I've been trying to figure out how this effect is made but I'm at a loss. I've tried multiple plugins (vocoders, talkbox emulators, distortion, harmonizers, chorus, flanger/phasers, pitch correction, formant and pitch shifting) but I can't get a similar sound. I either get the typical modern autotune sound (which sounds too human) or the daft-punk robot talkbox vocoder vocals (which sounds way too robotic). This vocal effect seems like it's somewhere in the middle in terms of clarity and it's synthetic feel.

Forever grateful to whoever has the ear to identify the vocal chain or effect that can achieve this.

 

i doubt that someone making this kind of music would mess around effects that names dont contain the autotune and soundgoodizer phrases

 

The effect definitely seems to include autotune or some kind of pitch correction but that and the compression/saturation from a maximizer/enhancer like Soundgoodizer doesn't seem like it's enough to get this particular vocal effect.

Do you have any idea on what else they could be using? There's definitely more going on here, this isn't your typical heavily compressed autotuned vocal

 

It's manual pitching in AutoTune. The first track also has one channel phase-flipped or something LOL

 

I haven't tried the manual autotune pitching and I think you are right actually, I just watched some videos of that in action and it sounds a bit closer to the effect! Thank you for your input, I'm excited about trying this.

I have a question regarding the phase-flip. You mean the vocals (which are most likely recorded in mono with one mic), are then widened with some kind of stereo enhancer and effects, then one of the channels of this vocal stereo track is then inverted? Wouldn't that cancel out most of the vocals? Or maybe its not full 180 degree flip and just a bit out of phase? Or did you mean the whole master has one channel flipped?

 

Yeah, that's kinda bout it.
It would only cancel out when summed to mono, which I didn't do. Might be wrong about the whole thing. It just sounds weird in the same way a mono signal sounds when flipping one channel.

 

Are they running the mic through a hardware synth, perhaps?

 

That's a mix of Autotune and a Vocoder/harmonizer.

A software called AudioMulch was famously used by Imogen Heap to create this sort of voice effect in one of her song called Hide and Seek.

LIVE

Original Recording with Autotune

EDIT: Apparently there's some conflicting info as to which specific hardware/software Imogen Heap used on her Hit record. Wikipedia mention one of the Digitech Vocalist Workstation Harmonizer.

In this next video, she's also mentioning the use of ''a box'' when her computer crashed but the story doesn't say if that was also used for the Main vocal track for the final result or just for the humming in the background (which could have been choped and edited to fit her final mix).

 

Last edited: Aug 29, 2023

I think I get what you mean in terms of how it sounds weird (something mimicking that phase inversion sound, not sure if it's actually inverted though). I do love that digital/artificial element that effect brings to the sound. So I actually got the first track from the post and split the tracks from stereo, inverted one, and then mixed it back to mono. The 808s appear to have canceled out as well as some other sounds but the lead vocal appears to be nearly intact. I'm not sure if the proves that the vocals were not stereo enhanced and one channel inverted. I also just tried making the original track mono and it appears to sound the same. Any audio expert here who know what that means lol? I'm still learning but I'm guessing no cancellation means its not inverted? or actually the other way around, since the 808 is most likely mono, that split into two and inverted definitely canceled out, so the vocals definitely have some stereo quality to them? I'm confused haha

Also, the I tried manual pitching with Auto-Tune and it's gotten me the closest so far. Thank you! The thickness and weird phased aspect of the effect is still missing so I'm searching for a way to emulate that (without adding additional audible layers of vocals)

 

I honestly thought so at first too but I watched an interview this artist did and their setup appears to be super minimal (a laptop, "cheap" microphone, and headphones). He mentioned he does everything on the computer so my best guess is this effect is either a really elaborate vocal chain he's put together, one or some VSTs with particular settings that are getting him this sound, or he actually does have some secret sauce hardware synth that he's keeping secret hahaha idk but I love that vocal effect lol

 

I LOVE Imogen Heap's effect here and my favorite thing in the world are these kind of weird digital vocals. I actually have some DigiTech vocal effects which I got to mimic Daft Punk vocals more accurately - not the harmonizer though. I was able to get really close to this effect with Izotope's Nectar harmonizing and also with Autotune's Harmonizer Engine.

The difference to me between Imogen's effect and the one I'm requesting help on here is that this one doesn't sound like many harmonies at once. It doesn't sound like multiple layers of the same vocal to me. It just sounds like one thick half-robot-human-android vocal and that's what I love about it but can't seem to get close enough to (specially for the first song on my post, the second one does appear to be using harmonies and multiple layers). To me it sounds like the child of a vocoder vocal and autotune but idk how it's been bended in such a way where it sounds like one voice. Honestly I'm impressed by this sound and it's driving me crazy lol

 

Last edited: Sep 1, 2023

To me the first clip is done with autotune/melodyne with 2 tracks at times with different melody hard panned and slow phase shifted. You can't exclude some formant manipulation too.
Second could be an harmonizer plus some autotune and formant edit.

Nowadays fxs of this kind are pretty common and from their 90's inception they evolved a lot, but still you can recognize the artificial voice tamper, only it's difficult to understand exactly what effect is used because they are so many, and very similar among.

In past (70's)you coud have only vocoder as "harmonizer" like in this (boring) track:

Or even back with tape loop splices like this:

 

I think you got your answer in your own thought process.

The first and second song seems to have a different processing.

The first does sound like someone used autotune and then further processed it with a vocoder.

The second is clearly 2 different take . The main line being Autotune and the BV (the hummin) being a Vocoder / Harmonizer.

 

You should hear what zplane reTune and iZotope Nectar v2.04 Harmonizer sounds like when they are chained together, it's the best "Real-Time Harmony Vocal Effect" that i have heard in the audio plugin world.

I chained together zplane reTune and iZotope Nectar v2.04 Harmonizer VST's to create the "Real-Time Harmony Vocal Effect" in the below audio clip, i figured it out back in 2016, because i wanted a good "Real-Time Harmony Vocal Effect" in VST so badly, because there was none.

You won't find a standalone audio plugin to do this harmony effect or any decent harmony effect in Real-Time, i have searched for years, and the reason it works so well with those 2 plugins chained together, is because zplane reTune uses Real-Time Polyphonic AutoTune.

I use both VST's chained together, because i use zplane reTune's "Real-Time Polyphonic AutoTune" for pitch correcting the "Real-Time Harmony Vocal Effect" from iZotope Nectar v2.04 Harmonizer, and zplane reTune makes the "Real-Time Harmony Vocal Effect" sound a lot better.

if you just use zplane reTune's "Real-Time Polyphonic AutoTune" by itself on a single voice, you won't get a "Real-Time Harmony Vocal Effect", because zplane reTune isn't a Harmonizer, it's just Polyphonic AutoTune.

In simple terms:

iZotope Nectar v2.04 Harmonizer = Creates the harmonies / 4 different voices in Real-Time from your single voice.

zplane reTune = Pitch Corrects the harmonies / 4 different voices in Real-Time with Polyphonic AutoTune.

Listen to the below audio clip.

zplane reTune + iZotope Nectar v2.04 Harmonizer (Both VST's Chained Together) (Set to use 2 Harmony Voices)
https://vocaroo.com/gGAoyH6EPLl

 

Last edited: Sep 19, 2023

Thank you for all your suggestions! I am trying a lot of formant manipulation and I think that is actually key to this sound because it's been getting me much closer. The slow phase shifting is also very nice and key to the sound it's adding a missing element for sure that I think is in the right direction as I recreate it.

I enjoyed those examples very much! I appreciate you sharing

 

Yes, I agree. At first I was thinking it was just layered different but with the same vocal effects but after hearing it many times and with the communities help here, I can notice it is quite possible different processing, not just added harmonies (which is what I was previously telling myself was the primary difference).

 

Wow that sounds AMAZING! Thanks so much for sharing, I was not familiar at all with zplane reTune and had not considered polyphonic pitch tuning before (didn't know it event existed). The sound you've achieved is very pleasing to the ear and sounds so rewarding haha. I could hear those kind of vocals alone, like with Imogen Heap or Bon Iver. Those synthetic vocal harmonies are so beautiful to me lol I can just listen to that alone with no instrumental background or minimal.