{ "schemaVersion": "v1", "slug": "lightbulb-vocals-figuring-out-formant-shifting", "title": "Lightbulb Vocals (Figuring Out Formant Shifting)", "kind": "solo", "listenUrl": "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/Lightbulb-Vocals-Figuring-Out-Formant-Shifting-e2j8po5", "publishedAt": "2026-10-14", "source": { "provider": "whisper", "model": "faster-whisper:base", "normalizedSchema": "v1", "transcribedAt": "2026-06-09T09:34:31.311Z" }, "paragraphs": [ { "startSec": 0.43, "endSec": 9.51, "text": "What's good everybody? We're going to be talking about formant, which is something Ibrought up in the last pod with Harley and it's kind of a weird concept about" }, { "startSec": 10.31, "endSec": 110.10725085910653, "text": "mouth shape in the way that you can manipulate that in the computer and then also as a singerThank you can do that in real life in real time, but before I get into that podWhat's good everybody?Let's talk about formant. So what is formant andHow do we use it?" }, { "startSec": 110.10725085910653, "endSec": 147.83, "text": "So this is gonna be my definition I should probably look at this up so I can compare it with the dictionary definitionFormant, to me is just mouth shape the shape of the cavity through which the sound is going andThat sounds kind of weird, but it's a lot easier to demonstrateSo typically the way that I speak is a lot through kind of like aSort of sound when I'm talking up here, which is in my mask" }, { "startSec": 148.03, "endSec": 161.31, "text": "So the mask is kind of the front part of the noseSo singers and if you want to check out my pod with AlessandraThat's a great primer to thisConsent Alessandra is a singer and a voice-over artist" }, { "startSec": 161.99, "endSec": 183.03934306569343, "text": "So singers actors they think a lot about the placement of the voice and this is all part of formantAnd I think this is a really good kind of background to explain the overall conceptSo the mask is the point of your face that's behind kind of the nose the nasal cavityIt's not quite nasal like that, but it's a little bitThe it's like a mix." }, { "startSec": 183.03934306569343, "endSec": 195.161907844256, "text": "It's an area where you can project and also add presence to your vocals So presence is this part this kaka kaka that's kind of like the thing that cuts vocals throughA loud environment." }, { "startSec": 195.161907844256, "endSec": 216.55, "text": "It's theRedie your part if you think of like a saxophoneThat is an instrument with a lot of the presence that also a human voice has a lot of string instruments like violin has a lot of Presence like the human voice if you look at these EQ curves and a lot of the stuff that I end up doing like if I'm mixing these instruments is very very similar to what I would do to a human voice" }, { "startSec": 218.23, "endSec": 237.07, "text": "You can change the placement of your voice thoughAnd you've probably done this in your your normal life and you probably have heard, you know celebritiesThere's a guy named Haliburton, Tyrese Haliburton on the Pacers and if you look them upYou'll see a bunch of these videos where people are freaking out because he has like two different voices" }, { "startSec": 237.43, "endSec": 257.99, "text": "And a lot of that is you know, he maybe he's got something something going on with his vocal chordsBut a lot of it sounds like the placement of where he's putting his energy the voiceSo check out I'm going to move from my mask my more normal speaking position to this is usually how I sound when I wake upI'm like down in here like I'm speaking now from kind of my throat" }, { "startSec": 258.23, "endSec": 279.59, "text": "And you can go even lower down into your chest into kind of like that deeper cavityAnd if I support it more with my diaphragm it kind of gets in hereAnd it's kind of a weird, you know like it's a strange way of talkingBut all these things areTools that you can manipulate as a vocalist sometimes you want to sing down in here like if you're doing an uptown funk kind of thing" }, { "startSec": 279.75, "endSec": 295.27, "text": "You know, you know, you got that you got that in the back and sometimes you want to sing really falsetto and you Michael JacksonyYou know like like Mickey Mouse, but you know being able to like put your voice up there really really helps because sometimesThat's where you want the background vocal to be you want the lead vocal to be here" }, { "startSec": 295.27, "endSec": 314.47, "text": "You know present cutting through the mix. There's a bunch of drums a bunch of guitars everything's going onSo you almost want to be a little nasal sometimes like pushing itAnd then you want to stack on a background vocal that's I like to breathe airyAnd then maybe a vocal double below to support it that's a little bit more down in hereSo even though yeah, I'm changing pitch" }, { "startSec": 314.47, "endSec": 332.63, "text": "But a lot of what I'm doing is I'm changing placement and this is all part of the idea of formantFormant is where you're placing things and the vowel that it's coming outSo naturally when I'm moving between these different vocal placements these different places that I'm putting myResonance my energy" }, { "startSec": 333.75, "endSec": 350.79, "text": "I am shifting my formant slightly. So when I'm going down lower that's could you hear my mouth kind of round out a little bitIt ends up going more like an ooh like this and I'm going lower. It's not quite that dramaticAnd then when I go higher it ends up being more like an e or an a" }, { "startSec": 351.75, "endSec": 372.9170361445783, "text": "Like I'm smiling. Hey, you probably hear a lot of pop vocalists that sound like they're smilingBecause it helps you cut through the mix broadway singersThat's like that is like the broadway kind of sound is when it's really dramatic like hey everybody like I'm in hereI'm projecting all the way to the back row, you knowI'm not trying not to shout because my I'm eating the mic right now." }, { "startSec": 372.9170361445783, "endSec": 397.67, "text": "I'm like right super close I'm like, but you know what I'm saying like theseThese shifts are part of what weTamborole or sonicallyassociate with different genres with different styles of singersDifferent voices and so one of my favorite singers timberashe's super good at likeSwitching voicesPaul McCartney another super good example of someone that's got a whole bunch different voices" }, { "startSec": 397.99, "endSec": 417.83, "text": "Sometimes it sounds cartoonish, but that's something that's part of the fun. You know sometimes going for that but like thatAbility to shift the resonance points of your voiceWas like a light bulb moment for me as a vocalistBecause I didn't realize how important stacking vocals was in the recording process" }, { "startSec": 418.07, "endSec": 436.87, "text": "And I didn't realize how important finding your natural resonance was to finding pitch and like letting everything kind of flowSo much of it is trying to find what your voice actually wants to doAnd I've gone back to basketball because I love basketballBut it's the same thing with like a shooting form so you see these basketball players are shooting threes" }, { "startSec": 437.99, "endSec": 451.59, "text": "Everybody shoots a little bit differently like there's a textbook way to shoot a threeBut if your body is shaped like LeBron JamesYou're gonna shoot differently than if your body is shaped like Steph CurrySinging is the same thing. There are like technical perfect ways to do it" }, { "startSec": 452.39, "endSec": 472.47, "text": "And you want to learn some of these things because you want to have that as the backboneBut ultimately you've got your vocal cords and nobody else doesIt's up to you to figure out how to use themAnd a lot of that goes to placementSo let's now take that concept the thing that says old as" }, { "startSec": 473.91, "endSec": 497.75, "text": "You know it life basically basically like birds sing the way they do monkeys howl and whatever the way they doIs all part of it right like figuring out projectionAnd then cultures also place things differently like if I'm speaking with a british accentI'm putting it up hereAnd I want to be able to be very posh and really hammer town that I'm speaking in a different place than I was before" }, { "startSec": 498.39, "endSec": 521.59, "text": "But if I'm normal I'm over hereBut if I'm southern I'm back down here and I'm talking like thisBut you hear on my voice is shifting from the tip of my tongue back to like kind of the middle to all the way far biicYou know and I'm moving itNow let's take it and look at it from the perspective of a computerHow does the computer do that before I get into it though" }, { "startSec": 602.07, "endSec": 625.75, "text": "Let's talk about the computer thingBut before I do because it's just more interestingTo hear somebody have to do it in real life" }, { "startSec": 625.75, "endSec": 665.19, "text": "I'm going to try my best to show you formantsAnd how the computer thinks of itNot just in the you know, here's accentHere's me placing my voice differentlyI'm gonna do it through like a-i-o-u, okaySo let's seeI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleAll right" }, { "startSec": 665.19, "endSec": 700.3, "text": "Here we go in from the low to the highThe low is like u-o-o, the high is like e-aI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm you knowBeing weird with my voiceThat's a good thing to doUmThat's what the computer basically doesSo I'm going to do thatI'm just going to loop thatI'm singing an exampleAnd that was my physical versionMe just shifting it without the computerThat's just me singing" }, { "startSec": 700.3, "endSec": 741.34, "text": "And here it is with the computerI'm singing an exampleI'm just going to sing it like thatRightAnd then I'll just keep singing it over and overAnd then shift itI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleI'm singing an exampleNow let's take that exampleand instead apply it to a stereo full mix." }, { "startSec": 741.34, "endSec": 794.74, "text": "I'm going to take one of my songsand I'm going to do the same thing.So this is the same exact plugin,the same exact algorithm.I'm going to do literally the same exact sweepsas I did on the vocals,but I'm going to do it to an entire thing of musicand you'll hear the chaos it creates.Do you hear how gnarly that is?That is a great tool.And I think that that's one of the primary tools" }, { "startSec": 794.74, "endSec": 820.82, "text": "to make something sound modern or nowbecause it's a new toy, basically.We had sort of this toy in the 80swith some of the early digital stuff.And there's precedent for it back then,but I hear it most now because the toolsare so much more robust.The math that we can do is so much more real time.And a great band that I love is called Royal Canoe.They should be way bigger than they are." }, { "startSec": 820.82, "endSec": 851.3, "text": "They pioneered kind of using vocal doublingand vocal shifting and really, really cool wayson their first album.I think that's called Today We're Believers and check that out because that's a really good useof formant in just some awesome, awesome ways.I do some of it on Scoob stuff.I've done more of it in productionsand in some collaborations and stuff,but I will, like Tommaso, I didn't do this vocal," }, { "startSec": 851.3, "endSec": 876.94, "text": "but Tommaso did it on While Away,collab that we did together.There's a female sounding voicethat's just taking a male voiceand then formatting it and pitching it upso that it sounds more like a female singing.And you'll hear that everywhere.It's getting crazy now because of AI,you can now basically transform vocals to anybodywhich is exciting and that's probably the next version" }, { "startSec": 876.94, "endSec": 901.66, "text": "of this where we originally had vocoders,which is basically like you're using your voiceas a controller to shape a soundor like a talkboxes, Peter Frampton.Frampton comes alive, you know, talkboxes on that.These are all like kind of old school sample versionswhere literally the sound is coming through a tubeand then you're using your mouth to formant it.I probably should have talked about that earlier" }, { "startSec": 901.66, "endSec": 927.1, "text": "because that's a cool thing.Like basically, let me dig into that.So you play your guitar, this is Peter Frampton.Play your guitar, it goes into a pedal.That pedal then spews out the sound into a tube.You stick the tube into your mouthand then you shape your mouth ever you want.Bon Jovi, you know, Richie Sambora.He would do that same thing for like,what, what, what, what, what, you know." }, { "startSec": 927.1, "endSec": 964.1, "text": "And Zapp, the great and also tragic,yeah, it's one of the most messed up stories of bands everand I don't want to talk about it.But their music that is so much happieris uses a lot of that kind of talkbox soundthat then got picked up by, you know, people like Snoop Doggand by Bruno Mars.How can I forget?You know, it's like, it's stuff like thatthat is all wrapped up in this discussion of formant." }, { "startSec": 964.1, "endSec": 995.46, "text": "It is manipulating the human voice.It's a conversation between technologyand the human voice, the oldest thing that made music,even before drums, it connects into technology.And all these bizarre and wonderful ways.And I think that's the reason why it hits so well.It gets your attention.It is new, it is a alien, you know?And that really excites me.On the other hand, it can be overused, of course," }, { "startSec": 995.46, "endSec": 1021.86, "text": "like any new technology, any new toy.But you overuse it, you know, why not?Like who cares?But it also can be underusedwhere it can be only used on voices.I love using this on guitars.I have taken several guitar solosthat use formant to shift throughout.And it's so cool and it's just underutilized.I've done it for transitions.So there's a remix of highs and lows in my catalog" }, { "startSec": 1021.86, "endSec": 1050.46, "text": "and there are all these otherworldly soundsbecause the song is basically about, you know,unaliving yourself.And it is, it's messed up.It's kind of a messed up lyricthat I didn't think came acrossin the original version.So I wanted to really pull it outand make it feel higher and lower.And I used formants to shift into like,these really sad messed up kind of sectionsthat feel chaotic and very sad." }, { "startSec": 1050.46, "endSec": 1076.42, "text": "And I was trying to use those formantsto show that shift of like breakdown of falling out the bottom.And that's why I'm doing this podcastis I hope to inspire other musicians to get into it.And I hope to also contextualize this stuffthat you're hearing everywhere,especially in modern music.Like last like 10-ish years,it's gone crazy with formant stuff.And it's gonna go even crazierbecause people are gonna get hit" }, { "startSec": 1076.42, "endSec": 1098.74, "text": "to some of the stuff that I'm doing.The new tools are gonna come outand we're going to be fooling,doing all that all over our music.I'll show you some of that stuff on guitarat some point too.I'll do that in a future episode.I hope that this was a helpful thingand hopefully you go out and you hear it now.It's everywhere.And hopefully you don't hate itbecause it is everywhere.It's not going anywhere" }, { "startSec": 1098.74, "endSec": 1130.82, "text": "because it is the human voice.It is vocal manipulationand just like the talk box,just like the vocoder,just like the pitch shifting and stuff like thator vocal samplingit is so elemental to who and what we arethat it is the most obviousand most persistent thingfor us to manipulate from here until the endof humanity, you know,just hopefully forever from now.Yeah, and on that cheery note,if you enjoyed this podcast," }, { "startSec": 1130.82, "endSec": 1150.54, "text": "I invite you to please subscribe and rate it five starsin order to rate something five stars on Spotify.You go to the podcast pageand then you click the dot, dot, dotand then you click rate.It's kind of weird because they make it a little less obviousthan things like Apple podcastson how to rate a five stars.But by doing that,it really helps support the podand really helps get people to like see this" }, { "startSec": 1150.54, "endSec": 1173.46, "text": "and their feeds and stuff.And then, you know,they'll learn about formantsand maybe it'll help change music productionor something, you know, small goals.If you'd like to hear my musicand hear some formant warping,check out Scoobert Doobert or go to scoobertdoobert.pizza." }, { "startSec": 1173.46, "endSec": 1177.9, "text": "Thank you everybody and I'll see you next week." } ], "correctionsApplied": [ { "id": "fuzzy-host-name", "count": 1, "note": "Fuzzy host name + glued suffix (rapidfuzz) (100.0%): 'Scoobert Doobertor' -> 'Scoobert Doobert or'" }, { "id": "scoober-dubert", "count": 1, "note": "Host intro name ASR typo" }, { "id": "scubbertdubert-url", "count": 1, "note": "Outro URL ASR typo" } ] }