This plugin is super cool and useful if you do any kind of modern vocal production or if you use old-school 80’s style big synth sounds. Best part? IT’S FREE! There is no reason to not download it and try it out for yourself. The TAL Vocoder provides a ton of character to your tracks. In this music tutorial video, we explore the TAL Vocoder and see what it can do and how you can use it to help you produce like a pro.
First of all, what even IS a vocoder? A vocoder is, essentially, a VOice-enCODER. It is a synthesizer that relies on sound wave inputs to process the sound rather than an oscillator that most traditional synthesizers use. Traditionally used with vocals, anything that produces sound can be sent through a vocoder. Get creative! A famous modern example of a vocoder used in a song would be “Hide and Seek” by Imogean Heap. The TAL Vocoder will have to be set up a bit differently than most plugins. It needs both audio and MIDI tracks. The MIDI is required to alter the sound, so you will also need a separate MIDI controller.
We have the original vocal track going from the DAW through the MIDI controller (where it gets converted). Then we send it through the TAL Vocoder and back to the DAW as a second track on the same channel so we can sculpt the wave. As a beginner audio engineer, this can sound complicated, but it’s not. This is typical with most vocoder plugins. As long as everything is connected properly, you should have no issues. The TAL Vocoder can help you add more dimension to your tracks. Crunchy, but lush, it sounds almost like back-up vocalists accompanying the lead. It is an interesting approach to layering sounds.
TAL-Vocoder Features
- 11 band vocoder engine.
- Internal carrier synth (pulse, saw, sub osc, noise, mono, poly, portamento, sync mode, tune).
- Possibility to route an external carrier signal.
- Harmonic control (adds more harmonics to any carrier signal)
- Ess” enhancer for a clean understandable voice, also with a carrier that hasn’t many high frequencies.
- Clip LED glows if the input signal will be clipped.
- Panic button stops hanging notes within the synth.
- Documentation shows different routing possibilities.
- Low CPU usage.
- Side-Chain input.
- Works only on Stereo Channels at the moment!
The TAL Vocoder plugin interface has waveform adjustments to help you get the effect you want (pulse, saw, sub, and noise). There are also frequency band controls to fine-tune the shape of the waveform. It also has some great sounding presets built-in for those who like to plug and play. It can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. If you are looking for a vocoder that is easy to set up, use and produces great results check out the TAL Vocoder plugin. All for the cool price of free.
