efficiant posting, eh?
[ahem]I’m not sure what it’s called… anyone know?[/ahem]
From what I’ve seen other guitarists do, there’s a plastic tube next to the microphone. The tube picks up harmonic changes made by the shape of his mouth while singing. The tube is connected to an effects box which applies the harmonic sounds to his guitar signal going into the preamp.
You can reproduce this effect by simply singing a sustained note and changing the shape of your mouth from a long E to a long O. Although your vocal cords are sustaining the single note, the harmonics created actually extend across many notes with EEE being higher than OOO.
This sound, when applied the the guitar’s output in combination with his actual microphone, makes it sound like his guitar is singing. He may actually be just mouthing the words (in an exagerated manner and adding consonants) and his guitar is approximating the harmonic sounds of speech.
Forgive any spelling and/or grammar errors. I’m drunk and I can’t believe that makes any sense at all.
Sorry DH, your WAG is way off the mark. I know how they work because a friend and I made one, way back in the days when Frampton still had hair. IIRC, we read about it in Guitar Player magazine which described Frampton’s methods.
A voice box is nothing but a little speaker that pumps the guitar sound down a tube. It sends the guitar’s sounds down a tube, you stick the tube in your mouth, and move your mouth, and a standard vocal microphone picks up the resulting sound. It is much like singing except your guitar substitutes for your vocal cords.
Warning: prolonged use of a voice box can make you puke.
Oh yeah, I forgot… it really is called a voice box.
And here’s a link to the current manufacturer’s site: http://www.jimdunlop.com/electronics/talkbox.html
Oh well! It sounded good at 2:15 this morning. All I really knew was that there is a tube involved.
Is the “talk box” a rock n roll invention, or was this concept used in other ways prior to the 70’s?
Why does one puke after prolonged use?
A) Take an open coffee can and cut out the bottom.
B) Affix a speaker to one end of the can.
C) Duct tape a funnel to the other end of the can.
D) Connect a length of garden hose or Tygon™ tubing to the funnel.
E) Drive the speaker with a signal from your electric guitar amplifier.
F)Play the electric guitar.
G) Pump the resulting acoustic wave into your mouth through the garden hose.
H) Sing lyrics while using your oral cavity to modify the resonance of the electric guitar’s acoustic signature as it is pumped into your mouth.
I) Sound like Tweeter Frampton, The Eagles and several other rock artists.
Typically, the end of the feed tube (or hose) is mounted so that it extends a little past a microphone on that same microphone stand’s boom (this dampens positive feedback effects). The musician (after cutting in the effect with a foot switch), can step up to the delivery port of the Talk Box™ and begin shaping its output while the adjacent microphone picks up the modified signal emmanating from the performer’s mouth. The musician intuitively tunes his oral cavity to closely match the dominant resonant frequency of the electric guitar’s signal. This is what makes the instrument’s output “follow” the singing of the performer.
In 1990 I designed a compact version of this system that should be able to fit into your shirt pocket. As to the Talk Box™ causing vomiting, I suppose it might tickle the back of your throat sufficiently to induce regurgitation.
I think of it as a Talk Box. It is sometimes called a talking bag. I recall that the first use of it might have been the 50s; a song about a Bumbleebee. This is all secondhand out of GuitarPlayer magazine. I remember seeing John Kaye of Steppenwolf using one on the Midnight Special, so it’s been around a while. Jeff Beck used one in 74 or 75 on “She’s a Woman” and “Thelonius.”
You can get a horn tweeter at Radio Shack, saw the horn off at the neck, and attach tubing (available at Home Depot – this is on my list of things to do: I have the tubing but not the tweeter). Then you really just need to hook it up to your amp.
I had a homemade version in about 78, courtesy of my sister’s boyfriend. I can tell you that you get the best sound when you use a fuzz feeding into the talkbox. A clean sound won’t get you enough emphasis for clear pronunciation.
Zenster, there’s one flaw in your design. A speaker membrane doesn’t vibrate very efficiently in a sealed box, so you have to punch holes in the can. The most efficient design would be mounting a speaker on a plate in the middle of the can, funnel on one open end and the other end behind the speaker is open too.
DuckHook, yeah, these were in use long before the 70s. They were commonly used by throat cancer victims who have had their larynx removed. Except that those units just emit a single tone.
And yeah, zenster is basically on track with the puking problem. You have to pump quite a bit of volume into your mouth, it is irritating after a while. This is one reason why the voice box is not hugely popular with musicians, except as an occasional novelty.
[hijack]
OK, now we know how Frampton DOES that singing guitar thing, but just what the heck is he SAYING (on Show me the Way, for ex.)?
[/hijack]
That’s too easy. For example, the intro to Show Me The Way, he’s saying:
“Wah. Wah ah wah oo wah.”