The vocoder engine
Talk through the synth with a microphone on the headphone socket. The model uses its sample as the voice.
The last oscillator type is a vocoder. It listens to a microphone, splits your voice into 16 frequency bands, and uses their loudness to shape the synth's own oscillator, so the synth appears to talk. It needs a microphone on the headphone socket. The browser cannot use a microphone here, so the model plays its sample as the voice.
- What the vocoder engine needs
- What Wave, Timbre and Shape do in it
- Why Type cannot be modulated while it is on
The steps4 steps
- Play a few notes. On the real synth your voice shapes this sound; here the model uses its built-in loop as the voice.
Stuck?
Click two or more keys. The built-in loop plays the part of a voice.
- Turn Wave: it chooses the synth's carrier, the raw sound your voice will shape. Near zero it is a sawtooth, a little higher it becomes a pulse wave, and at the very top it turns to noise.
Stuck?
Hold a note and turn Wave through its range.
- Turn Timbre (frequency range) and Shape (how narrow each band is). Higher Shape makes each band narrower, so the harmonics stand out more.
Stuck?
Move each of the two knobs a couple of times.
- One catch: while the vocoder engine is selected, Type cannot be modulated. Press Next.
Wave is the carrier, Timbre is the frequency range, Shape is how narrow each band is. The engine needs a microphone on the real synth.
On the real MicroFreak
The microphone goes into the headphone socket, which takes a TRRS plug (CTIA) as a headset or adapter. The Wave knob chooses the carrier: 0 is a sawtooth, about 11% is a 50% pulse, with the pulse width changing as you turn it up, and 91 to 100% is noise. Timbre sets the range of frequencies the vocoder works across. Shape sets the bandwidth of each band: higher is narrower and more pronounced. Oscillator Type cannot be modulated while the vocoder is selected. Utility > Global > Mic Setting has Mic Gain (Auto Gain by default), Noise Gate and Mic Detection. With Mic Detection on and no microphone found, the screen shows a warning that a mic is needed and you hear the raw carrier. Preset-level Vocoder Hiss settings are under Utility > Preset > Vocoder.
Where the model differs
The model plays its loaded sample as the voice, because a web page cannot use the microphone. The knobs behave the same.
Questions1
Which microphone do I need?
A headset-style microphone on a TRRS plug (CTIA), or an adapter, into the headphone socket. The socket serves as both the headphone output and the microphone input.