Talk Box?

farrm06 · Post by **farrm06** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:24 am

I'm about to buy a talk box to do some Daft Punk style vocals. What do you guys recommend as a synth sound to do the vocals through? My main synth is a Nord Lead 2x.

drummy · Post by **drummy** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:12 am

farrm06 wrote:I'm about to buy a talk box to do some Daft Punk style vocals. What do you guys recommend as a synth sound to do the vocals through? My main synth is a Nord Lead 2x.

I believe they used a vocoder. You can maybe buy a MicroKorg for a vocoder? I think I saw a guy using the MicroKorg vocoder to replicate the vocals on Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Please excuse my ignorance on the subject, I'm drunk.

Yoozer · Post by **Yoozer** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:03 am

Good lord, not the vocoder/talk box discussion again.

They do not sound alike and a lot depends on the input signal.

One More Time (the Cher effect) : Pitch correction - Antares Autotune.
Around The World : Talkbox.
Robot Rock: Vocoder.

Talkbox demo: (when there's a plastic hose involved, it's a talkbox).
What a vocoder does:

You can build your own talkbox -

The input signal for a talk box is served best as a saw wave - anything with a lot of harmonics, because your mouth is going to act as a filter. Set both oscillators of the Nord as saws, detune one of 'm a few cents, and use that as the input - it'll do fine. The entire religion that has sprung up around the DX100 is ridiculous - any 4-op FM synth will do, it's just that the DX100 is cute and small.

farrm06 · Post by **farrm06** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:08 am

Thanks yoozer, I was considering getting a vocoder, but i like the improved clarity of the talkbox.

Box · Post by **Box** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:39 am

What I do for a cheap "talkbox" is to run earbuds that're tied together out the headphone output and place them in the back of my mouth and then "talk" into a mic connected to my amp. Ye it's not an official talkbox but it gets the job done.

But the difference between the two is that with a talkbox the synth is the sound source and your using your mouth to shape the sound, talking synth effect. With a vocoder your voice is the sound source and the synth will filter/alter it, robot effect. Two completely different things with two completely different outcomes.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:18 am

Yoozer wrote:The entire religion that has sprung up around the DX100 is ridiculous.

OriginalJambo · Post by **OriginalJambo** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:01 pm

If you are looking at a talkbox I'd recommend a Rocktron Banshee - has a built in preamp so it's really easy to set up and use. It sounds pretty damn good too.

Here's some talkboxin' I recorded over Daft Punk's Digital love. Be warned that I screw the rhythm up quite a bit.

Notice the talkbox vocals sound nothing like the original ones - I really, really don't think a talkbox was used on this track originally. However it still sounds pretty cool. Oh and I used a Casio CZ-3000 to provide the carrier for the talk box, but anything that can provide a sound rich in harmonics should do the trick nicely.

jaypodesta · Post by **jaypodesta** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:33 pm

I love it OJ. Vocoder karaoke!

yek · Post by **yek** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:10 am

jaypodesta wrote:I love it OJ. Vocoder karaoke!

talkbox

ColorForm2113 · Post by **ColorForm2113** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:46 am

whats the best way to hook a talkbox up to synths. Because with guitars they are placed between the amp head and speacker cab right?

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:59 am

ColorForm2113 wrote:whats the best way to hook a talkbox up to synths.

Synth -> Talkbox, Mouth -> Mic.

Because with guitars they are placed between the amp head and speacker cab right?

No.

killanator · Post by **killanator** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:35 am

wait im conused, how does a talkbox work, and why is it in his mouth(i know this is a noob question but i always thought talk box and vocoder were synonymous)

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:08 am

killanator wrote:wait im conused, how does a talkbox work, and why is it in his mouth(i know this is a noob question but i always thought talk box and vocoder were synonymous)

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q ... lkbox+work

ColorForm2113 · Post by **ColorForm2113** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:04 am

Stab Frenzy wrote:
ColorForm2113 wrote:whats the best way to hook a talkbox up to synths.
Synth -> Talkbox, Mouth -> Mic.

Because with guitars they are placed between the amp head and speacker cab right?
No.

oh well alright! i dont know where i heard that but im glad its wrong. definately adding talkbox to my wish list now

OriginalJambo · Post by **OriginalJambo** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:06 pm

Stab Frenzy wrote:
ColorForm2113 wrote:whats the best way to hook a talkbox up to synths.
Synth -> Talkbox, Mouth -> Mic.

I'm afraid this isn't always entirely true.

The Rocktron Banshee is a special case - it has its own amplifier built-in so in this scenario "Synth -> Talkbox" would be exactly what you'd want. However most conventional talkboxes (including the original and popular Dunlop Heil) need an amplifier in between the talkbox and instrument to get results as it's expecting powered speaker level, not line level.

Here's a few diagrams from the Jim Dunlop Heil's manual that clearly show how to connect that sucker up:

Further more you can indeed connect the talkbox in between your amp and cabinet. Doing so will allow you to bypass the the talkbox's internal driver and route the signal to your cab instead. Just stomp on that switch to alternate between the two routings.

Talk Box?

Talk Box?

Re: Talk Box?