Vocoder Tutorials

Vocoders are an effect device that combined two audio signals to form a third, composite signal. They are created by applying the energy found in different frequency bands of a source audio signal to the same frequency bands of a destination signal.

Vocoders are often used to create robotic voices and melodic drums. They are a staple of electronic dance music. Popular artists such as Daft Punk and Styx have heavily utilized vocoders in their recordings.

At their core, vocoders are built using two sets of 16 or more bandpass filters. However, two vocoders can sound entirely different due to the many construction options available to developers.

Vocoder tutorials, articles, and plugins are listed below.

Free AU Vocoder for Mac OS X (Universal Binary)

If you are a Mac OS X user and need a free Universal Binary vocoder, VoCodex is your solution. This AU vocoder has good control over its output and will do a great job turning your voice into a robot Click here to visit the VoCodex home page to download it.

How To Use A Vocoder In Ableton Live

Vocoders make voices sound robotic, drums sound melodic, and everything else sound really hypnotic. Vocoders are used by almost every major electronic musician. So how do they work and how can you use them? Read on.

To follow this lesson you will need:

Ableton Live (or any other VST Host if you are familiar with its audio routing features)
Orange Vocoder - An excellent VST vocoder. Click here to get Orange Vocoder. Alternatively, you can use a free VST vocoder from MDA-VST. Click here to get the free MDA Vocoder. A free Mac OS X Universal Binary vocoder is also available. Click here to download it.

How To Use Vibrato In Electronic Music Production

Electronic Music Production Tutorial on Synthesizer Vibrato. With electronic music production, the difference between aweful and amazing is determined by thousands of subtle audio effects. One of these effects is vibrato. When used appropriately, it has the potential to dramatically improve your basslines, leads, and vocals. This tutorial demonstrates several ways to use vibrato in electronic music production. To follow this lesson you will need:

A VST Host (e.g. Ableton Live, Propellerhead Reason, Cubase, etc.)
A VST Synthesizer. (e.g. Synth1, click here to get Synth1)

MDA Offers Free VST Vocoder

Related: effects free Plugins vocoder vst

If you just want to dabble with vocoding and the Orange Vocoder is out of your price range, then you should definitely give MDA Vocoder a try! It is a very nice free vocoder with good control over the output. However, it lacks a user interface so it isn’t very pretty You can download it from MDA-VST in their plugin pack (Mac & Windows plugins available). Click here to visit MDA-VST’s website.

More Orange Vocoder Tips

Orange Vocoder Suggestions. After reading the tutorial on using Orange Vocoder with Ableton Live, SonicTransfer readers had some questions about how to improve the sound even more. Here are some tips for getting a better vocoder sound.

Gustavo LP wrote:

Really, i am a lot thankful to you for the tutorial you wrote about
vocoder! Now it works very fine for me!
I do admire ppl that believes knowledge should be passed ahead to others.

There is only one remaining issue for me: the raw vocal. Like, if i am
singing a C, but playing a Bm, than i’ll have some very tense chord,
right? =]
Is there a way to avoid listening to the raw vocal?

Orange Vocoder - Commercial VST Plugin

Related: effects Plugins vocoder vst

Orange Vocoder is an excellent commercial vocoder made by Prosoniq. It has been around for about eight years and is still one of the most popular vocoders in existence. As of January 2007, the price is 170.00 USD. Click here to visit Prosoniq’s web site.

Click here to read a tutorial on using Orange Vocoder with Ableton Live.

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