Creative FX

Question 1

How does a vocoder work and what does it sound like?

Answer 1

A vocal signal (the carrier) is side chained to a synth sound (the modulator) to control it.
Sounds like a robot voice following notes.

Question 2

What does a talkbox do?

Answer 2

Shapes the signal’s frequency content based on the musician’s mouth position via a tube.

Question 3

What is ring modulation and what does it sound like?

Answer 3

Adds and subtracts two frequencies to produce two new frequencies.
Creates ringing / metallic sound.

Question 4

What is the result of pitch shifters and harmonisers having low latency?

Answer 4

A small delay.

Question 4

What is automatic tuning (AutoTune)?

Answer 4

Originally used as a pitch correction tool, now is sometimes used as creative effect with a fast response time.

Question 5

What is Logic’s pitch correction system called?

Answer 5

Flex-pitch

Question 6

What are some effects / characteristics of Lo-fi music?

Answer 6

• Degradation of signal (vintage sound).
• Unwanted noise (saturation) / vinyl noise emulators.
• Simulation of early limitations.
• Light distortion (gritty sound).
• Lowering bit-depth / sample rate (bitcrusher effect).
• Wow / flutter.
• Lowering frequency response.
• Samples of non-musical sounds (rain, waves, etc).

Question 7

What is polyphonic retuning?

Answer 7

Correcting the pitch of multiple notes / instruments simultaneously.