Boss VE-500 Vocal Performer

Started by gumtown, August 29, 2018, 01:41:50 AM

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gumtown

OK I caved in and have just brought the Boss VE-500 Vocal Performer.
Let's see where it goes from here on...

Roland GR-55 > midi > Boss SY-1000 > midi > VE-500 = world domination !!!!  ;D MMwwwaahahahahha !!
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

whippinpost91850

Let us know how you like the VE500, I bought a voice live, and have nothing but issues,
Now I have the infamous white screen

Anemic_Slug

Anyone know where to get some sample patches. Or if there is a share site?

admin

Quote from: Anemic_Slug on March 07, 2021, 12:08:28 AM
Anyone know where to get some sample patches. Or if there is a share site?

If you find any  post them here as a zip file

BrookfieldStrummer

Have a look at Jared Gunston TV on YouTube.  He has shared some of his patches there.
GP-10, GT-1, VE-8, VE-500, Trio plus, Godin, Gibson, Gretsch, Fender, Taylor, Takemine, Yamaha, Hagstrom, Lap & Pedal, Rivera, Marshall, Roland

jhaimerl

#55
Quote from: gumtown on August 12, 2020, 12:50:43 AM
Helix midi out plugged to VE-500 midi in.

sometimes midi cc# can be off by '1' on various devices due to some labeling them from 0~127, or 1~128

if you Helix is set to cc# 30, then try cc# 29, 30, or 31 on the VE-500.
the VE-500 key change might not be visibly obvious, so maybe play around with cc# and Assign using a noticeable effect as an Assign target, like delay time, to test the midi side of things.

I am trying to get MIDI CC commands from Abelton working with the VE-500. No issues controlling my Helix with them. I also have PC's working perfectly with VE-500 to pick patches I'd like. However, I'd like to accomplish 2 things with the CC:
1. Turn on Harmonizer at appropriate times in a song
2. Select Key at start of song

I see the comments above on Key control and was unable to get it, so I tried to just play with the Harmonizer on/off.  I'm not sure I am doing this right.
I went to ASSIGN page, and enabled ASSIGN 1.
SOURCE is CC#20
MODE to TOGGLE
TARGET to ON?OFF
MIN to OFF
MAX to ON
ACTLOW to 0
ACTHIGH to 127

I created an ableton loop that selects the patch, then loops over a CC#20 command with value 127 every ~5sec.  I have tried #19 and #20 just to see if anything happens... Nothing... what am I doing wrong?

Once I can do a simple on/off, I'll reattempt setting the Key!
Thanks!
Joe

gumtown

You will need to send cc#20 value 0 for off, value 127 for on.
Also check the midi channels are set the same.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

jhaimerl

Quote from: gumtown on January 05, 2022, 11:28:27 PM
You will need to send cc#20 value 0 for off, value 127 for on.
Also check the midi channels are set the same.

Yeah same channel and my envelope has a step function from 0 to 127...
Shouldn't I be seeing the LED light up for the Harmony Button?

jhaimerl

#58
Links below to a few screen shots of my Ableton setup and various VE500 screens... Maybe something obvious will pop off the image at you :)

Ableton Setup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EAadFk8mKkujkzSh5Pvb7gjLvlSQnp-6/view?usp=sharing

Ve500 Assign Setup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I7M9Lz41PkkLp4t_Qg-lds4DKkNKHwU_/view?usp=sharing

Ve500 Control Setup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uPUjJ_vFR-wjlgMPu9UOXeullG-D1Anf/view?usp=sharing

Ve500 Effect/Harmony Setup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uPUjJ_vFR-wjlgMPu9UOXeullG-D1Anf/view?usp=sharing

jhaimerl

OK I've got it all working now. Both Harmony on/off and key selection. Boy, BOSS is not very clear with their documentation!  Anyway I had the CATEGORY set to HARMONY instead of LFX... uggh...

seddison

I am still having a lot of trouble getting it to work with midi its set to omni and I can get it to change patches but I only want to change the key - I saw the assignment method earlier but I really just want to know how to send a quick lsb msb plus code to change the key for the existing patch. I agree the documentation of its midi implementation is terrible.
Any ideas anyone ?

gumtown

Quote from: whippinpost91850 on February 11, 2021, 04:37:23 AMLet us know how you like the VE500, I bought a voice live, and have nothing but issues,
Now I have the infamous white screen
A year and a half on and I am very much liking the VE-500, it is a very complex unit if you get right into the menus and options,
it has Assigns that work like other Boss units, and you can construct some quite interesting sounds.
I only use about 8 patches, some of them are just the factory ones, and the "guitar out" from my GR-55 provides a Key base for harmonies.

So the singer in my band is now using my old VE-5, which he is happy with, we did a swap, the VE-5 for his TC Helicon Live Play, which I have since reset and sold.

Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Chumly

#62
Hi Gummy,

If you strip away all the processing from both the VE-500 and VoiceLive 3 Extreme, and audition a close third, harmonized vocal, on both machines, is there a clear and definitive winner?

I don't overly mind the do-all, over-sized format of the VoiceLive 3 Extreme, on the other hand if the VE-500 has noticeably more realistic intelligent vocal pitch shifting, then it might be worth selling my VoiceLive 3 Extreme and buying a VE-500.
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

gumtown

Quote from: Chumly on July 21, 2022, 05:12:01 PMHi Gummy,

If you strip away all the processing from both the VE-500 and VoiceLive 3 Extreme, and audition a close third, harmonized vocal, on both machines, is there a clear and definitive winner?

I don't overly mind the do-all, over-sized format of the VoiceLive 3 Extreme, on the other hand if the VE-500 has noticeably more realistic intelligent vocal pitch shifting, then it might be worth selling my VoiceLive 3 Extreme and buying a VE-500.


Have not tried the Voice Live Extreme, but if the processing is similar to the Voice Live Play (3 button blue box), I find the overall sound of the Voice Live a little muffled and over-processed, where the VE-500 is nice and crisp/clear, and the harmonies not so artificial (up to a certain mix point).
Of course if the harmonies are over done, then it starts sounding un-natural, the Voice Live only used a built in room mic to sense harmony pitch, where the VE-500 can use midi and/or a guitar input for harmony tracking.
I also didn't like the Voice Live sound library, where it is structured by catalogs of Artist's name, rather than by effect type.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Chumly

#64
Thanks Gumtown,

I have not made a direct comparison: VoiceLive Extreme vs. VoiceLive Play.  I understand vocal harmony hardware devices have some way to go before they are indistinguishable from the real thing.

I've only used my VoiceLive Extreme via guitar input or MIDI to control harmony intervals.  It seems at least one thing is clear, in the realm of patch management and effects, the VoiceLive Extreme is more flexible and professional compared to the VoiceLive Play, 
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

markg

Is there a way to play a midi chord and have it mapped to harmonies? I have a midi chord that I want to use for vocal harmonies, and it seems like the VE-500 will only process one of the notes. Is this correct? If this is true, I would have to map each note to a different midi channel. I can't see any demos or clear documentation on this. I've used the TC Voice Live play in the past for this sort of thing, but it's no longer part of my setup. Any suggestions welcome.

molul

Got a VE500 yesterday. Coming from a Voicelive Touch I've used for nearly a decade, being able to control it with the feet is already great, but it gets much better once you unleash the potential of the assign section (fortunately I had a Boss GT8 and I was familiar with how it works xD).

The only downside: this old UI needs to end. I switched from the GT8 to a Helix LT a few years ago and that's entirely something else. The snapshots, for instance, are like the assign functionality but much better done.

Anyway, I guess the VE500 is the best you can get nowadays, if you don't need/want guitar FX (that's why I didn't even consider the VoiceLive 3 Extreme). Here's hoping for an 2020's version :)

kellerbrash

I've spent some time digging into the internal controls and there's only one mystery I cannot figure out that I HOPE someone can solve for me.

The main goal is to set a tap tempo delay rather than needing to manually input the ms.

I figured out how to set one of the pedals to TAP BPM which effectively shows a change in the MASTER BPM when I tap. However, How can we direct the delay effect to adhere to that MASTER BPM?


gumtownadmin

Turn the Delay time up past the maximum ms range, and you will enter the Time signature ranges which are affected by the Master or Delay BPM.
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

kellerbrash

Quote from: gumtownadmin on September 08, 2023, 08:59:34 PMTurn the Delay time up past the maximum ms range, and you will enter the Time signature ranges which are affected by the Master or Delay BPM.

Oh man you saved the day!!

Boisdelac

Two Questions....could you please advice

Is there somewhere a VE-500 patch exchange (maybe similar to the GT1000 Boss Tone Exchange)?

How do I import a single sound-patch to my VE-500? I feel totally unsafe to work with the librarian. I got twice an error when edititing the sequence of the patches. After editing the sequence, the names of the patches were switched, but all patch parameters were set to a default parameter (seems to be the "Initialized Patch State"). That means, all settings were gone, the names of the patches remain.

S/W is 1.07 and Tone-Studio is 1.x.