Odyssian Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I've always thought vocoders were pretty neat sounding, and sometime think of getting one. Does anyone here use one in their setup? How useful are they beyond those stereotypical robot voice effects? Here's one that's just a little out of my financial reach at the moment: Wish it were mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksoper Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 I just bought an Electrix Warp Factory vocoder on ebay and am thoroughly delighted. Can't stop playing with it. Always wanted one and almost bid on the Moog vocoder that was also for auction at the time. Uses? Well, it amuses the hell out of me. I'm also going to use it on a new project for work. But my ultimate goal is to become as fluid with it as Herbie Hancock on "Sunlight" and "Feets Don't Fail Me Now." I'm getting closer to a usable synth patch with just the right amount of rasp out of a QS8. I'd love to cut a couple of songs with a vocoder vocal that didn't necessarily sound synthetic. k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elvis Bigfoot Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 It's just a toy compared to the ebay item I'm sure, but here is a link to a free software vocoder . I have used it before and was satisfied with it. (Of course I was trying to make robotic sounding vocals) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michiel Posted August 16, 2004 Share Posted August 16, 2004 Hi, Have bee struggeling with the same question. I must a vocoder for my discoband. First had a zoom 1204 (yeah it's zoom but don't underestimate this rack), it has a very good vocoder but it is just not practicle for live use. Now use a digitech talker. The results are less than the zoom but it so much more practicle for me. Here's a very usefull link: http://archive.keyboardonline.com/index_old.htm then click on: vocoder wars. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssian Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 Thank for the replies everyone. I will be getting one someday, I just don't know which one or when. I'm still curious about other uses besides robot voices though. Welp, off to read Vocoder Wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 I do think Vocoders vary in quality, just like low pass filters. The Nord modular one is pretty clean, you want to process it a bit to warm it up. I think analog one sound pretty in and of themselves. Other than voices, they are great for imprinting drum loops or other rhythmic material onto any sustaining material (like pads, noise, etc.). Best, Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssian Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 How about having a synth pad as the carrier, and then playing a monophonic lead or melody as the modulator? What would that sound like I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 Good idea! Especially if the lead has some interest in the envelope (plucked string/explosion). And has some rhythmic identity, All of these are harmonic though (emphasis/filtering of harmonic partials supplied by the pad). So it's going to be mellow. The inharmonic applications will be ring modulating or fm-ing the pad with the lead. That would be a brighter/aggressive way of combining two signals. Best, Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clusterchord Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 if you want 70s vintage vocoders sound , like bode moog and SRV, being real analog and all, i think MAM Vocoder is the only game in town. i do like the Virus series vocoder. but its digital, and its a whole different sound. only other "analog" options are, shelling out big bucks for some vintage on e-bay, or making one with modular synth modules like Doepfer,AS etc (also expensive). http://www.babic.com - music for film/theatre, audio-post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfonso Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 The Vocodizer contained in the Noah is fantastic. It's a 22 band vocoder and if you use as synth generators the instruments of this rack, the results will be very good. This stuff doesn't sound at all like all the other VA and plugs. This is a killer instrument with so many features and such an high quality that should be heard. You have a lot of stuff in there, and you could use Vocodizer with ,say, a Pro One emulation as synth source, while having a the best B3 emulation around receiving on 3 channels at the full instrument polyphony and the Minimax (cosidered the best and more faithful and deep sounding minimoog emulation).... Look at that "thing", and if there is one somewhere have a deep look to it, because it's worth. http://www.cwaudio.de/page.php?seite=noahadvantages&lang=en&submenu=home Guess the Amp .... now it's finished... Here it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssian Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 Thanks for the info, everyone... Jerry, I'm curious of what you mean by: " The inharmonic applications will be ring modulating or fm-ing the pad with the lead. " Do you mean the vocoder process itself will cause ring mod and FM effects automatically? Or do you mean make an RM or FM patch and then vocode the result? Clusterchord, it's funny that you mention the MAM. Out of all the MP3 demos in the "Vocoder Wars" article, I thought the MAM demo was the most musical sounding. So is the MAM an actual analog vocoder? I guess I need to do some Google-ing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 Funny, when I was referring to the tangible difference between analog and digital vocoders, I was referring to the MAM. Sorry if I was confusing on the FM and Ring Modulation thing. I meant to say ring modulators and FM are good substitutes for vocoding, when the carrier and modulator are more mellow, as would be the case if one was modulating a pad with a lead. This is based on my assumption that most leads and pads are somewhat rounded and harmonic. This is because RM and FM actually add information, not just subtract it from the carrier. I'm sure one could design a patch that has all three types of elements, thus allowing you to better control the amount of inharmonicity and brightness. Another idea is to use the inverse of a mellow modulator signal (phase invert and add it to white noise), which will have some of the same dynamic outline, but brighter, and giving the vocoder more to color to work with. Hmmh, maybe I should to go try that. Best, Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clusterchord Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 Originally posted by Odyssian: So is the MAM an actual analog vocoder? I guess I need to do some Google-ing. yes it is. it lacks some of the more esoteric functions easily accomplished in digital world - like re-tuning of the freq bands etc, but when it comes to gut sound of ELO, DaftPunk or 70s disco, i think it delivers the goods... http://www.babic.com - music for film/theatre, audio-post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeronyne Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 I like to run drum loops through a vocoder. Combine it back with the dry signal and you get a odd moving quality without true signal processing. "For instance" is not proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssian Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 Originally posted by Jerry Aiyathurai: Another idea is to use the inverse of a mellow modulator signal (phase invert and add it to white noise), which will have some of the same dynamic outline, but brighter, and giving the vocoder more to color to work with. Hmmh, maybe I should to go try that. Sounds interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted August 19, 2004 Share Posted August 19, 2004 Actually it works very well. Nice and rich sounding. Only two issues that required extra patching. 1) The noise stays on, which means I had to add an ADSR to turn the carrer on and off. This would automatically be there if you were sending in a guitar, or another synth. In this case I had the Nord modular, whose oscillators are free running. 2) It was a little grungy with the noise, so low pass filtered it a bit after the vocoder to tame the high stuff. Sounds nice and rich. I have to thank you for giving me this idea. I'll be using this as a vocoder default from now on. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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