Roland VP-550, Owner'S Manual

Page 1: ...Owner s Manual...

Page 2: ...12 14 16 18 20 1 2 3 6 7 9 13 15 17 19 10 11 4 5 8...

Page 3: ...e you can adjust the type and depth of ambience 10 Pitch bend modulation lever p 38 Use this lever to vary the pitch or apply vibrato The VP 550 s pitch bend range is fixed at a whole note two semiton...

Page 4: ...Adjusting the mic input level MIC LEVEL 22 Performing with Vocal Designer 23 Adding your unprocessed voice DIRECT 24 Switching off the mic MIC ON OFF 25 Raising Vocal Designer s pitch by one octave 8...

Page 5: ...ortable music player 52 Appendix 53 Connecting the VP 550 with MIDI equipment 54 MIDI Implementation 56 MIDI Implementation Chart 58 Main specifications 59 Troubleshooting 60 Index 62 Information 64 B...

Page 6: ...4 P l a y l i k e y o u r e s i n g i n g...

Page 7: ...er to produce sound 1979was the year in which Roland released the VP 330 a new idea that combined a vocoder with a strings type keyboard making it simple to produce sound without needing to use other...

Page 8: ...recording sessions Simply play the VP 550 and start enjoying the top quality vocal sounds you ve dreamed of Rich ensembles In addition to Vocal Designer the VP 550 also provides an Ensemble part with...

Page 9: ...the pitches you play on the keyboard this generates the signal that forms the basis of the sound tone and pitch Use the sound buttons to switch between dif ferent vocal characters such as classic or p...

Page 10: ...the mouth the formant movements and uses these formants to modulate a musical signal the carrier rather than the waveform produced by the vocal cords The vocoder voice produced in this way was closer...

Page 11: ...ying If you press the VOCODER 1 and VOCODER 2 sound buttons simultaneously the sound be ing received from the rear panel EXT IN jack will be used as the carrier p 50 ENSEMBLE Sound Description STRINGS...

Page 12: ...od for slower tempo songs across a wide range of styles BASS 3 This is a jazz scat bass sound Your keyboard dynamics will switch between long Doo sounds short Bap sounds and falls Fall PERC This provi...

Page 13: ...11 Making connections In this chapter you ll connect the VP 550 to your external equipment and set it up...

Page 14: ...12 Making connections Connect the power cord AC IN Connect the included power cord to the VP 550 s AC Inlet and plug the other end into an AC outlet to AC outlet 1...

Page 15: ...headphones To prevent malfunction and or damage to speakers or other devices always turn down the volume and turn off the power on all devices before making any connections Make connections as shown H...

Page 16: ...ince the distance between the mic and your mouth will remain the same even during the most intense moments of your keyboard performance With a headset mic you ll be free to sing and dance on stage to...

Page 17: ...setting or as the carrier the OFF setting We ll be using it as a mic input so select the ON position here 1 2 3 Modulator The tonal character formants of the voice from the mic input is extracted and...

Page 18: ...the notes Using an expression pedal lets you add expression to your performance Refer to Using pedals p 39 for more information Make connections as shown Expression pedal sold separately EV 5 Hold pe...

Page 19: ...17 Performing In this chapter you ll learn the basics of playing the VP 550 When you ve finished it you will have mastered the basics of the VP 550...

Page 20: ...he VP 550 s rear panel turn the POWER switch on ON OFF This unit is equipped with a protection circuit A brief interval a few seconds after power up is re quired before the unit will operate normally...

Page 21: ...e VP 550 and the connected audio system to the minimum set tings On the VP 550 s rear panel turn the POWER switch off ON OFF If you need to turn off the power completely first turn off the POWER switc...

Page 22: ...P 550 For best results adjust the volume of your amp or speaker system so that you get the desired loudness when the VOLUME knob is between the 12 o clock and 2 o clock positions as shown Turn the kno...

Page 23: ...ound and is a good choice when you want the lyrics to be heard MALE FEMALE A mixed choir with independent male and female parts With sparser chords it produces a deeper and more three dimensional soun...

Page 24: ...ut Adjust the LEVEL slider so that the yellow indicator lights at the peak of your vocalizing into the mic The LEVEL slider doesn t affect the rear panel EXT IN jack If you ve connected your mic to th...

Page 25: ...ime hold down notes on the keyboard while you vocalize in a more staccato manner ah ah ah Vocal Designer will produce sound at the pitches of the chord you re holding down but at the staccato rhythm y...

Page 26: ...be output directly from the VP 550 This time try singing a favorite song into the mic While doing so choose one of the Vocal Designer sounds we recommend GOSPEL or POP and hold down the appropriate ch...

Page 27: ...o dark the mic input will turn off Press the button again to make it light the mic input will turn on When you power on the VP 550 this button will be lit and the mic input will be on You can check th...

Page 28: ...l Designer will rise one octave Press the button once again it will go dark and Vocal Designer will return to its original pitch 8va is a symbol meaning play one octave higher Unlike the OCTAVE DOWN U...

Page 29: ...of the sound This sound is suitable for playing phrases but can be broadly used for chordal playing and other purposes p 30 STRINGS 2 This is a synthesizer string sound It is a bright string sound tha...

Page 30: ...ing By layering powerful strings or beautiful choir sounds together with Vocal Designer your performance on the VP 550 can sound unbelievably rich Vocal Designer will stop sounding when your voice is...

Page 31: ...an use this slider to make adjust ments when you want the Ensemble part to be louder or softer than the Vocal Designer or the direct output of the mic your voice Step on a pedal The expression pedal w...

Page 32: ...ver pressing the expression pedal simply changes the volume without affecting the tone This can produce an unnatural impression when a soft sound gradu ally becomes a loud sound In contrast the string...

Page 33: ...sounds BASS PERC VOCAL DESIGNER ENSEMBLE If you press a sound button that is already lit the button will go dark and the Bass Percussion part will not produce any sound Sound Description BASS 1 This i...

Page 34: ...ion part over a range of four steps 1 2 While holding down MIC ON OFF press one of the Bass Percussion sound buttons The four stage volume adjustment will be set to a value corresponding to the button...

Page 35: ...L 2 The reverberation of a large hall STUDIO The reverberation of a studio Adjust the depth of ambience Turn the DEPTH knob toward the right to make the ambience deeper Turn the DEPTH knob toward the...

Page 36: ...performing To stop recording press the REC button once again Alternatively recording will automatically stop after ten seconds If you press the PLAY button during recording recording will stop and pla...

Page 37: ...35 Using controllers This section explains the numerous controllers provided by the VP 550...

Page 38: ...will light and the keyboard will shift upward one octave Press the DOWN button to return to the original pitch Shifting one octave downward Press the DOWN button the button will light and the keyboar...

Page 39: ...D BEAM controller is responding The illustration above shows the effective range of the D BEAM controller There won t be any effect if you move your hand outside of this range D Beam effects Vocal De...

Page 40: ...s pitch bend range is fixed at one whole step two semitones Adding vibrato Vibrato is the effect of modulating the pitch While you play the keyboard move the lever away from yourself to apply vibrato...

Page 41: ...if you select HUMMING for the Ensemble part Depending on how you advance the pedal the sound will shift through the range of mmh Ooh Aah By using this in conjunction with Vocal Designer you can achiev...

Page 42: ...easy to experience this effect if you choose the HUMMING sound button The sound will shift through the range of mmh Ooh Aah according to the loudness of your voice By us ing this in conjunction with V...

Page 43: ...41 Changing the settings The VP 550 has only three things you ll ever need to set a tuning knob four registration buttons and mic expression sensitivity...

Page 44: ...knob to raise or lower the overall pitch of the VP 550 Turn the knob toward to raise the pitch Turn the knob toward b to lower the pitch When the knob is in the center position the pitch of the A4 key...

Page 45: ...wn the desired REGISTRATION button for two seconds or longer When you ve held down the button for approximately two seconds the button will blink and the registration will be completed Don t power off...

Page 46: ...changes in mic input loudness over a range of six steps Higher sensitivity settings mean that the Voice Expression effect will begin applying even when your voice is still at a low loudness level Low...

Page 47: ...45 Example applications Here you ll learn about some specific settings for taking advantage of the VP 550...

Page 48: ...at occur when you take a breath You ll want to set the level fairly low about 2 or 3 Apply the HALL 1 ambience fairly heavily HALL 1 simulates the reverberation of a church Classical music usually has...

Page 49: ...ion is particularly good with GOSPEL You ll want to leave the pedal in the upward position most of the time and advance the pedal to accentuate musically intense passages Apply an appropriate amount o...

Page 50: ...as a faster attack and less irregularity You ll want to find the sound that s most appropriate for the style of song you re performing While you perform using the mic and keyboard adjust the DIRECT sl...

Page 51: ...SCAT While you perform using the mic and keyboard adjust the Ensemble level upward Perform Being careful to match the timing of your mic and keyboard performance play fast phrases on the key board wh...

Page 52: ...n external synthesizer you must use a mic with an XLR plug and connect it to the MIC jack Turn the EXT IN knob to LINE This knob adjusts the level of the signal that s input from the EXT IN jack Turn...

Page 53: ...re about MIDI connections Adjusting the volume of your external synthesizer Adjust the volume of your external synthesizer so that the sound isn t distorted The VP 550 s MIC LEVEL indicator won t resp...

Page 54: ...MIC switch ON The MIX TO MIC switch specifies whether the sound from the EXT IN jack will be used as a mic input modulator the ON setting or as the carrier the OFF setting Since we re using the sound...

Page 55: ...53 Appendix Here you ll find information about connecting and using external MIDI equipment the MIDI implementation troubleshooting and the main specifications...

Page 56: ...VP 550 s vocal sounds Make connections as shown above Set the MIDI receive channel of your external synthesizer to 1 and select a piano sound The performance data of the Vocal Designer part MIDI chan...

Page 57: ...t your keyboard performance For example if you ve already recorded the backing chorus or melody all you have left to do is sing Play back your sequencer and vocalize into the mic that s connected to t...

Page 58: ...e BnH 7BH 00H n MIDI channel number 0H 2H ch 1 ch 3 When All Notes Off is received all notes on the corresponding channel will be turned off However if Hold 1 is ON the sound will be continued until t...

Page 59: ...1BH 59 3BH 91 5BH 123 7BH 28 1CH 60 3CH 92 5CH 124 7CH 29 1DH 61 3DH 93 5DH 125 7DH 30 1EH 62 3EH 94 5EH 126 7EH 31 1FH 63 3FH 95 5FH 127 7FH D decimal H hexadecimal Decimal values such as MIDI channe...

Page 60: ...s 1 3 X Mode 3 O O 24 96 X X O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Modulation Breath type Foot type Expression General purpose controller 1 General purpose controller 2 Hold 1 X O X X X X X X X X X O X 1 3 X...

Page 61: ...ck Nominal Input Level INPUT MIC 50 to 10 dBu INPUT EXT IN 36 to 4 dBu 0 dBu 0 775 V rms Connectors Headphones Jack Stereo 1 4 inch phone type Output Jacks L MONO R 1 4 inch phone type MIC Jack XLR ty...

Page 62: ...mic mic instead Mic LEVEL slider doesn t work The mic LEVEL slider does not affect the rear panel EXT IN jack If your mic is connected to the EXT IN jack use the rear panel EXT IN knob to adjust the m...

Page 63: ...h certain keys there may be intermittent noise This occurs mainly when the VP 550 s upper pitch limit is exceeded so this issue doesn t arise in the ranges normally used But in any case it does not in...

Page 64: ...esizer 50 EXT IN 15 50 52 F Factory Reset 61 FILTER 37 G GOSPEL 9 21 H HALL 1 33 HALL 2 33 HOLD PEDAL 16 39 HUMMING 9 27 I Intelligent legato 30 J JAZZ SCAT 9 27 L LEVEL 22 29 M MALE FEMALE 9 21 MIC 1...

Page 65: ...Y 34 POP 9 21 Portable music player 52 POWER ON 18 R REC 34 REGISTRATION 43 S SOUND CHECK 34 Sound list 9 STRINGS 1 9 27 30 STRINGS 2 9 27 STUDIO 33 T Troubleshooting 60 TUNE 42 V VOCAL DESIGNER 7 8 9...

Page 66: ...64 Information...

Page 67: ...PUT MIC DIRECT MIC LEVEL LED VOICE EXPRESSION VOICE EXPRESSION MIC KBD CTRL MIDI KBD KBD CTRL MIDI MIDI MIX TO MIC OCTAVE MIC ON OFF REC PLAY ON OFF DOWN UP 8va EXT IN LEVEL EXP PEDAL BASS PERCUSSION...

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