Talk box

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A talk box is a musical sound effects device that allows a musician to modify the sound of a musical instrument by changing the shape of the mouth. The effect can be used to shape the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (such as singing) onto a musical instrument, typically a guitar (its non-guitar use is often confused with the vocoder) and keyboards.

A talkbox is an effects pedal that sits on the floor and contains a speaker attached with an air tight connection to a plastic tube. The speaker is generally in the form of a horn driver, the sound generating part of a horn speaker with the horn replaced by the tube connection. The box has connectors for the connection to the speaker output of an amplifier and a connection to a normal instrument speaker. A foot-operated switch on the box directes the sound either to the talkbox speaker or to the normal speaker. The switch is usually a push-on/push-off type. The other end of the tube is taped to the side of a microphone, extending enough to direct the reproduced sound in or near the performer's mouth.

When activated, the sound from amplifier is reproduced by the speaker in the talkbox and directed through the tube into the performer's mouth. The shape of the mouth filters the sound, with the modified sound being picked up by the microphone. The shape of the mouth changes the harmonic content of the sound in the same way it effects the harmonic content generated by the vocal folds when speaking. The performer can vary the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue, changing the sound of the instrument being reproduced by the talkbox speaker. The performer can mouth words, with the resulting effect sounding as though the instrument is speaking. This "shaped" sound exits the performer's mouth, and when it enters a microphone, an instrument/voice hybrid is heard.

The sound can be that of any musical instrument, but the effect is mostly commonly associated with the guitar. The rich harmonics of an electric guitar are shaped by the mouth producing a sound very similar to voice, effectively allowing the guitar to appear to "speak".

Contents

[edit] History

The Talk Box was invented by Bob Heil of Heil Sound in 1971 for Joe Walsh to play "Rocky Mountain Way" live.

In 1973, Heil gave his Talk Box to Peter Frampton as a Christmas present and Frampton used it extensively on his album Frampton Comes Alive! Due to the success of this album, and particularly the hit singles "Do You Feel Like We Do" and "Show Me the Way", Frampton has become somewhat synonymous with the Talk Box, despite using it on only a small fraction of his recorded work.

In 1988, Heil sold the manufacturing rights to Dunlop Manufacturing, Inc. who currently builds the Heil Talk Box to the exact standards that Bob Heil designed in 1971. Peter Frampton also now sells his own line of custom designed "Framptone" products, including a talk box[1].

[edit] Sonovox

An earlier voice effect using the same principle of the throat as a filter was the Sonovox. Instead of a tube, it uses small loudspeakers attached to the performer's throat.[2] It was used in a number of songs from the 1940s to the 1960s, and is used to create the voice of Casey Junior the train in Dumbo and The Reluctant Dragon, the instruments in Rusty in Orchestraville and the piano in Sparky's Magic Piano. The Sonovox was also used in many radio station ID's produced by PAMS of Dallas and JAM Creative Productions.

[edit] Songs featuring a talk box

Talk boxes have been used by many artists across numerous genres, including the following:

[edit] Regular users

  • Bon Jovi (Richie Sambora) — many songs since the late 1980s. As a lead instrument: "It's My Life", "Livin' on a Prayer". As a backing instrument: "Everyday", "Bounce", "One Wild Night", "All I Want is Everything", "I Want to Be Loved" as well as other songs.
  • Roger Troutman — most songs, examples: "Computer Love", "More Bounce to the Ounce", "Doo Wa Ditty". Troutman is also featured as a talk box player on numerous hip hop and R'n'B recordings including the well known "California Love" by 2pac
  • Zapp and Roger — most songs, examples: "Funky Bounce", "Dance Floor", "Radio People"
  • The Funktion (Paul Holt) — All of his songs include a talkbox examples: "Feel This Groove", "It's Time", "The Girl Is Bad", "Your Such A Mirage", "So What The Fuss"(originally by Stevie Wonder)

[edit] Occasional users

[edit] References

  1. ^ Framptone product page
  2. ^ Wendy Carlos' vocoder page

[edit] External links

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