STEVIE WONDER-FINGERTIPS@APOLLO

[djessce]

he's mimicking himself as little stevie. look for the 60's live version. pretty funny actually!

[gypsydancer64]

but what happened to his voice?

[littleknownphoto]

stevie wonder sounds like he's been sucking on helium in this video - don't remember him being THAT high :/

[GettysburgerAddress]

Crazy sounding with the vocal pitch shifter, he got into using one for a little while. I saw a show on his birthday where he was joking about sounding like little stevie again right before he did a little michael song.

[september91]

Talkbox or Vocoder? Vocoder or Talkbox? People people people.... let's not get technical about something so natural. The Big Man's just been on the Helium 'cos he's well up for the banter!

Top man

x

[september91]

Talkbox or Vocoder? Vocoder or Talkbox? People people people... The big man's just been on the Helium. Stevie is well up for the banter! Top Man

x

[MisterCrazyLegs]

I think the weird helium voice is really him...he's always been something of a mimic, even with himself...

[Futurempmw]

wow apollo was big back then now its a dump in 2009

[constipatedart]

He performs oral sex on that harmonica.

[THEmotownboy]

Was it helium that allowed him to sing like that?

[asbur40]

Has there ever been anyone get so much joy out of performing than Stevie.

[rarerecordz]

t-pain?? pff hell no, i love stevie and his humor he is one of the most talented artists who has always kept up with the times in music, he is truly the coolest.

[snap0723]

The genius of Steve Wonder!

[indicuz]

again ;ahead of his time,eat your heart out T-Pain...

[SupaStarry]

Stevie is hilarious lol i love him!

[WunNightStan]

LMFAOOO

OMG Stevie you are an idiot! lolz

That chipmunk thing with th mic to make his voice like it did back when he was a kid.

damn i love dis guy. lolz

[exdoode]

yeah he´s got quite an amazing sense of humor... gotta love him!!

[Rock2HAL]

Well he is not an idiot but he is very funny! hehe! BTW the thing w/the mic is called a vocoder. :)

[ppetracco]

@Rock2HAL

Dude, I think that's just a pitch-shift effect. A vocoder is more like a talk-box. There's a great video of Stevie playing "Close to You" using one.

[Rock2HAL]

First of all I am female. So I'm not a dude. A vocoder is something Stevie used A LOT in the 80s. I know the difference between both the talk box and the vocoder. Here he is using a vocoder....

[Rock2HAL]

"Since talkbox creates sound that is somewhat mechanic compared to a human voice, some people may confuse it as a vocoder. Vocoder's structure and sound differs completely from a talkbox. In a vocoder, human voice and synthesizer signals are respectively directed through 10 to 20 band-path filters and envelope followers to analyze the human voice and reproduce the modifying amplitude by each bandwidth frequency....

[Rock2HAL]

...Talkbox and Vocoder are similar in a sense that it both filters a synthesizer, but band-path filters are used in a vocoder where the actual mouth is used in a talkbox. Therefore, a more precise pronunciation is possible with a talkbox."

I tried posting link to where I got this but apparently YouTube doesn't let you do that. Info about the vocoder and the talkbox are on wikipedia also. Basically the vocoder feeds through (in Stevie's case) synthesizers to create the sound in this video. :)

[ppetracco]

Oops. Sorry, man!

Thank you sincerely fot the info. But I didn't say a vocoder and a talk-box are the same thing. I just said he's only using a pitch-shifter, and I'm still sure of that.

If it was a vocoder, the notes would be determined by a synthesizer, which is clearly not what's happening here. Right?

[Rock2HAL]

Oh np. However I don't think you're correct. As I said in the 80s he used a vocoder a LOT! You'd be very surprised how good Stevie is w/ the correct pitch for a vocoder and other instruments! It could be 'cause his hearing is so sensitive (don't think I need to explain why that part do I? hehe). Anyway, would a pitch-shifter be used live? I read about it on wikipedia and it seems they used it in recording studios (unless I'm reading it wrong then I apologize). Still think it's a vocoder though.

[CusterFlux]

It's neither talk box nor vocoder, since there's no carrier signal in either case ( nor does it sound anything like them ): nor did vocoders of the period track pitch changes in the modulator and change the carrier accordingly. Having had the great mis-pleasure of enduring his tech of the time, I can say it's just a crappy mid-80s harmonizer, probably an Eventide, that Stevie sang into for a joke.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux FYI, on a concert I have on VHS called "Stevie Wonder Comes Home" he uses the same thing on there for the same song & during the credits it says it is a vocoder. Also Stevie has used a vocoder on his albums that date back to the late 70s. For instance "Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants." This was filmed in the 80s. Think you should research about him using the vocoder b4 commenting. BTW CusterFlux, what you said, is that all fact or speculation? Where'd you get the info from?

[CusterFlux]

I'm a studio rat who's used all of the above, knows what they sound like, and knew Stevie's keyboard tech for years.

I have my information from experience, you have yours from an over-generalization off the back of an album: like THAT's never happened before.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux If u read what I wrote I also said a concert I have on VHS (not an album) where it does say Stevie uses a vocoder. Not sure what u mean by the back of an album & stuff but it is credited on his albums & he's even mentioned before that he uses the vocoder.

[CusterFlux]

@Rock2HAL I've used vocoders and harmonizers, for years, I don't just read about them. Stevie's 80's tech and I worked together for a long time ... so ...

What's the carrier and what's the modulator? Aside from the fact it sounds nothing like a vocoder - why is it his voice that is being directly effected, not some frequency gated external source?

Any production saavy keyboardist in the 70's & 80's used a vocoder, including Stevie - but that's not what's going on here: use your ears.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux Excuse me but I am using my ears. He used this live in concert too! However, I am not going into this anymore (meaning not repeating myself over and over). You think it's not a vocoder and I do..so we disagree on it. Have a great week though! Peace & Love! :)

[CusterFlux]

I'm sure Stevie uses Vocoders, he just ain't using one here - nor have you haven't answered any of my carrier / modulator questions: because the answers simple, the only thing being modulated is his voice, thus it's not a vocoder: you're hearing with your eyes - a very bad trap to get into - go play with a vocoder and find out for yourself.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux Look since you seem to be such an expert why don't you answer it yourself then. Told ya I'm done talking about it. Believe me if I had a vocoder I would play around w/it. And you shouldn't assume that I'm hearing w/my eyes when that is a bunch of bull to begin with! I'm done talking about this now. It's pointless. Just agree that we both are disagreeing with this and be done with it. lol! Have a great week! :)

[CusterFlux]

I am an expert, I've worked with Cyndi Lauper, Rush, even done simple stuff for the Stones: if it's a vocoder, where's the keyboard Stevie's playing that is being vocoded? There isn't one, that's his voice being modulated directly - so it's not a vocoder: but like I said, your ears should've had told you that - they didn't - you're going by text that's either misunderstood or wrong: so you're hearing with your eyes.

But DON'T take my word for it - go rent a vocoder, they're really cheap now.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux Just 'cause Stevie isn't playing a keyboard doesn't mean there aren't any keyboards playing. I see a keyboards behind Stevie that a guy is playing. Maybe you need your eyes checked since you missed the keyboards. (Kidding about the eyes checked lol). Custer, you need to lighten up and just drop this subject.

[CusterFlux]

Hilarious ... you didn't even take the time to understand what I meant.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux Whatever. I have always had reading comprehension problems so if I misunderstood you I'm sorry but you really seriously need to lighten up. I still disagree with you so just leave it at that. Geesh.

[CusterFlux]

Sure, just tell me where's the vocoder you claim Stevie's playing in this video?

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux Re-read my posts as I said it already. Am not repeating myself again. Have a nice day! :)

[CusterFlux]

Got it - Stevie's playing an imaginary vocoder.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux You don't know much about him obviously.

[Rock2HAL]

@CusterFlux Wikipedia has info about him using the vocoder too. So yea I tend to believe what I both hear and see. I have no idea what experience u have esp w/Stevie other than knowing a tech that worked on his keyboards but what exactly did that person tell u? Or are you just "guessing"? Anyways peace to you! Have a great weekend! :)

[shelliipelly]

damn!!.. i love stevie, wish i was there too : '(

[pegsterdtown]

OMG this is the BOMB

[mikey007462]

love stevie

[paramorefanaddict]

omg that is so dope how he could talk like that and still sound amazing.

[ruthdeming]

mercy mercy mercy!!! wish i were there.

[solosong909]

i wish  i was dere 2 luv you steveland