What was/is done to alter JAMES EARL JONES' voice when speaking as DARTH VADER?
- Thread starter The Wook
- Start date
As far as the Chad Vader stuff is concerned, I remember watching a making-of with them for Empire at War, I believe, and the guy that does Chad Vader said for their recordings of the show, he just did his best to impersonate Jones and spoke his dialogue into a PVC tube with a mic at the opposite end.
Great to know, Poopa! His Vader voice in the Chad Vader series is the best I've heard, this side of JEJ himself.
Thanks for the intel.
The Wook
I just saw that JEJ is going to be 86 years old in a couple months! Dang...makes me realize these heroes of ours won't be around forever.
On an unrelated note...I didn't want to start a whole new thread...I'm having a dickens of a time finding a suitable sound effect of a video monitor being turned on. I'd like it to sound as close as possible to the sound effect Ben Burtt used in ESB when the video screen comes on in Vader's meditation chamber, moments before he chokes Admiral Ozzel. Does anyone have either that sound effect, or a reasonable facsimile? Anything close to that sound would be fine. I would be much obliged!
Here's the scene. The sound effect is at the 00:45 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV2DLkDPwM8
Thanks,
The Wook
On an unrelated note...I didn't want to start a whole new thread...I'm having a dickens of a time finding a suitable sound effect of a video monitor being turned on. I'd like it to sound as close as possible to the sound effect Ben Burtt used in ESB when the video screen comes on in Vader's meditation chamber, moments before he chokes Admiral Ozzel. Does anyone have either that sound effect, or a reasonable facsimile? Anything close to that sound would be fine. I would be much obliged!
Here's the scene. The sound effect is at the 00:45 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV2DLkDPwM8
Thanks,
The Wook
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JediG60racer
Sr Member
MXR compressor fed into Eventide harmonizer splitting signal with one side delayed by a few hundredths of a second.
Eddie Van Halen used the same effect to get his "processed" sound on the 5150 album, as compared to his earlier albums.
Eddie Van Halen used the same effect to get his "processed" sound on the 5150 album, as compared to his earlier albums.
Riceball
Master Member
Watching that clip reminds that in order to sound live Vader you have to do more than just speak in a bass and do the fancy effects, you have to speak using the same cadence that JEJ did. Vader almost always speaks in a very measured cadence, never too slow nor too fast and every word is spoken very clearly and properly, no slurring of words, few if any contractions, and spoken in what resembles a Mid-Atlantic accent like what actors during the '30s & '40s often used.
That's exactly right, Riceball. It's what I've been endeavoring to do for my fan film.
The Wook
GoldenSkillet
New Member
I know I am REALLY late to this post, but I decided to experiment with some ideas shared here, those being flanger, and reverb, mainly, and made this.
For the effect, I had to first try my best to do an impression of JEJ. I achieved this by listening to him read the Bible, and watching interviews where he spoke on camera before reading several essays daily in his vocal tones. I also studied ESB and ROTJ for reference in terms of his vocals. Then, once I had something I was confident in, I got to work on the effect.
Using Adobe Audition, I applied Chorus, Flanger, and Compression before remastering the audio, and got this effect. However, I MUST emphasize that even MY performance does not fully replicate the sound properly in some places. Only James himself can fully replicate the sound with these effects to their fullest potential. But, I hope this answers the question, if it hasn't already been answered.
In short, Darth Vader's vocals are created with the ingredients of James' voice, Chorus/Flanger, Compression, and Mastering. They are also put through a High/Low Pass Filter to prevent his vocals from being too much bass or too much treble.
For the effect, I had to first try my best to do an impression of JEJ. I achieved this by listening to him read the Bible, and watching interviews where he spoke on camera before reading several essays daily in his vocal tones. I also studied ESB and ROTJ for reference in terms of his vocals. Then, once I had something I was confident in, I got to work on the effect.
Using Adobe Audition, I applied Chorus, Flanger, and Compression before remastering the audio, and got this effect. However, I MUST emphasize that even MY performance does not fully replicate the sound properly in some places. Only James himself can fully replicate the sound with these effects to their fullest potential. But, I hope this answers the question, if it hasn't already been answered.
In short, Darth Vader's vocals are created with the ingredients of James' voice, Chorus/Flanger, Compression, and Mastering. They are also put through a High/Low Pass Filter to prevent his vocals from being too much bass or too much treble.
GoldenSkillet
New Member
I am actually white. But, that doesn't matter. I just wanted to take a gander at answering this question for my own curiosity, and the curiosity of others.
GoldenSkillet
New Member
Again, the voice is the key ingredient. The specific sounds made by JEJ's voice are what made the vocal effects sound the way they do. In reality, the vocal effects are not as extravagant as I've seen people believe. It's very simple Flanger techniques, actually.
The special part is James' voice. If David Prowse had the same effects applied to his voice, it would likely sound nothing alike.
The special part is James' voice. If David Prowse had the same effects applied to his voice, it would likely sound nothing alike.
...this was actually done with David Prowse’ voice in 2015. While different than JEJ, it sounds surprisingly good to me!
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