User Manual

BV512 VOCODER
(RECORD+REASON)
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• The FFT mode is best suited for vocoding speech or vocals, giving crystal clear and highly intelligible results.
It is not so well suited for vocoding drums and percussion, since the FFT process is inherently “slower” than the
regular filtering and doesn’t respond as quickly to transients, and also there will be a slight delay added to the sig-
nal (in the region of 20ms). A workaround solution to this would be to move the modulator signal slightly ahead to
compensate for the delay.
• Where the conventional filter bands are distributed logarithmically (i.e. the same number of filter bands per oc-
tave), the 512 bands in the FFT mode are distributed linearly.
This means a lot of the bands will be in the high frequency range - this is one of the reasons for the clear sound
but it is also something to keep in mind when making settings for the vocoder in FFT mode.
Setting up for basic vocoding
This tutorial describes how to connect and use a typical vocoder setup. We assume here that you have a MIDI key-
board connected. For details on the parameters, see “BV512 parameters”.
Vocoding vocals in real-time
The most common usage for a vocoder is probably the typical “singing” or “talking synth” sound, using vocals or
speech as modulator. Since Record supports live audio input you can sing and play in real time. This is a basic exam-
ple of how to route your signals:
1. Create the instrument device you want to use for the carrier signal.
This could typically be a synth or a sampler. In this example we choose a Subtractor synthesizer.
2. Set up the carrier device (Subtractor) for a sustaining, bright sound.
It’s important to have high frequencies (a lot of harmonics) in the carrier. On the Subtractor, a simple but effective
carrier sound would be based on a sawtooth wave, with the filter fairly open. For more about choosing carrier
sounds, see “Choosing a carrier sound”.
3. Select the carrier device (Subtractor) and create a BV512 Vocoder.
If you flip the rack around you will see that the Vocoder is automatically routed as an insert effect for the carrier
device (using the Carrier Input jacks).
4. Connect a microphone to your audio interface and manually patch the appropriate Audio in jack on the Record
Hardware Interface to the Modulator Input on the BV512.
5. Make sure the Master Keyboard Input is set to the carrier device track.
6. Also make sure the “Dry/Wet” knob on the BV512 Vocoder is turned to “Wet” (fully clockwise).