How the hell did he...

[Ashura]

I was wondering if anyone out there knows how that effect was done to Phil Collin's voice in "In the Air Tonight...". I'm referring to the one part of the song where he goes "I remember....", and there is this electronic/synthesizer effect that he does, really cool sounding. Is there a plug-in for Cubase or anything else that can do this? And speaking of this same song, how about the rest of it, how he has the echo somewhat before the actual word, that is it precedes instead of follows each vocal. Thanx...

 

[TexRoadkill]

The synthy sounding voice is probably done with a Vocoder. You play keys and it converts the pitch to those keys. They were popular in the 80s for a lot of stuff. There are software and hardware versions now.

The pre/verb-delay effect is done by playing a track backwards and recording a wet delay or reverb signal. When you play the song forwards again the verb and delay will preceed the oringinal vocal but still be going forwards. Zeppelin did that on a lot of stuff. It's cool on snare drum also.

 

[barefoot]

The pre/verb-delay effect is done by playing a track backwards and recording a wet delay or reverb signal. When you play the song forwards again the verb and delay will preceed the oringinal vocal but still be going forwards. Zeppelin did that on a lot of stuff. It's cool on snare drum also.

You can also hear a brilliantly executed example of this on "Make It 'Till Monday" from The Verve's "A Storm In Heaven" disc (one of the best Rock albums of the 90's IMHO). The song uses this effect to ebb back and forth between a dreamy feeling to being just on the verge of a nightmare.

barefoot

 

[Ashura]

Thanx for the replies...you mentioned that there is software that emultes this. Is there a plug-in for Cubase that does the Vocoder effect that you might know of? Thanx again...

 

[robovoice]

Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus, MkI or II?

sequencer.de/pix/roland/vp330_vocoder.jpg

sequencer.de/pix/roland/vp330_vocoder.jpg

rolandclan.info/media/images/vp-330.jpg

stoffelshome.de/vocoder/sounds/roland_vp330.mp3

keyboardmag.com/article/roland-vp-330/Sep-06/22958

sonicstate.com/synth_reviews/_inc/user_comments.cfm?id=121&print=1

retrosound.de/VP330.html

homepage.ntlworld.com/quad303/synth/roland_vp330.htm !!!

 

[timthetortoise]

You can also hear a brilliantly executed example of this on "Make It 'Till Monday" from The Verve's "A Storm In Heaven" disc (one of the best Rock albums of the 90's IMHO). The song uses this effect to ebb back and forth between a dreamy feeling to being just on the verge of a nightmare.

barefoot

Glad someone else recognizes the awesomeness of this album. One of my favorite shoegaze records of all time

 

[Nightfire]

Looks like you got your answer already...

but how about experimenting a little to get your "own" cool similar sound? Run your mic through stomp boxes, reverbs, delays, different amps, and do multiple takes. Then blend all different sounds into one with different layers etc.

 

[legionserial]

I would imagine he's probably experimented with a fair amount of stuff in the 6 years since this thread was created...

 

[rayc]

I love shoegazer music but I'm not partial to the Verve.
I love ressurrected threads -0 they show how little the essential questions have changed
How did....do...?
He didn't hang about for long did he?

 

[Ashura]

haha - still here man...

...and ya, did plenty of messin around after the basics...

crazy thing is, all you hear now on hiphop radio is vocoders, can't get away from it...used to be pretty ill, now it's just overdone...

 

[legionserial]

crazy thing is, all you hear now on hiphop radio is vocoders, can't get away from it...used to be pretty ill, now it's just overdone...

Yup. Very true. Problem is, if someone does something that sounds cool, it's inevitable that everyone else will jump on the bandwagon. Only a minority of the population these days are capable of thinking for themselves.

 

[J-Lane]

I actually like the Talk box (often confused with the vocoder) sound like Roger Troutman and Peter Frampton used but I can't stand the new Auto-Tune sound that people like T-pain, Sean Kingston and too many other cheezy pop and R&B singers are using. Here is a link with a list of artists and samples of their music that have helped to make this an annoying new trend.