Voxen: new iPad vocal synth

By Ben Rogerson
( Computer Music )
published

The app that sings in a way that no vocalist can

Voxen: not as realistic as a lead vocalist, but less egotistical, too.
Voxen: not as realistic as a lead vocalist, but less egotistical, too.

It'll never sound like a realistic lead singer, but Mod Phon's new Voxen app can produce unashamedly digital vocal-type sounds using its synthesis engine.

To be clear, this isn't an app that accepts lyrics and then sings them back to you: it acoustically simulates a glottis and vocal tract and gives you realtime control over the resulting sound.

There are three banks of knobs for control over the voice, voice envelope and formants, and three XY touchpads, too. MIDI and Audiobus support is said to be in the pipeline.

More specs are below, and Voxen is available now on the Apple App Store (opens in new tab) for the introductory discount price of £5.49/$7.99.

Mod Phon Voxen specs

  • 8-note polyphony
  • Keyboard range of more than ten octaves
  • Three XY touchpads
  • 28 vertical linear knobs
  • Choice of dark or light background colour
  • 8 choices of foreground colour
  • Save and load user-defined patches
Ben Rogerson
Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.