Talkbox

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Peter Frampton's Talkbox

A talk box is an effect device in music for changing the sound of an electronic signal with the help of the oral cavity. It is often used with electronically recorded instruments such as the electric guitar . There are also musicians who use them with synthesizers .

functionality

The signal (e.g. from an electric guitar) is amplified either by an additional amplifier or by an amplifier built into the talkbox. Electric guitar amplifiers can have an output for an additional loudspeaker to which a talk box can also be connected. A loudspeaker (usually a powerful horn driver) installed in a small pressure chamber converts the electronic signal into sound and conducts it into a hose. The musician holds the end of this tube in his mouth by holding the tube in his hand, holding it with his teeth or by z. B. is mounted on a microphone stand. The sound is transmitted through the mouth opening into the vocal tractdirected. Just as with the formation of vowels , the resonance space can be changed by changing the position of the tongue and lips (possibly also the jaw) . The oral cavity forms an acoustic filter and formants can be impressed by making certain frequencies more prominent than others. The sound changed in this way is usually picked up again by a microphone in front of the mouth. It can be used for recording or further amplified during a musical performance and z. B. be played over a public address system .

On the one hand, a sound can be deformed by this type of filtering, as is also done with electronic filters , on the other hand, a talkbox can also be used to make an instrument "speak". You shape your mouth as if you were speaking, but remain silent. The vocal tract is not stimulated by the vibration of the vocal folds , but by the sound from the tube. It takes a certain amount of practice to articulate the vowels in silence, but form the consonants as usual. So z. B. a voiceless consonant like the T can be formed as in normal speech. Furthermore, voice and instrument must be precisely timed to one another: In the example of the T , the instrument must be mute so that the result is similar to the usual language.

In order for the tonal change through a talk box to be clearly apparent, the signal used must have sufficient overtones or a good expression in the high frequency range of its spectrum . Therefore there are talk boxes with a built-in distortion and tone controls to be able to enrich and adapt the signal with overtones. When used with synthesizers, a suitable sound can be found by setting or selecting a preset . With a talk box, sounds can be created that would not be possible with the natural human voice due to the spectrum, scope and speed of changing successive tones.

Difference to the vocoder

While with the Talkbox an acoustic signal is passed through the oral cavity, with the Vocoder the electronic analysis of the spoken language takes place, which is recorded by a microphone. There the signal of an instrument is filtered by electronic filters that simulate the vocal tract and thus the formants. A vocoder can therefore also be used with existing recordings of speech, while using a talkbox always requires a live musician.

Musician

One of the pioneers of Talkbox was Jeff Beck , who used it in 1974 for concerts by the band Beck, Bogert & Appice (“Live in Japan”). The device became known to a wide audience through Peter Frampton , who used it with his electric guitar in the solo of the song "Do You Feel Like We Do" (1976).

Some more examples of well-known pieces with talkbox insert are:

literature

  • Michael Dickreiter: Handbook of the recording studio technology. 6th edition, KG Saur Verlag KG, Munich, 1997, ISBN 3-598-11320-X

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