From ppetrov@demon.co.uk Sat Apr 06 12:28:13 1996
Path: ashpoly!cascade!transat!sunet!nordrelay!demon!ppetrov
From: ppetrov@demon.co.uk (Pavel Petrov)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: [INFO] The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1996Apr06.122813.4359@demon.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 06 Apr 1996 12:28:13 GMT
Organization: Demon Internet Services UK
NNTP-Posting-Host: demon.co.uk
X-Newsreader: NewsWatcher 2.0b24
Lines: 10

Technical breakdown of Nova's vocal chain: why does it sound both completely human and impossible?

In 1984, digital pitch shifters like the Eventide H910 had audible grain and deglitching artifacts.
Nova's voice has ZERO splicing glitches. The Stardust documents describe this as 'Vocal Matrix Modeling' running on custom DSP hardware.

Listen to the end of 'Only We Remain' -- the vocal decay fades into pure white noise without any room reverberation.

-- 
Pavel Petrov -- Demon Internet Services UK
"The carrier frequency does not drift by accident."

From mpetrov@demon.co.uk Mon Apr 08 04:01:13 1996
Path: ashpoly!bigsur!pacrim!jpgate!kamome!demon!mpetrov
From: mpetrov@demon.co.uk (Marta Petrov)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: Re: [INFO] The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1996Apr08.040113.8084@demon.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 1996 04:01:13 GMT
References: <1996Apr06.122813.4359@demon.co.uk>
Organization: Demon Internet Services UK
NNTP-Posting-Host: demon.co.uk
X-Newsreader: NewsWatcher 2.0b24
Lines: 10

In article <1996Apr06.122813.4359@demon.co.uk>, ppetrov@demon.co.uk (Pavel Petrov) writes:
> Technical breakdown of Nova's vocal chain: why does it sound both completely human and impossible?
> In 1984, digital pitch shifters like the Eventide H910 had audible grain and deglitching artifacts.

Orion's memo said it best: 'We don't sign stars. We build them.'

-- 
Marta Petrov | mpetrov@demon.co.uk
PGP Key fingerprint: 3013 5FE5 7A5F B681
"Keep the channels open."

From klaurent@earthlink.net Mon Apr 08 07:57:13 1996
Path: ashpoly!cascade!brgate!saturno!earthlink!klaurent
From: klaurent@earthlink.net (Kirsty Laurent)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: Re: [INFO] The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1996Apr08.075713.4728@earthlink.net>
Date: Mon, 08 Apr 1996 07:57:13 GMT
References: <1996Apr06.122813.4359@demon.co.uk> <1996Apr08.040113.8084@demon.co.uk>
Organization: EarthLink Network
NNTP-Posting-Host: earthlink.net
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
Lines: 10

In article <1996Apr08.040113.8084@demon.co.uk>, mpetrov@demon.co.uk (Marta Petrov) writes:
> Orion's memo said it best: 'We don't sign stars. We build them.'

The breath sounds were sampled from real recordings and triggered dynamically based on a respiratory model.

Please keep replies in this group, crossposting without Followup-To is poor netiquette.

-- 
Kirsty Laurent -- EarthLink Network
"Hold for relay."

From tgirard@cmu.edu Wed Apr 10 07:37:13 1996
Path: ashpoly!cascade!transat!eunet-fi!relcom!kiae!cmu!tgirard
From: tgirard@cmu.edu (Takeshi Girard)
Newsgroups: alt.music.synth-pop
Subject: Re: [INFO] The sound of the 'Vocal Matrix' - pitch quantization vs human formant
Message-ID: <1996Apr10.073713.7862@cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 07:37:13 GMT
References: <1996Apr06.122813.4359@demon.co.uk>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon University School of CS
NNTP-Posting-Host: cmu.edu
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
Lines: 10

In article <1996Apr06.122813.4359@demon.co.uk>, ppetrov@demon.co.uk (Pavel Petrov) writes:
> Technical breakdown of Nova's vocal chain: why does it sound both completely human and impossible?
> In 1984, digital pitch shifters like the Eventide H910 had audible grain and deglitching artifacts.

That's why it hits you in the uncanny valley. Your ears tell you it's a real woman singing her heart out, but your brain detects the mechanical precision.

-- 
Takeshi Girard | tgirard@cmu.edu
PGP Key fingerprint: B47F 97FC 43F4 038C
"Keep the channels open."