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Forums > Music: Keyboards

Vocoder?

TnyjMuzic	Date: July 14, 2007 @ 5:10 PM Does anyone know what a Vocoder is? I know that you plug your mic into it but is it some kind of module or processor? Does anyone know who makes them?
hate9wicket	Date: July 14, 2007 @ 5:15 PM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocoder and it being utilized http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDxFqw36KQ0
Veracohr	Date: July 14, 2007 @ 6:42 PM That wikipedia info wasn't very useful in my opinion. In short, a vocoder has two inputs, a carrier and a modulator. Each input is split into a number of frequency bands, and the frequency bands of the modulator control the levels of the corresponding frequency bands of the carrier. So in the typical "Iron Man"-like vocoder sound, a synthesizer sound is used as the carrier, with it's frequency bands being controlled by the vocal sound input, resulting in a synthesizer sound with vocal formants. The more frequency bands, the more intelligible the words. And you don't have to use a voice as the modulator. Depending on the vocoder, you can use anything to modulate anything. Hardware ones typically have a built in synthesizer, but Reason has a vocoder module which allows you to input anything as the carrier. My collaboration with Digital CP "Horror in Dreams" has a sound modulated by percussion rather than voice. http://veracohr.dmusic.com/music/ If you're into DIY, PAiA makes a hardware vocoder kit: http://www.paia.com/vocoder.asp But software vocoders are surely more common these days.
hantu	Date: July 14, 2007 @ 7:54 PM I know that they are really cool
TnyjMuzic	Date: July 14, 2007 @ 9:52 PM Hate9wicket i checked out the wikipedia link you gave and it generally gave the history of the vocoder and i thank you but veracohr you gave me pretty good discription of what i was asking. Thanx veracohr. And i checked out the Horror of Dreams track.
MickeyBreezy	Date: July 15, 2007 @ 9:11 PM another nice example of a vocoder in action is if you listen to any of T-Pain's music, he uses it in every song he does.
PrincessTast...	Date: July 16, 2007 @ 7:35 AM I used to think that King Crimson used a vocoder for the vocals on "21st Century Schizoid Man", but that's actually a Leslie (whatever that is) combined with a fast flanger.
zedsalt	Date: July 16, 2007 @ 10:45 AM Leslies are really cool. I'm not sure if Princess is joking or not about not really knowing what one is, but what the Leslie brand is most famous for is the rotating speaker system. Leslie speakers spin around a post with metal channels that meet contacts from the amp, as opposed to speaker wires. The originals were two-speed, one speaker. Later, some were made with two speakers. There's a company now that specializes in rotating speakers, but I can't recall the name offhand.
PrincessTast...	Date: July 16, 2007 @ 11:08 AM So THAT's how it works! Niiiiiice! No, I knew it was an effect of some kind, but I didn't know it was a speaker with rotating thingys?
zedsalt	Date: July 17, 2007 @ 10:50 AM Yeah! Nothing beats the sound of actual things actually moving! I know; a lot of folks are probably dying to jump in and say that (fill in the blank) makes a great rotating speaker simulation, and a number of companies do, but that's all they can be: simulations.
NickSawyer	Date: July 17, 2007 @ 11:46 PM I guess it must be a myth then, that "the flanger effect is virtually imposable to create in real life", that's what I read in some book. Although the Leslie effect is not really a flanger, the thought of rotating speakers makes me think of flanger, and they do in fact sound similar. Also though I guess the book was wrong anyway because all you need to flange is two turntables and two same songs or of course software effects well of course software turntables is all I have myself anyway har har well I'll shut up now I'm getting boring. About vocoders, the software ones I have are really great, so I'd say software is the way to go. I use OrangeVocoder (I think it may even be free, I wouldn't know ) and also one from stienberg called Vocoder.
imemine	Date: July 17, 2007 @ 11:48 PM A Vocoder is a dry bread sandwich with lots of sticky cheese. It causes you to sing funny!
zedsalt	Date: July 18, 2007 @ 10:34 AM The reason they call it "flanging" is that it was originally done by bouncing a track through a reel-to-reel, keeping just enough pressure against the flange of the reel with the end of one's finger, causing the slight delay that we usually do now electronically.
NickSawyer	Date: July 18, 2007 @ 4:45 PM You can also walk past a building while yelling and tada you got a flanged voice!! Hehe analog effects for poor folks
PrincessTast...	Date: July 18, 2007 @ 4:52 PM In the days before I had computer recording, I'd sing into a tin can.
imemine	Date: July 18, 2007 @ 10:26 PM Les Paul invented me!
TnyjMuzic	Date: July 18, 2007 @ 11:17 PM Imemine are you saying that the late Les Paul who is know for his gutiars invented the vocoder??
Veracohr	Date: July 19, 2007 @ 12:41 AM On 17th Jul 2008, NickSawyer said: I guess it must be a myth then, that "the flanger effect is virtually imposable to create in real life", that's what I read in some book. Flanging is the EASIEST effect to produce, besides simple delay/echo, because it's just a delay whose time is changing.
imemine	Date: July 19, 2007 @ 6:55 AM No---what I am saying is that the late Les Paul who is know for his gutiars, reverb and multi track recording fashioned me out of mud and rocks!
TnyjMuzic	Date: July 19, 2007 @ 8:45 PM imemine im sure Les Paul made you in his image. By the way what multi track recording equipment did Les Paul create??
tsand20175	Date: July 19, 2007 @ 9:01 PM On 19th Jul 2008, imemine said: No---what I am saying is that the late Les Paul who is know for his gutiars, reverb and multi track recording fashioned me out of mud and rocks! ...the "late" Les Paul? The man is still alive. And he didn't "create" any multi track equipment. He had an extra record head installed into a tape machine Bing Crosby gave him. This allowed him to do multi track recordings....the first person to master the technique.
zedsalt	Date: July 20, 2007 @ 10:46 AM Well, sure, Tim, but that's like saying, "Forget Andy Warhol! It's the people who shot the screens and squeegeed the ink through them who are important!". Mr. Paul's is the earliest example of multitrack recording. I hate to put anyone down, but are we really all that concerned with who wielded the soldering gun?
zedsalt	Date: July 20, 2007 @ 10:48 AM I meant to say...erm, type..."earliest widely-recognized example".
TnyjMuzic	Date: July 20, 2007 @ 9:39 PM tsand20175 your right about Les Paul. I could have sworn that i had head that he had passed away a few years back. Maybe i got him mixed up with someone else.
tsand20175	Date: July 20, 2007 @ 9:49 PM zed, maybe you misunderstand me. I wasn't knocking the man for not creating any equipment. The question was asked, "....what multi track equipment did he create?..." well he didn't create any recording equipment....though he did create the first solid body guitar. and read my last sentence, I gave him all the credit for being the first to master multi track recording. simply put, we are in agreement over his genious.