Challenge of march!

[derrick]

hey guys,

 

during the first 2 weeks or so of march I am doing sound for a small theatre company and one request is that at one point one of the female singers voice turns into a voice similar to Louis Armstrong.... I have a couple of I deas on how to do this but was wondering if any one had - had any experience with this strange request before..

to my artliary I have the Behringer euro desk with the internal twin effects proccesor. an external effects processor, sorry cannot rember the name but have looked no said patch on their. and two multi guitar effects proccesors with harmonizers and other random effects.

 

first idea I had was to send the signal through the guitar proccesor, on a harmonizer down like 1-2 octaves or so, then bring it back through the behringer into the "Ultra bass " effect and give it a go...

 

any other ideas?

ohh yeah the shows Seussical if you wanna know why

cheers.

[Bobbsy]

Well, my instinct is that any attempt to do this electronically is probably going to sound more science fiction than Louis Armstrong.

 

Frankly, I think I'd try to find an actor who can do a passable Louis Armstrong imitation and cross fade to another person. Live would be easiest but, if it has to be pre-recorded, perhaps some form of click track and in-ear monitoring.

 

Bob

[andy_s]

I'd agree with Bobs that this one is down to getting the right material to input in the first place (ie find the right performer / impressionist). if the budget's big enough to employ a "stunt double" to sing off stage, all well and good.....

[Bluenote]

I wouldn't like to hazzard any guess at how effective/good they would be, nor if piping in & out of a PC/laptop is an option, but google ("louis armstrong" + "voice changer") leads to pages such as:-

http://www.audio4fun.com/promotion.htm

 

http://mp3-player.audio4fun.com/tutorials/...-tutorial08.htm

 

Don't know if it helps, but would be interested to know how you get on.

 

Regards

[Killyp]

RE the harmonizer, expect more of a late 60s Dr. Who sound than a Louis Armstrong sound, and the Ultra Bass effect really just adds in nasty rumbly sounds in the bottom useful octave which isn't what you want.

 

I agree with the others, you won't really be able to turn someone's voice into Louis Armstrong with any sort of processing, let alone what's available in a Eurorack/other entry-level desk. If you could, then I could be making iconic records tomorrow.

 

You're going to be much better off cross-fading to someone who can sing just like Louis Armstrong.

[johndenim]

Is it specifically Louis you want or just a lower pitch?

I have a really cheap zoom fx unit that lowers pitch quite nicely, but singing along with your altered voice is pretty tricky!

Especially if you want it in key.

[stu00c]

I would suggest looking at hiring a TC Helicon processor. The old Voiceprism or the current Voicewoks Plus or Voicepro will all probably be able to get the type of effect you are looking for.

 

There is also a Powercore plug-in called VoiceModeler if you would rather go for a DAW based solution.

 

I remember hearing a demo of the Voiceprism when it was first released a number of years back and was amazed at the quality of the voice modelling; you would have to listen very very hard to realise that it was not a natural voice.

 

Anyway, that's my tuppence for the day.