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The Talk Box. By Alex Bowers. Background/History. Device which enables individual to manipulate the sound of an instrument by changing the shape of the mouth. Produces classic “talking guitar sound” Ex. Peter Frampton, Frampton Comes Alive
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The Talk Box By Alex Bowers
Background/History • Device which enables individual to manipulate the sound of an instrument by changing the shape of the mouth. • Produces classic “talking guitar sound” • Ex. Peter Frampton, Frampton Comes Alive • Created by Bill West in 1971 for Joe Walsh to play "Rocky Mountain Way" live • Later patented by Bob Heil of Heil Sound • 1973: Heil gave his talk box to Peter Frampton as a Christmas present • 1988, Heil sold the manufacturing rights to Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. • Peter Frampton also sells his own line of “Framptone” products
History • Created by Bill West in 1971 for Joe Walsh to play "Rocky Mountain Way" live • Later patented by Bob Heil of Heil Sound • 1973: Heil gave his talk box to Peter Frampton as a Christmas present • 1988, Heil sold the manufacturing rights to Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. • Peter Frampton also sells his own line of “Framptone” products
Other Models • Danelectro Free Speech Talkbox • Rocktron Banshee • Heil Sound Talkbox • Electro-Harmonix (E-H) Golden Throat • 1970s, first to include integrated amp • Kustom Bag • 1970s, enclosed compression in suede pouch worn over shoulder, looked like strange bagpipe/water bong
Famous Talk Box Users • Peter Frampton – "Do You Feel Like We Do", "Show Me the Way" • Bon Jovi (Richie Sambora) – "It's My Life", "Livin' on a Prayer“ • Slash – "Lower", "Anything Goes", "Dust n' Bones", "Rocket Queen" (Live) • Aerosmith (Joe Perry) – "Sweet Emotion", "Walk this way“ • Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl) – "Generator" • The Flaming Lips – "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song", "The Wizard Turns On...” • Stevie Wonder
Talk Box in Action • Stevie Wonder • Stevie Wonder 2 • Peter Frampton • Peter Frampton 2 • Random Dude
How it Works • Instrument signal into amp • Amplified signal sent to horn driver • Sound sent through tubing into mouth • Mouth-shape modifies sound • Picked up by mic
Vocal chords (folds) create periodic signal of pressure pulses, high harmonic content Vocal tract operates like a variable filter Response different for different frequencies Shape of tract changes frequency response Gain of tract sampled at multiples of the fundamental frequency Resonances can be estimated from the peaks in the envelope of the sound spectrum. Formants Easier to determine for low fundamental, i.e. man’s voice Source –Filter Model
Formants • Vocal tract acts as a closed open pipe w/ nodes and anti-nodes • When tract (pipe) is constrained at node, the resonant frequency (formant) decreases, when expanded, rises. • Opposite is true for anti-nodes