Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom:: Morph your voice in Audacity

Talk_like_a_robot

Did you know that by applying certain effects to your voice in Audacity, you can sound dramatically different and take on a character of your own.

To do this, first highlight your vocal track and then follow the instructions below to generate each effect:

1. If you'd like to sound like ... a robot

Click on the Effect Menu and then Delay ...
Change the Decay amount to 10
Change the Delay time to 0.009
Change the Number of echos to 30
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu again
Click Repeat Delay
Repeat this 5 times or more if necessary

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_robot_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

2. If you'd like to sound like ... a demonic spirit

Click on the Edit Menu and then Duplicate
Highlight the second track
Click on the Effect Menu and then Change Pitch ...
Change the Semitone (half-steps) to -1
Click OK
Highlight the first track
Click on the Edit Menu and then Duplicate
Highlight the third track
Click on the Effect Menu and then Change Pitch ...
Change the Semitone (half-steps) to -5
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then Bass Boost ...
Click OK
Drag the Gain slide on the left of the third track to +3DB
Highlight the second track
Click on the Effect Menu and then Echo ...
Change the Delay time (seconds) to 0.1
Change the Decay factor to 0.6
Click OK

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_demonic_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

3. If you'd like to sound like ... a chipmunk

Click on the Effect Menu and then Change Pitch ...
Change the Percent Change to 100
Click OK

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_chipmunk_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

4. If you'd like to sound like ... a telephone operator

Click on the Effect Menu and then High Pass Filter ...
Change the Cutoff frequency to 1015
Click OK
Click Repeat Delay
Repeat this 5 times or more if necessary
Click on the Effect Menu and then Amplify
Click OK

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_telephone_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

5. If you'd like to sound like ... you are in a concert hall

Click on the Effect Menu and then GVerb
Change the Roomsize (m) to 40
Change the Reverb time (s) to 20
Change the Dry signal level (dB) to 0
Change the Early reflection level (dB) to -10
Change the Tail level to -30
Click OK

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_concert_hall_effect_in_Audacity.mp3

6. If you'd like to sound like ... you are talking on the radio

Click on the Effect Menu and then Amplify
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then FFT Filter ...
Click on the top 12dB line at the 5000 Hz point and then on the bottom 12dB line around 10000 Hz (this should create a diagonal line across the filter)
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then High Pass Filter ...
Change the Cutoff Frequency to 2000
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then FFT Filter ...
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then High Pass Filter ...
Change the Cutoff Frequency to 2000
Click OK

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_radio_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

7. If you'd like to sound like ... an alien

Click on the Edit Menu and then Duplicate
Highlight the first track
Click on the Edit Menu and then Duplicate
Highlight the first track
Click on the Effect Menu and then Change Pitch ...
Change the Percent Change to 15
Click OK
Highlight the third track
Click on the Effect Menu and then Change Pitch ...
Change the Percent Change to -15
Click OK

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_an_alien_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

8. If you'd like to sound like ... a Dalek

Download the Killerringer plugin created by Toby Newman
Right click the zip file and click Extract All ...
In the Extraction Wizard, click Next and Next
Make sure the box next to Show extracted files is ticked and click Finish
Double click the source folder and then the killerringer vst plugin folder
Right click the killerringer.dll file
Click the Start Menu and My Computer
Double click the C: Drive
Double click the Program Files folder
Double click the Audacity folder
Double click the Plug-Ins folder
Right click and click Paste
Download the VST Bridge plugin and paste the vst-bridge.dll file in the Plug-Ins folder following the same method as above
Launch Audacity
Record your voice and highlight the track
Click on the Effect Menu and then killerringer ...
Change the Root Pitch to 0.003
Change the Speed to 0.01
Change the Amount to 0.01
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then Normalize ...
Click OK
Click on the Effect Menu and then Delay ...
Change the Decay Amount to 5
Change the Delay Time to 0.04
Change the Number of echos to 1
Click OK

Read this tutorial for more explanation

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_dalek_voice_in_Audacity.mp3

9. If you'd like to sound like ... you are being censored

Launch Audacity
Click on the Generate Menu and then Tone
Change the Waveform to Sine
Change the Frequency / Hz to 875.5
Change the Length (seconds) to 0.9
Click Generate Tone

Listen to this example:

Download Creating_a_censor_beep_in_Audacity.mp3

Just imagine using these techniques to spice up your podcast role plays or transform a Voki. I'm sure the pupils would love it!

Thanks to swingsetbucket, Gundamsandzords, CompHelpKid, shadowmario777, PrGeProd, alihumza1995, Spindler2007, ImOnGoogle1 for the inspiration!

Comments

Excellent post. I've always steered kids away from the Effects menu in Audacity as they tend to get bogged down. I'll use this as a prompt sheet for them so that they can experiment more effectively. Cool!

Posted by: John Sutton | 02/09/2008 at 08:36

Cheers John,

If you come up with any other cool effects, please leave a comment with instructions on how to create them.

Posted by: Joe Dale | 02/09/2008 at 10:52

Great post! Thanks!

Posted by: Steve Collis | 06/09/2008 at 02:15

Mille fois merci for directing me to this post! I can't wait to go back into the lab to try it out.
Thanks again!

Posted by: Mlle Henderson | 29/09/2008 at 21:15

http://www.atantot2.co.uk/voki.html

Brillant post! I've been playing with the effects and here are the results! (The red links)

Esther

Posted by: Esther | 02/10/2008 at 11:23