Changing your voice has been a primal desire for users ever since it became possible (and cheap) to record voices with a microphone and a computer. Old versions of Windows included a small program that saved your voice to a .wav file, but it couldn't apply advanced effects. Today, the market offers a wide variety of tools that let you change your voice, and we're going to talk about three of them: Clownfish Voice Changer, Voxal, and VoiceChanger.io.
Maybe you want to pull a simple prank, or you work on an audiovisual project and need something 'different' in your audio. Recording on your computer becomes a fundamental step, but if you've wondered how to change your voice without blowing your budget on software, well... let's say you're in luck. The web is full of free applications, and some of them don't even need to be downloaded, thanks to advances in browsers and their ability to access connected microphones (provided you've given permission).
Programs to change your voice
How each program works basically depends on what the developer decided. Several apps distort your voice in real time and inject it into compatible programs like Skype, while others work more offline, meaning you first record your voice and then change it with the available effects. Today we'll look at three examples, all free:
Clownfish Voice Changer
Clownfish Voice Changer doesn't have a normal interface; instead, it works from the system tray with a context menu. There you'll get access to its music and sound players, the assistant that converts text to speech, and the VST effects you can download from the official page and other portals. Clownfish Voice Changer has been translated into Spanish (in fact, it should detect the language automatically) and comes with several keyboard shortcuts that simplify its use, though a more substantial interface would be better. Clownfish Voice Changer is available in 32-bit and 64-bit builds, but you need to pay attention to VST compatibility (for example, a 64-bit build only works with 32-bit VSTs).
Voxal
Probably the most complete of the three, Voxal is developed by NCH, a company we know from apps like Debut, which helps us record video using a simple webcam. Voxal shows the full list of effects on the left side of its interface, divided into several categories. 'People', 'Fantasy', 'Science Fiction' and 'Locations' are the most important, but nothing stops you from customizing effects and saving them in a new category. Another very interesting aspect is effect editing. If you click on 'Telephone' you'll see it has a 4,000 Hz high pass and a 200 percent amplification; however, with a single click on the Edit button you can modify those values and add secondary effects. Voxal's free license only allows home, non-commercial use.
(Editor's note: If the link to the free build doesn't appear on the official site, go here)
VoiceChanger.io
If you're not interested in downloading extra software, don't worry. An online alternative is VoiceChanger.io, which changes your voice either by accessing the microphone directly or by loading a compatible audio file. The available effects appear as a series of icons that symbolize (to some extent) what they do. For example: the snail, the turtle, the athlete, and Sonic correspond to four different speeds. Other effects mimic the character V, Bane from The Dark Knight Rises, Alvin and the Chipmunks, the robot GIR from Invader Zim, a Russian officer, and even a Dalek. VoiceChanger.io's creator suggests that to optimize certain effects (Bane and the Dalek, for instance), we need to reproduce those characters' accents, or else they'll end up very neutral. The site should work well on mobile devices, but it's barely a hobby and doesn't receive frequent updates.
If you truly want to change your voice, these three applications are more than enough to start exploring. I have no doubt there must be better platforms out there, and if you know of any, I'd love for you to share them in the comments, especially if they're not ultra-professional or too expensive. Good luck!
