How to Setup the EVOC20 Vocoder from Logic Pro

I've been loving making music and trying to complete songs throughout the first part of this journey. One problem I've ran into though is that I can't really sing or rap (at all) so I've always felt my projects were missing something upon "completion". As a big fan of Daft Punk, this naturally led me to try messing around with the vocoder.

There are numerous options out there including both free vocoders, like the one from Tal-Software, or paid ones such as Izotopes VocalSynth 2. While these may be something for me down the road, I've been trying to first learn more about how the EVOC20 Vocoder works, an instrument/plugin that comes stock with Logic Pro.

It's definitely a bit more complicated than some of the other instruments I've been using and I'm still working my way through what each little knob does but I'm definitely getting closer.

Down the road I'll go a bit deeper into how you can really mess around with the individual settings, what they all do and which ones are 'important'.

For now though, I thought I'd share how to simply get the EVOC20 vocoder setup to play with a microphone or some previously recorded audio. 

First we'll get an audio track ready so we have it easily accessible for the project. (You may already have an audio track with some lyrics ready to go but this just shows how it's all setup to start!):

Next we're going to open up the EVOC20 Vocoder. Open up a new track and select it from the instrument options:

Perfect! Here's what we're looking at:

For now, change the side chain option which can be found in the upper right corner to the input of your microphone (usually, and for me in this case it's 'Input 1'):

It's key to look at the 'Signal' options that appear just below the side chain variables in the upper right hand corner:

If you change the option to 'Ana' you will be able to hear your voice through the microphone exactly how it would normally sound.

If you change the option to 'Syn' you will be able to press down on your midi keyboard and hear the synth sound that is currently being used by the vocoder. Notice how you now can't hear your voice input, and vice versa when using the 'Ana' option, there will be no synth output. 

To change this 'Syn' sound you can click on the arrow next to 'Factory Default' at the very top and you can access a wide variety of different synths and presets:

Now going back to the 'Signal' options, if you change it to 'Vod' then this is where the vocoder will actually put your audio from your microphone together with your selected synth sound. 

Have a go just talking or singing into your microphone while simultaneously playing different notes or chords on your midi controller! Sounds pretty sweet yea?

If you're running into problems with volume levels or being able to hear things correctly or anything at all, one of the other key components to the EVOC20 is the volume 'Level' found on the right hand side. You can put this up or down to create the desired volume level:

While that's super fun to mess about with, it doesn't really give you the best sound quality when recording this way. So what we'll do now is change the 'Side Chain' option to the audio track you'd like to work with. For me in this case it's 'Audio 1', the first track I originally opened up:

Next, I just selected the 'Audio 1' track and recorded some random (awful sounding) lyrics. Then I can select the EVOC20 track and as I'm recording, I'm pressing down different notes and chords on my midi keyboard as shown below:

After I'm done recording, I just mute the original audio track and you can hear what you've made with the vocoder. You can mess around with the different dials to see what effects they have and also scroll through the different presets to see what they offer. Some of them are really cool!

Remember, another interesting thing about this is you can add it to any existing projects if you like. Just add the EVOC20 as another track and then select the side chain option to whatever your lyrics are. From there you can mess about with the keyboard to create the desired effect.

I hope this helps anyone trying to get the EVOC20 setup and you have as much fun with it as I do! I've got some extra vocoder tips below if this has something that's tickled your fancy.

Have you come across any cool tricks with the EVOC20? What free or paid vocoders or voice synths would you recommend to everyone?

Thanks for your time, cheers!

BPM :)

BONUS TIP! How to add the EVOC20 effect to any instrument you want.

First open up a track and select your favourite instrument. From there you'll head to the 'Audio FX' options and select the 'EVOC20 Track Oscillator':

Change the option on the left hand side to 'Side Chain':

Now, you can select the side chain you want as mentioned before, either an audio track or one of your microphone inputs:

Remember to adjust the 'Level' to help achieve the desired volume and balance. 

When using this option you'll have to start messing around a bit more with the various knobs and such as there's no handy presets to get you started or draw inspiration from. 

That being said, I'd start with these if you have no idea where to dive in:

1)  Band

2)  Attack (this looks at how easy it can be to recognize the words or lyrics)

3)  Release

4)  Format Stretch

5)  Format Shift

6)  Blue Bar (found in the middle, you can move it from side to side and adjust the length too)

Just see what each one does and how it effects your sound in both relation and conjunction with the other options and anything else in your project.

There is an absolute ton of stuff to look around with and have fun on using the EVOC20 Vocoder instrument and the EVOC20 Vocoder Track Oscillator plugin.

Enjoy:)