

Providing your expectations of what was possible with Throat were realistic, perhaps the only down side of the original Avox bundle was the cost: some may have baulked at an asking price of £400. While no one was claiming Throat could turn a Britney Spears into a Robert Plant, for subtle shifts in vocal character and gender it could work very well, with extreme settings providing fun 'special effects'.

Choir and Duo simulated doubling and multitracking, Sybil was a straightforward de–esser and Punch a simple compressor optimised for vocals, while the Throat plug–in was an ambitious attempt to model the vocal tract, allowing the user to change various characteristics of the virtual throat and, therefore, the character of the voice. Antares have been at the forefront of vocal manipulation, and their original Avox bundle (reviewed in the January 2006 issue of SOS: provided a collection of five plug–ins. Of course, what constitutes the 'right' vocal is a subjective matter, but the ability to creatively adjust the raw vocal performance is something we almost take for granted in our modern DAW–based recording systems. Warm includes a nice tube graphic that glows brighter when driven harder.However good your arrangement, instrumental performances and mix might be, without the right vocal even the best song can struggle to survive. Antares have updated their Avox vocal processing bundle and, alongside further tools for character manipulation, automated harmony generation is now included.
