Hey everyone! Had a quick question about vocals... or rather, vocal effects.

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K1TTENM1TTEN
Posts: 315
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

23 Jan 2015

Hey everyone! Glad to see that this place is going awesome! 

Here is my question: I am trying to pull off this vocal effect in Reason. To my ears it sounds like it may be like a harmony/vocoder effect. In fact, it sounds like an auto-tuner meets Imogene Heap's vocoder. Any help on what exactly is going on vocally and how to pull this off in Reason would be amazing! 

Here is the track in question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi9If3vt83c

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selig
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Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

23 Jan 2015

Check out Neptune, specifically it's Voice Synth. 

All you do is play the chords you want to hear, and sing the words you want to sing and it pretty much sounds like that example. Let me know if you have any issues getting it to work.

Neptune's Voice Synth section sound's more like the harmony generator devices and plugins from TC/Helicon (which may be what they're using in that video, I couldn't tell) than an old school vocoder IMO.
:)
Selig Audio, LLC

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K1TTENM1TTEN
Posts: 315
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

23 Jan 2015

It is funny you mention TC Helicon, as that is actually what my initial thought was making that sound. I used to own a Voice Works Plus rack back in the day and you could MIDI control the harmonies to sound almost identical to that. Thank you for the tip though Selig, with a lil adjusting I got it to sound pretty stinkin' close. Admittedly I have never used the Neptune's Voice Synth function, very cool!

-EDIT-
So the only question I have that I am still having issues with is the auto-tune sound. I have never been able to get Neptune to sound as "smooth" as the Antares/TC Helicon versions of the high speed auto-tune effect. Any tips on making Neptune not sound completely worbily and clunky?

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Last Alternative
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Location: the lost desert

23 Jan 2015

Yep I would say Neptune voice synth also. With a generous amount of high passed plate reverb.
Good luck. Let us know what yo come up with. That's a great song. I'm gonna check out more of them.
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FrankJaeger
Posts: 302
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

23 Jan 2015

K1TTENM1TTEN wrote:Hey everyone! Glad to see that this place is going awesome! 

Here is my question: I am trying to pull off this vocal effect in Reason. To my ears it sounds like it may be like a harmony/vocoder effect. In fact, it sounds like an auto-tuner meets Imogene Heap's vocoder. Any help on what exactly is going on vocally and how to pull this off in Reason would be amazing! 

Here is the track in question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi9If3vt83c
Awesome sounding band. I'm going to have to look up some more by them. Thanks for your inadvertent enlightening.

-And Neptune like everyone else said.  :s0826:
Midniite Music
My Gear: 2021 Macbook Pro M1/UA Volt 176 Interface/JBL Series 3, 8" Monitors/Akai MPK mini mk3/

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Julibee
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23 Jan 2015

I think it's just two lines... One in harmony, but both run through a vocoder... It seems both the lead and the harmony are duplicated-- like there's both a NON-vocoder track and a vocoder track for each.. Yeah, Neptune would do it. Maybe not quite this smooth, honestly (I find it lacking, really), but generally, yes.

Great song! Thanks!
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K1TTENM1TTEN
Posts: 315
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

23 Jan 2015

Glad everyone seems to be enjoying the track :-D I've gotten it close, but that lead vocals is super smooth, any ideas how to make Neptune that smooth? I've had zero luck, it's way too harsh and seems to fumble around a lot.

FrankJaeger
Posts: 302
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

23 Jan 2015

Another way to do this is to create two new audio tracks and duplicate your lead vox to them. Turn off the snap feature and while leaving one in the correct position, slide the other two just a little bit off grid. Make sure that all 3 are very close but that none of them line up perfectly with another one. You will now have a nice little harmony going and can process them individually (balance those faders as this will dramatically increase the volume of your vox). You could even try using the Neptune as a send effect rather than an insert. Get the settings how you want them and then use mixer to dial in just the right amount so it won't sound so harsh.
Midniite Music
My Gear: 2021 Macbook Pro M1/UA Volt 176 Interface/JBL Series 3, 8" Monitors/Akai MPK mini mk3/

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weforgot...
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Joined: 20 Jan 2015

24 Jan 2015

They are using a Voice Live Touch (VLT) by TC Helicon which does a lot of things all at once. The specific lights that are showing as "on" on the unit are FX (The Vodcoder effect), Double, Reverb, Delay, and Harmony. I have one and it does the vocal magic for sure.

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