In the Ring - Vocoder vs Talk box

It's a battle of man versus machine!

The voice controlling the instrument or the instrument controlling the voice.   Who will be the victor?

In the red corner we have vocoders - those virtual versions of vocals that pop up in all kinds of pop music!

In the blue corner we have Talk Boxes - turning the tables and transferring the control to the musician's mouth with a microphone modulating the sound!

So with the introductions out of the way...

Let the battle commence!


In the beginning...

The first of our contenders began life in 1928 - when an engineer called Homer Dudley decided to attempt to reduce how much information was needed to store speech, meaning communication could become quicker.

This was used throughout World War 2, as the first vocoders were introduced to the public in 1939, giving the important communications a speedier trip to the ears of the generals in charge.   Little did they know that they were also listening to the future of pop music...


Meanwhile, across the pond...

Coincidentally, in 1939, Pedal Steel Guitar pioneer Alvino Rey used a throat microphone to modulate his guitar tone.   He actually got his wife to stand behind a curtain and mouth the words into the mic (If that's not true love I don't know what is).

However, he didn't see much of a future for the effect and so left it undeveloped.


The first popular musical devices

The first high powered talk box was developed by Bob Heil in 1971 - this was a device specifically for use on stage for rock music.   This is the sound you can hear in Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and a million other rock songs from Tool to The Eagles to Metallica.

The Heil Talk Box is still the most renowned of the devices and continues to this day to sell to would-be mouth-modulators!

However, the first vocoders for musical application were developed in 1969, beating the Talk Box by a few years, then went on to inspire Robert Moog to use his Moog modular synthesizer as a carrier signal for it.

The sound was then utilised for movie soundtracks (Including "A Clockwork Orange"), TV shows (Transformers used a vocoder on the awesome character "Soundwave" who magically transformed into a boom box about 1/1000th of his original size) and Pop songs from ground-breaking musicians like Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and Basshunter.

So how do they work?

A vocoder examines speech, measuring the frequency bands being made by the voice and storing them as numbers.   It then re-creates them by reversing the process; this, however, removes the original voice's "instantaneous frequency", giving that robotic kind of sound to the re-created voice.   By modulating the pitch of the device with a carrier signal (often a synthesizer), a musicality can emerge from the sound with intelligible vocals inside it.

A talk box works the other way, with a signal being modulated by the voice - usually in the form of an effects pedal containing a speaker attached to a plastic tube that goes in the performer's mouth.   The speaker in the talk box reproduces the sound of the amplifier, sending it into the mouth of the musician, and then a microphone is used to pick up the changes in the tone from the different mouth shapes of the vocalist.   This modulates the sound and gives it that formant-y, vocal quality.


The winner...

So who is the victor?

Well if popularity is the decider, then just look to the back catalogue of Talk-box artists - it reads like a who's-who of rock and roll legends.

But similarly take a look at vocoders - some of pop music's finest are represented.

In a way, it's quite fitting.   Rock musicians with their powerful, intense music are in control of their instruments, whereas pop musicians, relying on high quality gear to perfect their music are drawn towards the idea of synthesized, perfectly pitched vocals, but submit themselves to being manipulated by a machine.

So I guess the decision comes down to one unexpectedly philosophical question - do you want to control or be controlled?

Remix Competition with Findremix!

We have teamed up with Findremix to offer what we feel is one of the best remix competition opportunities out there.

There will be three winners and big prizes for them: a release on System Recordings, full memberships to the training videos at Groove 3, plugins from Ohm Force, the incredible synth Alchemy of Camel Audio and 5 sample packs from Prime Loops!

You know the deal, its a remix competition... Make a bangin' remix and you could win stuff. You have until May 31st, 2010 to download the stems.

Indie Hip Hop

Hip Hop has long had a specific stigma attached to it.

Whether it's the masses' misinterpretation that it's all self-promoting arrogant rhymes over simple sampled beats or chart-fodder for people who can't operate an auto-tune unit, it has been misunderstood for a long time.

But now Hip Hop has well and truly grown up in the eyes of the mainstream...


The New Wave of Hip Hop

Where in the past Hip Hop has been considered party music or something for rude boys to test out the new subwoofers in their car, the new wave of Hip Hop is considerably more versatile.

All kinds of genres have found their way into the tracks of new "Alternative Hip Hop" artists; rock, pop, jazz, indie, country, electronica and even gospel have been drawn from to create this evolution.

It's not just musically that things have changed either - Lyrics have veered away from the ego-food of yesteryear as Gangsta Rap's sales continue their steady decline.   Whether it's about dealing with emotions or political messages, there is clearly a change in character of the conventional rapper.

Ideology

The idea behind this new wave of Hip hop is not one specific thing - It's a collection; a positive plethora of ideas and directions to take the genre.

Old concepts that have never before hit it big in the charts and new thoughts that draw from the preferences of the individual artists pushing them.

Basically - trying something different.   People still love Hip Hop, but they're tired of the same re-worked idea sitting at the top of their charts every week.

Proponents

There are loads of different rappers taking the Alt Hip Hop route through their career, but here are just a few case studies...

Kanye

With his album 808s & Heartbreak sounding like an emo band name and yet going on to hit the number one spot and go platinum, it's clear that his decision to go for purely emotional lyrical content was a commercially viable one.

The music took heavy influence from synthpop and, unsurprisingly, featured a considerably amount of the Roland TR-808 drum machine.

M.I.A.

Now considered one of the world's top 100 most influential people by Time magazine, M.I.A.'s infinitely versatile musical outlet has gone from strength to strength as she's gone from country to country, sharing her political messages in cleverly masked, mainstream-worthy songs.

Whether it's the innocent edge of "Paper Planes" or the darker, more driving "Born Free", her music is certainly different to the Hip Hop that has previously graced the charts.

Outkast

The owner of the best selling rap album of all time only found their worldwide fame after experimenting outside their previous comfort zone of of Dirty South and G-Funk.   The two rappers brought a considerable change to Hip Hop back in 2003 with the album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" and went on to sell over 11 million copies.


The Future

Since experimenting with obscure genres and lyrical themes seems to be working, no doubt more obscure and interesting interpretations of Hip Hop will grace the charts in the future!

With styles like Glitch Hip and Wonky music taking influence from Dubstep and tailoring it to Hip Hop, and the boundaries between Dance and Hip Hop getting smaller thanks to people like Kid Cudi and Black Eyed Peas, who knows where popular rap music will take us?

Introduction to Distortion

Man, all this electronic music is just so clean!   If only there was a magical button to give it that edge... that grit... that audible equivalent of teenage angst.

Well, it sounds like you need some distortion...


What is distortion?

When a sound is compressed to the point that it just can't take it any more or raised in volume until it starts clipping and producing noisy artefacts, it is being distorted.

This often makes some convenient side effects - Increased sustain from the compression (very useful for live instrumentation) and more harmonic overtones being added to the sound.   Not to mention the extra dirtiness and edginess that is inherent with distorted audio!

Distortion effects units have been used for years now, giving a musician control over how much grit to add.   Distortion plug-ins brought things up to the next level, providing unparalleled ease with which to mangle your sounds!

What does a distortion device contain?

Distortion devices vary widely, but here are some of the more common parameters...

Amount - How much distortion is applied or how hard the source sound is overdriven.

Type/Mode - The algorithm used to apply distortion.

Hardness of Clipping/Foldback - How much the wave forms are folded back to achieve different levels of clipping.

Wet/Dry - This controls what percentage of the output from the unit has the effect applied and what percentage is the original source sound.

Some useful techniques

1. Guitar-style synth sounds

Get yourself a pad that starts with a clicky attack, perhaps due to a filter envelope allowing the high end in for a few milliseconds at the start.   Apply tube distortion to get some convincing distorted guitar!

2. Make you beats grittier

Adding or mixing in a small amount of distortion to your percussion can give it a lot more harmonic content, character and punch!

3. Harsh vocals without screaming

If your vocals need that grit but your vocalist is a bit of a pansy, chuck a decent amount of distortion on them et voila!   Instant edginess!

Introduction to Delay

Have you ever wished that there was a "Sound epic" button on your synths, that you could just turn on and instantly everything would feel massive?   I think I have just the effect for you...

What is Delay?

Ever climbed to the top of a mountain and screamed at the top of your lungs only to hear the rest of the mountain range screaming back?   No?   You should go on one of those red letter days or something.   Anyway, that echo is emulated in the digital world by a plug-in called "Delay"

Simply put, it records what is played into it, and then plays it back after a certain amount of time.

What can you do with Delay?

There are several options on most delay plug-ins, including...

Delay Time - This defines the amount of time that it takes before the recorded sound is played back.

Tempo Sync - This allows the Delay time to be locked to specific parameters so that the playback is in time with the music.

Feedback - This defines how much of the played back signal is fed back into the delay unit, resulting in the sound echoing out multiple times.

Mix or Dry/Wet - This controls what percentage of the output from the delay unit has the effect applied and what percentage is the original source sound.

Pan - This defines whether the delayed sound is sent to the left or the right of the stereo field.

Some useful techniques

1. Poppy filtered delay

This one is used in chart hits the world over - a simple, not too prominent delay on vocals with a high pass filter applied cutting off anything below about 2khz.   This results in a vocal delay effect that doesn't interfere with the lower frequencies, making the mix clearer.

2. Metallic sounding delay

Make a fast delay with a high feedback setting and you'll get a cool, metallic reverberation sound!

3. Double Dub slap delay

Delay the delay!   Try making one delay with a tempo sync to 1/8T of the tempo, then delaying that with another delay unit by 1/4 of the tempo.   With enough feedback on both, this will result in a sweet delay that's brilliant for those one-shots in Dubstep or Trip Hop!

5 Tips for a Dirtier Dubstep Wobble Bass

So you've exhausted the conventional simple start of "generic wave into modulated filter cut-off" as the extent of your dubstep wobble and are looking for something a bit more interesting to make your sounds stand out?

You've come to the right place, my friend!   Here are 5 sweet suggestions that will help you keep wobbling innovatively into the future!

1. Comb Filter

Fancy giving your wobble some metallic over/under tones?    Or perhaps turn it into some sort of obscure high pitched alarm sound?

Throw on a comb filter with a short delay and high feedback to turn your bass into a robot, being careful with that delay time, since a tiny difference can mean the difference between a mean mechanical menace and WALL-E.  

For that alarm, take the delay time up a bit more and leave it there with a decent feedback amount.   Make sure you inform the local police in advance or they might ask questions about the recent break in!

2. Distortion

For piercing overtones, head towards some digital distortion in the shape of a bit crusher and reduce the resolution to taste.   A whole new parameter to control even more dirtiness will be at your disposal!

Go for a more conventional tube distortion to add some rocky thick wall-of-sound-ness (Totally a word) to your bass.   Be sure to try notching out the fizzy parts of the distortion with a parametric EQ afterwards to make it more focused!

3. Formant filter

Fancy making the wobble sound like a laughing black man?   Put a formant filter in the signal chain, then turn the "Gender" to fully male with the x slightly above half and the y slightly below half.   It's like the most sarcastic laugh ever.

However, try modulating the formant to get some really messed up sounds!

4. Phaser

Space-Dubstep?   I think so!   Add plenty of feedback and sync the LFO to the existing wobble LFO to get some crazy sounds that wouldn't be out of place in Pac-Man!  

Or go for a lower rate to get that familiar sweeping sound on top of that other, familiar wobbling sound!

5. Granular synthesis

For some really crazy sounds try playing with a granular synthesizer and modulate the grains with the LFO.   Now there's some messed up noise!   These can work really well when layered with more conventional dubstep wobbles.