Vo-Codin' With The Stars...

Okay, here’s the deal. Some of the vocals (well, 100% so far, but a boy can dream) for RT60 have some vocoder action. In a studio scenario, I can bust out the H8000, and I don’t think anyone will argue that the vocoder selection in that box is, well, let’s just say it’ll get the job done. But on stage, I won’t have the H8000, because I’m not retarded.

So, what’s a robust yet creamy vocoder that will stand up to the rigors of the live environment? I don’t expect this to be the sort of band that has stage diving and beers getting thrown (ambient mosh pit = cuddle puddle!) but you never know. I’ve never used a vocoder on stage, so I’d love to hear from those of you that have, so that I may learn from your mistakes.

One of the issues is the dry vocal. Obviously, I’d like the non-vocoded vocal to be mixed with the vocoded one. I was watching this demo of the Roland VP-550, and I notice that he’s got the headset going to the vocoder (or pitch shifter, in that example) and then another mic for the dry. While this may look a bit retarded, it seems to get the job done. I could pull it off, I suppose.

Anyhow, I don’t mind supplying the carrier from an external synth, so the vocoder can actually be a dedicated box. An early recommendation was the Boss SE-70, which has a very good 21 band algo, I’m given to understand. It doesn’t have a built in mic pre, which makes me a little nervous, but I suppose it can be dealt with. That VP-550 is quite nice, but out of my price range for the now. I’m not too excited about vintage units, because they’re generally not creamy enough. They don’t have the band count of modern vocoders. I definitely don’t want to run one on the computer, because (a) the CPU load is too high for live stuff, and (b) it’s just kind of lame.

So, what are the obvious options I haven’t already thought of? And the first person that says “microKorg” will get soundly thrashed with an XLR cable. No offense to Korg, who make some very nice products, but I’d sooner chew off my own arm than succumb to that piece of shit.