Roland Aira VT-4

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.

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 artefacts, glitches, or dropouts.

Great-sounding pitch and formant effects are hard to come by, especially without a computer. And real-time tweaking of these effects often results in nasty artefacts and other unpleasantness. With the VT-4 you have totally smooth, instant control over both pitch and format, with dedicated faders for each. Dramatically change your entire persona from male to female, big to small, or good to evil—the choice is yours.