I am trying to figure out how to be able to hear my actual dry vocals while I mix in the vocoder effect. Based on what I see in the documentation this may not be possible but I am just checking as I do remember being able to do this on the Roland V-synth… (different animal completely… I know) any experience with this?

Ya know, this is an interesting question.  I’m not sure which way it would go.  I would think there would be a way to hear the raw.  Well, we know the vocal modulates the vocoder voice.  I’m no good at playing and singing(talking) at the same time so I record my vocoder midi events first then record the vocal part.  Seems to me you really ought to be able to do the whole thing in reverse and be able to hear the vocal part raw.

T4MH

To really appreciate what a vocoder is, you have to not just say the words (lol) but understand the statement: It is not an effect you put on the vocal, per se, it is using the vocal signal to modify a synthesizer sound.

Often you will find a DRY/WET balance on INSERTION EFFECTS (as opposed to a SEND AMOUNT as is found on effects that are send/return situations. The Vocoder is an Insertion Effect - it is not inserted on the microphone input, it is inserted on the synth sound - this is very important to understand. When looking for to EDIT the Vocoder effect, it is located where the synth sound passes through the INSERTION EFFECTS. The AD INPUT has its own separate two Insertion Effects - which you can apply prior to the signal going on to modify the synthesizer.

So the DRY/WET parameter in the vocoder will balance how much of the synth sound is heard versus how much of the modifier signal.

Instead of routing the AD INPUT to the normal L/R output, you reroute it internally to the INSERTION EFFECT of the synth VOICE - or to the INSERTION EFFECT of the synth PART assigned to PART 1 (if in PERFORMANCE mode or in MIXING mode).

Call up the VOICE: PRE 8: 125(H13) Vocoder with Delay
_ Press [F6] EFFECT to take the shortcut to the Effect Edit screen
_ Press [SF2] INS L - to view the parameters of the vocoder
At the top of the second column you will see the D/W (Dry/Wet) balance parameter. Currently it is completely WET D

If you make the DRY/WET balance D63>W - “DRY” you wll be hearing the synth sound without the modifier (your voice).

If you want to hear more of your modifier, leave the DRY/WET as originally set (completely wet) D

In order to encode the human voice onto a synth, the vocoder is a series of highly focused filters… in general, what makes speech intelligible has to do with the noises we use (consonants) frame the sustaining tones (vowels). It can be argued that without clear high frequencies speech is less understandable - as if you were talking with your hand over you mouth - so a HPF is a very important part of what makes a vocoder work… it wants to use the high frequency content and apply that to the sustain tones (which come from the synthesizer sound).

So it is just a short sentence but one that has to be understood: a Vocoder is not an effect you apply to a microphone… it is using the microphone input to add human intelligibility to a synth tone. And the effect is on the synth sound.

Therefore, when you hear what the vocoder is actually using of vocal signal - it sounds very, very thin - this is because it is discarding (filtering your sustaining tone and pitch as much as possible) and using the synthesizer sound instead; what it ‘wants’ from you is the artful noises we use to make speech intelligible.

Hope that helps.

AS always BM, concise!

It would seem then that if the microphone was run through EQ, boosting some highs, before the input to the MOTIF, that this would help the vocoder to some extent.

T4MH

Thanks BadMister, I am hoping you type fast because you definitely answer in detail…

The Vocoder process I understand...I did play with the dry\wet mix initially and concluded that the AD input pretty much stops once it is used to impact the synth sound. I was looking for a way to allow the AD to still “pass through” in the original form...but it seems that there is no way to split the signal path as it is mono and both inserts on the synth are used for the vocoder processing.

I am interested in how it could be accomplished however because I did see that there is a product available in the store that mentions mixing actual vocals with the vocoder signal.. I am thinking that the routing is just evading me presently.

Has anyone been able to figure out, if you can hear your actual voice along with the vocoder.  The wet/dry mix just increases vocoder voice patch.