Arturia MicroFreak Vocoder Review and 14 Vocoder ideas and tips for legibility and fun...
Added 2020-08-25 15:02:16 +0000 UTCHi!
Firmware updates rarely unlock a hidden hardware feature, and yet here we are - it turns out the headphone jack in every Arturia MicroFreak since day one is a TRRS type jack with an input that can process incoming audio.
Today, Arturia announced a firmware update that adds a vocoder oscillator to the MicroFreak, along with a special edition white MicroFreak bundled with a goose-neck mic that also has an additional headphone jack, which costs $30 extra.
If you already have a MicroFreak, any TRRS adaptor or phone earphones (say, from an iPhone bought before Apple had the "courage" to cancel headphone jacks) works just fine, actually probably better because you'll get a better range than the goose-neck mic.
The oscillator has three main controls like all the other oscillators in Microfreak, along an additional hiss control in the preset menu.
Saying all of that in a video wouldn't take too long, so I took the opportunity to explore vocoders a little bit more in-depth, and came up with 14 vocoder ideas and tips both for legibility and creative fun. I also briefly explain the differences between vocoders, harmonizers and autotune - hopefully you'll find them useful and anything new will of course be added to the coming book update.
Have a great rest of week!
Ziv (happy some manufacturers didn't have the courage to remove the headphone jack on youtube as "Loopop"...)
