Topic: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

Hey there,

just curious if there is a method to pitch vocals down without affecting speed, but without digital effects or sampling etc. For example, things like I-f - "Superman", I don't know how that track got recorded, but at least it sounds like it got sung in normal speed, I don't know if it got pitched down afterwards with a sampler or if it was pitched live. But if you wanted to do those kind of things LIVE before there were digital realtime effects, how would you have done it? Or was that not even possible?

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

ZeHa wrote:

Hey there,

just curious if there is a method to pitch vocals down without affecting speed, but without digital effects or sampling etc. For example, things like I-f - "Superman", I don't know how that track got recorded, but at least it sounds like it got sung in normal speed, I don't know if it got pitched down afterwards with a sampler or if it was pitched live. But if you wanted to do those kind of things LIVE before there were digital realtime effects, how would you have done it? Or was that not even possible?

It's a simple pitch shifter effect avaible on most multi-fx units.

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

What do you mean by "digital realtime effects"? Realtime pitch-shifting has been commercially available since 1972:

http://valhalladsp.wordpress.com/2010/0 … arispeech/

As stalker says, pitch-shifting is a typical effect available on many, many machines. Each one uses a different algorithm which can make them sound very different from one another.

There is also analog pitch-shifting called using what's called a "frequency shifter", but that is unlikely the sound effect you're looking for.

http://sneak-thief.com - raw electrofunk

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

I was not looking for a specific effect, I was just wondering if there existed any "oldschool" method because I always thought real-time pitch shifting (i.e. what you can use in a LIVE situation) is something that might have existed since mid-90s or so (which is wrong, as I can now see by sneakthiefs comment wink ). The reason why I was thinking this is because I thought it can only be done digitally, and if so then not in real-time, only as a studio effect that needs some computing time. But in that case, I was wrong wink
And as far as analog goes, I thought the only possible way of doing it would be using tape, but then it's also impossible to use it live. But Smackos told me there was also the Moog Bode Frequency Shifter, which is analog but that sounds very robotic (more like a vocoder etc).

5 (edited by Erroraudio 2012-06-24 23:08:52)

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

Just look at anything from eventide.... They are the masters of time and pitch.

We have the VariSpeech in our studio and it is great, but a bit of a one trick pony.

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Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

wouldn't an incredibly old-school version be recording say the vocal at a different tape speed and then playing back at the intended speed?

I remember doing this on old 4-tracks when I was a teenager.

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

I don't know of any analogue device that can do real time pitch shifting without also changing the speed of the audio. Lots of analogue frequency shifters though, but that'll make your vocals sound a bit like they went through a ring modulator.

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

this is the one you prolly need tongue

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hjomZPkJpOA/T6QkAdHyYXI/AAAAAAAEX8A/zGGcgEfpB5A/s1600/%2524%2528KGrHqZHJBgE-QSFYkJyBPo-biuSM%2521%257E%257E60_58.JPG

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

this one looks groovy wink

Re: "analog" way of realtime voice pitch

analog delay can work too but will be messy wink You can also use a vocoder..

TB or not TB