If you're familar with
VST plugins and
Audio Units then you might have noticed that
there are few formant filters on the market like Vox FX.
Vox FX is available as a VST plugin for Windows and Audio Unit for Mac OS X.
About the Formant Filter
For those of you who don't know, a formant filter is a filter which has a vocal sound. Formant filters
may be used to process any sound, for example a guitar or a synth. The result is very hard to describe
in words, however the output clearly has a vocal character. Feel free to download the trial version
and listen to the presets to get a feeling for what the formant filters in Vox FX 2.0 can do.
Some of the formant filter types, especially the Shifted Bass E and the Voconator, have a kind of
"liquid" sound, which is sought after by many producers of electronic music.
Although all presets in Vox FX are based on manipulation of so called formants, they don't
necessarily have to sound human. Most of them use strange combinations of formants and allow the
user to create just plain weird effects.
Features
Vox FX includes 39 different preset formant filter types plus
a user defined mode. Each filter in the Vox FX plugins settings has a
sound of its own.
You may download a demo here.
The basic concept though is that the filters morph from one
setting to another. Some of the filters, the Complex State
filters, even morph between more than two settings. And
there are filters which morph in an alternating and quantized
way. In this case a morph means that the settings are not
crossfaded using volume mixing. Instead the formant regions
move in the frequency domain and the volume of each
formant region changes.
The Filter Types
Here's a short list and small summary of what the filters do:
1 Bass A to Bass E
2 Bass A to Bass I
3 Bass A to Bass O
4 Bass A to Ficticious
The above formant filter changes from an A to a ficticious formant, which doesn't exist in the real world but still has vocal character.
5 Bass E to Bass I
6 Bass E to Bass O
7 Bass E to Alto U
8 Bass E to Ficticious
The above formant filter changes from an E to a ficticious formant, which doesnt exist in the real world but still has vocal character.
9 Bass I to Ficticious
The above formant filter changes from an I to a ficticious formant, which doesn't exist in the real world but still has vocal character.
10 Bass I to Alto U
11 Alto A to Countertenor E
12 Alto A to Countertenor O
13 Alto U to Ficticious
The above formant filter changes from a U to a ficticious formant, which doesnt exist in the real world but still has vocal character.
The following 4 filters have formant qualities, but they are not modelled after existing vocals, but ficticious sounds.
14 Fantazy Formant 1
15 Fantazy Formant 2
16 Fantazy Formant 3
17 Fantazy Formant 4
The following 3 filters shift the formants along the frequency spectrum as they are
modulated by the plugins LFO.
18 Shifted Bass E
19 Shifted Alto A
20 Shifted Countertenor E
The following filters are referred to as complex state (CSt). They morph between more than two formants, usually four, as they are swept by the LFO.
21 CSt: Bass EAIOU
22 CSt: Alto A, Alto U, Countertenor E, Countertenor O
23 CSt: Fantazy 1, 2, 3, 4
24 CSt: Shifted BassE, AltoA, Countertenor E
25 CSt: Bass A, Countertenor E, Shifted Bass E, Fantazy Formant
The following filters alternate between two formant settings as they are swept by the LFO. They can be used to create repeating modulations, such as AOAOAOAO or EAEAEAEA, rather than just single AO or EA sweeps. In addition they can generate weird effects if they are swept fast.
26 Alternating: Bass A, Bass O
27 Alternating: Fantazy 1, 2
28 Alternating: Bass E, Alto A
29 Alternating: Shifted Bass E
30 Alternating: Shifted Countertenor E
31 Alternating: Ficticous
The following filter modes are quantized. They can be used to generate abrupt spectral changes as they are swept by the LFO.
32 Quantized: Bass E to Ficticious
33 Quantized: Alto A to Fantazy
34 Quantized: Fantazy 1, 2
35 Quantized: Shifted Bass to Ficticous
36 Quantized: Countertenor E to Fantazy
37 Quantized: Bass I to Ficticious
Basically each quantized filter mode is divided into 8 regions. Each region has a fixed filter response (sound) and as the LFO moves from say a high to a low value, the filter responds with 8 different filter settings rather than a smooth morph. Thus, you will hear a sudden switch as the filter changes from one of the 8 regions to the adjacent region. As long as the LFO stays within the same region, the sound will be the same.
In addition, one of the two filter characteristics (e.g. Ficticious in filter mode 32) has a reversed spectrum, which means that a high LFO value will produce a low formant and vice versa. This reversal only applies to one of the two filter sources. The other (e.g. Bass E in filter mode 32) has a normal filter reponse. This design allows you to produce rich and interesting spectral changes, as the formant filter is modulated by the LFO.
The final filter type is a random one.
38 Bass E to Random
It introduces random formant regions for higher values on the LFO. The higher value, the higher amount of randomness in the sound. Lower values changes the filter response to a Bass E sound. The random (and continously changing) formant regions produce a dark, harsh and almost noisy sound. It can be used to create interesting attack transients etc.
39 Voconator
This filter was first introduced in Vox FX 1.0. It has a vocal sound with a liquid character, hard to describe in words.
40 User Defined
This is the user defined mode which allows you to create your own "morphing" formant filters.
You may adjust the formant regions and their individual strength, and you may create transitions
between two states (settings) of these.
How the formant regions and their gain changes
The filter, which is controlled by the LFO, sweeps from state A to state B (or vice versa) and
different types of effects can be achieved
depending on which waveform is used and how fast the LFO sweeps. State A and state B have three
formant regions which can be adjusted between 20 Hz and 12,000 Hz. The human voice doesn't reach
as high as 12 kHz, but the filters have that range anyway, to allow you to create ordinary filter
sweeps as well, and not just formant filter sweeps.
Each formant region's volume (gain) can be adjusted. Thus, there are three volume knobs for state A and
three for state B. As the LFO sweeps the filter in User Defined mode, then the frequency setting F1 for
state A moves to filter setting F1 for state B and the same for F2 and F3. And the volume setting
V1 for state A moves to volume setting V1 for state B etc.
Thus the three formant regions move independent of each other from one state to another and back again
and each formant region's volume changes. Exactly how they change is determined by the LFO shape and
all other settings in the LFO section.
Vox FX - Online and Slightly Shortened Version of the Manual for version 1.0 (NOTE: version 1.0)
NOTE: This is a slightly shortened version of the version 1.0 manual. The PDF manual for version 2.0 is included when you install the software.
Overview
Vox FX is one of our most interesting VST plugins for Windows or Audio Units on Mac OS X.
It can be
used with VST compatible programs on Windows, such as Cubase DX, Acid Pro,
Logic and other programs, which can execute VST plugins. Or they can be used
with
AU compatible programs on Mac OS X, such as Emagic Logic etc.
The Filters
Each filter in the Vox FX plugins settings has a sound of its own. The best way
to
understand how they may be used is to listen, of course. But here’s a small
summary
of what they do.
Morph A to O
This filter changes its sound from the vowel “A” to the vowel “O”. You can
get a
smooth transition from A to O if you modulate the filter using the LFO and
its sine
shape, sounding like “AAAOOOAAAOOO…”. In addition, interesting effects can
be
achieved if you modulate it with say the random shape or pulse shape.
Morph I to Fictive
The “Morph I to Fictive” filter changes from the vowel “I” to a vowel, which
is fictive.
Thus, it’s not a real vowel, but a formant filter, which sound nice and has
a vocal
character. It can be modulated using the LFO, as all other plugins in the
Vox FX
package can.
Shifted Bass E
The “Shifted Bass E” filter sounds like the vowel “E” (male bass), but when
you move
the frequency slider or modulate it using the LFO, the formants are shifted
up in the
frequency spectrum to create a high frequency sound.
Vocal Character 1
The “Vocal Character 1” filter has no vowel equivalent, but nevertheless
a vocal
character, which can be used in a variety of ways, e.g. on guitar or on a
software
synth, which sounds to cold and needs warmth. It morphs between two different
settings as you move the frequency slider or modulates the filter using the
LFO.
Vocal Character 2
This filter sounds similar to “Vocal Character 1”, but has a much fatter
sound in the
bass region.
Voconator
The “Voconator” is a filter, which has a sound that is quite unique and hard
to describe
in words. However, it clearly has a vocal character but at the same time
a sweeping
sound, similar to a phaser. It can be used with great effect on synths, which
need to
sound less cold and it also sounds great on guitar or guitar type synth sounds.
The Plugins Controls
The Vox FX plugins settings are:
Frequency (Freq)
The frequency slider sets the base frequency of the formant filter. That
is, the lowest
value you will get when you sweep the effect using the LFO. For example,
the sound
might go “up and down”, then this frequency will indicate the lowest value.
The depth
slider will add to this value and the result (freq+depth) is the highest
value the sweep
will reach. Thus if you want to sweep from the mid range of the filter to
the highest
frequencies, you should set the freq slider to its mid position and the depth
slider to its
top (max) value.
Pan
The pan slider controls how much the sound should move between the left and
right
channel as the LFO sweeps. Thus, you may create a stereo effect with this
slider,
making the sound move from the left to the right channel and back again.
How fast
and exactly how it moves depends on the LFO settings. How much it moves in
the
stereo field depends on the pan setting.
Rate
The filter can be modulated by an LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator). The LFO
changes
the filter frequency according to a certain shape, e.g. sine (see shape below).
If you
move the rate slider up, then the movement is carried out faster. Pull the
slider down
and the movement is carried out slower. If the sync button is selected, then
the
movement is carried out in speed with the host software (your sequencer).
Then the
rate selects how much the LFO should be divided with the host software’s
tempo.
Depth
The depth slider decides how much the movement, described above, should affect
the
filter frequency. Depth is added to the freq setting. If depth is set to
its min value, then
there’s no change in frequency at all because the filter frequency will stay
at the setting
of the frequency slider. If depth is pulled to the top, then the movement
goes from the
current setting of the freq slider to the max value.
Sync (with the host software)
The LFO can be synchronized to the host software’s tempo. In that case, the
rate
slider works as a tempo divider. If the sync button isn’t selected, then
the plugins own clock will set the tempo.
Phase
The phase knob decides the lag of the LFO with respect to the host software’s
tempo.
This is only useful if sync is selected.
Shape
The shape knob determines which shape the sweep should have. The knob can
be
used to select one of the following three LFO modes.
1. Sine
2. Random
3. Pulse
Sine makes the LFO sweep up, down, up, down etc.
Random picks random values for the LFO. It can be used to make the filter
sound
slightly chaotic or just plain weird.
Pulse can be used to create gating style effects. It creates abrupt changes
between
two values.
