Confirmation of Lead Vocal Processing?

[tbradshaw]

Hey guys,

As always, I'm ridiculously excited for the life changing Rock Band platform. During one of our recent (frequent) Rock Band discussions, the topic of vox processing came up in the context of Reptilia by The Strokes.

Scouring the available demo video, it's very clear that vocal processing is present in the game and is often used for the vocal "fill" sections. (Unsure of the actual term, I'm using "fill" sections to refer to the portions of the vocal sequence that feature a solid green bar and occur frequently during "shouting" or "pump up" portions of the vocal track.) This is most apparent in the E3 Gamespot video when Paranoid ends and the lead singer of VAGIANT delivers her closing flair.

Is this vocal processing also use for the duration of vocal tracks on songs by The Strokes? It seems that the distortion used on the vox track is critical for achieving the cohesive sound that is fundamental for their work. Other tracks that would benefit would include Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.

Perhaps this is an option for the vocalist? Besides being true to the work for a lot of rock artists, I can think of a number of songs that I wouldn't mind hiding behind a little distortion while singing. ;)

Thanks for your time and I hope that someone from Harmonix has a moment to share this info for us.,

Travis Bradshaw

[Electric_Zen]

Interesting question. EvilHerb said that effects were applied during certain parts of the song, such as sustained notes, but didn't supply a whole lot of detail.

I don't know whether I'd want distortion applied through the whole Reptilia track, like in the original. The point of a cover is to make the song your own, not to try and sound identical (and inevitably inferior) to the original master.

[sporkBrigade]

Hey guys,

As always, I'm ridiculously excited for the life changing Rock Band platform. During one of our recent (frequent) Rock Band discussions, the topic of vox processing came up in the context of Reptilia by The Strokes.

Scouring the available demo video, it's very clear that vocal processing is present in the game and is often used for the vocal "fill" sections. (Unsure of the actual term, I'm using "fill" sections to refer to the portions of the vocal sequence that feature a solid green bar and occur frequently during "shouting" or "pump up" portions of the vocal track.) This is most apparent in the E3 Gamespot video when Paranoid ends and the lead singer of VAGIANT delivers her closing flair.

Is this vocal processing also use for the duration of vocal tracks on songs by The Strokes? It seems that the distortion used on the vox track is critical for achieving the cohesive sound that is fundamental for their work. Other tracks that would benefit would include Sabotage by the Beastie Boys.

Perhaps this is an option for the vocalist? Besides being true to the work for a lot of rock artists, I can think of a number of songs that I wouldn't mind hiding behind a little distortion while singing. ;)

Thanks for your time and I hope that someone from Harmonix has a moment to share this info for us.,

Travis Bradshaw


Been wondering this too, I love Reptilia. Only two videos I've seen are:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3iQWcK0rhKo
http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/previews/130428.shtml

The first one you can hear the guy singing, but I can't tell if there's any distortion going on. I'd love for it to be adjustable, that'd help me a ton. :P

[masterx1918]

It would help if we knew what you were trying to ask.... are you trying to ask how vocal free form sessions work? During the areas where there's no designated lyrics to sing, and the lyrical section is filled in green you can sing or shout whatever you want.....I really don't know what you want to know though. There is no "vocal processing" it's just you singing, the computer doesn't process your voice and make it sound more like the actual vocals

[sporkBrigade]

It would help if we knew what you were trying to ask.... are you trying to ask how vocal free form sessions work? During the areas where there's no designated lyrics to sing, and the lyrical section is filled in green you can sing or shout whatever you want.....I really don't know what you want to know though. There is no "vocal processing" it's just you singing, the computer doesn't process your voice and make it sound more like the actual vocals

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23908.html

That's the best example I can find of what he's talking about. Hear the echoing going on during that clip? That's the processing he's talking about. Another way to think of it is distortion or effects for the guitar. He's pretty much asking how much control will we have over this sort of thing, and how accurate will it be to the original songs, especially in the case of a song like Reptilia. Guitars get a 5 way switch, will vocalists get similiar controls using the gamepad? That sort of thing.

Eidt: Just to be clear, it's not a debate about whether this vox processing is there, because as you can see in that clip, it's there. That's fact. And only during that one part. Other clips of the game show much cleaner vocal tracks going on, so obviously it's not ALWAYS there. But the question is how it's handled/how much control will us as the player have over it.

[tbradshaw]

Thanks sporkBrigade, that's a perfect summary and clarification.

[tbradshaw]

A quick Monday morning bump to catch the Harmonix guys that came into work this morning. :)

[masterx1918]

Im think spork is right actually. If you watch videos of Paranoid being played you'll notice that there's some effect being done to the voice (unless that's just bad mic reception)

[xenopherus]

I asked this question awhile ago too, and it's encouraging to hear that there most likely will be voice modulation effects. I hope there's the option to turn them off though, just in case you don't want it for some reason.