Poll question for Darth Vader costumers

For close to five years I've been going to cons around the country as Chewie, and trooping as Chewie locally with the 501st and Rebel Legion. And I've seen a number of great-looking Vader costumers at these events. But not once, did I ever come across a Darth Vader costumer who does the voice. Not even badly. None that I have seen, have even attempted it.

So, I thought I'd take a poll here and ask you Vader costumers to say whether or not you do the voice. And by "do the voice" I mean that you speak the lines (with or without the aid of a voicechanger), not that you just play recorded lines as spoken by James Earl Jones.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that I haven't heard any Vaders do the voice, because IMO, James Earl Jones voice is extremely difficult to mimic. That man can resonate certain sounds longer and deeper than anyone I've ever heard. Maybe he has exceptionally long vocal cords--I dunno what it is--but there's something unique about his vocal apparatus.

So, if you don't do his voice when in costume, don't be embarrassed to say so. You are not alone.

But, for those of you who do mimic the voice, I'd like to hear from you. Do any of you nail it? Do it pretty good? Do it poorly, but the kids still love it? Rate yourself honestly.

The Wook

 

I do the voice and I think I do it pretty well.

I do not use a voice changer, I do however use a voice amp so that the kids will have no problem hearing me. All the kids are pretty excited when they hear me speak so that leads me to believe that I do a good job, I do have naturally deep voice as well.

 

I just have a breather, I can't even come close to doing the voice. And I haven't come across a voice changer that even sounds like Vader.

 

No voice yet. Just a breathing loop. Still looking for a voice changer that is a good quality.

 

If vader sounded like mr. sulo from star trek id be set. lmao I do alot of vocies that run the gamit from Kermit the frog to david lee roth. But i cant do vader i need a voice box, if i had one i should say and maybe just maybe a small shot in the dark if i spent days on in listing to all of vaders lines in the movie for a long perid of time i might be able to pull it off.

 

I CAn do the voice, but I need a good voice amp. In my opinion if youdont have a voice changer, or voice amp it sounds like your head is inthe toilet when you talk. That helmet is so big your voice bounces of the inside. When in smaller areas like my living room, I'lll do the voice, but when outside, RARELY will I do it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>(GundamZeppelin @ Jun 18 2006, 08:49 AM) [snapback]1263481[/snapback]</div>

LMAO... :lol

 

I have a breather but I do the voice, but have been practising since 1977

I did an appearance recently where Kids were asking me to say their favourite vader lines, they were impressed, that's all that matters to me. I tend to boom the voice out a little too much though, and frighten the Cr*p out of some of em :lol

 

I JUST started doing Vader, and so, I do not do the voice. Though at my first event, someone thought I was. So I dunno.

I want to get a good voice changer to help with the voice, but the only one I know of, is $500.

 

I try not to, but every now and then I get up the courage to do it. I do a decent impression. I think I started getting better at it when I started REALLY enunciating my words, which I have to move my mouth a lot to do. Good thing I have a mask on, you should see me under there, it's hilarious :lol

 

<div class='quotetop'>(DARTH ANIBAL @ Jun 19 2006, 10:26 PM) [snapback]1264289[/snapback]</div>

:lol

One of those moments you'd love to have a hidden camera..

 

I'm not a Vader costumer, but I do have a story along these lines. Back in 1977 or 1978 when Star Wars was still in theatres I went to see Darth Vader at a department store in St. Petersburg, Florida. I remember the costume being pretty awesome, so it was probably a Lucasfilm tour suit or something. I asked the guy for an autograph on a Darth Vader trading card from the Wonder Bread set, and his gloves were so thick that he could not even hold the pen. To cover for dropping the pen, he said "I DON'T HAVE THE TIME, SIR." His voice sounded just like Vader's, at least to my seven year old ears. I doubt that he had an amp or anything, he just had a deep voice and sounded angry like when Vader says "You are part of the rebel alliance and a traitor."

Even as a kid, I knew that Vader's voice was done in "post" so hearing Vader say something live totally freaked me out. I'll never forget that.

Mike

 

When I do Vader I do the voice I have a voice changer from Hyperdyne. So I always have the kids asking me to do the famous line from the ESB. No Luke I am your father.

 

I also do the voice and feel i do it well. I use an amp as well as a voice changer to deepen my already deep voice. Ive heard parents tell their kids, "oh wow...he must be the real vader he even sounds like him" and the kids really love it. nothing better than a real time response as well instead of a constant, "you dont know the power of the darkside", everytime someone asks you something

 

I personally do not do the voice, I couldnÂ’t come anywhere close to being believable.

But thanks to hyperdyne, I can bring up lots of Vader quotes at a push of a button .
I havenÂ’t been able to use it very much but it really brings it to the next level.

 

If youre shy, its OK, if you blush under tha mask nobody will ever know. :lol

 

I actually do the voice well. I'm always telling my daughter "Lexie I am your father" ^^ But I'm too * short to wear a vader costume 5'9 1/2 or a stormtrooper or boba fett :cry

 

Im planning on using a voice changer. I do an alright job of impersonating people as it is, but as a half assed musician I noticed they made harmonizers that raise or lower the pitch of something several octaves. anything from sounding like a bug to sounding like satan. I need a harmonizer or pitch shifter tho that lowers the voice only one or two octaves like i have on my guitars distortion pedal. Ive heard people do the lines in an overly staticy satan voice. I want to be able to reply to people in realtime or ask kids what their names are, who their favorite characters are, that sort of thing. Plus seeing as how I cant use the force to pick up women, Im going to have to say something more then you dont know the power of the dark side.

 

Not gonna do it. Can't even come close to JEJ's voice.

 

<div class='quotetop'>(Prop Nut... @ Jun 23 2006, 06:38 AM) [snapback]1266445[/snapback]</div>

I think no matter how hard we all try, we can not come close to it just perhpaps sound passable.Funny thing also, whenever i watch the lion king, i always hear vader's voice, not Muphasa's (or however you spell the king's name)

Does anyone know how to record sound clips of ourselves then put them on RPF? That would be cool, if we could have a competition that the mods could judge, perhaps a prize like an RPF T-shirt or something? Or some prize money for Wayne's kids etc. Just a thought

 

When I had the costume, yeah, I did the voice with an amp & no voice changer. I hid the amp under the robes.

 

I've accurately done JEJ voice with just an amp - lemme see if I can track down the samples I've recorded. The funniest thing is, I always have to warm up with "This is CNN" for accurate tone and inflection before I begin to do the movie quotes.