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Talkbox/Vocoder thread

Re: vocoder

arXter said:
Craig David - What's Your Flava [2002]

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nice production from Garage maestro Mark Hill (of Artful Dodger).
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I LOVED THIS JOINT! :punk:
 
these are some individual vocal tracks (some probably of Mike's b/g vox) of the vocoder work on Remember The Time. it came from an acetate that was sold out of Teddy Riley's studios.


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#6 Vocal Runs 1








#6 Vocal Runs 2








#6 Vocal Runs 3








#6 Vocal Runs 4








#6 Vocal Runs 5









pretty cool.
 
I guess that, like any technology, in the right hands, it can work great.

I'm not a massive fan of the effect, but it does work well in some cases. It's just that, to me, it often takes away a certain amount of the 'human' element of the voice. Those subtle things like vibrato, inflections, etc.. those are the things I enjoy hearing the most in singing. Expression.

It's very easy to overuse an effect, any effect. When the effect takes precedence over the music, then it's too much.

It really depends on the song, and how it's used...

Just my thoughts.
 
eighthnoterojo said:
Those subtle things like vibrato, inflections, etc.. those are the things I enjoy hearing the most in singing. Expression..
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funny thing is, with Auto-Tune, two of the steps to get that vocoder/Cher effect is to zero both the vibrato and pitch-drift knobs lol spot on, girl.
 
Well, in Cher's Believe, I find the effects to be appropriate for the song. Effects make sense in a techno-type song. I'm not a massive fan of techno, generally, but I can certainly appreciate the techniques they used.

I went and had a listen to the song, to refresh my memory, and there are many different effects in there (talking about the voice in particular here.)

Varied filtering, echo, varying amounts of reverb,...

I find the effects nicely balanced, and even though they are obvious, they add to the song rather than detract from it in this case, imo. The Autotune is not used everywhere, and there is also plenty of vibrato, which I assume is Cher's own. lol

I haven't been up to listening to very much music these days, (you know why from my PM,) but I bet all these newer effects are used in really creative ways in contemporary art music... when I feel up to it, I'll be listening and observing again.
 
i actually began hating Cher's song because it was so massive in the UK and everyone was going on about the "Cher effect" LOL but she did use it as an effect, as opposed a replacement for vocals as in the case of T-Pain.

anyway, another vocoder track, from a Jackson:


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Randy & The Gypsys - Love You Honey [1989]







 
That is a great track..

I also have Jackie's album "Be The One" and it too was pretty good. Very good effort by Randy.
 
Air - Moon Safari [1998]

having listened to Air's '98 debut album, vocoders and talk-boxes were used pretty much everywhere. here are my picks:

Moonsafari.air.albumcover.jpg


New Star In The Sky








Remember








Kelly Watch The Stars






 
here’s also an interesting experiment from Air

Run








slightly transformed verses’ vocals give it a bit stronger, robotic sound (plus that french accent lol) and the chorus (‘run’ and ‘go’) made of multiplied voices built in a loop and layered over harmonized synths.
overall it creates cool hypnotic and mysterious atmosphere of the track.
 
^ loving PMTWGR.


here's Rodney Jerkins taking after his mentor, Teddy:

m8ityx.jpg


Joe - Don't Wanna Be A Player








(2-Step Garage Remix)






 
Stevie Wonder on the talkbox at another concert doing a couple of random cuts..

Let's Get Physical and Never Can Say Goodbye (Jackson 5)



 
here's a very cool vocoder-led cover from Bill Wolfer with MJ doing backgrounds.


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Papa Was A Rollin' Stone [1982]













 
Superstition said:
Another MJ cover by Stevie... BILLIE JEAN.. :D
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haha!! i loved that! the vocoder or the autotune can be used for many good things. Stevie did great with that! too bad we don't have full on bass sound with that. boy...i don't care how i cause people to lose breath over this..but i'd love to hear a real good autotune cover of billie jean. i think that would work!
 
swipe from Timmy's MJB thread..

this is one of Teddy's most vibrant talk-box+vocoder combo, just improvising over Mary's vocal loop.


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Mary J Blige - My Love (T.R. & Mary Mix) [1993]













 
Roger Troutman's protege, Sure 2 B, has some nice modern-day talkbox productions.


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here's the best take on a D'Angelo classic with solo sax, lush organs and the box:

Sure 2 B & Teddy Patterson - Brown Sugar















and a Zappified slow-jam:

Sure 2 B - Old School Lovin'















and this is a pretty decent (if not amateurish) MJ cover on that solo saxophonist's CD:

Teddy Patterson - You Rock My World












 
Me'Shell Ndegeocello - Come Smoke My Herb. The talkbox kicks in at around the 5:08 mark.

 
arXter said:
Roger Troutman's protege, Sure 2 B, has some nice modern-day talkbox productions.


1zcaw7.jpg


here's the best take on a D'Angelo classic with solo sax, lush organs and the box:

Sure 2 B & Teddy Patterson - Brown Sugar










and a Zappified slow-jam:

Sure 2 B - Old School Lovin'










and this is a pretty decent (if not amateurish) MJ cover on that solo saxophonist's CD:

Teddy Patterson - You Rock My World
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there's no doubt that those are pro musicians on that yrmw cover. so it really makes me appreciate MJ's talent that much more.
 
Fingazz - Rock with You


GREAT:)
 
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Lots of talk of Cher bringing the auto-tune effect in 1998.. I forgot Kid Rock had done it earlier in the year (1998) with "Only God Knows Why":








 
aaahhh my bad mate LOL it's in the name of good music, so all is well =P it better be anyway cos i'm skint
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coincidence we both reached this thread, i just finished typing this then the bloody website gave me a server error! typed it again...

__________________

this song was recorded by Mike and intended for Thriller after Quincy heard the Jap electronica group Yellow Magic Orchestra perform the original. it didn't work out and went to Mike's collaborator Greg Phillinganes. Eric Clapton then recorded his own (hit) version.

this is the original 1979 track with vocoder vocals:


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YMO - Behind The Mask













 
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