Telephone Voice

L

Lee123

New member
In the middle of one of our songs, we have an acoustic guitar (only) kick in. Over that, vocals. I thought it would be cool to have a telephone effect or something simular on the vocals during the acoustic section.
I used a preset called 'Telephone' within a waves EQ plugin. It didn't sound too good.
Any ideas how I could obtain this type of effect?
Thanks
Lee.
 
Lee123 said:
In the middle of one of our songs, we have an acoustic guitar (only) kick in. Over that, vocals. I thought it would be cool to have a telephone effect or something simular on the vocals during the acoustic section.
I used a preset called 'Telephone' within a waves EQ plugin. It didn't sound too good.
Any ideas how I could obtain this type of effect?
Thanks
Lee.
Click to expand...

1) Track it through an actual telephone

2) Use a really cheap dynamic mic (like a $10 one used for recording lectures)

3) Re-amp through a cheap speaker with no bass

4) Use your parametric EQ to get rid of all of the bass, then add a big boost in the mids -- sweep to get it how you want it.

Any of the above, alone or in combination, might get you closer to your desired sound.
 
I made a mic out of an old phone. I put a mic cable on an old phone handset, I used the speaker on the handset not the mouthpeace.
I miced my guitar amp with it for a cool sound.
 
ok...now I feel really stupid.....for some strange reason I was expecting some plugin to do the trick.....I like it.

Thanks guys.
 
Seems to me I read somewhere that there is extreme limiting on a phone's signal. You may want to use that with your effects.
 
i usually just give it some EQ. cut ALOT of highs+lows and boost the mids. gives you a real dirrrrrrrty sound/telephone effect.

justin
 
I've seen this done a couple different times in a couple different sessions. The best results came when one phone called a cell phone which was mic'd with... hmm, that I can't rightly remember, may have been an SM57. Regardless, try micing someone's cell phone, it's lo-tech but it sounded great.
 
Lee123 said:
ok...now I feel really stupid.....for some strange reason I was expecting some plugin to do the trick.....I like it.

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

A telephone has an analog bandwith of about 2.5Khz, if memory serves me right. Try a bandpass filter (300Hz ~3KHz).
 
Last edited:
Today I made a new into to one of my songs that sounds like a telephone sort of. I cut the highs and lows and boost the mids. I also put a flanger on it to make it sound a little cooler. Tell me what you think. www.soundclick.com/patlang12 click on music. The song is called "from the top."
 
there is a way that is a lot easier. mix down just that .wav and then open it using a Sound Recorder, u know, that shitty program that came with ur CPU factory standard, if it's a PC. go to Properties, hit Convert Now, select Telephone Quality, and then save. don't forget to reimport. in my opinion, many people underestimate programs such as this, when they can make u sound oh so shitty, especially when u want to.
 
This free compressor has a radio preset that might get you started:
http://www.kvraudio.com/get/950.html

Also, Kristal Audio Engine's built in 3 band parametric eq has a telephone preset.

Either one will get you started, and pretty much does the same eq trick others have mentioned. Add some subtly distortion maybe and you'll probably get pretty close to what you want.
 
Just boost the mids and kill the lo and also the hi. Try boosting the mids so they distort a little and play about with the hi end to get the desired sound.
 
Oh yeah

You can also plug a cheap pair of headphones into your mic/line in and sing into one of the earpieces. That might do it nicely.
 
Lee

this effect is VERY easily acheived. and YES there are MOANY plug-ins that will give you the desired effect. Timeworks Eq, sonitus, ozone, and lots more.
What software are u recording thru?

trybal
 
wow...thanks foe everyones reply. I am recording through Cubase SX. I did try and record from a phone to a cell phone. It's pretty close but no Cigar. Loadsa backgound/white noise...
I gotta play with it some more...
 
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