I'm a newbie on the forum as have just bought a second hand Noah, I really want to get using the vocodiser on a song i'm working on and I have a few questions.
I currently don't have a manual, well it's a German and unfortunately I can't speak the language.
1. Is the vocoder on the noah any good, it's got some nifty looking presets.
2. Do I just plug a mic into one of the analog inputs in the back?
3. Now here's the killer question how do I get it to work without the manual i'm buggered I was hoping someone might be able to run me through the details.
4. I know tis a big ask but I would be very greatful as I need a decent vocoder and am hoping this is it
I can't work out how to use it. HELP PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAY YOUR GOOD KARMA BE MUCHOS PLENTIFUL IN RETURNS!!!!!!
OK, I will give you a quick explanation, you will have to experiment to get the right sound. This is more geared towards using vocals through a vocoder. For stage backup vocals I find a vocoder works better than a harmonizer, though is less flexible, because it tends to provide a very chorusy type effect, but it bends everything that goes into the mike to the proper pitch. Unlike a harmonizer, which can pick up a kick or snare and add a totally unpleasant harmony to it.
Open the mixer. You need to use a synth as a carrier, it should be rich in harmonics and clearly defined sound. You'll decide what works best for you, but I use the minimax, pro-one, and sometimes prodyssey for this. There's a patch called "Power Brass" on the Minimax that I use for a lot of vocal harmonies and stuff. In particular, when I don't want to use more than two slots for the vocoder, the Minimax provides 3 voices which is enough for most harmonies. So put the Minimax in one slot, and the vocodizer in another (I usually put them in 3 and 4). On the Minimax, select "Power Brass" (should be in the first bank), and set its volume to 90. If you can't find the powerbrass patch, pick a sawtooth type patch with enough highs to give the vocoder definition. For the vocodizer, select the patch "1/3 Octave Stereo".
On the mixer, uncheck the green box above the Minimax, this will remove it from the mix (you want to hear the vocoder, not the synth you're feeding into it). Uncheck the green box above "A In" so that your vocal mike will not go into the mix either. Plug the mike into the Noah now. You should get signal in the meters above the "A In" channel.
Open the MIDI panel and make sure both vocodizer and minimax are set to the same channel, make sure your keyboard controller is transmitting that channel.
Open up the vocodizer, set Analysis In to be "Analog" and synthesis in to be "Slot 3" or whatever slot the minimax is in. Set Analysis and Synthesis in to 0db.
You will want to put insert effects on the vocals to compress them, possibly equalize to make more clear.
Thank you very much for taking the time for posting so much info.. I downloaded the Noah remote software and attempted to follow your instructions. I've got a feeling that the software isn't working properly. Like the computer and the noah are not communicating properly. If I change a paramteter on the minimax on the software it does not do anything. I'm using an intel mac laptop running osx running10.4.11 perhaps this is the problem.
Do you know of anything I can do? Thanks for taking the time to answer my question I really appreciate it.
Hmmm. I've never had much trouble getting the Noah working with a PC. When you plug it into a USB port, does the computer recognize it (if you have speakers hooked up you'll hear a little bleep as the computer detects a new USB device.) If the Noah is detected by the PC, loading a new program from the Noah (use the wheel to select a program and then hit enter to load) will cause the PC program to update.
Your Noah has to be in multi-mode to do this btw. Could it be in single instrument mode? Also, do you have an Noah EX (4 slots) or just plain (2 slots)?
I had another go tonight and it worked. So i'm well chuffed thankyou!!!
I was just wondering if there is a way of saving your settings in the Noah software so you can bring the settings up without having to start again once I close down the Noah software?????
Glad you got it all working. Yes, you can save the presets, I find it unnecessarily complicated, but as long as you're methodical about it..
1) every time you change a multi-type patch, call up the multi preset box, find the patch and right-click to select it, click on "store patch' to overwrite the current patch, and then go file/save. (I say right-click to select it because double left clicking it can cause the preset to load up and then your changes are lost. I just right click to be sure, after losing my changes a few times.)
2) if you change a preset of an element within the multi (i.e. a new patch for the minimoog or vocoder) you first overwrite and save for that instrument, double click and make sure the multi patch "knows" that instrument's patch is selected, and then save the multi.
These two things will save your patches on the PC side. After saving them, you call up the synchronizer to 'shoot' the patches over to the Noah so they are stored permanently. (Power cycle the noah after you've synchronized something).
Make a backup of the \Noah directory, because if something wipes it out you will not find it easy to re-synchronize your noah and pc. Just save the directory itself, and you can copy it over a new installation if something happens and you have to reinstall.
