Roland VP-9000

May 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Rob Shrock

When the Roland Corporation unveiled the VP-9000 at the winter 2000 NAMM convention, I was impressed. This unassuming black box performed magic tricks I'd never seen and stretched sound as if it were elastic. Everyone who saw that demonstration agreed that the VP-9000 was difficult to describe; you just had to experience it for yourself. I couldn't wait to get my hands on one.

The VP-9000 is the first device that incorporates Roland's VariPhrase technology, which combines the functionality of a phrase sampler, a loop remixer, and a vocal processor. Among its many tricks, VariPhrase processing lets you remove the pitch information from a musical phrase, then replace the original melody by playing a MIDI instrument while retaining the original phrase's nuances of rhythm and articulation.

That technology can even correct a sample's formant structure so that when you transpose it across a wide range of pitches, it sounds perfectly natural. In many cases, this capability greatly reduces the need for multisampling. Normally, shifting a sample's pitch also transposes its formant structure; this doesn't happen when you change pitches with the original acoustic instrument.

In addition to altering formants, the VP-9000 can change the pitch, length, and groove of sampled sounds and phrases in real time, either with MIDI controller messages or the front panel's knobs. Pitch can be shifted without affecting tempo and vice versa. The VP-9000 can take several loops recorded at different tempos and in different keys and play them back at one tempo in one key. In addition, it can automatically split a loop into any number of separate segments. The VP-9000 can even bend gender, turning a voice from female to male or male to female.

Those capabilities are the stuff of dreams for dance music producers, remixers, and sound designers, who often employ several computer programs to achieve what the VP-9000 can do alone. Instead of using one program to shift pitch and change tempo, another to split audio loops into segments, and yet another to reorganize edited loops, you can use the VP-9000 to execute all those operations in less time and without the effort of shuttling data from one program to another.

IN PLAIN VIEW

At the heart of the VP-9000's VariPhrase control capabilities are three front-panel knobs labeled Pitch, Time, and Formant/Groove (see Fig. 1). The biggest advantage of real-time controls is that you instantly hear when you've stretched things too far. MIDI controllers such as a mod wheel, a pitch bender, or any MIDI Control Change message can be assigned to perform the same functions as the control knobs. You can even set up one knob to control pitch, time, and formant simultaneously.

As you turn the Pitch knob, the selected sample changes pitch as much as an octave up and down without affecting the playback rate. The Time knob alters the tempo, from half to twice the original rate, while retaining the original pitch. The Formant/Groove knob defaults to adjusting the formants in a monophonic sample. At the knob's extremes, the effect can be described as changing vocal characteristics from a duck's voice to a giant's voice. To set the knob to control Groove, press the Groove button and turn on the soft switch that appears in the LCD. Turning the knob to the right then introduces swing, and turning it to the left introduces lag.

Below the LCD, six function buttons change their identities according to what's shown on the display. To their left, six dedicated buttons access the various modes: Performance, Sample, Sampling, Utility, System, and Disk. Sample mode lets you specify sample parameters such as name, original pitch, Velocity settings, playback mode, and so on; Sampling mode initiates the sampling process and lets you edit your samples. It might be less confusing if these two buttons had names that were distinctive enough to be easily differentiated.

Instead of pressing the Volume knob as you do with other Roland instruments, you press the VP-9000's Preview button to audition sounds. You can set this button to Gate, Trigger, or Drum mode. Gate mode plays the selected sample as long as the button is held down. Trigger mode toggles the sample on and off with each press of the button. If Loop mode is turned on, the sample repeats until you press the button again; if Loop is turned off, it plays only once. Drum mode plays an entire sample or loop one time. All modes can be set to play any or all Parts in a Performance, and the Preview button can be latched to remain on without the user's having to hold down the button.

The large backlit LCD shows all menus and detailed graphics. It also shows samples, editing parameters, and so on, but it doesn't display real-time changes to pitch and tempo. You can set a specific tempo or pitch by pressing the Performance button. To help preserve the LCD, you can set it to enter sleep mode after a user-defined length of time has passed. The LCD wakes up when you touch a button or turn a knob, or when the unit receives a MIDI message.

The VP-9000 is not short on connectivity (see Fig. 2). In addition to a pair of balanced ¼-inch TRS inputs with a three-position gain switch on the back panel, a balanced ¼-inch TRS input on the front panel facilitates quick sampling of monaural sources. The back panel has three pairs of balanced ¼-inch TRS analog outputs, and the front panel offers a ¼-inch headphone jack. The Main output pair can be routed through the internal effects (reverb, chorus, and so on), but both Direct output pairs are dry. Digital I/O is available on optical and coaxial S/PDIF ports simultaneously.

To supplement the front panel's Zip 250 drive, there are 25-pin and 50-pin SCSI connectors with a single termination switch in the back. External drives, such as CD recorders, can be connected to both SCSI ports. Standard MIDI In, Out, and Thru ports are also on the back.

LONG-TERM MEMORY LOSS

Roland ships the VP-9000 with 8 MB of RAM. This can be upgraded with an additional 128 MB using four SIMM slots you can gain access to through a plate in the top panel. The basic 8 MB provides just 50 seconds of monaural sampling time or 25 seconds of stereo. In any case, those are the maximum lengths for a single sample in mono or in stereo; you can't record a longer sample, even if you have more RAM installed.

Traditional samplers require approximately 10 MB per stereo minute, but the VP-9000 requires almost twice that amount of storage for the same amount of time. The extra memory is gobbled up by all the data that's created when samples are encoded for VariPhrase processing. With 136 MB of RAM installed, you can have about seven minutes of encoded stereo samples.

The VP-9000 holds one Performance in RAM at a time. A Performance includes as many as six Parts, and each Part contains one mono or stereo sample. If all the samples are stereo, the Performance can contain no more than three Parts. Stereo and mono Parts can be combined in the same Performance, but the VP-9000 can only play a maximum of six notes at a time. Each Part has its own MIDI channel, tuning, level, and pan position, as well as a number of keyboard assignment parameters.

Although there's a maximum of six mono Parts or three stereo Parts in a Performance, the samples in these Parts can be changed on the fly. Fully expanded memory is able to hold 1,024 samples in RAM, and you can instantly gain access to them with Program Changes. This feature allows you to call up multiple samples within a single Performance.

SAMPLING SUPREME

Samples can be loaded into RAM from the built-in Zip 250 drive or from other storage devices connected to the SCSI ports. In addition to reading its native files, the VP-9000 can import data in Roland S-700, Akai S1000, WAV, and AIFF formats. The unit reads Roland samples without difficulty, but I had problems loading Akai samples. When I tried to import stereo samples, some would only load as mono files. (Roland says it's been unable to verify this problem, and it may have been the result of an older system bug.) In addition, Akai samples must be imported individually at the sample level; you can't import multisampled programs.

VariPhrase samples are recorded and stored in 16-bit format at 44.1 kHz. You can import 8- and 16-bit samples recorded at rates from 8 to 48 kHz; however, they're converted to 16 bits at 44.1 kHz before VariPhrase processing can take place.

To record your samples, route a mic or line-level signal into an input. You can sample through the internal preeffects: compressor, limiter, and noise suppressor. You begin recording by pressing a button, by exceeding a user-selectable threshold level, or by sending a MIDI Start command. To ensure that attack transients are not lost, you can define a pretrigger buffer in milliseconds. A built-in metronome helps you maintain a consistent tempo. (Knowing the tempo may be important when you reach the encoding stage.)

As a bonus, the VP-9000 can resample signals routed to its outputs, which includes signals processed through the effects and preeffects. Its ability to internally resample itself helps the VP-9000 offset its limited polyphony.

The VP-9000 provides eight preset and eight programmable sampling templates. These templates are designed for typical sampling situations such as recording from a microphone, a CD, or the VP-9000's outputs. These templates store settings such as the trigger mode, which input is used, metronome count in, and so on.

The VP-9000's waveform-editing capabilities are among the best I've seen in a hardware device, but editing is still more cumbersome than using computer software. There is no Undo edit buffer, so all edits are destructive. If you want to experiment with edits, do so with a copy of the file in case you don't like the results.

Samples can be graphically edited with a variety of commands, including Cut, Paste, Truncate, Normalize, Trim, and Reverse. Loop start and end points can be locked, letting you shift a portion of fixed length (two measures, for instance) within a longer sampled phrase. Although there's no autolooping, a zero-crossing search function can help you find good loop points.

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

To allow VariPhrase processing, samples must first be encoded by the VP-9000. The encoding process divides a sample into separate segments by analyzing it for amplitude level changes and inserting an Event marker when there's an abrupt change. The threshold is defined by default, but you can change the Encode Depth parameter to produce more or fewer Events. Each Event marks the beginning of a new segment. Unlike the results of time slicing, the results of encoding are nondestructive; the original sample data is preserved intact.

If you are encoding sampled phrases and you know their tempos, you should input that information into the corresponding Part before encoding. The VP-9000 is also able to determine a loop's tempo if you cleanly truncate the phrase and provide the number of bars and beats.

By dividing the sample into segments, encoding lets you stretch, bend, and warp audio in several creative ways. For example, encoding makes it possible to manipulate a loop's separate timing elements. After encoding, the start and end times of individual segments can be manually adjusted, as well as inserted and deleted. I stretched a snare sample to create a longer decay time, with great results.

There are three encoding algorithms, which are selected based on the audio source material. Solo encoding works best for monophonic instruments such as solo voice or saxophone. For rhythmic percussive sounds with clean, sharp attacks, use the Backing algorithm. Ensemble encoding is designed for sustained sounds, especially if they're polyphonic.

Solo encoding lets you take advantage of pitch shifting, time stretching, and formant correction. Samples encoded with the Solo algorithm can be played polyphonically, which lets you play vocal harmonies from a single mono sample, for example. Solo samples must be completely monophonic — with no effects, overlapping notes, or bleed from other tracks — to apply formant correction.

The Robot Voice function is only available with Solo encoding. It removes all pitch information from the sample and replaces it with whatever you play on the keyboard. With this function, you can sample someone with no singing ability and make that person sound like a vocalist — sort of. Robot Voice sounds quite unnatural, but it's much clearer than a vocoder. The effect is cool — a cross between a vocoder and Cher's infamous Auto-Tune sound — and it will likely make its way into many club mixes.

The Backing algorithm is especially useful for rhythmic loops. It lets you change pitch, tempo, and groove, but not formants. By changing the groove, tracks with a straight feel can swing. There are only four groove templates: two 8-beat and two 16-beat swing feels. Although real-time groove control is moderately useful, I prefer the groove templates found in software sequencers. I hope Roland plans to offer additional grooves in an update.

Ensemble encoding also lets you change pitch, tempo, and groove, but not formants. It's the preferred method for encoding strings, vocal ensembles, and mixed audio tracks. If a solo instrument is recorded with effects, use Ensemble.

You can achieve some excellent sonic warping by deliberately encoding sounds with the “wrong” algorithms. For instance, I transformed a four-bar guitar loop by encoding it with the Solo algorithm and automating the formant control with a sequenced MIDI controller. The resulting effect was much hipper than simple filter modulation.

Whichever encoding method you choose, the process takes only a few seconds and needs to be performed only once. After you encode and save a sample in native VariPhrase format, you can preview two seconds of sound directly from the disk before loading it into RAM. Samples can be renamed and classified into preset categories that you can gain access to with the touch of a button.

After encoding, phrases in separate keys and tempos can be transposed to the same key and tempo, then altered in real time. Parts can also be excluded from selected VariPhrase processes. For example, pitched instruments — such as bass, guitar, and vocal — can follow key changes in real time, while drums remain unaffected. Turning the Time knob can still make all Parts speed up or slow down. Altering some Parts in real time while others remain unchanged is a stunning and magical effect.

For artists who want to experiment with tempo and key of a basic groove before committing to it, the VP-9000 is a real time-saver, especially when it's coupled with a digital-audio sequencer. First create your basic groove, then play with the tempo, feel, and key to create new melodies or harmonies, and then record them into your sequencer.

The optional V-Producer software package ($395) allows easier editing of VP-9000 parameters (see the sidebar “V- Producer”). It's available for Windows and should ship for the Mac OS by press time.

HARMONIC CONVERSION

Samples can be played back in several ways. The Key Assign mode specifies whether samples are played polyphonically (Poly) or monophonically (Solo). In addition, there are four Playback modes: Retrigger, Step, Legato, and Time Sync. Retrigger mode simply plays the sample from the beginning each time a key is pressed. Step mode plays a sample to the beginning of the next Event and then stops, letting you play each segment with a different key by assigning each one to a MIDI note.

When Key Assign is set to Solo, Legato mode transposes the phrase during playback whenever you hit a new note on the keyboard. When Key Assign is set to Poly, Time Sync mode begins playing a transposed copy of a sample from the point at which the original is already playing. If you hold a key down to play a phrase and then press other keys as the phrase is playing, the new notes harmonize from the middle of the phrase, in sync with the original.

This is very cool, and I've never seen computer software that can do the same. For example, suppose you sample a vocal melodic phrase, “Ooh, I love you, baby,” and play it back by holding the C3 key. When the phrase reaches “baby,” you press the E3 key, and the word “baby” is harmonized at an interval of a major third — in perfect sync with the original. It sounds as if someone is singing harmony.

I took the Time Sync concept a step further by using an alternate take of a lead vocal as the source for a new harmony. I was rewarded with a backing vocal that hadn't existed previously and that retained the subtle nuances of a different performance, which resulted in a more natural sound.

Of course, harmonizers have been around for years, but the VP-9000 offers on-the-fly harmonization at the touch of a keyboard. The results are often stunning and immensely useful for producers and remixers alike.

CAUSE AND EFFECTS

The VP-9000 includes an excellent effects section. Reverb, chorus, and multi-effects processors are simultaneously available. There are nine different reverbs, and the chorus processor provides five chorus types, two short delays, and a flanger. The multi-effects include 40 algorithms that should be familiar to anyone who has used Roland's VS-series digital audio workstations or XV-series synthesizers.

The multi-effects algorithms range from EQs and filters to a bit-rate converter and a tape-echo simulator. Five algorithms combine an assortment of effects tailored for vocal, guitar, bass, Rhodes, or keyboard. Each effects block offers a respectable number of user-editable parameters, and most time-related parameters can be synched to MIDI Clock.

Roland's approach to effects busing becomes more versatile with each new product; long gone is the limited busing of the JV-series synths. However, the VP-9000's new interface was a bit confusing at first. Multi-effects are inserted into each Part's signal path. Each Part includes its own send level, and multi-effects can be routed into chorus or reverb with control over each effect's depth (see Fig. 3).

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

The VP-9000 contains no filters, unless you count the multi-effects' EQ section. This is a glaring omission, especially considering the unit's price; filtering is common in loop-based music. Also, the tempo resolution is limited to one-tenth of a bpm (one decimal place).

The VP-9000's User Guide and Reference manual are written in true Roland form. They're often difficult to understand, and they contain a few peculiar turns of phrase. On the other hand, a third-party instructional video available from Roland is helpful and detailed. In defense of the VP-9000, however, I easily found my way around in about half an hour without consulting either manual.

THE BIG PICTURE

The VP-9000 does some amazing things, and it does them fast. Although you may arguably get higher-quality results with a software program, the audio quality is excellent. VariPhrase processing works well with many types of source material.

Several software programs are adept at converting loops with different tempos and keys to a single tempo in the same key. Other programs cut loops into separate segments so you can manipulate playback order and tempo. Practically all audio sequencers can time-stretch and pitch-shift. But the VP-9000 does all those things in a single hardware product.

The strongest argument for preferring the VP-9000 to software is its immediacy. For those who like to work quickly and specifically need what the VP-9000 provides, it can't be beat for pure productivity. Computer software usually takes longer to get the same results as the VP-9000, and certain tasks just can't be accomplished with software. No software package lets you harmonize on the fly like VariPhrase's Time Sync function does — which may be the sole reason some people will buy a VP-9000.

Its limitations can't be overlooked, however. I wish multiple Performances could reside in memory, limited only by available RAM. Considering that the VP-9000 is probably at its best when used with a computer-based sequencer, it's an expensive tool compared with sample editing and looping software.

Nonetheless, the VP-9000 is truly a breakthrough piece of hardware. Its usefulness depends on your musical needs, your working style, and your budget. Once you've heard what it can do, the VP-9000 might open doors to creativity that simply weren't there before.

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Rob Shrock served as one of the music directors for the 72nd Academy Awards. He has worked with Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Whitney Houston, Chrissie Hynde, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Wynonna, and many others.