Vocoder Acapella

Warning: Loud playback. Adjust your volume.

I created this crazy experiment about 1 year ago. Just now I thought it would be interesting to share it here.

It was quite a tedious process: I recorded a screen reader reading the lyrics out loud from note pad, cut up the phrases, arranged them rhythmically, and processed them through a midi controlled vocoder plugin. It's an ode to the joy of music creation.

Lyrics

Quote

Dear friend,
do you know?
Do you know?
Do you know who I am, friend?
I am Music, yeah!
Do you know?
Do you know who I am, friend?
Do you know?
Do you know that I'm Music?
Yeah!

Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight!
Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight! Yeah-eah-eah!
Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight! Oh-oh! Oh!
Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Dear friend,
maybe you don't know me,
but I'm really lonely,
so be my one and only.
Dear friend,
I cannot stay composed.
You have to write me down.
Write me down!
Write me down!

If you know
in your heart
that I'm music (oh-uh-oh)
then write me down!
Write me down!
Write me down! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight!
Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight! Yeah-eah-eah!
Ohh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight!
Oh, I wanna go Beethoven tonight!

Bei-fen-toh-bei-nite
Fen-bei-toh-bei-nite-toh

Dear friend,
you have to listen.
My life is short,
and I'm incomplete,
but if you know in your heart
that I am Music,
it will be a start.

This experiment is a really interesting one. I like the idea!

It looks like this creating process has taken a load of work and that's why I am quite reserved in critiquing your work. Also because I really appreciate that you post it here and you do this experiment.

Could you give us the lyrics that is 'sung'?

The harmonies and melodies are nice. The main problem is, however, that the whole beauty of the piece is broken by the vocoder. For me the irregular beats due to too late starts by the voices are distracting. It breaks the flow.

In conclusion, I think the experiment is inventive, but in my opinion it does not work. (Not to be rude!) A performance by real musicians will probably work better.

On 8/13/2017 at 10:26 PM, Maarten Bauer said:

The harmonies and melodies are nice. The main problem is, however, that the whole beauty of the piece is broken by the vocoder. For me the irregular beats due to too late starts by the voices are distracting. It breaks the flow.

In conclusion, I think the experiment is inventive, but in my opinion it does not work. (Not to be rude!) A performance by real musicians will probably work better.

No worries.

I agree. A live human voice processed through a vocoder has more potential, and there are of course contemporary composers who explore that.

The problem is mainly due to the stretching of syllables in order to achieve different sustains. At first it didn't occur to me that I should simply avoid stretching the attacks.

I'm not claiming this is anything special, I just thought I'd share what I'd done, so others might learn a thing or two from merits and mistakes alike, or find a seed of inspiration maybe. At first I was excited about the idea, but then it got stale. Thankfully I'm done with it.

(Edit: Not that I think it's not worth listening to or that it wasn't worth making, I just mean that I ran out of creative fuel for the idea.)

(Lyrics added)

2 hours ago, Hugget Zukker said:

No worries.

I agree. A live human voice processed through a vocoder has more potential, and there are of course contemporary composers who explore that.

The problem is mainly due to the stretching of syllables in order to achieve different sustains. At first it didn't occur to me that I should simply avoid stretching the attacks.

I'm not claiming this is anything special, I just thought I'd share what I'd done, so others might learn a thing or two from merits and mistakes alike, or find a seed of inspiration maybe. At first I was excited about the idea, but then it got stale. Thankfully I'm done with it.

 

(Lyrics added)

 

I think you have done well by sharing this music! It is very inspiring.

I love the lyrics.