The Boss VO-1 Vocoder is a unique and innovative stompbox that puts the massive expressive range of the human voice in the hands of every guitarist and bassist. By vocalising into a connected mic as you play, it’s easy to transform your tone with electronic voices, classic talk box sounds, and tons of all-new colours that are perfect for modern music styles. It’s even possible to create impressive ensemble vocal sounds without the need to connect an external mic. When you plug into the Boss VO-1, you can literally talk, sing, and cry with your axe, taking your playing to places you never dreamed of before.
Without a doubt, the human voice is the most expressive instrument there is, capable of producing a massive range of sounds. Vocoder technology lets you harness this power and control the tone of your instrument in endless ways via real-time vocal manipulation, achieving speech-like sounds, infinitely controllable wah, and much more. For decades, keyboardists have used vocoders to create electronic vocal tones and other voice-like textures with synthesizers. Now, the Boss VO-1 makes it simple for guitarists and bassists to use this inspiring creative tool with their music.
Driven by BOSS’ famous guitar synth technology, the Boss VO-1 delivers power and versatility that goes well beyond other vocoders. Vintage mode produces the familiar synthesized voice sounds heard on numerous pop and electronic music records through the years, while Advanced mode utilises new BOSS tech to translate speech and other vocalisations to your axe with unprecedented definition and clarity. Talk Box mode recreates classic “talking lead guitar” tones without having to use a traditional talk box rig and mouth tube, making these cool sounds much more accessible and convenient. Finally, Choir mode produces rich, impressive vocal textures from a direct input, with no mic needed.
With the Boss VO-1, BOSS has made the vocoder straightforward and incredibly simple to use. First off, it connects to your rig like any other pedal. The only additional connection needed is a microphone, which you’ll use to drive the VO-1’s vocoder engine when using the first three modes. After that, just turn on the effect, tweak the knobs, and vocalise into the mic as you play. Don’t worry—you don’t even need to be able to sing in tune. You handle all the pitch control with your hands as normal, while the Boss VO-1 applies the complex formant characteristics of your voice to the tone in real time. The VO-1 also features an effect loop for patching in external effects, plus a Blend knob for mixing vocoder and straight tones together.