Roland VT-4 Voice Transformer

The VT-4 is an effect processor for the instrument inside us all—the human voice. And like the human voice, the VT-4 is easy to use, yet devastatingly effective. Whether you’re a solo electronic artist, DJ, or singer in a band, the VT-4 lets you craft and shape your own unique vocal sounds, from subtle augmentation to radical transformation. Everything is hands on, with no menu diving or programming to get in the way. Jaw-dropping effects like harmonizing, vocoding, pitch shifting, hard tuning, and more are just a push, slide, or turn away. And with its compact size and five-hour battery life, you can use the VT-4 anywhere.

Transformative Effects

Achieving complex vocal effects is easy with the VT-4, and you can even use multiple effects at the same time. Use the central Auto-Pitch knob to dial in just the right amount of hard-tuned effect, then press the Megaphone button for some lo-fi raunchiness. Or run the vocoder through a tape delay or vintage chorus. Each effect has a selection of one-touch variations, so you can get different vocoder characteristics, various lo-fi effects, multi-part harmonies, and distinct kinds of reverb and delay. Chain your effects, set the controls just how you like them, and then simply hold down a preset button to save that setup for later. Changing presets and tweaking controls is smooth and immediate, with no jarring artifacts, glitches, or dropouts.

MIDI Control

The VT-4 works great on its own and can harmonize and vocode without any input other than your voice. But plugging a MIDI keyboard into the VT-4 opens even more expressive possibilities, letting you control the Auto-Pitch, harmony, and vocoder engines in real time with the notes you play. You can hard-tune your voice to specific notes as you sing, or create instant multi-part harmonies with voicings that follow your chords. The VT-4’s small footprint sits nicely on most keyboards and is easy to integrate into your setup, dishing out huge backing vocals and funky vocoded leads by the bucketload.