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Here’s a little tutorial on how to set up the vocoder synth in Logic Pro 9. This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while, and had a bit of trouble getting to work in the past. This little tip should also work for Logic Pro 8, and Logic Express if I’m not mistaken.

For those of you who are curious, this is my setup:

• 2.66GHz Quad-Core Mac Pro, 6GB RAM
• M-Audio KeyRig 49
• Line6 Toneport GX
• Shure SM57 mic
• Schecter C-1 Elite

First off, you’re going to want to create two new tracks in your project– one audio track for your vocals (preferably stereo), and one software instrument track for your keyboard. Make sure that both tracks are record enabled. You’re also going to want to go ahead and mute the audio track you have. Now for the software instrument track, make sure it’s instrument is set to the EVOC 20 PS Vocoder. Go into its settings, and change the preset to one of the vocoder settings (the “Noise Effect Voice” is my personal favorite). Also make sure to set your side chain for the EVOC to be the input of whatever your microphone is, in my case it was Input 1. Here’s what my setup looked like after all this:Now you’ll be able to play this in live mode, or record with this! The only problem though is if you try and play your audio back, you won’t hear anything. This is because the side chain on the EVOC is still set to be on Input 1. We want to switch this to now reflect our recorded audio track– in my case it’s Audio 1.

And that’s all there is to it! This will provide hours of entertainment for you and your friends, but more importantly will open up your options for your musical creativity. I hope you enjoyed this tip– I’ll have many more coming up for all of you in the coming months. Leave questions or concerns in the comments section!