Hi all, I’ve had a 100-VH in my ES7 for about 10 years now.  After using it off and on, I’ve recently spent some time really diving into it & I think I have it setup really well.  I use the vocoder to “sing” a background vocal while in pattern chain mode.  I’m going after the most natural, non-robotic, voice I can get.  Balancing the input signal gain, AUDIOIN, and EFTYPE[VOCODER HM] settings can be quite a juggling act.  I’ve found that adjusting the UpperThrsh and LowerThrsh settings seem to help a lot. 

I’ve read everything I can find on the 100-VH and I haven’t found anything that gives a clear explanation of what exactly all the VOCODER HM parameters do.  I’m curious about what the 0-12 Upper & Lower Thrsh, and UpperG.Dpt & LowerG.Dpt settings are actually doing.  Is there a forum topic or external document that really digs into the 100-VH to the level I’m after?

Thanks,
Dennis

The Upper & Lower Threshold parameters are set in semitones, with a range of an octave, 0~12 They set a range for the Gender of the Voice to remain unchanged. For example, if you set this to a “5” for the UPPER THRESHOLD, five semitones is a musical fourth - so the Upper Threshold would be set so that any note within a musical fourth above the melody note will be given the same gender (formants) as the melody Voice.
Lower Threshold does the same for notes lower than the melody. This is a way to control the gender of your backing voices.

The Depth parameters will enhance the gender difference - at 0 there is the least amount of change - and as you increase toward +63 you are intensifying the tone of the upper harmony. The farther you get from 0 the more bizarre the result.
As you decrease below 0 toward -64 you are doing the opposite. But again the farther you get from 0 the more bizarre the result.

What separates MALE gender Vocals from FEMALE gender Vocals is more than just the pitch range. It has to do with certain fixed frequency component is the Male Voice that form a particular interval. This interval is quite different in FEMALE and younger Male Voices. These fixed frequency components are part of the FORMANTS (those things that do no adjust in pitch as you speak or sing). Male voices tend to have a wider distance in two prominent fixed harmonics. It what makes you identify a vocal as male or female (more than just the pitch being sung).

You have to set this to how normal (close to 0) or bizarre (closer to the limits) you want the harmonies to be.  It is all done taste. Experiment.

Thanks Bad_Mister!  You the man.

FYI:  I found this 100-VH owners manual which is much more detailed than the one that came with my card. 

http://download.yamaha.com/search/product/?language=en&site=usa.yamaha.com&category_id=16302&product_id=106826

Dennis