THROAT Factory Presets

In order to help you get a quick idea of what THROAT is all about, we have
provided a selection of presets that demonstrate a few of the many things
THROAT can do. However, keep in mind that, unlike synth presets, which will
always sound the same for all users, the THROAT presets are heavily
dependent on the vocal tracks you use them on. Consequently, they serve
primarily as starting points for various general effects, with the expectation
that you will tweak them to work best with your particular audio.

Below are some things to keep in mind when auditioning the factory presets.

Source Vocal
For best modeling performance, THROAT needs to be able to detect the pitch
of the original performance. To do that, THROAT requires a clean, pitched,
monophonic signal. If THROAT can not reliably detect the pitch of the input,
either because of a noisy or effected signal or because the input is not a
single monophonic voice, it will not fail, but will fall back to an alternative
(but not quite as accurate) modeling method.

Default Settings
Since we don't know what kind of audio you will be using the presets with,
we have left the Vocal Range and Source Glottal Waveform controls in their
default states. It is important to start by changing each of these to
reflect the actual vocal performance that you will be processing.
(However, see the note about the Source Glottal Waveform in the Subtle
Changes presets below.)

Preset Organization
We have divided the presets into four categories based on their general
effects. In the RTAS and Audio Units versions of THROAT, the presets are
organized into sub-menus by category. Since VST does not support
hierarchical preset menus, the VST versions of the preset names are each
preceded by a letter that corresponds to one of the four categories.

The four categories (and corresponding VST prefixes) are:

 Subtle Changes ("s")

• These presets are designed to provide small sonic changes to a singer's

vocal characteristics. All throat modifications are well within the range of
typical human anatomy.

• In all cases, the singer will still be completely recognizable, with only the
most subtle sonic alteration.

• The preset names give an indication of the vocal tract modification or effect
the preset is designed to provide.

• Despite what we said in the Default Settings section above, for these
presets, you should leave the Source Glottal Waveform setting at its default
of "medium" regardless of your source vocal.

• While these presets can be applied to an entire track, they are also useful to
apply in specific spots to enhance the tone or inflection of a particular word
or phrase. However, if you choose to do that, be sure to use THROAT's
dedicated Bypass function (as opposed to your host's bypass function). This
insures seamless switching as well as avoids any issues associated with
THROAT's inherent processing delay.

• These presets should work well as programmed for most vocals.

Transformations ("t")

• These presets are designed to more dramatically change the character of a

singer's voice. Most of the vocal tract modifications are still within the range
of human anatomy, but are typically more radical than the Subtle Changes
presets.

• In many cases the singer will not necessarily be recognizable (although they
will still exhibit the gestural characteristics of their performance).

• With these presets, we enter the area where preset modifications may have
to be made for best affect with particular vocals. During development, it
became clear that it is virtually impossible to design dramatic presets that
work well with all vocals. If a particular preset sounds funky (in a less than
good way), try slightly changing the Model Throat Length and/or Width
controls or moving one or more graph points to hear what happens. Also, see
the "Setting Throat Source Precision" section below for a strategy for
eliminating any undesired artifacts.

Breathiness ("b")
• These presets are designed to make use of THROAT's breathiness function in
a variety of ways, some subtle, some less so.

• These presets are very sensitive to the frequency content of the vocal
performance. Unless your vocal just happens to match the character of the
ones we used when designing the presets, you will need to adjust the HP
Freq control to best match the frequency character of your vocal.

• You can also adjust the Breathiness Mix control to select the desired amount
of an effect.

• The Source Throat Precision control will affect the articulation of the various
breathiness effects. The "subtle" setting will accentuate the singer's
articulation while the "extreme" setting will minimize it. (As you'd imagine,
"medium" is somewhere in the middle.")

Extreme Effects ("e")

• These presets leave human anatomy behind in pursuit of unique sounds, as

most of the vocal tract modifications are well outside the range of human
anatomy.

• The singer will almost certainly not be recognizable.

• Many of these presets purposely make use the artifacts typical of extreme
parameter settings.

• Try changing anything and everything.

Setting Source Throat Precision

As described in the manual, the Source Throat Precision control is used to tell
THROAT the degree of throat modification you are intending so that it can
adjust the throat removal precision accordingly. If you are intending only very
subtle changes, you would typically start with this control set to "subtle"
while if you were intending major changes, "extreme" might be more
appropriate.

Nonetheless, there will always be unique interactions between particular

vocal performances and particular settings. Even very small changes might
sometimes result in artifacts at the "subtle" setting. If a particular Source
Throat setting results in artifacts that you don't find desirable, try changing
the setting one step at a time from subtle to medium to extreme. In many
 cases the artifacts will be eliminated.

Experiment
• Although most presets are named to give a general idea of their intent, feel
free to try any preset on any source track.

• While THROAT has been designed for voice, it can produce quite striking
effects when used on instrumental tracks. Try it with drums, guitars, bass, in
fact pretty much anything. (In particular, applying it to a drum loop and then
following that up with PUNCH has resulted in some truly twisted beats. Give
it a try.)

• Remember, their are no rules.