Roland SVC-350 User manual

/ V O C O D E R / F E A T U R E S
The SVC - 350 is a rack mount type Ciear, highquality vocodeisound.
vocoder designed to accept external
inputs. It is easy to use both in the *The vocoder produces sound whose
studioandonthestage. expression follows theexpression ofthe
input voice.
Includes uniquevoicecharacter con -
trols.
With the speciaily designed chorus
circuit,
a solo voice input can become
alargechorus.
aSpeciai hold circuit will hold the
vocoder tone quality by means of an
external footswitch.
*Two separate inputs allow sirnulta-
neous use of an electrlc gultar and a
keyboard instrument such as a synthe
-
sizer, strings, etc.
*To enrich the guitar sound, a
special compressor and a harmonic
controlcircuit are included intheguitar
input.
Twoseparate output jacks, one for a
vocal amplifier and the other ior a guitar
amplifier.
*lnciudes a headphone monitoring
circuit.
CONNECTIONS
BEFORE OPERATING
Check with your local Roland dealer
if you want to use theSVC-350in a
foreign country.
*Plug theSVC-350in before turning
on the power switch.
PRECAUTIONS
Donotopen this unit.
Unplug this unit whenit is not to be
used for long periods of time. Unplug
by grasping the plug rather than pull~ng
on thecord.
Becareful not toplace heavy objects
onthe power cord.
Avoid uslng this unit in very high or
lowtemperature locations. Also keepit
away fromheaters andair-conditioners
since this type of equipment will aifect
circuit andpitch stability.
Avoid usmgthis unit in very dusty or
hum~dplaces.
* If it I S necessary touse th~sun~tin an
area with neon or fluorescent lights,
keep it as far away irom these lights as
possible since they will induce high
levels of noise. Sometimes changing
the angle of this unlt in relation to the
lights willhelp reduce noise.
When connect~ngthis unit, plug the
cord into the external amplifier irst,
then plug the other end of the cord into
the SVC-350output. To disconnect, re
-
move the cord from the SVC - 350 iirst,
then from the ampliiier.
@TO clean this unit, wlpe with a cloth
dampened with a neutral cleanser. Do
not use solvents suchas paint thinner.
PEDAL SWITCH
If both microphona input. .,a used. th. atandsrd
phonaisck has priori,"
HEADPHONE
RH-10
.GUITAR AMP

OPERATION
7. After rnakmg the connections shcwn
tr the drawng, set the controls as
shown above and turn on the POWER
switch@
2. Adjustingtheinputlevels:
ill Microphone level
Set the MICROPHONE LEVEL control
@so that the green indicator @lights
and so that the red indcator Odoes
notlight even wtliloud passages.
121. Instrumentlevel
Set the INPUT LEVEL switch @soas
to match the level of the instrument
beingused. Set the output level of the
instrument so that only the green ndi-
cator Q lhghts when the instrument is
played
(3). Guitarlevel
Adjust the output level of the guitar so
that the indicator
(D lbghts.
*The GUITAR and INSTRUMENT in -
puts can be used simultaneously~in
which case both instruments should
beplayed at the same time whiieadjust
-
ing their outputs so that the red indica -
tor does not light.
Once the input levels have been set,
they shouldnot be changed.
3. Adjustingtheoutputlevel:
Ill. Set the BALANCE control@ at
DiRECTMIC and the VOLUME control
@between 5 and 7.
12) Speak or sing into the microphone.
Set the OUTPUT LEVEL switch
a)
(when using VOCAL AMP OUTPUTS
@@only) and the externai amplifier
volume control forthe des~redsound
level
4. Try producing thevocodersound:
Ill Set the BALANCE control @ at
VOCODER and try playing the input in
-
strument, Inthis condition, no sound is
produced
121 Try speaking or singing into the
microphone wh~leplaying the input in
-
strument, The vocoder will produce the
sound of your volce using the tone
color ofthe input instrument sound.
5. Set the VOICE CHARACTER
(p.41and HARMONICS @ (p.4)con -
trols for the desired sound quality.
6. The output level cf the vocoder
sound 1s determined by the OUTPUT
VOLUME control @andby the volume
control of the external amplifier being
used. When operating in the DIRECT
mode, the SVC~350has no direct con
-
trol over the output volume. (Adjust
using the volume control of theexternal
am~llfier1.

NAMESAND FUNCTIONS OFTHECONTROLS
INPUT SECTION
MICROPHONE INPUTS@@
If both inputs are used at the same
time, the phone jack input @will have
priority.
For vocoder inputs, dynarriic micro -
phones will usually work better than
condenser m~crophones.
VOCODER SECTION
INSTRUMENTJack 8
For instruments other than guitar. This
inpc~t IS the source of mater~al(sound)
fromwhich the vocoder soiind is made;
therefore, the instrument used should
produce a clear sound whlcli
IS rch in
harmonic. Do not use pec~~liarsounds
or sounds w~th
a long attack tme.
When using a synthes~zer, set as
follows:
VCO: Use sawtooth wave, or a pulse
wave with a short duty cycle lmini-
mum).
VCF: Set thecutoff frequency h~gh.
ENV: Set ATTACK =O; SUSTAIN = 10
(maximum); RELEASE=2or 3 (DECAY
is not used).
When using a string synthesizer, set
the ENSEMBLEeffectat
OFF.
If the input instrument has a wide
dynamic range, it may prove better to
use the GUITAR INPUT jack 010take
advantage of the compressor used in
this circuit.
INSTRUMENTLEVEL Switch @
Set tomatch the Inputinstrument being
used.
@Fineadjustment should be made using
the output level controi of the instru
-
ment.
VOICE CHARACTER Controls B)
These controls can be used to alter the
tone quality of the vocoder sounds for
creative work or to help compensate
for aspeaker deficiency.
BALAF'CEControl @
Controls the balance between the
vocoder sound and the direct sound
from themicrophoneinput. Fully clock
-
wise produces the vocoder sound only;
fully counterclockw~seproduces the
m~crophonesound. and settlng to the
center produces
mixture of both.
INSTRUMENTLEVEL INDICATOR 0
GUITAR INPUT Jack @
Use the guitar output level to adjust
theinputlevel to the vocoder.
HARMONICS Control @
This controls the harmonics contained
in the guitar sound. Turning clockwise
brightens thesound.
Wecareful not to turn this controltoo
high becauseunwanted harmon~cscan
be produced whenplaying chords.
GUITAR INPUT INDICATOR 8
The red indicator lights when the com -
binedinstrument and guitar input levels
are too high if the red indicator lights.
turn down the output level of either or
both of theinput instruments.
VOLUMEControl Q)
The output level of thesoundproduced
by theinstrument or guitar when in the
DIRECT mode is determined by the in
-
strument's output level setting and tlie
external amplifier's volume control. For
this reason, when using a foot switch
to change between DIRECT and
VOCODER modes, this VOLUME con
-
trol Q is needed tobalance the vocoder
soundwith the DIRECT mode sound.

PHONES ANDOUTPUT SECTIONS
REMOTE CONTROL SECTlON
HEADPHONE LEVEL Control @
HEADPHONE Jack @
OUTPUTLEVEL SELECTOR Switch @
Affects only the VOCAL AMP OUT -
PUTS @ @
VOCAL AMPOUTPUT Jacks@@
GUITAR AMPOUTPUT Jack (D
POWER Srritch @ withpilot.
REAR PANEL
HOLD Jack@ ENSEMBLE Jeck 8
For using a pedal switchiRoland DP - 2; For remote ONIOFF control of the
sold separately) to hold the vocoder vocoder ensemble sound by means of
tone color. When the pedal is depress
- a foot switch (RolandFS - 2 1
ed, the voice tone color being produced
at that point willbehelduntil the pedal *With no connection to this jack, the
is relezsed Thts car ne used to br:dqe vocoder is in the ENSEMBLE mode.
yaps where the singer takes
a biezttl.
as one example of use.
VOCODERlDlRECT Jack @
For using a foot switch [RolandFS - 2)
toswitch between the vocoder sound
and the direct soundof themicrophone.
.With no connection to this jack, the
VOCQDER modesound is produced.
GND [ground)
For making common ground connec -
tionswithother equipment.

OUTPUT CONNECTIONS
-USING VOCAL AMPONLY -USING VOCAL AMP 12~~) ONLY
*USING VOCAL AMPAND GUlTAR
AMP
7
--
b"#T*"IIMY YL>CII AMP
i
*USING VOCAL AMP (2~~1 AND
GUITAR AMP
*USING GUITAR AMPONLY
7
In the two drawings at the left. the
vocoder and/or direct microphone
sounds do not appear at the GlJlTAR
OUTPUT lack@
L
NOTE : L
Withnoconnectionto the VGCGDER/DIRECT jack. the vocoder will remainin the VOCODER MODE
About the Vocoder
In 1939. H.Dudiayannounceda band
width compression device for use in
telecommunication systems The
present day vocoder is based on the
priciplesof this device.
The vocoder requires two inputs: the
carrier input and the program input.
The program input often conslsts of
spoken or sung words which are input
through a microphone. The carrier
usually consists of an instrument input
suchasa synthesizer.
The vocoder circuits consist of two
major sections: the analyzing secti0.n
and the synthesizing section. The
analyzing sectton breaks down the pro
-
gram lor voice) input to determ~neits
frequency content at any given instant,
then re
- assembles this sound in the
synthesizer section using thecarrier lor
instrument1 in~utas a basic source of
building material Inthis way the carrier
or instrument input is continuously
processed so that it seems to speak or
sing the words which appear at the pro
gram input The pitch of thls sound will
be determined by the p~tchof the car
-
rier input
The programor voiceinput isanalyzed
by passing
ir through a set of filters to
determine what the harmon~ccontent
of the sound is and how it changes as
the soundprogresses For example, the
g
sound " oo " usuallvconsists of primarilv
low frequencies while the sound " ee "
usually consists of higher frequencies.
The result of this analysis is a group of
control voltages which are used to con
-
trol the synthesizer portion of the
vocoder Each of these control voltages
controls the output level of a second
series of filters. Thls second series of
filters operate on the carrier input sig
-
nal. With the sound " ee " , then, the
control voltages which represent higher
frequencieswill be at a higher level than
ttlose controi voltages representing
lower frequences thus openingpartially
or completely those synthesizer section
filters associated with the higher fre
-
quencies. By this means, the original
voice sound is reconstructed using the
tone color material from the carrier in
-
put. The sound of the instrument used
as the carrier input willseem lo
" speak "
or " pronounce " the " ee " sound.
Using the Vocoder
Since the vocoder produces sound by
analyzing the microphone input and
using this analysis to reconstruct the
sound from the carrier input, it be
-
comes obvious that the vocoder cannot
produce sound if either of the two in
-
puts is missing. This means that it be -
comes very important for the words
spoken or sung intothemicrophone to
be well synchronied with the notes or
phrases played on the input tnstru-
ment.
Since the pitch of the vocoder output
is determined by the instrument input
rather than the voice input, it
is possible
to use pitch related effects such as
vibrate and pitch bend to enhance the
sound.
If the vocoder output sound is com
-
bined with the direct sound [BALANCE
Control
(D near center),itis possible to
produce duet effects by singing pitches
which are different from those being
played on theinput instrument.

BLOCK DIAGRAM
e Rack Mounting the
SVC - 350
the SVC-350 can be mounted in a
standard
19 " rack usng 5mm screws
as shown in the draw~ng.
5mm screw 19 " RACK

SPECIFICATIONS
ROLAND VOCOOER ModelSVC - 350
INPUTS
MIC INPUT: 114 Inch STANDARD
PhoneJack or EIA-RS297
Connector 16000. -54dBm mln.1
INSTRUMENT INPUT: 114 Inch
STANDARD Phone Jack 1100kn. 0
dB rnax I
GUITAR INPUT: 1/4 mch STANDARD
Phone Jack 1100kll. GUITAR Low
LEVEL)
INSTRUMENT LEVEL SELECTOR
Switch(OdBm,
- 15dBm, -30dBm)
INPUT LEVEL INDICATORS:
LED DISPLAY 5
MIC LEVEL; Green, Redlover
INSTRUMENT LEVEL, Green Red/
over
GUITAR LEVEL. Green Red:over
OPTIONS
OUTPUTS
For GUITAR AMPLIFIER:114 inch
STANDARD Phone Jack 15kll)
MONO or STEREO OUTPUTS: 114
inch STANDARD Phone Jack
MONO or STEREO OUTPUT LEVEL
SELECTOR SwitchLH, M.Ll
PHONES OUTPUT: 114 inch Stereo
PhoneJack
CONTROLS
MIC LEVEL CONTROL i-54dB to
-14d.B)
GUITAR HARMONICS CONTROL
11 ELEMENT VOICE CHARACTER
CONTROL
VOCODER VOLUME CONTROL
VOCODERIDIRECT MIC BALANCE
CONTROL
FOOT PEDAL DP
- 2 FOOT SWITCH FS-1
HEAD PHONE RH - 10
FOOT SWITCH
FS-3
MICROPHONE OR - 221 A-. I ._
-.-
i
MIC. STAND ST-100
ENSEMBLE ONIOFF: 114 Inch
STANDARD Phone Jack for PEDAL
Switch
DIRECTIVOCODER: 114 inch STAND
ARD Phone Jack for PEDAL Switch
HOLD ONIOFF: 114 inch STANDARD
Phone Jack for PEDAL Swtich
PHONES VOLUME CONTROL
MECHANICAL DETAILS
2U EIA STANDARD RACK MOUNT
TYPE
POWER Swtch/lNDICATOR
POWER CONSUMPTION: 8W
DIMENSIONS: 482iWlx92iHIx350iDimrn
19!W) x 3Xi1-11 x 137:,iDifn
WEIGHT: 14kp/ 301b 1402
Accessories: Foot Swtch FS~2
S~jec~ficationsare subject to change
wthoutnotice
SVC - 350 OWNER'S MANUAL '84 APR E - 2
Roland Corporation