How to Distort Your Voice with a Wall Wart

Inductor pickup for mixing with a passive ringmod to make a distorted audio effect A two amp wall wart is turned into an audio signal by a 100mH inductor pickup (the blue cap on a TS cable) which is then ring modulated (the green box) with a microphone signal. Not shown: A pre-amp for the microphone and a pre-amp for the inductor pickup. Talk into the microphone and you'll hear the wall wart distorting your voice.

Welcome back to Spoken Word with Electronics. This month we're talking about distortion. Not just a tool of the GOP to alter our perception, distortion is also a great sound in audio. Did you know your surge protector is literally buzzing with usable distortion signals? It is! In this month's show a distorted voice is made by ring modulating a voice with the magnetic field of a plugged in wall wart. I used a Gieskes 100mh Inductor to convert the magnetic field into audio. (Less than $20 USD, found in U.S. and Europe specialty shops) — You will also need a loud pre-amplifier for the inductor signal, something good enough for an SM57 being a good equivalent. You'll then ring modulate that noise with your vocal. Composite video signals can also be ring modulated, see this example:

Here's the podcast audio of the show.

Which ring modulator to use? Lots of them offer a signal input to bypass the internal LFO. It would be that Carrier Input where you place the audio of your EMF shrieks. The best one that's worked for me? I like passive electronics and pair it with Rucci Passive ring modulator. I like the Rucci one because, since it is passive, it relieves one piece of the chain on needing power. One side is the vocal, the other side is the distortion and fuzz. They become one signal. They can probably make anyone's voice an adequate megaphone. Want to say something to the street, three blocks down? This'll do it. But you will need the amplifier, ring modulator, and a microphone. It's a $10 pickup. YMMW! But this month's show has a constant flow of examples throughout. If you DIY, it is a very cheap effect.

This 100mh inductor is a small piece of gear perfect for probing objects directly. Hold the inductor up to a powered-on TV set or cell phone. You'll know you have enough gain when the magnetic field sounds like ICE being ground up in a food disposal. This process is explained well here. You can upgrade later to more intentional EMF audio receivers like the Soma Ether or the LOM Elektrosluch Mini City that are better at receiving the radiation in the air around us. But both passive inductor pickups and active EMF receivers pair well together, as both generate different sounds.

SWWE #89 (what did i)

Ethan Persoff is a sound designer based in Austin TX and the author of the Charlie Pickle books. Subscribe to Spoken Word with Electronics wherever you get your podcasts. Be sure to check out the new SWWE TV!