The process of developing Voice Modeling™ is no easy chore. “An instrument has a fixed bore, a bunch of holes in it that never move, and some things that open and close. It’s very difficult to model that, but when you look at the human voice, with all the muscles and control and things that people use to create different sounds, the kinds of waveforms and spectral information that come out are varied and complex,” says Gibson. “Also, people are very good at identifying when something sounds unnatural, because we use speech every day. If somebody plays a saxophone sound, a good sax player might say, ‘That’s not natural,’ but it turns out that everybody is an expert at telling whether a voice sounds natural or not. Voice modeling is a very difficult task.”

Deciding how to define the individual nuances that create a vocal characteristic is equally difficult. “The challenge here is trying to come up with things that make sense, while putting parameter control in the user’s hands,” says Gibson. “This includes describing parameters in the model that users can relate to if they want to make something sound a certain way, so it’s easier than programming an FM synth.”

In terms of expanded control, VoiceCraft definitely delivers. Most of us are used to tweaking reverb parameters—such as predelay, room reflections, room size, HF damping and so on—but VoiceCraft offers nuances such as resonance, growl, rasp, breathiness, inflection and vibrato, as well as scooping, glottal and warp effects. Most are adjustable in percentage (a parameter we can all relate to) and many offer creative possibilities beyond percentage sliders, such as scoop, which can be set to move up/down or fast/ slow—in exponential or sinosoidal increments.

“We’re looking into more sophisticated transformations in terms of making people sound different,” Gibson adds. “VoiceCraft takes us well into that and allows for the creation of some interesting presets to craft, enhance or change a person’s voice, without introducing unnatural artifacts. We’re on the cusp of some new and interesting things. I think the future will be fun.”

TC Helicon, a division of TC Electronic, 742-A Hampshire Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361. 805/373-1828; fax 805/379-2648; www.tc-helicon.com.

Reprinted with permission from Magazine, March, 2001
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