I'm dead serious. I need a vocoder vsti that I can use to sing like Roger/Zapp.

If you don't know this artist/band, I'll tell you 3 well know songs to show you who I'm talking about:

More Bounce To The Ounce
Computer Love
I Wanna Be Your Man

I need a vocoder that can do THAT KIND of sound. Any suggestions???

TonyVanDam wrote:

I'm dead serious. I need a vocoder vsti that I can use to sing like Roger/Zapp. If you don't know this artist/band, I'll tell you 3 well know songs to show you who I'm talking about: More Bounce To The Ounce Computer Love I Wanna Be Your Man I need a vocoder that can do THAT KIND of sound. Any suggestions???

Not sure of the sound you are looking for...none of those songs mean much to me...but none the less any vocoder if tweaked right and given the right carrier signal should get you very close. There isnt a HUGE difference in vocoders when it comes down to it...sure each has their own charicter but that can usualy be tweaked out if nessisary

I think what you need is a talkbox (roger/zapp tool)
if you(re searching for "california love" kind of sounds;I'm not sure but I think sonic implants released a sample CD with sampled "talkbox vowels" this may be a good start...OTW you could try MDA talkbox wich is the simpliest vocoder on earth(put it on your fx slot pan voice to the left and synth to the right that's it).
U could also try Akaki vocoder and orange vocoder but IMO you won't get results you're searchin' for.

BTW only a talkbox give the sounds of a talkbox so start checking your pennies
Hope this helped

Karen.

Karen-K wrote:

I think what you need is a talkbox (roger/zapp tool) if you(re searching for "california love" kind of sounds;I'm not sure but I think sonic implants released a sample CD with sampled "talkbox vowels" this may be a good start...OTW you could try MDA talkbox wich is the simpliest vocoder on earth(put it on your fx slot pan voice to the left and synth to the right that's it). U could also try Akaki vocoder and orange vocoder but IMO you won't get results you're searchin' for. BTW only a talkbox give the sounds of a talkbox so start checking your pennies Hope this helped Karen.

Yes, California Love!!!

I try a demo of Orange Vocoder. It made me sound like latter-day Kraftwerk. Good as Kraftwerk, but lousy as Roger.

A hardware talkbox?.....as a very last resort. Can you acually find any at Radio Shack or Guitar Center???

TechnoWeeniePas wrote:

...but none the less any vocoder if tweaked right and given the right carrier signal should get you very close.

Yeah, I agree... even if you were to use a hardware talkbox instead of a vocoder plug-in, you still need the proper carrier to get the sound you're looking for... It would definitely help to know which synth Roger Troutman used for those songs... Unfortunately I don't have the slightest idea! Good luck!

here is quite a long thread explaing how and what:

http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum26/HTML/001509.html

dekky wrote:

here is quite a long thread explaing how and what: http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum26/HTML/001509.html

I'll save it on my hard drive. Thanks.

I´d say that you should also try giving Antares Kantor a chance.
It´s been ages since I had it between my hands, but I remember that it can very unique things to vocal tracks that goes beyond the capabilities of a normal vocoder, and perhaps also give you something which reminds of the Troutman effect.
Also like the other guy said, try the freebie from mda - don´t underestimate its power!

Yep, Roger used a talkbox, not a vocoder. I own a Danelectro Free Speech talkbox, and I would NOT recommend that one. It seemed like a good idea- an "inline" talkbox with integrated amplifier, speaker, and microphone. The problem is that the amplifier driving the speaker is not powerful enough, and turning it up past a certain point only distorts the sound rather than making it louder. The net effect is that not enough volume gets pumped into your mouth, and to make it intelligible you have to shove the tube way down into your throat.

Commercial:
Magenta
Kantos

Freeware:
MDA Talkbox

We did a show in DC with Roger & Zapp in the late 80's, and at the time he was using a Mini Moog, feeding a huge tweeter element yanked from a PA system (I'm guessing), which was taped to some surgical tubing for the trip up to the mouth. It was truly homemade and sounded incredible.

KernelG wrote:

We did a show in DC with Roger & Zapp in the late 80's, and at the time he was using a Mini Moog, feeding a huge tweeter element yanked from a PA system (I'm guessing), which was taped to some surgical tubing for the trip up to the mouth. It was truly homemade and sounded incredible.

This just reminded me, there is a project to build your own talkbox (very simple, really) in Craig Andertons book Electronic Projects for Musicians.

Edit:
I also just remembered that I did see Roger play a show one time... he was performing at "Grad Night" at Disneyland. How sad.