Talk box
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 talk box 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 directs 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 the 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 affects 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".
History
The talk box was first believed to be used by swing band pedal steel player Alvino Rey in the 1940's.[1] In the 1960's, Bill West, a country music steel guitar player (husband of Country singer Dottie West), and Pete Drake. Drake, a Nashville mainstay on the pedal steel guitar and friend of Bill West, used it on his 1964 album Forever, in what came to be called his "talking steel guitar." The following year Drake released three albums with the box, Pete Drake & His Talking Guitar, Talking Steel and Singing Strings, and Talking Steel Guitar.[2]
Bill West gave his talk box to Joe Walsh, and Walsh used it in 1971 on "Rocky Mountain Way" live.[3]
It was later patented by Bob Heil of Heil Sound. Then later by Rocktron Banshee Amplified Talk Box, and the Danelectro "Free Speech" Talk Box
In 1973, Heil gave his talk box to Peter Frampton as a Christmas present. Frampton first heard the talk box when Stevie Wonder was using it for his upcoming album Music of My Mind. Then when he was playing guitar on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, he saw Pete Drake using it with a pedal steel guitar. Frampton used it extensively on his album Frampton Comes Alive! Due to the success of the 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.[4][5][6]
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 1973. Peter Frampton also now sells his own line of custom designed "Framptone" products, including a talk box.[7]
The most notable performer to utilise the talkbox is Richie Sambora, the guitarist with rock band Bon Jovi. Most famously used on their hit single, Livin On A Prayer and since on It's My Life, and We Got It Goin On.
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.[8] 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. Lucille Ball appeared in one of her earliest film appearances during the 1930s in a Pathe Newsreel demonstrating the Sonovox.
A band very well know for the talk box is Roger and Zapp
References
- ^ Vibrations: "Frampton Comes Alive (Again), Can't Stop Talking" - Museum of Music - Feb. 28, 2004 edition (Vol. 2, #2)
- ^ REVIEW: Adams, Greg. Forever @ All Music Guide
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Obrecht-GPM-88was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lux, Joanna. and David Dayen"Peter Frampton: More Alive Than Ever" - G4 Media - Thursday, June 13, 2002
- ^ Green, Douglas. "Pete Drake: everyone's favorite"
- ^ Baron, Josh."I'm In You: Peter Frampton Still Feels Like We Do" - Relix - Monday, 25 October 2004
- ^ Framptone product page
- ^ Wendy Carlos' vocoder page