Any kind of dialogue, even a simple "Hello" is all the more interesting when it is spoken with a robot voice. For music makers who could use a simple robot audio effect, Sonic Charge has released Bitspeek, a voice effect plugin (Mac / Win) that re-creates any audio file that you feed into it, by using pulse oscillators, noise, and linear prediction filters.

Bitspeek is a real-time, pitch-excited linear prediction codec effect that makes good use of linear prediction coding. What is this, you ask? This voice compression technology appeared in commercial products in the 1970s and was implemented in certain well-known speaking toys of the early 1980s (like the Speak & Spell, for example). According to the maker of Bitspeek, most of us use linear prediction coding daily when we talk on our cell phones.

Sonic Charge used linear prediction coding to create the Bitspeek VST / AU effect plugin that analyzes audio, extracts a number of parameters (including pitch, volume, and formant data) and then resynthesizes the audio with a simple oscillator, noise, and filter architecture.

This plugin is all about simplicity and ease of use. Other Bitspeek features include playback parameters that adjust the pitch and tonal quality of the sound, as well as support for MIDI, and a beat-synchronized "formant freezing effect." Although Bitspeek employs simple controls, this plugin can produce a broad range of sounds from cheap speaking toys to high-end vocoder and talkbox effects, according to Sonic Charge.

The Bitspeek voice effect plugin (VST, AU) is available for $29 from Sonic Charge. If you would like to make your vocals sound like robots for free, you can download an evaluation version from the Sonic Charge Web site at no charge. To learn more about Bitspeek and play audio demos, visit soniccharge.com.