The STVC features a metal housing, making it ideal for use both in the studio and onstage. The 49 keys are aftertouch and velocity sensitive and can be easily transposed +/- 2 octaves with a dedicated switch. Besides the multitude of knobs, switches and backlit buttons that allow a fast and easy access to sound generation, a small display provides more detailed insight and editing possibilities.
Tender Strings
The full polyphonic strings section starts with an octave divider-based oscillator. Afterwards, the signal goes into a complex mixer, followed by an EQ and an ensemble effect, like on many string machines from the 1970s. Different registrations for Violin, Viola, Cello, Brass, Organ, Choir, and more can be chosen with a single pot. This way the STVC offers a wide array of string sounds that can be used not only as background pads in a production, but also in many other ways.
Solo Please
Apart from the strings section there is a 16-voice synthesizer to complement the string sounds. Even though the solo synthesizer was conceived as an addition to the strings, it provides enough energy to cut through a mix by itself and take over center stage.
Language Wizard
The vocoder replaces the EQ of the strings section with a filter bank, which modulates the vocal signal depending on the speech fed to it. The STVC includes a high-end 44cm gooseneck microphone which can be attached directly onto the front panel. The fully polyphonic oscillator bank is used as carrier signal and can produce very intelligible speech or vocals. Formants can be modified in such a way that any female voice can be transformed into a male voice and vice versa. The adjustable jitter can make the voice sound hoarse or raspy, or even transform it into a whisper. The Solo section can be played through the vocoder or used in parallel.
Shaping Possibilities
The Freeze button allows short phrases to be frozen and repeated by the vocoder when a given key is pressed. The playback speed is adjustable, and negative values make the vocal part play backwards. Formants and jitter can be modified at will, too.
The new Tweak function allows modifying specific sound settings in detail, to change the solo cutoff frequency or the chorus LFO rate, for instance. It is built like a classic modulation matrix, but also allows changing implicit settings with fix values or offsets.
Effects
The three built-in effects of the STVC can be used simultaneously: Animate modulates the string or vocoder registration; Phaser is an indispensable ingredient of any string machine worthy of the name, and the high-quality Hall with adjustable room size can be mixed with the output signal.
STVC Tech Specs
Hardware
- Full metal case
- Keyboard with 49 keys, aftertouch and velocity
- Keyboard transpose +/- 2 octaves
- Pitch bend and modulation wheels
- 128 x 64 Pixel OLED
- 10 pots, 1 encoder, 9 backlit buttons, 5 switches
- 44 cm gooseneck microphone with LED
Connections
- MIDI In/Out
- USB
- 6.3 mm Pedal/Ext. signal
- 3.5 mm Headphone output
- 6.3 mm Line out Left/Stereo
- 6.3 mm Line out Right/Mono
- XLR microphone jack on front panel
Sound engine
- Fully polyphonic string section
- Continuous morphing of string registration
- Animate effect for modulation of registration
- Ensemble/Chorus effect for strings
- Phaser effect
- Reverb effect
- 16 Voice polyphonic solo section
- Continuous morphing of solo sounds
- Tremolo for solo
- 126 programmable patches in three banks
- Tweak function for modulation and specific settings
Vocoder
- Excellent speech intelligibility
- Formant modification
- Freeze mode
- Fully polyphonic carrier
- Optional jitter for the strings carrier
- Continuous morphing of preset registrations
- Simultaneous use of Animate, Phaser and Reverb effects
Pricing and Availability
The STVC will be available by the end of the first trimester of 2018 with a MSRP of 749 Euros.