you can achieve with a step sequencer.

OS4 will be available in Q1/2010 to all Virus TI users as a free update."

The Modern Library - Sound Bank for Nord Stage 3 and Nord Stage 2/EX (Synthcloud Library)

Published on Jul 26, 2018 Synth Cloud

"download: http://www.synthonia.com

The Modern Library contains 40 new pads, leads, keys and arp synthesizers for Nord Stage 3.Trade on the power of the new Nord audio converters!!!
Patched and performed by Simone Liotta aka Nord Keyboards Italia.

Patches list:
80 Vox
Air Strings
Airy Pad
Amazing Box
Analog Bass
Analog brass

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The Modern Library - Nord Stage Sound Library - Jamming by Kai Keyboard Mafia

Published on Jul 28, 2018 Synth Cloud

"download: http://www.synthonia.com

The Modern Library contains 40 new pads, leads, keys and arp synthesizers for Nord Stage 3.Trade on the power of the new Nord audio converters!!!
Patched and performed by Simone Liotta aka Nord Keyboards Italia.

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Incredible Sonovox - Kay Kyser - 1940 film "You'll Find Out"

YouTube via MisterScott99. via AnalogSuicide (click for more info including a sample of the Sonovox featured in Sparky's Magic Piano."
"Amazing device that gives voice to musical instruments. The Sonovox consists of one or two louspeakers placed on the throat that play the source sound. The performer whispers the words while the speakers stand in for the voice box. Used for the talking train in Disney's Dumbo, uncountable radio promos, a tube-in-the-mouth version "Talk Box" was used by Frampton to make his guitar sing, and all-electronic "Vocoder" versions are still used in current pop music."

Soul Clap - Synthesizer Girlfriend ft. Ntem & HazMat Talkbox (Official Music Video)

Published on Feb 16, 2017 Crew Love

"Check out the premiere of the "Syntheisizer Girlfriend" video produced by our good friend Gabe Muniz-Alessio and featuring vocalist Ntem and Detroit talk box wizard HazMat!"

For more info on Synthesizer Girlfriend and our latest Album please visit: http://www.soulclap.us"

Some decent synth spotting in this one including a Moog Sub 37, 5U system (synthesizers.com?), and Roland Jupiter-8 amongst other gear. And just one of a handful of songs with synthesizer actually in the title - see the synth songs label below for more.

Build a Not so Ghetto Talk box out of a Toilet Plunger

YouTube via widgetphreak
"WidgetPhreak shows you how to build a ghetto talkbox with some simple household tools (plumbing supplies, pc speaker, and a toilet plunger)"

The Ghetto Talkbox

YouTube via mootbooxle. Funny I always thought it was moot-boo-il like pop-si-cle.
"MooT BooXLe demonstrates how he made a talkbox out of common parts, for a very small amount of money and time. The idea for this project came from paranorm's article here. NOTE: This will NOT give you a sound like a pro talkbox, but it's cheap, easy, and fun."

Follow up to this post.

You might recognize Mootbooxle from these videos:
MooT BooXLe's Synthesizers.com movie


Explosion - An improvised synth solo

Krusnek Forest

Published on Apr 15, 2018 paul tas

"ciat lonbarde Together with krusnek"

via Error Instruments:

"New Krusnek synth .

Philosophy A wooden box .a wooden box who talk the language .of analog pulses .The language of spikes. but with a changing some of the LDR sensor . Who can be the master. of controlling the forests . like the sun . it there is a lot going on between the trees they making algorithms . just choices who is connected to who . with Metal wire .or alligator clips . or more organic just with The hand .or more random with the spoons . elements are parts of the forests the sun can be used on or off . there is a lot of pleasure for the one who have pleasure.Who works with accidentally feedback . The delay makes an echo . like a shadow .Who is almost come a little bit later.and it's also less perfect .The shadow in the forest .controlling the sun .The sun can be the master . of the forest . it can sound like a broken forest in fire . or the sparks of electricity . controlling this minimal sounds . vca function . none of them are the same . well not exactly . it's just a little wooden box with the pink data from a nice green forest .....Krusnek Forest"

Il creatore - Ti illudi di guidare

YouTube via iosonoilcreatore.

Be sure to check out previously posted videos here.
"Tu ti illudi di guidare
ma in realtà tu sei una ruota
dentro questo meccanismo
così vasto e complicato
che è impossibile capire...

"Ti illudi di guidare" dal disco "La testa, che pensa?" 2007 pubblicato da Iperuranoaddizioni.
Il creatore ha suonato:
Sidstation, Commodore 64, Vocoders, Talk-box.

http://iperuranoaddizioni.googlepages...

Doris Norton, Bruce Haack, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos, Rob Hubbard,"

TINRS Introduces New Fenix IV Modular Synthesizer

You might remember the interview with Synton's Felix Visser and This is not Rocket Science's Stijn Haring-Kuipers at Soundmit 2018 on the upcoming new Fenix system. Well, it is here. Update: Priced at 5000 Euros (would be ~ $5600 at todays rate plus any shipping and import fees) - see here on how to get one.

via This is Not Rocket Science

"All you need to play.

An intriguing set of modular building blocks

We think Fenixes are true synthesizer-instruments: they give you all the options you need to explore a very wide range of sonic possibilities. You can learn to play a Fenix quickly and you can still be developing your interaction with it in ten years’ time. The first Fenix was born and bred to satisfy one artist’ wishes for an all in-one system. Our Fenix IV is also born out of this desire with ourselves as the artists.

The density of Fenix I,II and III meant it provided loads of sound in one box. Before eurorack boomed, most modular synthesizers required half a wall of space. Fenix provided all your options in a relatively small container. When Fenix II was released, it packed the most punch for its size anywhere on the market. With Fenix IV we think we continue this tradition. We’ve extended the sounds by adding our best from the digital world. The intention is to provide a toolbox for you to make sound with, and not put too much of our flavour in the sounds themselves. Choices are made for maximum sonic variety. For example: we’ve upgraded the delay line from Fenix II with a musical element. In Fenix IV we are now providing a tuneable version so you can use it as a physical model of a string.

There is a flow to every Fenix. All the modules have the same direction for inputs and outputs: roughly left to right and top to bottom. This is the same in educational diagrams that talk about synthesizer structure. We managed to consistently apply this giant swipe from up left to down right across our Fenix too. You can distinguish types of signals on a Fenix by the colour coding – we’ve taken this helpful visual aid and extended it to giving the modules a coloured grouping that corresponds between the knobs and the jacks. Another feature of the Fenix family is the waterline that divides the knobs from the jacks. Keeping the knobs up top means your patching never gets in the way of your twiddling. This division also helps to maintain a sense of overview with lots of cables patched in.

We see the Fenix family as having a “Yes, and” mentality. The usual divide of tonal versus experimental or additive versus subtractive synthesis does not exist in a Fenix. You can have everything at the same time and you can have multiple TYPES of oscillators, filters, lfo’s, envelopes and effects to do your patching with. We have added the usual analog versus digital divide to this “Yes, and“ mentality. There is no need to choose, you can have it all.

All the modules in our Fenix IV – listed by colour grouping:

YELLOW – Oscillators and sound sources

Input
Interface to external sound sources – has an envelope tracker and a gate and trigger threshold.

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la belle indifference: "Best friends"

la belle indifference: "Best friends" from Wake Me For Coffee on Vimeo.

"This is our new song we made while performing in China at the Notch09 festival

'you are my best friend - I am your best friend!'

great fun with the talk box"

ELECTRO-HARMONIX (EHX) TALKING PEDAL speech synthesizer

via this auction

Some shots of the inside below.

"VINTAGE 1970's EHX (Electro-harmonix) Talking Pedal (a speech synthesizer) - the first all black version in used but good clean working condition... Its one of "The 10 Strangest Vintage Effects of All Time": 'While honorable mention must be made to the Heil Talk Box (which provides guitarists with a tube that they stick in their mouths to duplicate the sound of a stomach being pumped and other barfy delights), the Electro-Harmonix Talking Pedal enables your guitar to speak through purely electronic means. Actually, it only produces “A-E-I-O-U” vowel sounds, but it does give a guitar an uncanny vocallike tonality that is reminiscent of Yoda speaking Cantonese.'
[by guitarworld[dot]com]

Jean Michel Jarre used it on "Chronologie 2" and "Calypso 3"."

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I dreamt of being a polyphonic synth - Multitracked DSi Mopho

Published on Jul 24, 2014 Val

"A song I did by Multitracking a DSi Mopho. All sounds from the Mopho. I also used the Mopho as carrier signal on my Vocoder Syntovox 222 & on my Banshee Rocktron Talk Box. Long Live the Mopho!!!

Music & lyrics composed by Val Solo 2014"

Mophos on eBay