User Manual

CHAPTER 21. LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 337
 External allows you to select any available internal routing points from the choosers
below. This is the option you'll want for classic robot voice applications.
 Modulator uses the modulator itself as the carrier. This essentially outputs a resynthe-
sized version of the modulator signal, but allows you to use Vocoder's sound-shaping
controls to adjust the sound.
 Pitch Tracking enables a monophonic oscillator, which tunes itself to the pitch of the
modulator. The High and Low sliders allow you to limit the frequency range that the
oscillator will attempt to track. Choose from sawtooth or one of three pulse waveforms
and adjust the coarse tuning of the oscillator via the Pitch slider. Pitch tracking is
particularly effective with monophonic modulator sources such as melodic instruments
or voices. Note that the oscillator only updates its frequency when it detects a clear
pitch. It then maintains this pitch until it detects a new one. This means that changing
the oscillator's parameters or causing it to reset (when grouping Vocoder's track, for
example) can cause unexpected changes in the sound. With polyphonic material or
drums, pitch tracking is generally unpredictable (but can be very interesting.)
Particularly when using external carrier sources, a vocoder's output can sometimes lose a
lot of high end. Enabling the Enhance button results in a brighter sound by normalizing the
spectrum and dynamics of the carrier.
The Unvoiced knob adjusts the volume of an additional noise generator, which is used to
resynthesize portions of the modulator signal that are pitchless, such as f and s sounds.
Sens. sets the sensitivity of the unvoiced detection algorithm. At 100%, the unvoiced noise
generator is always on. At 0%, only the main carrier source is used. The Fast/Slow switch
adjusts how quickly Vocoder switches between unvoiced and voiced detection.
Vocoder's large central area shows the levels of the individual bandpass lters. Clicking
within this display allows you to attenuate these levels.
The Bands chooser sets the number of lters that will be used. Using more bands results in
a more accurate analysis of the modulator's frequency content, but requires more CPU.
The Range sliders adjust the frequency range over which the bandpass lters will operate.
For most sources, a fairly large range works well, but you may want to adjust the outer limits
if the sound becomes too piercing or bassy. The BW control sets the bandwidth of the
lters. At low percentages, each lter approaches a single frequency. As you increase the