VERSELAB MV-1: Has Roland finally cracked the All-In-One Song Production Box?
4,3 / 5,0 | 
Roland VERSELAB MV-1 · Source: Roland
Roland VERSELAB MV-1 · Source: Roland
Roland VERSELAB MV-1 · Source: Roland
Roland VERSELAB MV-1 · Source: Roland
Roland VERSELAB MV-1 front and back connections · Source: Roland
VERSELAB MV-1 is a complete standalone music production station with pattern generation, ZEN-Core sounds, effects and vocal recording. It’s cool, it’s compact and it’s clever. Is this the new standard in the all-in-one music production box category?
Finish More Music
Roland says that the VERSELAB MV-1 will help you finish more music and capture more inspiration with its fluid workflow and simplified approach to production. It combines drum and melodic step-sequencing with songwriting tools and generators and wraps it all up with audio recording and vocal effects.
My initial reaction was to see if as an auto-music writing machine, a bit like a groove box version of a home keyboard but that impression is completely unfair on many levels. Sure, it has a step-by-step approach to writing hit tunes but all it actually does is mirror what the vast majority of us do anyway. We write some drum tracks, add a bass, add a melody line or chords, shuffle some versions around as verse and chorus and then sing over the top – job done – and there’s nothing wrong with that!
Songs
The idea is that it helps you construct and formulate your songs. There are templates you can use and pattern generators to help you get down the tunes that are in your head. It has this “Workflow” strip with takes you from Sequence to Section to Song to Mixer and to Mix Down. It’s the sort of tool that keeps you focused and heading in the right direction.
Roland VERSELAB MV-1
Beats and Melody
You get 4 drum tracks where the first 3 are dedicated to Kick, Snare and Hi-Hat on the step-sequencer and the last one lets you choose from a vast array of full kits for polyphonic programming using the 4×4 pads. On the Melodic side you’ve got a Bass track, two instrument tracks and then an audio track designed for vocals.
For sounds it has the ZEN-Core engine and comes with 3,000 sounds ready to go and room for adding more from the Roland Cloud library. VERSELAB has MIDI in and out connections so you can plug in a regular keyboard and potentially include external sound sources.
Vocals
The audio track features a high-quality XLR mic input and you can record up to 16 takes and arrange them wherever you like in your song. There are built-in effects like Auto-Pitch, Harmonizer and Doubler to give your voice a bit of studio quality. Oh, and it also has a built-in microphone for capturing those moments when you don’t have a mic to hand. It doesn’t have to be vocals, though; there are line inputs for recording whatever you want.
Roland VERSELAB MV-1
It also features integration with Roland’s Zenbeats multi-platform DAW so if you want to take things further and bigger then you can. It can be battery powered so you could make music out on a lake somewhere, fire it into Zenbeats on your phone and share it with your mate in their studio so they can add some guitar and some weeping strings.
Roland VERSELAB MV-1
VERSELAB
This looks like a fun box that neatly bypasses much of the overwhelming complexity we often find in hardware music production boxes or computer-based recording. It’s simple but in a good way, a way that could help loads of people who want to make music without having to be a synth nerd, beat producer or sound engineer.
Check out the excellent walkthrough from Zeale from Blackillac in the video below.
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- Roland VERSELAB MV-1: Roland
- Roland VERSELAB MV-1: Roland
- Roland VERSELAB MV-1: Roland
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12 responses to “VERSELAB MV-1: Has Roland finally cracked the All-In-One Song Production Box?”
It is always the same awful music in these videos. Just once it would be a joy to listen to a different kind of artist. It’s globocorp sterility.
So write something different 🙂
I do Chris, honestly. I’m just fed up with dreading the demo because it is always the same. Wouldn’t it be great to see someone who makes pads from sampling the buzz from their fridge for their whippoorwill soundscapes?
Absolutely!
Roland is the king of bad displays on gear again 🙁
Unbelievable why such an inferior display for such an expensive piece of gear!
One audio track and no audio comping? Its a one trick pony.
Why not get the Akai Force instead?
Its the same money for a real DAW in a box.
There is a consistent design ethos that Roland still adheres to that turns me off, even when they add superior interface elements from other established products.
Where Korg transformed over the last decade, Roland still feels stagnant.
This might be a good product, but I’ll likely never know first-hand.
i’m a proud owner of mc-101 and tr6s (among many others) however i won’t be getting this- its strong points are already covered by other roland devices. this seems focused on pulling consumers who are new to beat making and electronic music gear. if only this came out like 2 years ago… for twice the price you can get a brand new octatrack mk2 now in black.
i would love to get one sure. actually i don’t mind these small screens that people are critical of. but i’m also fearful there will be some voice stealing. and the handling of samples is as not fully-featured as other devices in the same league
This device does have MIDI sync. So it could be used as vocal recorder/ sound effects player when connected to an MC707, MC101, TR8s, TR6 or other groovebox type device. If I bought one that would be why. Roland have missed a trick here perhaps, they could have made a MC707 mk2 with vocal recorder and a bit more memory, a few more tracks, MIDI tracks and a better song mode? I’m not slagging Roland or the Verselab, more Roland making some really great gear (with some brilliant features) but it not quite delivering the things you might need when tunemaking.
Can see the attraction of this, it’s a modern version of an old 4 track tape machine, with drum machine, synth, and sampler built in. Many great tunes started off that way. Personally, however, I’d be more likely to buy an MC-707, and put up with having to sample a vocal in short takes. It’s a lot more capable machine for more complex stuff, and a similar price.
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