What was/is done to alter JAMES EARL JONES' voice when speaking as DARTH VADER?

T

The Wook

Master Member
I always hear and read articles about Ben Burtt's awesome, yet simple, creation of Vader's breathing sound, but never anything on how Ben (or perhaps someone else) altered James Earl Jones' voice when delivering Darth Vader's lines. On this topic, I have a few questions:

1) How did they (I'm guessing it was Ben Burtt) alter JEJ voice? Did they have him speak into a voice-altering device (perhaps similar to the ones Hyperdyne makes) while recording his lines? Or did they record his unaltered voice reading the lines, and then alter it in the sound studio?

2) If JEJ's voice was altered in the sound studio, how did they do it? What effects did they use to give his voice that incredible, singular sound?

3) If you don't know how they did it, do you know anyone who has been successful in altering an actor's voice in the studio to make it sound a lot like JEJ's Vader?

4) If you don't know anyone who's been successful in altering an actor's voice in the studio, can you refer me to any fan films in which Vader appears and sounds close to JEJ's Vader?

5) There is one fan film I'm aware of, in which Vader's voice is done quite well, called Knight Quest. But it was made 15 years ago, and I have not been able to find an email addy for either the film's creator, Joe Monroe, or the film's Vader voice actor, Ben Fletcher, to inquire. If you know how I can get in touch with them, or anyone else who worked on that film and might know how to contact them, I'd appreciate it. I read somewhere that Ben Fletcher voiced Vader in a number of fan productions, so you may know him from some other Star Wars fan film(s). Here is a link to Knight Quest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc_sDKoLMJg

Thanks!

The Wook
 
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As a musician, my knee-jerk reaction is it could be as simple as a bit of plate reverb.
As an audio effects guy, I have no idea, because I'm not an audio effects guy.
 
Very little. *heh* It sounds flanged -- where one channel of a stereo track gets oh-so-slightly delayed behind the other. It's how they got the effect for most of the G1 Transformers' voices. It's not reverb, but similar. Then Burtt just added the SCUBA-regulator sound over the top.

--Jonah
 
I know at least in ANH it was re-recorded playing off a speaker in real environments so it would sound like he's in a room instead of like a disembodied narrator voiceover in a booth.

For the SE Burtt did stuff to make it sound more like the rest of the OT, more bass or something.

But I agree with above, that not all that much was done. Mostly JEJ!
 
The Wook said:
3) If you don't know how they did it, do you know anyone who has been successful in altering an actor's voice in the studio to make it sound a lot like JEJ's Vader?

4) If you don't know anyone who's been successful in altering an actor's voice in the studio, can you refer me to any fan films in which Vader appears and sounds close to JEJ's Vader?
Click to expand...

The biggest factor, I think, is paying attention to the way JEJ shapes his words. He stuttered when he was younger and spent a lot of time and effort getting over that. It's left him with a unique "shape" to his speech patterns. Find someone who's at least baritone, if not bass. I'm baritone and I can force my voice into most of the registers JEJ hits for his lines. The rest is being good with dialects -- particularly the whole "how do I position lips/teeth/tongue to get this sound" part. Once you learn how to hold your mouth to get the peculiar tonalities that make JEJ recognizable as JEJ, the rest is just practicing the lines doing that. And the big thing that marks his performance as Vader (in everything except ROTS) is the emotional shading he gives almost every line. There's an edge of barely restrained rage in most of his ANH lines (except when he isn't bothering to restrain, i.e. "Commander, tear this ship apart", et cetera). ESB is my favorite for the slight tremor of cold fury in even the simplest dialogue ("Bring my shuttle.") That definitely takes a bit of practice, but it's do-able for someone experienced with such things.

--Jonah
 
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I used to record voices just about everyday for about 7 or 8 years (just for fun, never anything professional lol.) I played around to find a good Vader voice in a recording program called Audacity, I'll see if I can find the right settings I used to use.
 
Three examples of turning "James Earl Jones, reading the bible" into the dark Lord:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dut8pr6vdeavwod/Vader edit3.mp3?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wibi39cd2jykbj4/Vader edit2.mp3?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lrtsajqh5ewlynk/Vader edit1.mp3?dl=0

I used Adobe Audition. But here's the thing, even if you manage to find settings that match perfectly. It will only fit one particular person's voice.
For edit 1, which I think is the best, I used two different Flanger, two different types of reverb and one compression filter(which is usually used to make someone voice sound like it is coming through a radio/phone etc).

The examples above, do not sound like Vader. It is like what Jonah said. The most important thing is to "act" like Vader.
After that you can use flanger, reverb and change the pitch slightly to give your voice a deeper sound.
 
Thanks for all the great insights and opinions, guys. I guess I'm surprised there isn't a definitive known answer to my question. I mean, crikey, with all the minutia on the net about almost everything and everyone in the Star Wars galaxy, I thought for sure there'd be a statement somewhere by Burtt or Lucas or JEJ about how they created Vader's voice. I do agree with y'all, that little was likely done to alter JEJ voice. But it was most definitely altered in some way. Hasn't there been even a blurb on it in one of the many "Making Of" Star Wars books or videos? Hasn't Burtt ever discussed it in an interview, or at a panel?

I gotta know! lol

The Wook
 
The Wook said:
Thanks for all the great insights and opinions, guys. I guess I'm surprised there isn't a definitive known answer to my question. I mean, crikey, with all the minutia on the net about almost everything and everyone in the Star Wars galaxy, I thought for sure there'd be a statement somewhere by Burtt or Lucas or JEJ about how they created Vader's voice. I do agree with y'all, that little was likely done to alter JEJ voice. But it was most definitely altered in some way. Hasn't there been even a blurb on it in one of the many "Making Of" Star Wars books or videos? Hasn't Burtt ever discussed it in an interview, or at a panel?

I gotta know! lol

The Wook
Click to expand...

Working on a Vader build myself, which could use some "Vader voice". And what better way to learn how to do a vader voice than learn from the creator. I have searched high and low. I have watched a crap load of Ben Burtt interviews, panels and so on and learned that he seems like a real nice fellow buuuut I still haven't gotten any closer to finding out how they did created the voice, or what they used etc. Watched a video, heard someone ask him about Vader's voice, and he ignored that and answered a different question the same person also asked :facepalm D'OH

Someone should start RSF, Replica Sound Forum :p

By the way, if you're thinking of getting a Hyperdyne vortex I would just like to say "don't". It is waaay over priced when compared to a different product that does the same thing, for around $60.
 
The Terminator said:
By the way, if you're thinking of getting a Hyperdyne vortex I would just like to say "don't". It is waaay over priced when compared to a different product that does the same thing, for around $60.
Click to expand...

What does a Hyperdyne Vortex do and what is the alternate product that you mention?
 
Honestly, it sounded like JEJ was simply speaking through a metal cone (basically an old-style, non-electronic megaphone), which adds a slight amount of reverb as well as a slightly amplified and echo-y "metallic" quality to the voice.
 
I was gonna post the Peter Serafinowicz thing, too! Also: love that sketch, using Holst's Mars and Venus (both of which clearly influenced sci-fi/space music hugely) was genius!
 
Well, talking into a vase is basically making reverb, so maybe I wasn't that far off in my knee-jerk reaction.

Treadwell said:
I know at least in ANH it was re-recorded playing off a speaker in real environments so it would sound like he's in a room instead of like a disembodied narrator voiceover in a booth.
Click to expand...

I was thinking earlier about how they might have done it in '77 using the analog equipment that was available at the time, and one of my scenarios involved splitting JEJ's vocal into 2 channels - recording one clean with boosted bass, and running the other through a plate reverb amp with the bass dropped out. Then I thought, no, they would have to mic the amp, and surely they wouldn't have done that...
Then I reread your post, and you're saying they did mic and record from a speaker.
To my ear, it sounds like JEJ's voice is recorded simultaneously on 2 channels.
I wish I still had the gear, I really want to try this now and see what kind of results I would get.
 
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