Lavender's Guide to Really Really Customizeable (Free) Real-Time Voice Effects
Note: this is really heavyweight. Try things like Clownfish first: https://clownfish-translator.com/voicechanger/
You will need:
- a DAW. I use FL Studio, but any DAW that can host VSTs and record audio should work. I don't know of any free ones but I do know they exist.
- VAC Lite: https://vac.muzychenko.net/en/download.htm
- Voxengo Recorder: https://www.voxengo.com/product/recorder/
Steps:
1) Install VAC Lite, which creates a virtual audio cable. Sending audio to the virtual speaker "Line 1" sends it to the virtual microphone also called "Line 1". (VAC is Windows-only, but I believe there similar programs for Mac, and if you use Linux I'm pretty sure you just plug the flumberboozle into the VKX virtual port... /s)
2) Set up your DAW to capture your mic audio, and edit it to your heart's content.
3) Mute your master channel, and put Voxengo Recorder on it. (Protip: to hear your voice as you work on it just unmute the master channel.)
4) In that VR instance, set "MME Device" to Line 1, and "Output To" to MME, then click Start.
5) In whatever application you want your souped-up voice (Discord, VRChat, TF2, etc), set the microphone in to Line 1 (the other end of the pipe you are sending the audio to)
6) Enjoy your nice new voice!
Feel free to share this around the internet but please credit me at least :)
Pro Tips for Crafting your Voice
- Put a limiter on the raw mic signal to help cut out background noise. It will only let sound through once it detects the signal is above a threshold.
- EQs (equalizers) are your friend. I almost always have an EQ as the last effect on all my channels whenever I'm making music. If you don't know, an EQ modifies how loud specific ranges of frequencies are. So if you are in a room with a fan for example, you can help get rid of the rumbly sound by putting an EQ on your mic signal and reducing the loudness of low frequencies.
- Chorus effects are a really good cheat to sound inhuman.
- Pitch shifters sound a lot more natural pitching voices down than pitching up. (In other words, if you have a high voice and want to sound "manlier" by pitching it down, that will sound better than if you have a low voice and want to sound more feminine by pitching it up. Sorry transfems, yet another disgusting example of misogyny...)
- You don't always have to 100% apply a filter. Look for a knob in your DAW called "wet/dry". "Wet" means edited signal and "dry" means unedited signal. So "100% wet" means "use only the edited signal," "0 wet" is "completely ignore the effect", "50% wet" is "mix the new and old signals 50/50", etc. Not applying a filter all the way can help your voice sound more intelligible.
- Speaking of intelligibility, preserving the high frequencies of your voice is key to staying understandable. (You can try it out: use an EQ to cut out all the high frequencies, then all the low frequencies.)
- The internet is full of lists and lists of free VSTs. I personally can vouch for Melda Production's free bundle: (https://www.meldaproduction.com/MFreeFXBundle) My robot voice is basically powered entirely by MComb.
- And finally, the thing every audio engineer needs to know: if it sounds good, it is good.
