[Harp-L] First impressions: Boss VE 20 Vocal Processor

[Patrick Killeen <patrickkilleen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I got a Boss VE 20 Vocal Processor pedal a couple of weeks 
ago and seeing as all the sales literature seems to be 
aimed at completely non-technical singers I thought the 
first impressions of a harp player might be useful.  
 
It's a twin pedal multi effect unit aimed at vocalists, so 
you can plug a microphone straight into it, it will even 
provide phantom power if you want.  It gives you six 
effects: "Dynamics" (compression), "Pitch correct", 
"Tone/SFX",  "Double/Harmony", "Delay" and "Reverb".
 
The "Tone/SFX" lets you choose one of six effects: a three 
channel EQ (called "Preamp"), two types of distortion 
(called "Distortion" and "Radio"), and three special 
effects ("Strobe", "Chorus" and "Flanger"). This does mean 
that you can't use, say, the distortion and flanger 
together as you would do with a guitar multieffect unit, 
so it's relatively limited in that respect.
 
The "Pitch correct" has a couple of nice extras that help 
make up for that limitation, as well as being able to 
correct your pitch (which is of limited use if your harps 
are in tune) it can pitch-shift up or down an octave, and 
it's got a gender parameter which can alter your tone 
dramatically (making male vocalists sound female and vice 
versa).  Setting the gender parameter to -10 (ultra macho) 
produces a classic electric harp distortion.  You can also 
use the "Douple/Harmony" effect to shape your tone by 
mixing in additional voices with the gender effect applied 
and/or shifted up or down an octave.
 
The harmonies can add an interesting extra dimension to 
your sound, you programme in the key your playing along with 
the intervals of the required harmonies and the pedal works 
out the appropriate pitch shifted voice to add.
  
It's got separate delay (up to 4 seconds) and reverb (5 
types) effects so you can both together, and the 
compression is nice to have.
 
By default the left pedal is used to bypass all the effects 
and the right pedal is used to switch harmonies on and off, 
which is great for vocalists who want to have backing 
singers on tap but not so useful for harpers being creative 
with several effects.  The right pedal is programmable and 
you can use is to toggle any combination of effects but I 
found this an impractical way of working.  Fortunately, if 
you hold the right pedal down for two seconds then the unit 
switches mode and the left and right pedals can be used to 
move up and down through the sound bank.  So if you have 
two user sounds programmed next to each other you can 
use the pedals to switch between them instantly (this 
method is also the one you would need if you're using 
harmonies and you want to change key mid song with the foot 
switches).
 
The loop facility has a very handy feature, you can get it 
take a dry sample of your playing which it plays back in a 
continuous loop adding whatever effects you've got switched 
on.  So when you're programming sounds you can capture a 
phrase then put the harp down while you tweak the 
parameters until you get it just way you want, and when 
you're sound checking you can walk off stage and hear how 
you would sound to the audience.
 
It's got a two channel output which can be set to stereo, 
mono (both channels the same) or mono/dry (so if you're 
having trouble with feedback from the effects you've got a 
dry signal you can use for your monitor).
 
Overall, I'm very happy with my new pedal.  It will take me 
a while to learn how to get the most from it but I've been 
able to programme my basic sounds with no problems.
 
Patrick 		 	   		  
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