Vocoder with Microphone

[leesteel]

After seeing a Russian video on Youtube of a guy using the HD500 with a microphone to simulate the Bon Jovi talk box effect, I dove in last night to try it out and did not have much luck.. I started off very simple, Vocoder > Amp > Out… No noise gate or compressor or anything else to mess with the signal but I just couldn't anything useful to come out. Anybody have any insight into turning this into something I can use live?

[pianoguyy]

1. Do not set any input to microphone.

Vocoder assumes there is a mic and will use the signal regardless of settings. Setting an input to mic will allow your voice to come through in addition to the Vocoder effect. That's not what is wanted. 

 

2. Volume. 

You need lots of volume. Add an amp and crank it up. Add a eq and up them all. If it has a volume, add it and max it. 

 

3. I find a separate patch is best (due to the volume differences). 

Turn it on at the start of the song and be prepared to sing the whole way through. 

 

 

 

 

Usage - 

It is not a Talk Box. The sound doesn't shoot up the tube into your mouth and get shaped by your cheeks. Damn, I miss my talk box.  

It is a Vocoder. You have to actually make noise with your mouth. Your guitar sound will be cut off, as if behind a noise gate. The only way to open the gate is send noise through the mic. 

 

Opinion - 

It is definitely lacking when used with a guitar. But guitarists used the talk box and keyboards used the vocoder. So I don't know if using keyboards would make a difference.  

And to use it, because it is interactive (like a wah pedal) you may need to adjust your playing to get full function out of it. What I mean is:

You can hit one long open sustaining note and make it sound like a dozen notes. But if you try to play those dozen notes and use your mouth, you have to get the timing and attack perfect.

 

 

In this case:

Tone comes from the mouth, not the fingers. 

[CipherHost]

After seeing a Russian video on Youtube of a guy using the HD500 with a microphone to simulate the Bon Jovi talk box effect, I dove in last night to try it out and did not have much luck.. I started off very simple, Vocoder > Amp > Out… No noise gate or compressor or anything else to mess with the signal but I just couldn't anything useful to come out. Anybody have any insight into turning this into something I can use live?

 

Starting from a blank patch, make sure input 1 is set to guitar/Variax and Input 2 is not set to mic. Ensure the little pot switch next to the mic input is turned up. Try a Vocoder mix of around 70-80%.

[leesteel]

Thanks, I will play a  little more tonight. Should I place the Vocoder AFTER the amp? 
I get the way a Vocoder works, The only real time I could hear much is when I was singing the same note I was playing.

Both inputs are set to Guitar/Variax. 

Did not check the mic input volume knob.

[CipherHost]

I have only tried it in front of the amp. 

 

BINGEWOOD posted this video: http://line6.com/support/topic/15331-hd500x-trying-to-mimic-a-voice-box-effect/?p=112315

 

Here is the youtube link:

 

He shared his patches here: http://line6.com/customtone/profile/littlekamikaze/

 

I have not tried them yet. This weekend probably. Cheers!