Setting Up Vocoders in Cubase Part 8: Waves Morphoder

This is part 8 of a multi-part tutorial on setting up vocoder plugins in Cubase. See part 1 if you missed the introduction.

The Waves plugin called Morphoder is a flexible vocoder that offers many programming options, and similar to Image-Line Vocodex, it can be configured a number of ways when running inside Cubase. The screenshots below use the Vocoder Tutorial Projects that you can download at the Ultimate Outsider Downloads page.

USING MORPHODER'S INTERNAL CARRIER

In this configuration we'll use Morphoder's built-in synthesizer as the carrier. This means we need an audio track or group channel to serve as the modulator (voice), and a MIDI track to play the carrier signal on the plugin's synth. The Vocoder Internal Carrier demo project in the tutorial projects download is already set up for this.

1. In the Vocoder Internal Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), add Morphoder as an insert on the audio track or group channel you wish to use as your modulator. (If you are using a group channel in a Cubase project of your own, make sure that your modulator source's output is not routed to Cubase's "Stereo Out," because if it is, then you will always hear the raw modulator audio mixed in with Morphoder's outputs.)
   
   I chose the "Morphoder Stereo" flavor of the plugin:
   
   
   
   
   
2. Inside Morphoder, load the Major Tom preset.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Note: By default, Morphoder doesn't respond to MIDI messages, and its carrier is in Sustain mode, meaning any MIDI notes sent to it are "held down" permanently. This enables Morphoder to make monotone robot-type voices, but we want to be able to control the MIDI pitches. To do that we need to enable MIDI mode and disable Sustain mode.
   
   
   
4. On your MIDI track's inspector, route the track's MIDI output to your Morphoder instance, as shown here:
   
5. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks. You should now hear a vocoded harmony line. This plugin gives you visual feedback to indicate levels and incoming MIDI. If you don't hear anything, make sure you've got a known-good preset selected (like Major Tom), and check your audio and MIDI routing.
   
   

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

USING AN EXTERNAL CARRIER: DUAL MONO METHOD

In this configuration, we'll pass mono audio signals for both modulator and carrier on a single stereo group channel. The Vocoder External Carrier demo project includes an audio clip to use for the carrier, but the carrier could be a VST instrument as well if you have programmed MIDI that matches your audio material.

1. In the Vocoder External Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), select Project > Add Track > Group Channel and create a Stereo group named Morphoder.
   
2. Add Morphoder as an insert on the newly-created group channel. I use the Stereo version.
   
3. Select the Major Tom preset in Morphoder.
   
   
   
   
   
4. In Morphoder, set Modulator to Left and Carrier to Right.
   
5. Pan your Modulator Audio channel all the way to the left and route the track's audio output to the Morphoder group.
   
6. If you're using an audio track or group channel as your carrier signal, select that track in Cubase. In the Carrier track's inspector, pan it all the way to the right and route its output to the Morphoder group.
   
   
   
   Otherwise, if you are using a VST plugin as your carrier, open the MixConsole, and on the channel strip where your plugin resides, pan the track to the left and change the output routing to the Morphoder group channel.
   
7. Some of the Morphoder presets can be pretty loud. Dial back the volume of your Morphoder group track to at least -6db before continuing.
   
   
8. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks.  If you hear distortion, you might have to check the levels of your group channel, the modulator, or the carrier. If you don't hear anything, make sure the Stereo interlacing preset is selected and check the routing on your mod and carrier sources.

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

USING AN EXTERNAL CARRIER: STEREO SIDECHAIN METHOD

In this configuration, we'll pass stereo audio signals for both modulator and carrier, potentially delivering a wider sound than the dual mono method described above. The Vocoder External Carrier demo project includes an audio clip to use for the carrier, but the carrier could be a VST instrument as well if you have programmed MIDI that matches your audio material.

1. Insert Morphoder Stereo as an audio effect on your Modulator Audio track. Important: This method requires the VST 3 version of Morphoder. If Waves is properly installed, you should only see the VST 3 version in your plugin selector (it has a "III" icon in the plugin list).
   
2. Select the Major Tom preset in Morphoder.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Toggle on the Activate Side-Chain button so that it lights up in orange, and then make sure that Modulator is set to Left+Right, and Carrier is set to SideChain.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. If you're using an audio track or group channel as your carrier signal, select that track in Cubase. In the Carrier track's inspector, route its output to the Side-chain input of your Modulator Audio track.
   
   
   
   Otherwise, if you are using a VST plugin as your carrier, open the Cubase MixConsole, and on the channel strip where your plugin resides, change the output routing to the Carrier In bus of the Morphoder group channel.
   
5. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks.  If you hear distortion, you might have to check the levels of your group channel, the modulator, or the carrier. If you don't hear anything, make sure the Sidechain carrier preset is selected and check the routing on your mod and carrier sources.

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

Conclusion

If you were successful in following the above use cases, you should now be able to jump in and explore Morphoder's various features.

Well, this is the last post in the vocoder tutorial series. Part one has an index of all other vocoders covered in case you missed anything. Enjoy!

Setting Up Vocoders in Cubase Part 7: mda Vocoder and the Steinberg Vocoder

This is part 7 of a multi-part tutorial on setting up vocoder plugins in Cubase. See part 1 if you missed the introduction.

mda Vocoder is by far the oldest plugin I've ever used. (The copy I have is dated May 17, 2001.) It's 32-bit only, and it has no user interface to speak of- but it's free and lots of people use it. This is a VST 1.0 plugin, so no VST 3 side-chaining support. The vocoder also lacks an internal carrier, so we only have an external-carrier configuration to worry about. Setting this plugin up is similar to what we did for the TAL-Vocoder external carrier setup.

I have updated this post with information about the old Steinberg vocoder, which was developed by Maxim Digital Audio (mda), and works similarly. Details about the Steinberg plugin are at the bottom of this post.

The screenshots below use the Vocoder Tutorial Projects that you can download at the Ultimate Outsider Downloads page.

USING AN EXTERNAL CARRIER

In this configuration, we'll pass mono audio signals for both modulator and carrier. The Vocoder External Carrier demo project includes an audio clip to use for the carrier, but the carrier could be a VST instrument as well if you have programmed MIDI that matches your audio material. Instead of using a sidechain input for carrier audio like we're able to do with Waldorf Lector and XILS V+, in this method, mda Vocoder has to sit on a single stereo group that uses the left and right channels to carry the modulator and carrier audio separately.

1. Even though the plugin is 32-bit only, 64-bit Cubase will automatically bridge it for you. If you're running 64-bit Cubase you just need to make sure that mda Vocoder.dll is in your VST 2 Plug-in Paths in Cubase. If you have a whole 32-bit VstPlugins folder on your computer, I do NOT recommend including that in your 64-bit Cubase paths. Instead maybe put the mda plugins in a separate location and only add that one folder to your Cubase VST 2 Plug-in Paths.
2. In the Vocoder External Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), select Project > Add Track > Group Channel and create a Stereo group named Vocoder.
   
3. Add Vocoder as an insert on the newly-created group channel. If you're running 64-bit Cubase, you'll see the oft-confusing "II" icon, which indicates it is a 32-bit plugin. Do not confuse it for meaning VST 2 (mda Vocoder is actually a VST 1.0 plugin), or the very similar-looking "III" icon to indicate VST 3 plugins.
   
   
   
4. Select the 16 Band Vocoder preset in Vocoder.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Pan your Modulator Audio channel all the way to the left (this is not a typo, will explain later) and route the track's audio output to the Vocoder group.
   
6. If you're using an audio track or group channel as your carrier signal, select that track in Cubase. In the Carrier track's inspector, pan it all the way to the right and route its output to the Vocoder group.
   
   
   
   Otherwise, if you are using a VST plugin as your carrier, open the MixConsole, and on the channel strip where your plugin resides, pan the track to the left and change the output routing to the Vocoder group channel.
   
7. This plugin can get pretty loud, so I recommend dialing the volume on the Vocoder group channel back to around -6db.
   
   
   
   
8. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks.  If you hear distortion, you might have to check the levels of your group channel, the modulator, or the carrier. If you've been paying attention, you might have noticed that the plugin UI says "RIGHT" for the Mod In parameter, even though we currently have our modulator track panned to the left. This appears to be a typo inside the plugin; LEFT and RIGHT are reversed in the plugin UI.
   
   If you don't hear any playback at all, make sure you routed your carrier and modulator sources properly. If the voice doesn't sound very vocoded at all (more like just a lo-fi version of the original vocals), make sure you've selected RIGHT for Mod In instead of LEFT.

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

THE STEINBERG VOCODER

Previous versions of Cubase used to include a vocoder plugin that was originally developed by Maxim Digital Audio (mda). While it hasn't been bundled with Cubase since at least Cubase 5 and it is no longer supported, you can still download the plugin for free from Steinberg's FTP site. Unlike the original mda Vocoder from 2001, the Steinberg version also includes MIDI support and an internal carrier that actually doesn't sound that bad.

It's a 32-bit VST 2.3 plugin, so follow the same steps mentioned earlier for getting Cubase to recognize it.

INTERNAL CARRIER CONFIGURATION

To set the Steinberg Vocoder up in internal carrier mode, just follow the same basic steps under "Using TAL-Vocoder's Internal Carrier" section on the TAL-Vocoder post, with the exception that inside the Steinberg vocoder, just select the Default preset and make sure that MIDI is selected under MODE.
If you did it correctly, it should sound like this:

EXTERNAL CARRIER CONFIGURATION

External carrier configuration for the Steinberg vocoder is just the same as the mda Vocoder steps listed above. The routing is the same (modulator left, carrier right). The Default preset works just fine- just make sure to select Ext. under MODE in order to process the incoming channels correctly.
If you did it correctly, it should sound like this:

Conclusion

That's all there is to say about this plugin. In the next post, we take a look at Waves Morphoder...

Setting Up Vocoders in Cubase Part 6: Native Instruments Razor

This is part 6 of a multi-part tutorial on setting up vocoder plugins in Cubase. See part 1 if you missed the introduction.

Razor is a powerful and unique synth produced by Native Instruments, that also has vocoder capability. Unlike all other vocoders we've looked at so far, Razor only supports an internal carrier configuration, using its own synth engine as the carrier. Razor is also not a standalone plugin; it's a Reaktor ensemble, meaning you need either Reaktor, Reaktor Player, or Komplete Kontrol in order to use it.

The screenshots below use the Vocoder Tutorial Projects that you can download at the Ultimate Outsider Downloads page.

USING RAZOR'S INTERNAL CARRIER

This configuration requires an audio track or group channel to serve as the modulator (voice), and a MIDI track to play the carrier signal on the plugin's synth. The Vocoder Internal Carrier demo project in the tutorial projects download is already set up for this.

1. In the Vocoder Internal Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), add Reaktor5 FX or the FX version of Reaktor Player as an insert on the audio track or group channel you wish to use as your modulator. (If you are using a group channel in a Cubase project of your own, make sure that your modulator source's output is not routed to Cubase's "Stereo Out," because if it is, then you will always hear the raw modulator audio mixed in with Razor's outputs.)
   
   
   
   
2. Inside Reaktor, open the Player tab and expand the Razor folder, then drag the Razor.rkplr ensemble to where it says, "Drag a file from the browser here." Razor will appear shortly after.
   
   
3. Only some of Razor's presets use the vocoder capability. For just starting out, I recommend the Green Hornet Razorcoder preset.
   
   
   
4. On your MIDI track's inspector, route the track's MIDI output to your Razor instance, as shown here:
   
5. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks. You should now hear a vocoded harmony line and see activity in the spectrogram portion of the instrument. If you don't hear anything, make sure you've got a known-good preset selected (like Green Hornet Razorcoder), and check your audio and MIDI routing.
   
   

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

Conclusion

If you were successful in following the above use cases, you should now be able to jump in and explore Razor's various features.

In the next part of this tutorial, we'll set up mda Vocoder and the Steinberg Vocoder...

Setting Up Vocoders in Cubase Part 5: Image-Line Vocodex

This is part 5 of a multi-part tutorial on setting up vocoder plugins in Cubase. See part 1 if you missed the introduction.

Vocodex is a great-sounding vocoder produced by Image-Line, whose best-known product is the FL Studio DAW. This plugin only offers VST 2 format, not VST 3, meaning that configuring it for external carrier use is very different from what you do with Waldorf Lector or XILS V+. We're going to take a look at three different configurations: One using Vocodex's built-in synth engine as the carrier, one employing mono modulator and external carrier channels (similar to the TAL-Vocoder external carrier setup), and one that uses stereo channels for both modulator and external carrier.

The screenshots below use the Vocoder Tutorial Projects that you can download at the Ultimate Outsider Downloads page.

USING VOCODEX'S INTERNAL CARRIER

In this configuration we'll use Vocodex's built-in synthesizer as the carrier, what Image-Line calls the "immediate method." This means we need an audio track or group channel to serve as the modulator (voice), and a MIDI track to play the carrier signal on the plugin's synth. The Vocoder Internal Carrier demo project in the tutorial projects download is already set up for this.

1. In the Vocoder Internal Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), add Vocodex as an insert on the audio track or group channel you wish to use as your modulator. (If you are using a group channel in a Cubase project of your own, make sure that your modulator source's output is not routed to Cubase's "Stereo Out," because if it is, then you will always hear the raw modulator audio mixed in with Vocodex's outputs.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Not all of the Vocodex presets work in this configuration. I recommend starting with the Chord preset.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. On your MIDI track's inspector, route the track's MIDI output to your Vocodex instance, as shown here:
   
4. IMPORTANT: Vocodex can be quite loud at its default settings. Dial back the volume of your Modulator Audio track to at least -6db before continuing.
   
   
   
5. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks. You should now hear a vocoded harmony line. This plugin gives you a ton of visual feedback to indicate levels and incoming MIDI. If you don't hear anything, make sure you've got a known-good preset selected (like Chord), and check your audio and MIDI routing.
   
   

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

USING AN EXTERNAL CARRIER: INTERLACED METHOD

In this configuration, we'll pass mono audio signals for both modulator and carrier. The Vocoder External Carrier demo project includes an audio clip to use for the carrier, but the carrier could be a VST instrument as well if you have programmed MIDI that matches your audio material. Instead of using a sidechain input for carrier audio like we're able to do with Waldorf Lector and XILS V+, in this method Vocodex has to sit on a single stereo track or group that uses the left and right channels to carry the modulator and carrier audio separately.

1. In the Vocoder External Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), select Project > Add Track > Group Channel and create a Stereo group named Vocodex.
   
2. Add Vocodex as an insert on the newly-created group channel.
   
3. Select the Stereo interlacing preset in Vocodex to illuminate the L-R Encoding LED.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Pan your Modulator Audio channel all the way to the left and route the track's audio output to the Vocodex group.
   
5. If you're using an audio track or group channel as your carrier signal, select that track in Cubase. In the Carrier track's inspector, pan it all the way to the right and route its output to the Vocodex group.
   
   
   
   Otherwise, if you are using a VST plugin as your carrier, open the MixConsole, and on the channel strip where your plugin resides, pan the track to the left and change the output routing to the Vocodex group channel.
   
6. Some of the Vocodex presets can be pretty loud. Dial back the volume of your Vocodex group track to at least -6db before continuing.
   
   
   
   
7. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks.  If you hear distortion, you might have to check the levels of your group channel, the modulator, or the carrier. If you don't hear anything, make sure the Stereo interlacing preset is selected and check the routing on your mod and carrier sources.

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

USING AN EXTERNAL CARRIER: PRODUCTION METHOD

In this configuration, we'll pass stereo audio signals for both modulator and carrier. The Vocoder External Carrier demo project includes an audio clip to use for the carrier, but the carrier could be a VST instrument as well if you have programmed MIDI that matches your audio material. Instead of using a sidechain input for carrier audio like we're able to do with Waldorf Lector and XILS V+, in this method Vocodex has to sit on a special group track with multiple stereo inputs for modulator and carrier. In Cubase circles, this is known as "the Quadro trick."

Note
This method only works in Cubase Pro. It can't be done in Cubase Artist, because that edition only allows mono or stereo group channels.

1. In the Vocoder External Carrier demo project (or your own Cubase project), select Project > Add Track > Group Channel. Enter Vocodex for Track Name, and for Configuration, select More > Quadro.
   
   
   
   
2. Go to Devices > VST Connections and select the Group/FX tab. Under Bus Name, right-click your Vocodex group, and then pick Add Child Bus to "Vocodex" > Stereo. This adds a new bus under the Vocodex group named Stereo.
   
   
   
3. Select the new Stereo bus and then click it once (don't double-click) to select its name, and name this bus Modulator In.
   
4. To create one more bus, right-click your Vocodex group again, and then pick Add Child Bus to "Vocodex" > Stereo (Ls Rs). This adds a new bus under the Vocodex group named Stereo (Ls Rs).
   
5. Select the new Stereo (Ls Rs) bus and then click it once (again, don't double-click) to select its name, and name this bus Carrier In.
   
6. Close the VST Connections dialog and then add Vocodex as an insert on your Vocodex group channel.
   
7. Select the Sidechained carrier preset in Vocodex, causing the MOD box to read 0 and the CAR box to read 1.
   
8. Select your Modulator Audio channel in the arrangement view and route the track's output to the Modulator In bus of your Vocodex group.
   
9. If you're using an audio track or group channel as your carrier signal, select that track in Cubase. In the Carrier track's inspector, route its output to the Carrier In bus of the Vocodex group.
   
   
   
   Otherwise, if you are using a VST plugin as your carrier, open the Cubase MixConsole, and on the channel strip where your plugin resides, change the output routing to the Carrier In bus of the Vocodex group channel.
   
10. Some of the Vocodex presets can be pretty loud. Dial back the volume of your Vocodex group track to at least -6db before continuing.
    
    
    
    
11. Begin playback on a section of your project that loops your modulator and carrier tracks.  If you hear distortion, you might have to check the levels of your group channel, the modulator, or the carrier. If you don't hear anything, make sure the Sidechain carrier preset is selected and check the routing on your mod and carrier sources.

If you followed along using the tutorial project, the result should sound like this:

Conclusion

If you were successful in following the above use cases, you should now be able to jump in and explore Vocodex's various features.

In the next part of this tutorial, we'll set up Native Instruments Razor...