Trying the Microfreak Vocoder for the First Time

[@mikabreto]

Vocoders are most fun (personal feelings follow, season to taste) when you articulate words that utilize different vowel sounds. Try speaking in monotone, just focusing on exaggerating the pronunciation as you say things like, ‘chrysanthemum’, ‘iOS’, ‘whippoorwill’, ‘Around the world, around the world’, ‘ah-oomp-bow, bow, oomp-bow, bow, baoh-baoh-baoh-baoh, buh-bow’, ‘Disco Computer’, ‘Musik, non-stop. Techno-pop’, ‘I’m giving you a night call to tell you how I feel’. [note for the youngins: Daft Punk, Joe Walsh, Transvolta, Kraftwerk, Kavinsky]

[@FreeBeat]

Great tips, thanks so much! I'm going to pin this so others can say all the words too :D

[@returnofthegoth2220]

A vocoder?! Well the Microfreak just jumped to the top of my wishlist! This was sooooo cool!

[@FreeBeat]

It's an awesome synth! Definitely not the best vocoder, but the amount of different things you can do with it is pretty staggering honestly.

[@eddiemakessomegoodvideosal7014]

@@FreeBeat what synth would be Good for my first vocoder?

[@jaxager]

One thing to mention about the official microphone from Arturia is that it is made to fit snuggly into the recessed area around the headphone\microphone jack. This may not seem like a big deal to some people but it really does make the connection a lot more secure. Plus I love the splitter that is built in so I can still plug my headphones in while the mic is plugged in. Arturia seems to have put a lot of thought into this little budget microphone.

[@FreeBeat]

That is definitely true, I'm hoping to try it out sometime in the future! Thanks for watching :)

[@smokey64synth]

the timing of this video is kind of crazy, i literally JUST ordered the white microfreak yesterday and cannot wait to try out the vocoder. it looks like a ton of fun!

[@FreeBeat]

It's an absolute blast, and I'm sure the gooseneck mic will be way better than my awful headset here haha.

[@jahovahjira]

Fun video FB! Thanks for clearing up the fact that ALL Microfreaks have the vocoder feature. I have one but haven't played with that feature yet.

[@mikabreto]

If your firmware is older than 3.0.6, then it doesn’t yet have the vocoder feature unlocked. But before you go downloading it, there’s already a later update; 4.0.1. I don’t know yet if you necessarily NEED to update to 3 before updating to 4, but, to be safe, that’s what I would do.

[@FreeBeat]

Oh yeah, just grab the latest update and you should be good to go :)

[@notwasnot]

You said it best .it is sick .great video again Master free beat

[@FreeBeat]

Indeed it is, thanks for watching!

[@unclemick-synths]

Great video 👍. I didn't realize the dark units had the capability too. I have a breakout cable that separates the headphone and mic connections. My cellphone wouldn't recognize it but maybe the MicroFreak will.

[@patricpatterson2695]

You are a hero for reminding me I could do this to just run audio instead of a mic input in, thanks, :D

[@FreeBeat]

Oh nice! I'm gonna get a similar adapter too, the possibilities are pretty exciting. Thanks for watching :)

[@richardlynneweisgerber2552]

TRRS could go either way, Mic + to Shaft or to 1st Ring closest to the shaft.

[@wiggesobk]

Vocoders are super fun. I have a tc helicon ve. It's really cool.

[@FreeBeat]

Just looked it up, that seems awesome!

[@streety301]

If it isn’t working that well for you check the mic gain amount in your settings menu. Great video thank you!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for the tip!

[@streety301]

Nah u definitely saved me 3o bucks with this video thank u

[@GerenM63]

This little cable will let you use a mic with a 1/8" plug (not plug-in power) and any pair of headphones or earbuds with the Microfreak: amzn.to/3KCqKlb

[@unclemick-synths]

I have that. It's cool to know that it should work with the MicroFreak.

[@FreeBeat]

Oh good to know, thanks for the link!

[@BOMBPHONICS]

So correct me if I’m wrong but the black one has a vocoder now? So there’s no reason to pick the white one if you like the look of the black better? So convinced to pick one of these up regardless of how I might feel about the keys. Never mind I just got to the end

[@Mikey_Vids]

Around the 7 minute mark reminded me of sounds in Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy OST. I’d imagine looping prerecorded vox playback into the vocoder input would free up focus for experimental jamming.

[@FreeBeat]

I'll definitely have to do that in the future, thanks for watching!

[@ThatSockmonkey]

Yeah, this one is definitely on my wishlist. It sounds fantastic, and I love Arturia synths generally anyway. I don't think I want a white one though, so I'll probably have to rig up some kind of breakout cable for a dynamic mic, although now that I think about it, I usually live monitor via my interface anyway because it has a/b monitoring, and I wouldn't need headphones for studio use, so I guess it doesn't really matter as long as I can get a mic working. I just don't like the idea of using a phone headset mic, even though it sounds fine in this experiment. I have a Minibrute that is my new happy place now that I've changed the arppegiator from note order to time order (so the notes now play back in the order you press the keys instead of just up and down). It has an external input that runs through the filter and amp, but I don't think it will pitch like the freak. I'll have to try it out. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the soft keys on these synths. I have doubts about them feeling good to play, and I wonder how responsive they are to velocity and aftertouch. I've played with a few software vocoders and gotten some cools sounds going, but they can be really complicated so this looks like a great solution, and it's a nice little desktop synth as well! Sweet! I'd also love to hear you try some lyrics/words through the vocoder. I'm interested to see how clearly you can make out words or if it just adds modulation, and how far you can push it before words become unintelligible. Great vid man, glad to have you back. Your weekend off nearly killed me! Lol.

[@FreeBeat]

Haha thanks so much! By the soft keys do you mean the keybed on the Microfreak? If so, it is very different to play. There's no velocity response, and aftertouch is determined by how much of your finger you have on the key. Because it's reliant on contact, it's very immediate to play. I'm an awful pianist but even I can shred on the Microfreak. Thanks for watching :)

[@ThatSockmonkey]

@@FreeBeat that's exactly what I mean. I'm not much of a pianist either even though I did lessons from age 5 until 13 when I rebelled and became a punk rock guitar guy, so I tend to play like a guitarist, very finger tippy. Also, I ran one of my guitars through the brute last night. It sounded ok, but not amazing, but it's a very bright guitar. Next I'll try a very dark sounding Strat and a bass through it.

[@FreeBeat]

@@ThatSockmonkey Yeah the "keys" arent really keys at all, just a flat bed with little raised dividers. I'd recommend trying one in person before you get one (or buy from somewhere with a good return policy lol) before you fully commit. And nice! I've ran my bass through the Model D before, it was...weird haha.

[@ndguardian]

Can't remember if the NTS-1 has a chorus effect, but I would suggest putting a vocoder patch through a chorus effect. Could be fun...

[@GuidoGautsch]

It does, and you can load any community-made effect into it as well

[@FreeBeat]

Ohhhhh yeah that video is coming soon :)

[@mikemeengs5720]

You're overdriving the input pretty hard. Setting a proper input level will help improve intelligibility. Also, the "vocoder hiss" settings under utilities/preset can help add some sibilance...nobody ever mentions that. While it's a nice addition to the Microfreak, please don't expect Kraftwerk-like results. I've used vocoders for years, and this one is weak. Still fun though, and the price was right...free!

[@pauldablue]

You're not wrong, I got the white microfreak and I thought the Vocoder was very poor, definitely the worst sounding Vocoder I have ever used.

[@FreeBeat]

Oh okay good to know, still new to all of those types of settings. That being said, you're totally right about the price being on point haha. Thanks for watching!

[@transmutationdotse]

Thank you ❤

[@FreeBeat]

Thank YOU!

[@johnruschulte2593]

Gaming headset works and is good at getting your voice a little bit of isolation from the audio. They come in all price ranges. Sennheiser makes some that are a little better for music but as long as they have the same jack you are good I think.

[@FreeBeat]

Good to know, thanks for watching!

[@garlandpoolfredpool]

I can't seem to hear anything when I go into vocoder mode. I have the actual gooseneck mic...I plug it in, go over to the orange knob...turn to the right until I see "Vocoder"...but I press keys, speak into the mic...NOTHING

[@Kumodot]

So the only difference from the black Microfreak and the white-"vocoder" version is just the gooseneck mic ?

[@FreeBeat]

Correct :)

[@wojciechjastrzebski5572]

I would love to have a vocoder, but unfortunately I can't afford it and in Poland it is very expensive for me. I create both electronic music modeled on Tangerine Dream and Techno music modeled on Kraftwerk. I make a vocoder voice in an Android application or on a computer in Voice Changer . Unfortunately, this way I can't do singing, only speech by entering the text.

[@wsobnie1544]

Przestań być biedny mordo

[@wojciechjastrzebski5572]

@@wsobnie1544 O sobie tak się wyrażasz?

[@wsobnie1544]

@@wojciechjastrzebski5572 niezbyt zrozumiałeś. Chyba właśnie zrozumiałem dlaczego wciąż jesteś biedny🤷

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

Your kidding Dude! That’s the first thing I play with on an vocoder equipped piece of gear! Lol

[@FreeBeat]

I've just never had an available and compatible mic before haha, it's pretty fun!

[@evankeal]

I think if you used any other mic the results would have surprised you.

[@FreeBeat]

It's all I've got right now, and if you couldn't tell, I was already surprised haha. I'll definitely get a better mic in the future. Thanks for watching :)