Boss VE-2
Combining sophisticated sound with simple operation, the BOSS VE-2 Vocal Harmonist delivers a complete effects solution for all singers, particularly those that perform with guitar. This portable, battery-powered stompbox has everything you need to create polished, studio-quality sounds everywhere you sing, from concert stages and street performances to practicing and having fun at home. The VE-2 magically creates beautiful harmonized vocals that follow your singing, with pitch that automatically tracks the chords played on a connected guitar, a preset key, or a combination of the two. Using one of these three operation modes, it’s easy to create perfect real-time harmonies in any key, even if you have no experience with gear or music theory. In addition to harmony, the VE-2 provides essential effects to enhance your voice, such as high-quality reverb/delay and an enhancer with real-time pitch correction. Also included is a USB audio function that allows you to connect to your computer and easily capture impressive VE-2 vocal sounds for music recordings, social media videos, and more.
When you connect your guitar to the VE-2, the Auto Harmony function detects the chords and key you play and automatically generates the correct harmony as you sing—it’s that easy! If you don’t play guitar, you can have the guitarist in your group plug in instead, or set the song’s key manually with a panel knob. Hybrid mode provides the best of both worlds, following both the guitar chord progression and the current manual setting. This is ideal for times when you’re riffing on your axe and singing at the same time—when the guitar chords drop out, the VE-2’s manual setting instantly takes over. With these three intuitive methods, you’re able to achieve natural, stable harmonies without any knowledge of electronic gear or music theory whatsoever.
With 12 different harmony types to choose from in the VE-2, you’re sure to find a sound that suits any style of music. Easily selectable with a dedicated panel knob, the types include one or two added voices in various scale intervals above and/or below your own voice. In addition, each type has a variation setting that incorporates more voices for even fuller harmonies. From a little added color to a rich ensemble sound, it’s easy to create impressive vocals with the VE-2.
The VE-2 is incredibly intuitive for anyone to use, even for vocalists that have no previous experience with sound equipment. Buttons and knob-based controls make it simple to get great sounds instantly, while the handy LED indicators show the current vocal harmony setting at a glance. The integrated multi-function footswitch allows you to turn harmony on/off or bypass the VE-2’s sound entirely as you perform, and you can even connect up to two optional footswitches for more control if desired. In addition, you can save three favorite sounds in onboard memories and recall them at the touch of button.
You don’t have to rely on a sound engineer anymore to make your vocals sound great—everything you need is included in the VE-2. The Echo section provides high-quality reverb, delay, or a mix of both, all intuitively adjustable with a dedicated knob. Pressing the Enhance button once evens out your vocals for a more refined, studio-type sound, while a second press adds in some subtle pitch correction for stable harmony. The XLR input accepts a variety of professional microphone types, including studio-level condenser mics that require phantom power to operate. Phantom power is even available when the VE-2 is operated on batteries, letting you use these high-quality mic types everywhere you perform.
Normally, recording your singing along with real-time harmonies and sound enhancement requires a complicated setup with multiple devices. Not so with the VE-2! Just connect to your computer with a USB cable and use your favorite recording software to capture your voice with harmonies and effects. In addition to music production and songwriting applications, this also gives singers a simple way to achieve impressive vocal sounds while recording performances for social media videos. With the VE-2’s Loopback function, you can mix audio playback from your computer with the mic sound, allowing you to easily record sing-alongs with backing tracks and karaoke tunes.